What Happened On This Day October 14 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, October 14 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1909

For two years Bernd Rosemeyer, who was born on this day in Lower Saxony, was one of the best drivers in the world driving one of the best cars (Auto Union). In his second grand prix at the Nürburgring in 1935 he was poised to win when he missed a gear and was pipped to victory by Rudolf Caracciola. Later that year he won his first grand prix at the Brno Masaryk Circuit in Czechoslovakia. His success brought him to the attention of the Nazi party and he was made an honorary member of the SS; it would have been foolhardy to refuse but he managed to get away with never wearing the uniform. He won several more European grand prix in 1936 and 1937 as well as the Vanderbilt Cup in the USA, and in 1936 took the European Championship. Ten weeks after the birth of his son in November 1937, he was killed during a world speed record attempt on the Autobahn between Frankfurt and Darmstadt when he lost control of his Auto Union Streamliner.

1947

Despite being born in New York, Rikky von Opel was the first, and to date only, driver from Liechtenstein to have raced in F1. Independently wealthy – his family founded the Opel car brand – he funded and drove for the Ensign team in 1973 after winning the British Formula Three Championship the previous year. He was a decent driver rather than just a rich kid, and when the car held together, which was not often, he put in decent performances. Mechanical issues at the opening race in 1974 led to Opel giving away his shares in Ensign and switching to Brabham as a pay driver at the start of the European season. He managed two ninths but promptly quit after failing to qualify for the French Grand Prix and walked away from the sport. At the start of his career, he used the pseudonym Antonio Bronco to avoid his disapproving family finding out he was racing.

2001

Michael Schumacher rounded off the season with victory at the 2001 Japanese Grand Prix but such had been his domination that many were beginning to question if it was good for the sport – by the time he repeated his success in 2002, even the sport’s big guns were having doubts. “It now seems essential that another driver responds to the challenge to save the sport from its soporific predictability, after another year when its title was settled with the season only three-quarters old,” wrote Ray Matts in the Daily Mail. “For that reason alone, it was comforting to see Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard alongside Schumacher on the Suzuka podium, representing some kind of viable competition for the future.” Coulthard has been handed the podium place by McLaren team-mate Mika Hakkinen, taking part in his last Grand Prix, who moved over five laps from the end. “By letting him [Coulthard] past I wanted to give him something back for the occasions in the past when he has helped me.”

2001 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	1:27:33.298	10
2	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	53	+3.154s	6
3	4	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	53	+23.262s	4
4	3	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	53	+35.539s	3
5	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	53	+36.544s	2
6	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	53	+37.122s	1
7	8	Jenson Button	Benetton Renault	53	+97.102s	0
8	11	Jarno Trulli	Jordan Honda	52	+1 lap	0
9	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	52	+1 lap	0
10	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	52	+1 lap	0
11	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi European	52	+1 lap	0
12	22	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Prost Acer	52	+1 lap	0
13	9	Olivier Panis	BAR Honda	51	+2 laps	0
14	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows Asiatech	51	+2 laps	0
15	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows Asiatech	51	+2 laps	0
16	20	Alex Yoong	Minardi European	50	+3 laps	0
17	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Renault	47	DNF	0
NC	19	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar Cosworth	45	DNF	0
NC	23	Tomas Enge	Prost Acer	42	DNF	0
NC	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	24	DNF	0
NC	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber Petronas	5	DNF	0
NC	12	Jean Alesi	Jordan Honda	5	DNF	0

2012

The 2012 Korean Grand Prix, held at the Korea International Circuit, was won by Sebastian Vettel, who drove for Red Bull Racing. He took the lead early from pole-sitter Mark Webber, his teammate, and never relinquished it, securing his third consecutive win of the season. Webber finished in second place, making it a 1-2 finish for Red Bull. Fernando Alonso driving for Ferrari completed the podium in third place, continuing his strong push for the championship. The race saw Lewis Hamilton struggle with tyre wear and car issues, ultimately in 10th after a late-race battle with the Toro Rosso drivers. The victory allowed Vettel to take the lead in the 2012 Drivers’ Championship from Alonso. This was Red Bull’s only 1-2 finish of the year.

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2012 Korean Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	55	1:36:28.651	25
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	55	+8.231s	18
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	55	+13.944s	15
4	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	55	+20.168s	12
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus Renault	55	+36.739s	10
6	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	55	+45.301s	8
7	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	55	+54.812s	6
8	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	55	+69.589s	4
9	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	55	+71.787s	2
10	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	55	+79.692s	1
11	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber Ferrari	55	+80.062s	0
12	11	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	55	+84.448s	0
13	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	55	+89.241s	0
14	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	55	+94.924s	0
15	19	Bruno Senna	Williams Renault	55	+96.902s	0
16	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham Renault	54	+1 lap	0
17	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham Renault	54	+1 lap	0
18	24	Timo Glock	Marussia Cosworth	54	+1 lap	0
19	25	Charles Pic	Marussia Cosworth	53	+2 laps	0
20	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT Cosworth	53	+2 laps	0
NC	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT Cosworth	16	DNF	0
NC	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	16	DNF	0
NC	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1	DNF	0
NC	3	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	0	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 14 October

Birthday	F1 Driver
14 October 1947	Rikky von Opel
14 October 2004	Gabriel Bortoleto

Birthday	F1 Mentions
14 October 1977	Cyril Abiteboul From 2013 to 2014 he was the team principal of Caterham Formula One team, and was the managing director of the Renault F1 Team from 2014 to 2020.
14 October 1980	Gianpiero Lambiase Max Verstappen’s race engineer at Red Bull Racing Formula One.

F1 Driver Deaths 14 October

Death	F1 Driver
14 October 2012	Eddie Russo (b. 1925)