What Happened On This Day October 4 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, October 4 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1964

BRM driver Graham Hill secured his second of three successive wins in the 1964 United States Grand Prix on this day in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 at Watkins Glen. Jim Clark led for almost half the distance before his Lotus gearbox gave out—he took over the car of teammate Mike Spence to complete the race, but that rendered him ineligible for points. From then on, Hill led, eventually finishing half-a-minute ahead of John Surtees in second for Ferrari. The Brabham of Jo Siffert came home in third.

1964 United States Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Graham Hill	BRM	110	2:16:38.000	9
2	7	John Surtees	Ferrari	110	+30.500s	6
3	22	Jo Siffert	Brabham BRM	109	+1 lap	4
4	4	Richie Ginther	BRM	107	+3 laps	3
5	17	Walt Hansgen	Lotus Climax	107	+3 laps	2
6	12	Trevor Taylor	BRP BRM	106	+4 laps	1
7	2	Mike Spence	Lotus Climax		SHC	0
7	2	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	102	DNF	0
8	14	Mike Hailwood	Lotus BRM	101	DNF	0
NC	6	Dan Gurney	Brabham Climax	69	DNF	0
NC	23	Hap Sharp	Brabham BRM	65	+45 laps	0
NC	8	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	58	DNF	0
NC	1	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax		SHC	0
NC	1	Mike Spence	Lotus Climax	54	DNF	0
NC	28	Ronnie Bucknum	Honda	50	DNF	0
NC	15	Chris Amon	Lotus BRM	47	DNF	0
NC	16	Jo Bonnier	Brabham Climax	37	DNF	0
NC	9	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Climax	26	DNF	0
NC	5	Jack Brabham	Brabham Climax	14	DNF	0
NC	10	Phil Hill	Cooper Climax	4	DNF	0
NC	11	Innes Ireland	BRP BRM	2	DNF	0

1968

President de Gaulle risked the ire of the French racing community with the announcement that plans to build a new national F1 car had been shelved as part of measures to stabilise the economy. The plan had only been unveiled a few months earlier.

1970

Emerson Fittipaldi won the 1970 United States Grand Prix with Lotus, which ensured Jochen Rindt, who had been killed at Monza the previous month, could not be overtaken in the 1970 Drivers’ Championship, making Rindt the sport’s one and only posthumous champion. Jackie Stewart had led for 83 of the 108 laps before he retired with an oil leak.

Mexican driver Pedro Rodriguez secured second place in his BRM, having led earlier in the race before a late pit stop for fuel. Meanwhile, Fittipaldi’s Swedish teammate, Reine Wisell, made an impressive F1 debut by finishing third—his first and only podium finish in his career.

1970 United States Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	24	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus Ford	108	1:57:32.790	9
2	19	Pedro Rodriguez	BRM	108	+36.390s	6
3	23	Reine Wisell	Lotus Ford	108	+45.170s	4
4	3	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	107	+1 lap	3
5	12	Chris Amon	March Ford	107	+1 lap	2
6	18	Derek Bell	Surtees Ford	107	+1 lap	1
7	8	Denny Hulme	McLaren Ford	106	+2 laps	0
8	7	Henri Pescarolo	Matra	105	+3 laps	0
9	11	Jo Siffert	March Ford	105	+3 laps	0
10	15	Jack Brabham	Brabham Ford	105	+3 laps	0
11	29	Ronnie Peterson	March Ford	104	+4 laps	0
12	16	Rolf Stommelen	Brabham Ford	104	+4 laps	0
13	4	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	101	+7 laps	0
14	9	Peter Gethin	McLaren Ford	100	+8 laps	0
NC	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell Ford	82	DNF	0
NC	14	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	72	DNF	0
NC	2	Francois Cevert	March Ford	62	DNF	0
NC	30	Tim Schenken	De Tomaso Ford	61	DNF	0
NC	27	Jo Bonnier	McLaren Ford	50	DNF	0
NC	6	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	27	DNF	0
NC	31	Gus Hutchison	Brabham Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	20	Jackie Oliver	BRM	14	DNF	0
NC	21	George Eaton	BRM	10	DNF	0
NC	17	John Surtees	Surtees Ford	6	DNF	0

1992

Former 1967 F1 World Champion Denny Hulme died on this day at the age of 53 from a massive heart attack while taking part in the Bathurst 1000 in Australia. He was heard to complain to his pit that he had blurred vision, which was put down to heavy rain. He suffered the heart attack while driving at 180 mph, and his BMW hit a wall. Although he managed to bring the car under control and stop, he was sadly declared dead by the time marshals reached him.

His F1 career ended at the 1974 United States Grand Prix, having seen him drive for the Brabham and McLaren teams and secured 8 career wins, 33 podiums, 1 pole position and 9 fastest laps.

2009

Sebastian Vettel took a dominant victory in the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, keeping his title hopes alive after leaders Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button finished well down the order in seventh and eighth for Brawn GP. Vettel never looked under threat, maintaining a comfortable gap between his Red Bull and the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, who fended off McLaren’s third-place Lewis Hamilton for second.

With two races remaining in the 2009 season, Vettel’s win maintained his slim hopes of winning the Drivers Championship. Ultimately, Button would win that year with Brawn GP, the Constructors’.

2009 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	15	Sebastian Vettel	RBR Renault	53	1:28:20.443	10
2	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	53	+4.877s	8
3	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	53	+6.472s	6
4	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+7.940s	5
5	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	53	+8.793s	4
6	6	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	53	+9.509s	3
7	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn Mercedes	53	+10.641s	2
8	22	Jenson Button	Brawn Mercedes	53	+11.474s	1
9	5	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	53	+11.777s	0
10	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	53	+13.065s	0
11	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	53	+13.735s	0
12	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	53	+14.596s	0
13	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	53	+14.959s	0
14	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India Mercedes	53	+15.734s	0
15	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams Toyota	53	+17.973s	0
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	52	+1 lap	0
17	14	Mark Webber	RBR Renault	51	+2 laps	0
NC	11	Jaime Alguersuari	STR Ferrari	43	DNF	0
NC	12	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	11	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 4 October

Birthday	F1 Driver
4 October 1906	Eitel Cantoni (d. 1997)
4 October 1927	Roberto Bussinello (d. 1999)
4 October 1928	Bob Scott (d. 1954)
4 October 1941	Karl Oppitzhauser

F1 Driver Deaths 4 October

Death	F1 Driver
4 October 1992	Denny Hulme (b. 1936)
4 October 1998	Tony Shelly (b. 1937)

F1 Champion 4 October

Date	Team/Driver
4 October 1970	Jochen Rindt
4 October 1970	Team Lotus

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Lee is our staff writer specialising in anything technical within Formula 1 from aerodynamics to engines. Lee writes most of our F1 guides for beginners and experienced fans as well as our F1 on this day posts having followed the sport since 1991, researching and understanding how teams build the ultimate machines. Like everyone else on the team he listens to podcasts about F1 and enjoys reading biographies of former drivers.