What Happened On This Day October 8 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, October 8 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1961

Colin Chapman’s Lotus took its first Formula One win at the 1961 United States Grand Prix, although the historic victory was somewhat overshadowed by the death of Wolfgang Von Trips at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix a month earlier. As a result of Von Trips’ fatal accident, the newly-crowned American champion Phil Hill and his Ferrari team did not take part in the race and the home fans had to make do with Hill driving past in the back of a Ford Thunderbird during a pre-race parade. One British participant even said, “[Ferrari] always spoil the fun with their damned intensity anyway.” On race day, Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss traded positions at the front in the early stages, Moss in the Rob Walker Lotus that had already won at Monaco earlier that year. However, both had mechanical glitches and were forced to retire, handing Innes Ireland the lead and the eventual win. After the race Ireland admitted that he too had come close to disaster: “I was lucky. I could not take Moss or Brabham, their cars were too fast. I had no fuel pressure in the last ten laps, and ended up with a thimbleful of gas at the finish.” The win turned out to be Ireland’s one and only of his career but the first of many for Lotus. Second place went to Dan Gurney for Porsche and third to BRM driver Tony Brooks.

1961 United States Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	15	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax	100	2:13:45.800	9
2	12	Dan Gurney	Porsche	100	+4.300s	6
3	5	Tony Brooks	BRM Climax	100	+49.000s	4
4	2	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Climax	100	+58.000s	3
5	4	Graham Hill	BRM Climax	99	+1 lap	2
6	11	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	98	+2 laps	1
NC	19	Roy Salvadori	Cooper Climax	96	DNF	0
7	14	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	96	+4 laps	0
8	6	Roger  Penske	Cooper Climax	96	+4 laps	0
9	16	Peter  Ryan	Lotus Climax	96	+4 laps	0
10	3	Hap  Sharp	Cooper Climax	93	+7 laps	0
11	21	Olivier  Gendebien	Lotus Climax		DNF	0
11	21	Masten Gregory	Lotus Climax	92	+8 laps	0
NC	26	Lloyd  Ruby	Lotus Climax	76	DNF	0
NC	17	Jim  Hall	Lotus Climax	76	DNF	0
NC	7	Stirling Moss	Lotus Climax	58	DNF	0
NC	1	Jack Brabham	Cooper Climax	57	DNF	0
NC	22	Masten Gregory	Lotus Climax	23	DNF	0
NC	60	Walt  Hansgen	Cooper Climax	14	DNF	0
NC	18	John Surtees	Cooper Climax	0	DNF	0

1972

Jackie Stewart won the final race of the 1972 season ahead of Tyrrell team-mate Francois Cevert to land the team a record-breaking $97,500 in prize money at the 1972 United States Grand Prix. It was a show of supremacy from the 1971 champion, who had recently lost his crown to Emerson Fittipaldi but would fight back the following year. Stewart started from pole and after one lap was three seconds up on second-place Denny Hulme for McLaren. By lap 20 he was 20 seconds up and the focus turned to second place, over which Cevert was worrying Hulme. He passed on lap 35, leaving Hulme in third and securing a one-two for Tyrrell. Fourth place was left to be fought out between Jacky Ickx and Ronnie Peterson and when white smoke started spewing from the back of Ickx’s Ferrari, Peterson drew level and started waving frantically at his rival’s engine. The distraction tactics worked and Peterson managed to pass Ickx in the final laps to cross the line 0.5 seconds ahead.

This was the debut race of the future world champion Jody Scheckter.

1972 United States Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell Ford	59	1:41:45.354	9
2	2	Francois  Cevert	Tyrrell Ford	59	+32.268s	6
3	19	Denny Hulme	McLaren Ford	59	+37.528s	4
4	4	Ronnie Peterson	March Ford	59	+82.516s	3
5	7	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	59	+83.119s	2
6	9	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	58	+1 lap	1
7	3	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell Ford	58	+1 lap	0
8	8	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	58	+1 lap	0
9	21	Jody Scheckter	McLaren Ford	58	+1 lap	0
10	12	Reine  Wisell	Lotus Ford	57	+2 laps	0
11	28	Graham Hill	Brabham Ford	57	+2 laps	0
12	34	Sam  Posey	Surtees Ford	57	+2 laps	0
13	6	Mike  Beuttler	March Ford	57	+2 laps	0
14	26	Henri Pescarolo	March Ford	57	+2 laps	0
15	18	Chris Amon	Matra	57	+2 laps	0
16	33	Skip  Barber	March Ford	57	+2 laps	0
17	23	Mike Hailwood	Surtees Ford	56	DNF	0
18	20	Peter  Revson	McLaren Ford	54	DNF	0
NC	5	Niki Lauda	March Ford	49	+10 laps	0
NC	27	Carlos Pace	March Ford	48	DNF	0
NC	14	Peter  Gethin	BRM	47	DNF	0
NC	16	Howden  Ganley	BRM	44	DNF	0
NC	11	Dave  Walker	Lotus Ford	44	DNF	0
NC	30	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham Ford	43	DNF	0
NC	17	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	40	DNF	0
NC	15	Brian  Redman	BRM	34	DNF	0
NC	29	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham Ford	31	DNF	0
NC	25	Andrea de Adamich	Surtees Ford	25	DNF	0
NC	22	Tim  Schenken	Surtees Ford	22	DNF	0
NC	10	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus Ford	17	DNF	0
NC	31	Derek Bell	Tecno	8	DNF	0

1978

Gilles Villeneuve became the first Canadian to win a Formula One Grand Prix and did it in style on home soil for Ferrari. For the first time in its race history, the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix took place on the Ile de Notre Dame circuit (later named after Villeneuve) in Montreal, which had been the venue for Expo 67 and the 1976 Olympic Games. Jean-Pierre Jarier took pole in the Lotus, which had been dominant all season long and had taken Mario Andretti to the title three races earlier. It looked as though the Frenchman would win with ease but on lap 50 he retired to the pits with brake failure. That handed the lead to Villeneuve, who had passed Alan Jones and Jody Scheckter earlier in the race, and he went on to finish the remaining 20 laps in the lead, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Scheckter finished in second for Wolf, while Villeneuve’s teammate, Carlos Reutemann finished in third.

1978 Canadian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	70	1:57:49.196	9
2	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf Ford	70	+13.370s	6
3	11	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	70	+19.410s	4
4	35	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	70	+24.670s	3
5	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell Ford	70	+28.560s	2
6	22	Derek Daly	Ensign Ford	70	+54.480s	1
7	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell Ford	70	+81.250s	0
8	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren Ford	70	+86.560s	0
9	27	Alan  Jones	Williams Ford	70	+88.940s	0
10	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	69	+1 lap	0
11	66	Nelson Piquet	Brabham Alfa Romeo	69	+1 lap	0
12	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	65	+5 laps	0
NC	32	Keke Rosberg	ATS Ford	58	+12 laps	0
NC	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Matra	52	DNF	0
NC	7	James Hunt	McLaren Ford	51	DNF	0
NC	55	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Lotus Ford	49	DNF	0
NC	18	Rene Arnoux	Surtees Ford	37	DNF	0
NC	21	Bobby Rahal	Wolf Ford	16	DNF	0
NC	2	John Watson	Brabham Alfa Romeo	8	DNF	0
NC	1	Niki Lauda	Brabham Alfa Romeo	5	DNF	0
NC	16	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Shadow Ford	1	DNF	0
NC	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	0	DNF	0

2000

Michael Schumacher took Ferrari’s first Drivers’ Championship in over 20 years and his third title when he beat the McLaren of Mika Hakkinen in a straight fight at the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix. Schumacher started from pole but was beaten into the first corner by Hakkinen and only reclaimed the lead thanks to a Ross Brawn strategy from the Ferrari pit wall. The battle continued to rage until the last lap and as they crossed the line, Hakkinen finished just 1.8 seconds behind Schumacher. “At the start Mika was very quick and there was nothing I could do,” Schumacher said after the race. “We made some adjustments at the first stop and they helped. Then we saw Mika going in for his second stop and I still had two laps to go. That was the crucial time, but I had some traffic and a Benetton had spun and was moving backwards in front of me as I came into the pits. I did not think I had done enough. But as I went down the pit lane, Ross Brawn was saying ‘it’s looking good, it’s looking good’. Then he said ‘it’s looking bloody good!’ It was the most amazing moment of my racing career.

“We have been working for this for five years and three times we got close. This is simply outstanding and special because it is with Ferrari and means much more to me than my other titles. Imagine what is happening in Italy right now. It must be fantastic. We will have to improvise our celebration as I told everyone not to plan anything as I felt it would be unlucky.”

Hakkinen’s teammate David Coulthard completed the podium in third.

2000 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	1:29:53.435	10
2	1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	53	+1.837s	6
3	2	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	53	+69.914s	4
4	4	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	53	+79.190s	3
5	10	Jenson Button	Williams BMW	53	+85.694s	2
6	22	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	52	+1 lap	1
7	8	Johnny Herbert	Jaguar Cosworth	52	+1 lap	0
8	7	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	52	+1 lap	0
9	23	Ricardo Zonta	BAR Honda	52	+1 lap	0
10	17	Mika Salo	Sauber Petronas	52	+1 lap	0
11	16	Pedro Diniz	Sauber Petronas	52	+1 lap	0
12	18	Pedro de la Rosa	Arrows Supertec	52	+1 lap	0
13	6	Jarno Trulli	Jordan Mugen Honda	52	+1 lap	0
14	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Playlife	52	+1 lap	0
15	21	Gaston Mazzacane	Minardi Fondmetal	51	+2 laps	0
NC	20	Marc Gene	Minardi Fondmetal	46	DNF	0
NC	9	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	41	DNF	0
NC	15	Nick Heidfeld	Prost Peugeot	41	DNF	0
NC	12	Alexander Wurz	Benetton Playlife	37	DNF	0
NC	5	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan Mugen Honda	29	DNF	0
NC	14	Jean Alesi	Prost Peugeot	19	DNF	0
NC	19	Jos Verstappen	Arrows Supertec	9	DNF	0

2006

Fernando Alonso put one hand on his second world Drivers’ trophy with victory at the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix after Michael Schumacher retired with an engine failure. The pair arrived at the Suzuka circuit level on points, but after Ferrari outpaced Renault in qualifying it looked as though Schumacher would win and take a points advantage to the final round in Brazil, where he had planned to retire from F1 after the race. However, on lap 36 a plume of white smoke came from the right bank of his Ferrari V8 and he pulled aside at the exit of Degner 2. As Alonso drove past he gave Schumacher a cheeky wave before continuing on to victory and a 10-point lead in the title chase. After the race, Schumacher admitted that his title aspirations were over despite the slim chance of victory if Alonso retired from Brazil. “As for the drivers’ championship, it is lost,” he said. “I don’t want to head off for a race, hoping that my rival has to retire. That is not the way in which I want to win the title.”

Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa finished third, while Alonso’s teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, finished third.

2006 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Fernando Alonso	Renault	53	1:23:53.413	10
2	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	53	+16.151s	8
3	2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	53	+23.953s	6
4	12	Jenson Button	Honda	53	+34.101s	5
5	3	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	53	+43.596s	4
6	8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	53	+46.717s	3
7	7	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	53	+48.869s	2
8	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	53	+76.095s	1
9	17	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	53	+76.932s	0
10	10	Nico Rosberg	Williams Cosworth	52	+1 lap	0
11	4	Pedro de la Rosa	McLaren Mercedes	52	+1 lap	0
12	11	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	52	+1 lap	0
13	15	Robert Doornbos	RBR Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
14	20	Vitantonio Liuzzi	STR Cosworth	52	+1 lap	0
15	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri Honda	52	+1 lap	0
16	18	Tiago Monteiro	MF1 Toyota	51	+2 laps	0
17	23	Sakon Yamamoto	Super Aguri Honda	50	+3 laps	0
18	21	Scott Speed	STR Cosworth	48	DNF	0
NC	9	Mark Webber	Williams Cosworth	39	DNF	0
NC	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	36	DNF	0
NC	14	David Coulthard	RBR Ferrari	35	DNF	0
NC	19	Christijan Albers	MF1 Toyota	20	DNF	0

2017

At the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton dominated the race, starting from pole position and controlling the pace to secure victory. Red Bull‘s Max Verstappen placed significant pressure towards the end of the race but ultimately finished in second place, unable to close the gap on Hamilton. Verstappen’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium in third. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton’s closest title rival, faced a major setback as he was forced to retire early due to a spark plug failure, severely damaging his championship hopes.

This race marked Jolyon Palmer’s final Grand Prix, as Carlos Sainz replaced him for the remainder of the 2017 season. Sainz, meanwhile, competed in his last race for Toro Rosso before moving to Renault to take over Palmer’s seat.

2017 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:27:31.194	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	53	+1.211s	18
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	53	+9.679s	15
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	53	+10.580s	12
5	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+32.622s	10
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India Mercedes	53	+67.788s	8
7	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	53	+71.424s	6
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	53	+88.953s	4
9	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	53	+89.883s	2
10	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	52	+1 lap	1
11	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	52	+1 lap	0
12	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	52	+1 lap	0
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	52	+1 lap	0
14	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren Honda	52	+1 lap	0
15	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber Ferrari	51	+2 laps	0
NC	18	Lance Stroll	Williams Mercedes	45	DNF	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	40	DNF	0
NC	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	7	DNF	0
NC	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	4	DNF	0
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	0	DNF	0

2023

The 2023 Qatar Grand Prix saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claim victory, further cementing his dominance in the season after already securing the 2023 Drivers’ Championship in the Sprint race the day before. Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had a dramatic first-lap incident, which led to Hamilton’s retirement, while Russell recovered impressively to finish fourth. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had won the Sprint, put in another stellar performance, finishing second, while his teammate Lando Norris completed the podium in third. The race was also notable for the challenging conditions, with high temperatures leading to driver fatigue and a mandatory three-stop/18-lap maximum tyre stint strategy to manage tyre degradation effectively. The mandate, the first of its kind in Formula One history.

2023 Qatar Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	57	1:27:39.168	26
2	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	57	+4.833s	18
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	57	+5.969s	15
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	57	+34.119s	12
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	57	+38.976s	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	57	+49.032s	8
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	57	+62.390s	6
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	57	+66.563s	4
9	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	57	+76.127s	2
10	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	57	+80.181s	1
11	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	57	+81.652s	0
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	57	+82.300s	0
13	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	57	+91.014s	0
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	56	+1 lap	0
15	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri Honda RBPT	56	+1 lap	0
16	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	56	+1 lap	0
17	40	Liam Lawson	AlphaTauri Honda RBPT	56	+1 lap	0
NC	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes	40	DNF	0
NC	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	0	DNF	0
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	0	DNS	0
Note – Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Perez and Gasly received three five-second time penalties for track limits infringements. Stroll and Albon each received two five-second time penalties for track limits infringements.

F1 Driver Birthdays 8 October

Birthday	F1 Driver
8 October 1903	Yves Giraud-Cabantous (d. 1973)
8 October 1910	Spider Webb (d. 1990)
8 October 1919	Jack McGrath (d. 1955)
8 October 1920	Frank Dochnal (d. 2010)
8 October 1954	Huub Rothengatter

F1 Driver Deaths 8 October

Death	F1 Driver
8 October	None

F1 Champion 8 October

Date	Team/Driver
8 October 2000	Michael Schumacher