What Happened On This Day October 9 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, October 9 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1977

At the start of the 1977 Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park, Lotus driver Mario Andretti led from the McLaren of James Hunt, with Jochen Mass in third. Andretti and Hunt pulled away and built such a lead that as they came to lap third-placed Mass, Hunt collided with him, forcing him to retire. Unable to continue, an enraged Hunt angrily waved his fist at Mass and struck a marshal attempting to guide him away. He was later fined $2000 for assaulting the marshal and $750 for returning to the pit lane in an “unsafe manner.” After debuting for Ferrari, Gilles Villeneuve made progress but spun twice, eventually retiring. Andretti’s engine blew in the final laps, causing several cars to spin in the resulting oil, including Patrese, Keegan, Brambilla, and Villeneuve. Andretti’s exit allowed Jody Scheckter, driving for Wolf, to secure victory, with Patrick Depailler, driving for Tyrrell in second and Mass recovering to finish third.

1977 Canadian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	20	Jody Scheckter	Wolf Ford	80	1:40:00.000	9
2	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell Ford	80	+6.770s	6
3	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren Ford	80	+15.760s	4
4	17	Alan Jones	Shadow Ford	80	+46.690s	3
5	23	Patrick Tambay	Ensign Ford	80	+63.260s	2
6	19	Vittorio Brambilla	Surtees Ford	78	DNF	1
7	14	Danny Ongais	Penske Ford	78	+2 laps	0
8	9	Alex Ribeiro	March Ford	78	+2 laps	0
9	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	77	DNF	0
10	16	Riccardo Patrese	Shadow Ford	76	DNF	0
11	30	Brett Lunger	McLaren Ford	76	DNF	0
12	21	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	76	DNF	0
NC	1	James Hunt	McLaren Ford	61	DNF	0
NC	27	Patrick Neve		56	DNF	0
NC	3	Ronnie Peterson	Tyrrell Ford	34	DNF	0
NC	24	Rupert Keegan	Hesketh Ford	32	DNF	0
NC	18	Hans Binder	Surtees Ford	31	DNF	0
NC	28	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	29	DNF	0
NC	10	Ian Scheckter	March Ford	29	DNF	0
NC	12	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	20	DNF	0
NC	8	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Brabham Alfa Romeo	19	DNF	0
NC	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus Ford	17	DNF	0
NC	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Matra	12	DNF	0
NC	7	John Watson	Brabham Alfa Romeo	1	DNF	0
NC	22	Clay Regazzoni	Ensign Ford	0	DNF	0

2005

McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen delivered one of the greatest comeback victories in F1 history at the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix, starting from 17th on the grid and taking the lead on the final lap from the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella. Fisichella ultimately had to settle for second place despite leading much of the race. At the same time, his teammate Fernando Alonso came through the field from sixteenth, including an overtake on the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher around the outside of 130R to finish third.

The race also saw Ralf Schumacher’s sixth and final pole position in Formula One and Raikkonen’s last win for the McLaren team.

2005 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	9	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	53	1:29:02.212	10
2	6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	53	+1.633s	8
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	53	+17.456s	6
4	7	Mark Webber	Williams BMW	53	+22.274s	5
5	3	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	53	+29.507s	4
6	14	David Coulthard	RBR Cosworth	53	+31.601s	3
7	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	+33.879s	2
8	17	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	53	+49.548s	1
9	15	Christian Klien	RBR Cosworth	53	+51.925s	0
10	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	53	+57.509s	0
11	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	53	+60.633s	0
12	11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber Petronas	53	+83.221s	0
13	18	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan Toyota	52	+1 lap	0
14	20	Robert Doornbos	Minardi Cosworth	51	+2 laps	0
15	19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan Toyota	51	+2 laps	0
16	21	Christijan Albers	Minardi Cosworth	49	+4 laps	0
NC	8	Antonio Pizzonia	Williams BMW	9	+1 lap	0
NC	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	9	DNF	0
NC	10	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren Mercedes	0	DNF	0

2011

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel finished in third at the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix, which was enough to secure the World Championship, his second title in sucession. Jenson Button, driving for McLaren, took the win with the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso finishing second after fighting his way through the field from fith.

2011 Japanese Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

2011 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	4	Jenson Button	McLaren	53	1:30:53.427	25
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	53	+1.160	18
3	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	53	+2.006	15
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	53	+8.071	12
5	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	53	+24.268	10
6	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	53	+27.120	8
7	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	53	+28.240	6
8	17	Sergio Pérez	Sauber	53	+39.377	4
9	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	53	+42.607	2
10	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	53	+44.322	1
11	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	53	+54.447	0
12	15	Paul di Resta	Force India	53	+1:02.326	0
13	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	53	+1:03.705	0
14	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	53	+1:04.194	0
15	19	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	53	+1:06.623	0
16	9	Bruno Senna	Renault	53	+1:12.628	0
17	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	53	+1:14.191	0
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Team Lotus	53	+1:27.824	0
19	21	Jarno Trulli	Team Lotus	53	+1:36.140	0
20	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	51	+2 Laps	0
21	25	Jérôme d’Ambrosio	Virgin Racing	51	+2 Laps	0
22	22	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT	51	+2 Laps	0
23	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT	50	+3 Laps	0
Ret	18	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	11	Wheel	0

2016

In the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg put in a dominant performance at Suzuka, leading the race from start to finish and strengthening his bid for the World Championship. His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, had a poor start that saw him drop down the order, though he eventually recovered to finish third. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took advantage of Hamilton’s misfortune and held onto second place, showcasing his emerging talent. This race was pivotal in Rosberg’s successful campaign to win his first and only World Championship.

Before the race, Mercedes led Red Bull by 194 points in the 2016 Constructors’ Championship. With a first and third-place finish earning them forty points, Mercedes secured their third consecutive title.

2016 Japanese Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

2016 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	53	1:26:43.333	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	53	+4.978	18
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	+5.776	15
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	53	+20.269	12
5	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+28.370	10
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	53	+33.941	8
7	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	53	+57.495	6
8	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	53	+59.177	4
9	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	53	+1:37.763	2
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	53	+1:38.323	1
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	53	+1:39.254	0
12	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	52	+1 Lap	0
13	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	52	+1 Lap	0
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	52	+1 Lap	0
15	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	52	+1 Lap	0
16	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	52	+1 Lap	0
17	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	52	+1 Lap	0
18	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	52	+1 Lap	0
19	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	52	+1 Lap	0
20	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Haas	52	+1 Lap	0
21	31	Esteban Ocon	Manor Racing	52	+1 Lap	0
22	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor Racing	52	+1 Lap	0

2022

The 2022 Japanese Grand Prix was a chaotic race, marked by heavy rain and a red flag on lap 2 that delayed proceedings for more than two hours. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen managed to keep his composure and took the win, which ultimately secured his second consecutive World Championship. The race resumed under challenging conditions, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc initially finishing second but received a penalty for cutting the final chicane while defending against Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, dropping Leclerc to third, and promoting Perez to second for a Red Bull Racing 1-2 finish.

Although only 28 of the 53 laps were completed, full points were awarded due to a loophole in the rules, which stipulated reduced points only for races ending under red flag conditions. Since this race ended under green, full points were given. For 2023, the regulations were updated so that shortened race points apply to any race not reaching 75% distance, regardless of if a race finishes under red or green flag conditions.

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2022 Japanese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Status	Points
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-RBPT	28	58m 04.007s	25
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-RBPT	28	+27.066s	18
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	28	+31.516s (5.000s)	15
4	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	28	+39.685s	12
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	28	+40.326s	10
6	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes	28	+46.512s	8
7	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault	28	+47.603s	6
8	George Russell	Mercedes	28	+50.200s	4
9	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	28	+57.899s	2
10	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	28	+60.180s	1
11	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes	28	+1m 01.708s
12	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	28	+1m 02.074s
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-RBPT	28	+1m 13.898s
14	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	28	+1m 15.240s
15	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	28	+1m 17.763s
16	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	28	+1m 21.795s	1 FL
17	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-RBPT	28	+1 lap
18	Alex Albon	Williams-Mercedes	28	+1 lap
19	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari	27	+1 lap
R	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	0	DNF

Charles Leclerc received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his final-lap battle with Sergio Perez.
The race was heavily delayed and shortened because of rain, and only 28 laps were completed.
Carlos Sainz retired on the opening lap after crashing in wet conditions.

F1 Driver Birthdays 9 October

Birthday	F1 Driver
9 October 1928	Pat O’Connor (d. 1958)
9 October 1937	David Prophet (d. 1981)
9 October 1961	Julian Bailey

F1 Driver Deaths 9 October

Death	F1 Driver
9 October	None

F1 Champion 9 October

Date	Team/Driver
9 October 2011	Sebastian Vettel
9 October 2022	Max Verstappen
9 October 2016	Mercedes

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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.

What Happened On This Day October 9 In F1 History?