What Happened On This Day September 1 In F1 History?

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

1985

Stefan Bellof, a driver destined for greatness, tragically lost his life at the 1000 km of Spa World Sportscar Championship. He made a daring attempt to overtake at the perilous Eau Rouge corner in his Porsche 956, resulting in a fatal accident. Known for his electrifying driving style and often pushing the limits of control, Bellof made his Formula One debut in 1984 with Tyrrell. During that year’s Monaco Grand Prix, he was challenging for victory in the rain-soaked race before it was stopped while he was in third place, closing in on Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. Unfortunately, Tyrrell was later found guilty of a technical infringement, leading to Bellof’s disqualification from the entire season. Before his untimely death, he had already secured six wins for Porsche and was on his way to a sixth when tragedy struck.

1994

Carlos Sainz was born on 1 September 1994 in Madrid, Spain. He is the son of two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz Sr. and began his career in motorsport with karting before progressing through junior formulas. Sainz made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso in 2015, later moving to Renault and then McLaren, where he achieved his first podium in 2019. In 2021, he joined Scuderia Ferrari before making another team move, this time to Williams Racing for the 2025 season.

2002

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari dominated the 2002 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, where his performance was so commanding that some reporters described it as “another massacre at Malmedy.” Schumacher secured a record-breaking tenth win of the season and his seventh victory at Spa, finishing ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello and Juan Pablo Montoya of Williams. The race saw little overtaking, underscoring Schumacher’s dominance.

2002 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	44	1:21:20.634	10
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	44	+1.977s	6
3	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	44	+18.445s	4
4	3	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	44	+19.357s	3
5	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	44	+56.440s	2
6	16	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	44	+77.370s	1
7	24	Mika Salo	Toyota	44	+77.809s	0
8	11	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	44	+79.855s	0
9	25	Allan McNish	Toyota	43	+1 lap	0
10	7	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	43	+1 lap	0
11	10	Takuma Sato	Jordan Honda	43	+1 lap	0
12	12	Olivier Panis	BAR Honda	39	DNF	0
NC	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Honda	38	DNF	0
NC	17	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar Cosworth	37	DNF	0
NC	8	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	37	DNF	0
NC	4	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	35	DNF	0
NC	14	Jarno Trulli	Renault	35	DNF	0
NC	22	Anthony Davidson	Minardi Asiatech	17	DNF	0
NC	15	Jenson Button	Renault	10	DNF	0
NC	23	Mark Webber	Minardi Asiatech	4	DNF	0

2003

Cornelius Horan, a former priest who infamously ran onto the track during the 2003 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, was released from custody after six weeks on remand. Horan believed that divine intervention protected him and the drivers during his protest. He claimed that he only invaded the track because a gate leading to it had been left open, which he interpreted as a sign from God.

2007

Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya announced his ambition to bring India into Formula One by partnering with Spyker‘s Formula One director Michiel Mol to make an 80 million euro bid for the struggling team. “Team India is on the F1 grid,” Mallya declared at a press conference. His dream became a reality when his Force India team made its debut at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix.

2019

Charles Leclerc claimed victory at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix, becoming the first driver from Monaco to win a Formula One Grand Prix. He was followed by Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in second and third place, respectively. The event was marked by several tributes to French driver Anthoine Hubert, who tragically passed away the previous day in a Formula 2 feature race. Leclerc, a close friend of Hubert, dedicated his win to him.

2019 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	44	1:23:45.710	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	44	+0.981s	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	44	+12.585s	15
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	44	+26.422s	13
5	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing Honda	44	+81.325s	10
6	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	44	+84.448s	8
7	26	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	44	+89.657s	6
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	44	+106.639s	4
9	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	44	+109.168s	2
10	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	44	+109.838s	1
11	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Renault	43	DNF	0
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	43	+1 lap	0
13	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	43	+1 lap	0
14	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	43	+1 lap	0
15	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	43	+1 lap	0
16	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	43	+1 lap	0
17	88	Robert Kubica	Williams Mercedes	43	+1 lap	0
18	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	42	DNF	0
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Renault	1	DNF	0
NC	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	0	DNF	0
Note – Vettel scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.

2024

On this day, Charles Leclerc secured a sensational victory at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix on Ferrari’s home turf, fending off the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. Mclaren teammate Lando Norris completed the podium in third place. Leclerc’s win, his second of the season, came courtesy of a strategic one-stop approach that saw him finish 2.6 seconds ahead of Piastri. Despite starting as favourites with a front-row lockout, McLaren’s race strategy faced early challenges when Piastri overtook Norris on the first lap. This left Norris trailing and unable to rejoin the battle for the lead, ultimately settling for third place. The result narrowed Norris’s gap to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship to 62 points after he finished in 6th place.

Full Race Report

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  2024 Italian Grand Prix: Full Weekend Report & Highlights

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	53	1:14:40.727	25
2	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	53	+2.664s	18
3	4	Lando Norris1	McLaren Mercedes	53	+6.153s	16
4	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	53	+15.621s	12
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	+22.820s	10
6	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	53	+37.932s	8
7	63	George Russell	Mercedes	53	+39.715s	6
8	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	53	+54.148s	4
9	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	53	+67.456s	2
10	20	Kevin Magnussen3	Haas Ferrari	53	+68.302s	1
11	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	53	+68.495s	0
12	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	53	+81.308s	0
13	3	Daniel Ricciardo2	RB-Honda RBPT	53	+93.452s	0
14	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	52	+1 lap	0
15	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	52	+1 lap	0
16	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
17	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
18	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
19	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	52	+1 lap	0
NC	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB-Honda RBPT	7	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 1 September

Birthday	F1 Driver
1 September 1968	Franck Lagorce
1 September 1994	Carlos Sainz

F1 Driver Deaths 1 September

Death	F1 Driver
1 September 1985	Stefan Bellof (b. 1957)