What Happened On This Day September 12 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, September 12 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1965

Lotus driver Jim Clark celebrated his 50th Grand Prix start by taking pole position for the 1965 Italian Grand Prix, but it was his fellow Scot, Jackie Stewart, who stole the honours on race day. Clark took the lead in his Lotus at the start, with the BRMs Stewart and Graham Hill in close pursuit. But after battling with the BRMs for 63 laps, a fuel pump failure meant there was to be no happy ending. Stewart was left to lead home Hill, with Dan Gurney finishing third in his Brabham-Climax.

1965 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	32	Jackie Stewart	BRM	76	2:04:52.800	9
2	30	Graham Hill	BRM	76	+3.300s	6
3	12	Dan Gurney	Brabham Climax	76	+16.500s	4
4	4	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	76	+75.900s	3
5	16	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Climax	75	+1 lap	2
6	40	Richard Attwood	Lotus BRM	75	+1 lap	1
7	42	Jo Bonnier	Brabham Climax	74	+2 laps	0
8	18	Jochen Rindt	Cooper Climax	74	+2 laps	0
9	38	Innes Ireland	Lotus BRM	74	+2 laps	0
10	24	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	63	DNF	0
11	26	Mike Spence	Lotus Climax	62	DNF	0
12	6	Nino Vaccarella	Ferrari	58	DNF	0
13	50	Roberto Bussinello	BRM	58	DNF	0
14	20	Richie Ginther	Honda	56	DNF	0
NC	14	Denny Hulme	Brabham Climax	46	DNF	0
NC	46	Frank Gardner	Brabham BRM	45	DNF	0
NC	44	Jo Siffert	Brabham BRM	43	DNF	0
NC	28	Giacomo Russo	Lotus Climax	37	DNF	0
NC	8	John Surtees	Ferrari	34	DNF	0
NC	22	Ronnie Bucknum	Honda	27	DNF	0
NC	48	Masten Gregory	BRM	22	DNF	0
NC	10	Giancarlo Baghetti	Brabham Climax	12	DNF	0
NC	52	Giorgio Bassi	BRM	8	DNF	0

1976

Just five weeks after a priest was summoned to his bedside to read him the last rites following his horrific accident at the Nurburgring, a heroic Niki Lauda was back in his cockpit to race in the 1976 Italian Grand Prix despite horrific burns. The plan had been to wait another month, but James Hunt‘s success meant Lauda needed to get back to protect his championship lead. Even Ferrari was caught out by his bravery and had to run an extra car for Carlos Reutemann, who they had hired to drive in Lauda’s seat. However, Enzo Ferrari insisted Lauda’s well-being was the “sole responsibility of Niki and his doctors.” Incredibly, Lauda finished fourth and Reutemann ninth as Ronnie Peterson won the race for March from Clay Regazzoni in a Ferrari and the Ligier of Jacques Laffite.

1976 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

1982

Ferrari had already signed Rene Arnoux to race for them the following year, and Mario Andretti stepped in with Didier Pironi out of action. Arnoux proved his future employers had made a wise decision by leading home the Ferraris of Patrick Tambay and Andretti to win the 1982 Italian Grand Prix for Renault. John Watson‘s fourth-place finish for McLaren allowed him to close the gap to nine points in the championship battle with Williams driver Keke Rosberg.

1982 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	10	Ronnie Peterson	March Ford	52	1:30:35.600	9
2	2	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	52	+2.300s	6
3	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Matra	52	+3.000s	4
4	1	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	52	+19.400s	3
5	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell Ford	52	+19.500s	2
6	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell Ford	52	+35.700s	1
7	9	Vittorio Brambilla	March Ford	52	+43.900s	0
8	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow Ford	52	+52.900s	0
9	35	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	52	+57.500s	0
10	22	Jacky Ickx	Ensign Ford	52	+72.400s	0
11	28	John Watson	Penske Ford	52	+102.200s	0
12	19	Alan  Jones	Surtees Ford	51	+1 lap	0
13	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus Ford	51	+1 lap	0
14	18	Brett Lunger	Surtees Ford	50	+2 laps	0
15	30	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	50	+2 laps	0
16	24	Harald Ertl	Hesketh Ford	49	DNF	0
17	38	Henri Pescarolo	Surtees Ford	49	+3 laps	0
18	37	Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi	Tyrrell Ford	49	+3 laps	0
19	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow Ford	47	+5 laps	0
NC	7	Rolf Stommelen	Brabham Alfa Romeo	41	DNF	0
NC	34	Hans-Joachim Stuck	March Ford	23	DNF	0
NC	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	23	DNF	0
NC	11	James Hunt	McLaren Ford	11	DNF	0
NC	40	Larry Perkins	Boro Ford	8	DNF	0
NC	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham Alfa Romeo	4	DNF	0
NC	12	Jochen Mass	McLaren Ford	2	DNF	0

1993

Williams driver Damon Hill got away with a first-corner collision with Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger to win the 1993 Italian Grand Prix from the Ferrari of Jean Alesi and the McLaren of Michael Andretti. Hill was down to ninth at the end of the first lap but steadily carved his way through the field to close on teammate Alain Prost. With only four laps remaining, Prost’s blown engine handed Hill his third consecutive victory.

The race ended with a dramatic crash between the two Minardi’s, with Christian Fittipaldi flipping through the finish line. It did a near-perfect backflip and crash-landed, but quite incredibly, it kept moving on three wheels and passed the finish line.

As of the 2024 season, Andretti’s podium finish remains the last for an American driver in F1.

1993 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	0	Damon Hill	Williams Renault	53	1:17:07.509	10
2	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	53	+40.012s	6
3	7	Michael Andretti	McLaren Ford	52	+1 lap	4
4	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber	52	+1 lap	3
5	6	Riccardo Patrese	Benetton Ford	52	+1 lap	2
6	20	Erik Comas	Larrousse Lamborghini	51	+2 laps	1
7	24	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ford	51	+2 laps	0
8	23	Christian Fittipaldi	Minardi Ford	51	+2 laps	0
9	19	Philippe Alliot	Larrousse Lamborghini	51	+2 laps	0
10	22	Luca Badoer	Lola Ferrari	51	+2 laps	0
11	11	Pedro Lamy	Lotus Ford	49	DNF	0
12	2	Alain Prost	Williams Renault	48	DNF	0
13	4	Andrea de Cesaris	Tyrrell Yamaha	47	DNF	0
14	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell Yamaha	47	+6 laps	0
NC	21	Michele Alboreto	Lola Ferrari	23	DNF	0
NC	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	26	Mark Blundell	Ligier Renault	20	DNF	0
NC	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	15	DNF	0
NC	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Ford	14	DNF	0
NC	25	Martin Brundle	Ligier Renault	8	DNF	0
NC	8	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Ford	8	DNF	0

1999

With Michael Schumacher out of the championship picture after breaking his leg at Silverstone, Finn and McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen was expecting a clear run to his second successive Drivers’ title, but Eddie Irvine and Ferrari had other ideas. Hakkinen took pole at the 1999 Italian Grand Prix and led the race, but an uncharacteristic error saw him crash into retirement on lap 30. Although the Jordan of Heinz-Harald Frentzen went on to win the race, Irvine’s sixth-place finish drew him level on points with three rounds remaining. “A raging Hakkinen flung away his steering wheel, brushed aside marshals as he stomped the ground in exasperation, threw down a glove to release more frustration, and ultimately slumped on to his haunches to weep in his hands,” noted the Independent.

Ralf Schumacher in the Williams took second, while Mika Salo, standing in for injured Michael Schumacher, took third for Ferrari. Despite his setback, Hakkinen won the championship that season.

1999 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	8	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan Mugen Honda	53	1:17:02.923	10
2	6	Ralf Schumacher	Williams Supertec	53	+3.272s	6
3	3	Mika Salo	Ferrari	53	+11.932s	4
4	16	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart Ford	53	+17.630s	3
5	2	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	53	+18.142s	2
6	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	53	+27.402s	1
7	5	Alessandro Zanardi	Williams Supertec	53	+28.047s	0
8	22	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Supertec	53	+41.797s	0
9	11	Jean Alesi	Sauber Petronas	53	+42.198s	0
10	7	Damon Hill	Jordan Mugen Honda	53	+56.259s	0
11	18	Olivier Panis	Prost Peugeot	52	DNF	0
NC	17	Johnny Herbert	Stewart Ford	40	DNF	0
NC	15	Toranosuke Takagi	Arrows	35	DNF	0
NC	14	Pedro de la Rosa	Arrows	35	DNF	0
NC	1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	29	DNF	0
NC	19	Jarno Trulli	Prost Peugeot	29	DNF	0
NC	23	Ricardo Zonta	BAR Supertec	25	DNF	0
NC	20	Luca Badoer	Minardi Ford	23	DNF	0
NC	10	Alexander Wurz	Benetton Playlife	11	DNF	0
NC	12	Pedro Diniz	Sauber Petronas	1	DNF	0
NC	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Playlife	1	DNF	0
NC	21	Marc Gene	Minardi Ford	0	DNF	0

2004

Rubens Barrichello led home Michael Schumacher for a Ferrari 1-2 at Monza for the 2004 Italian Grand Prix, to the delight of a delirious Tifosi. On a circuit that was still wet but drying quickly, some teams opted for slicks and others for wets. Barrichello carved out an early advantage on the latter before his tyres began to grain badly, causing the Brazilian to drop back before changing to slicks. However, the gap he had built was enough, with the Ferraris finishing ahead of the BAR duo of Jenson Button and Takuma Sato.

Elsewhere during the race, Gianmaria Bruni’s car caught fire during a routine pit stop in the Minardi pit garage when fuel spilled from the hose onto the hot bodywork. The fire was quickly extinguished without any serious injuries. However, Bruni inhaled some of the extinguishing agent and experienced breathing difficulties, leading the team to retire the car.

2004 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	53	1:15:18.448	10
2	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	+1.347s	8
3	9	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	53	+10.197s	6
4	10	Takuma Sato	BAR Honda	53	+15.370s	5
5	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	53	+32.352s	4
6	5	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	53	+33.439s	3
7	4	Antonio Pizzonia	Williams BMW	53	+33.752s	2
8	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber Petronas	53	+35.431s	1
9	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar Cosworth	53	+56.761s	0
10	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	53	+66.316s	0
11	16	Ricardo Zonta	Toyota	53	+82.531s	0
12	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	52	+1 lap	0
13	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar Cosworth	52	+1 lap	0
14	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan Ford	52	+1 lap	0
15	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi Cosworth	50	+3 laps	0
NC	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	40	DNF	0
NC	19	Giorgio Pantano	Jordan Ford	33	DNF	0
NC	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi Cosworth	29	DNF	0
NC	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	13	DNF	0
NC	17	Olivier Panis	Toyota	0	DNF	0

2010

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso secured victory from pole position at the 2010 Italian Grand Prix, marking Ferrari’s first win on home soil since 2006 and their last until 2019. Alonso crossed the finish line to the delight of the Tifosi, with Jenson Button less than three seconds behind in a McLaren. Felipe Massa finished third, completing a fantastic double home podium for Ferrari.

2010 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	53	1:16:24.572	25
2	1	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	53	+2.938s	18
3	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	53	+4.223s	15
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	RBR Renault	53	+28.196s	12
5	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	53	+29.942s	10
6	6	Mark Webber	RBR Renault	53	+31.276s	8
7	10	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams Cosworth	53	+32.812s	6
8	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	53	+34.028s	4
9	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	53	+44.948s	2
10	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams Cosworth	53	+64.213s	1
11	16	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	53	+65.056s	0
12	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India Mercedes	53	+66.106s	0
13	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	53	+78.919s	0
14	22	Pedro de la Rosa	Sauber Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
15	17	Jaime Alguersuari	STR Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
16	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	52	+1 lap	0
17	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Cosworth	51	+2 laps	0
18	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Cosworth	51	+2 laps	0
19	20	Sakon Yamamoto	HRT Cosworth	51	+2 laps	0
20	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Cosworth	50	+3 laps	0
NC	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Cosworth	46	DNF	0
NC	21	Bruno Senna	HRT Cosworth	11	DNF	0
NC	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	0	DNF	0
NC	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	0	DNF	0

2012

Sid Watkins was a British neurosurgeon who sadly passed away on 12 September 2012 at the age of 84. Born on 6 September 1928, he became well-known in Formula One for his role as the sport’s chief medical officer, a position he held from 1978 to 2004. Watkins was instrumental in improving safety standards in F1, advocating for better medical facilities and rapid response teams, and introducing safety measures that have significantly reduced fatalities and serious injuries in the sport. He was highly respected for his quick response and expertise during numerous on-track incidents, saving the lives of several drivers, namely Martin Donnelly, Rubens Barrichello, Mika Hakkinen and Karl Wendlinger.

2021

McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, who capitalised on a strong front-row start and an incident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to take the lead. Ricciardo was joined by his teammate Lando Norris in second, with Mercedes‘ Valtteri Bottas finishing third. This victory marked Ricciardo’s first since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix and remains his latest win to date. It also marked McLaren’s first Grand Prix victory since Jenson Button’s 2012 win in Brazil and their last until Lando Norris’ triumph at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix. Additionally, it was McLaren’s first 1-2 finish since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix and their first win at Monza since the 2012 Italian Grand Prix, as well as their first double podium since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. As of 2024, this race marks the final Grand Prix appearance for Robert Kubica and the last win for an Australian driver until Oscar Piastri‘s victory at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix.

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2021 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren Mercedes	53	1:21:54.365	26
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	53	+1.747s	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	53	+4.921s	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	53	+7.309s	12
5	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda	53	+8.723s	10
6	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	53	+10.535s	8
7	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Mercedes	53	+15.804s	6
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine Renault	53	+17.201s	4
9	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	53	+19.742s	2
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	53	+20.868s	1
11	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	53	+23.743s	0
12	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Mercedes	53	+24.621s	0
13	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	53	+27.216s	0
14	88	Robert Kubica	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	53	+29.769s	0
15	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas Ferrari	53	+51.088s	0
NC	9	Nikita Mazepin	Haas Ferrari	41	DNF	0
NC	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	25	DNF	0
NC	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	25	DNF	0
NC	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri Honda	3	DNF	0
NC	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri Honda	0	DNS	0
Note – Ricciardo scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Perez received a 5-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

F1 Driver Birthdays 12 September

Birthday	F1 Driver
12 September 1910	Billy DeVore (d. 1985)
12 September 1916	Tony Bettenhausen (d. 1961)
12 September 1944	Eddie Keizan (d. 2016)
12 September 1948	Jean-Louis Schlesser

F1 Driver Deaths 12 September

Death	F1 Driver
12 September 2004	Jack Turner (b. 1920)

Death	F1 Mentions
12 September 2012	Sid Watkins (b. 1928) Commonly known within the Formula One fraternity as Professor Sid or simply Prof, he was an English neurosurgeon and as well as improving safety in Formula One, Watkins helped save the lives of many drivers.