What Happened On This Day September 16 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, September 16 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1951

Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari won the 1951 Italian Grand Prix, beating championship contender and Alfa Romeo driver Juan Manuel Fangio, who retired on lap 39 due to engine issues. This victory cut Fangio’s lead in the 1951 Drivers’ Championship to two points. Ascari faced a setback when his car caught fire during a pit stop, but the fire was quickly extinguished, allowing him to continue. Fangio eventually secured the first of his five world titles at the season finale in Spain. Ascari’s teammate Jose Froilan Gonzalez finished second, while Alfa Romeo driven by both Felice Bonetto and Nino Farina secured third.

1951 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	80	2:42:39.300	8
2	6	Jose Froilan Gonzalez	Ferrari	80	+44.600s	6
3	40	Felice  Bonetto	Alfa Romeo		SHC	2
3	40	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	79	+1 lap	3
4	4	Luigi  Villoresi	Ferrari	79	+1 lap	3
5	8	Piero  Taruffi	Ferrari	78	+2 laps	2
6	48	Andre  Simon	Simca-Gordini	74	+6 laps	0
7	18	Louis  Rosier	Talbot-Lago	73	+7 laps	0
8	24	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago	72	+8 laps	0
9	44	Franco  Rol	OSCA	67	+13 laps	0
NC	38	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	39	DNF	0
NC	50	Maurice  Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	29	DNF	0
NC	46	Robert  Manzon	Simca-Gordini	29	DNF	0
NC	20	Louis  Chiron	Talbot-Lago	23	DNF	0
NC	22	Pierre  Levegh	Talbot-Lago	9	DNF	0
NC	28	Jacques Swaters	Talbot-Lago	7	DNF	0
NC	34	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	6	DNF	0
NC	26	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago	4	DNF	0
NC	36	Toulo de Graffenried	Alfa Romeo	1	DNF	0
NC	16	Peter  Whitehead	Ferrari	1	DNF	0
NC	12	Chico Landi	Ferrari	1	DNF	0

1962

Graham Hill won the 1962 Italian Grand Prix, marking his third victory of the season for the BRM team. This win contributed to his eventual World Championship title, which he secured later in the year at the 1962 South African Grand Prix. His teammate Richie Ginther finished second and Cooper driver Bruce McLaren came in third.

1962 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	14	Graham Hill	BRM	86	2:29:08.400	9
2	12	Richie Ginther	BRM	86	+29.800s	6
3	28	Bruce McLaren	Cooper Climax	86	+57.800s	4
4	8	Willy Mairesse	Ferrari	86	+58.200s	3
5	2	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	86	+91.300s	2
6	18	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	85	+1 lap	1
7	30	Tony Maggs	Cooper Climax	85	+1 lap	0
8	6	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	84	+2 laps	0
9	24	Nino Vaccarella	Lotus Climax	84	+2 laps	0
10	32	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	81	+5 laps	0
11	10	Phil Hill	Ferrari	81	+5 laps	0
12	38	Masten Gregory	Lotus BRM	77	+9 laps	0
13	16	Dan Gurney	Porsche	66	DNF	0
14	4	Ricardo  Rodriguez	Ferrari	63	DNF	0
NC	40	Innes Ireland	Lotus Climax	45	DNF	0
NC	46	John Surtees	Lola Climax	42	DNF	0
NC	44	Roy Salvadori	Lola Climax	41	DNF	0
NC	22	Trevor  Taylor	Lotus Climax	25	DNF	0
NC	48	Tony  Settember	Emeryson Climax	18	DNF	0
NC	36	Maurice  Trintignant	Lotus Climax	17	DNF	0
NC	20	Jim Clark	Lotus Climax	12	DNF	0

2001

The 2001 Italian Grand Prix was held under the shadow of the terrorist attacks in the USA, which occurred just five days prior. There were serious discussions about cancelling the race, but it ultimately proceeded in a sombre atmosphere. The Ferraris ran with black nose cones as a mark of respect. Michael Schumacher tried to organise a pact with the other drivers not to overtake at the first two corners, but BAR driver Jacques Villeneuve refused to comply. Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya went on to claim his first Formula One victory, while Schumacher finished fourth for Ferrari, his teammate Rubens Barrichello finished in second, and his brother, Ralf Schumacher finished in third.

2001 Italian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	53	1:16:58.493	10
2	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	53	+5.175s	6
3	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	53	+17.335s	4
4	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	53	+24.991s	3
5	19	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar Cosworth	53	+74.984s	2
6	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	53	+82.469s	1
7	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber Petronas	53	+83.107s	0
8	12	Jean Alesi	Jordan Honda	52	+1 lap	0
9	9	Olivier Panis	BAR Honda	52	+1 lap	0
10	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Renault	52	+1 lap	0
11	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	52	+1 lap	0
12	23	Tomas Enge	Prost Acer	52	+1 lap	0
13	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi European	51	+2 laps	0
NC	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows Asiatech	46	DNF	0
NC	20	Alex Yoong	Minardi European	44	DNF	0
NC	22	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Prost Acer	28	DNF	0
NC	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows Asiatech	25	DNF	0
NC	3	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	19	DNF	0
NC	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	14	DNF	0
NC	4	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	6	DNF	0
NC	8	Jenson Button	Benetton Renault	4	DNF	0
NC	11	Jarno Trulli	Jordan Honda	0	DNF	0

2007

The 2007 Belgian Grand Prix was a milestone for Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber, as they each started their 100th Grand Prix. Alonso finished on the podium in third place for McLaren, while Webber achieved his second-best result of the season by finishing seventh with Red Bull Racing. Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa finished in first and second, respectively, clinching the 2007 World Constructors Championship for the team.

The race was overshadowed by the death of former World Rally Champion Colin McRae in a helicopter crash during Saturday’s qualifying.

2007 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	44	1:20:39.066	10
2	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	44	+4.695s	8
3	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Mercedes	44	+14.343s	6
4	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	44	+23.615s	5
5	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	44	+51.879s	4
6	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	44	+76.876s	3
7	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Renault	44	+80.639s	2
8	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	44	+85.106s	1
9	10	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	44	+85.661s	0
10	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	44	+88.574s	0
11	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	44	+103.653s	0
12	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	STR Ferrari	43	+1 lap	0
13	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	43	+1 lap	0
14	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker Ferrari	43	+1 lap	0
15	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri Honda	43	+1 lap	0
16	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri Honda	43	+1 lap	0
17	21	Sakon Yamamoto	Spyker Ferrari	43	+1 lap	0
NC	7	Jenson Button	Honda	36	DNF	0
NC	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams Toyota	34	DNF	0
NC	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Renault	29	DNF	0
NC	19	Sebastian Vettel	STR Ferrari	8	DNF	0
NC	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	1	DNF	0

2009

Flavio Briatore resigned as boss of Renault amid the infamous Crashgate scandal, which had spiralled out of control. The team’s director of engineering, Pat Symonds, also stepped down. After initially denying allegations that Nelson Piquet Jr. had been instructed to crash during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Briatore shocked everyone by suddenly quitting. Long-time friend Bernie Ecclestone commented, “Well, I feel sorry for him actually. He told me recently he didn’t want to finish up like me, playing with racing cars at my age. So at least he’s been saved that embarrassment.” The scandal would continue for months and eventually land in a Paris court the following year.

2018

Lewis Hamilton secured victory at the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix, extending his lead in the 2018 Drivers’ Championship as Sebastian Vettel finished third for Ferrari, losing more ground to Hamilton. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen claimed second place. The race saw early drama on the first lap when the two Force India cars collided, with Esteban Ocon crashing into the wall after making contact with his teammate, Sergio Perez, which brought out the Safety Car.

2018 Singapore Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	61	1:51:11.611	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	61	+8.961s	18
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	61	+39.945s	15
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	61	+51.930s	12
5	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	61	+53.001s	10
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	61	+53.982s	8
7	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Renault	61	+103.011s	6
8	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	60	+1 lap	4
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber Ferrari	60	+1 lap	2
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	60	+1 lap	1
11	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	60	+1 lap	0
12	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren Renault	60	+1 lap	0
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	60	+1 lap	0
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams Mercedes	60	+1 lap	0
15	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	60	+1 lap	0
16	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	60	+1 lap	0
17	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	60	+1 lap	0
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	59	+2 laps	0
19	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Mercedes	59	+2 laps	0
NC	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India Mercedes	0	DNF	0
Note – Grosjean received a 5-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags.

F1 Driver Birthdays 16 September

Birthday	F1 Driver
16 September 1910	Karl Kling (d. 2003)
16 September 1914	Josef Peters (d. 2001)
16 September 1999	Robert Shwartzman

F1 Driver Deaths 16 September

Death	F1 Driver
16 September 1967	Erik Lundgren (b. 1919)
16 September 1979	Rob Slotemaker (b. 1929)
16 September 2005	Jean Kerguen (b. 1925) F2 Driver to Increase F1 Grid.

F1 Champion 16 September

Date	Team/Driver
16 September 2007	Ferrari