What Happened On This Day September 20 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, September 20 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1873

Ferenc Szisz, the first-ever Grand Prix winner, was born in Szeghalom, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Initially an engineer, he moved to France in 1900 and worked as a riding mechanic for Louis Renault before becoming a driver himself. In 1906, Szisz made history by winning the inaugural Grand Prix at Le Mans, driving a Renault AK 90CV.

1914

Born in Yorkshire, Peter Whitehead was the first Ferrari F1 privateer, having convinced Enzo Ferrari to sell him a Formula 1 car in 1949. In ten F1 starts, he achieved a podium finish once, notably leading the 1950 French Grand Prix before gearbox trouble dropped him to third. Tragically, in 1958, Whitehead was killed during the Tour de France Automobile when the Jaguar he was in, driven by his half-brother Graham, plunged off a bridge near Nimes.

1969

Belgian driver Jacky Ickx won the 1969 Canadian Grand Prix from pole position in a works Brabham. His teammate Jack Brabham finished second, and Jochen Rindt, in a works Lotus, was third.

This race marked the final World Championship Grand Prix featuring Climax-powered cars. One of the entrants, Al Pease, in an Eagle-Climax, became the only driver in F1 history to be disqualified for driving too slowly. The other Climax entrant, John Cordts in a Brabham-Climax, retired after just ten laps.

By finishing sixth, Johnny Servoz-Gavin made history as the first (and, as of 2024, only) driver to score points in a Formula One race driving a four-wheel-drive car.

1969 Canadian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	11	Jacky Ickx	Brabham Ford	90	1:59:25.700	9
2	12	Jack Brabham	Brabham Ford	90	+46.200s	6
3	2	Jochen Rindt	Lotus Ford	90	+52.000s	4
4	18	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra Ford	89	+1 lap	3
5	4	Bruce McLaren	McLaren Ford	87	+3 laps	2
6	19	Johnny  Servoz-Gavin	Matra Ford	84	+6 laps	1
7	25	Pete  Lovely	Lotus Ford	81	+9 laps	0
NC	16	Bill  Brack	BRM	80	+10 laps	0
NC	1	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	42	DNF	0
NC	9	Jo Siffert	Lotus Ford	40	DNF	0
NC	3	John  Miles	Lotus Ford	40	DNF	0
NC	6	Pedro Rodriguez	Ferrari	37	DNF	0
NC	17	Jackie Stewart	Matra Ford	32	DNF	0
DQ	69	Al  Pease	Eagle Climax	22	DSQ	0
NC	14	John Surtees	BRM	15	DNF	0
NC	21	Piers  Courage	Brabham Ford	13	DNF	0
NC	26	John  Cordts	Brabham Climax	10	DNF	0
NC	5	Denny Hulme	McLaren Ford	9	DNF	0
NC	15	Jackie Oliver	BRM	2	DNF	0
NC	20	Silvio  Moser	Brabham Ford	0	DNF	0

1970

Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx, who started from second on the grid, won the 1970 Canadian Grand Prix. His teammate Clay Regazzoni finished in second place, while Chris Amon, driving for March, secured third. This race also marked the debut of Tyrrell Racing as a constructor, with Jackie Stewart taking pole position in the team’s first appearance. Tim Schenken’s finish, 11 laps down, was the best result ever achieved by a De Tomaso-built car.

1970 Canadian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	18	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	90	2:21:18.400	9
2	19	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	90	+14.800s	6
3	20	Chris Amon	March Ford	90	+57.900s	4
4	14	Pedro Rodriguez	BRM	89	+1 lap	3
5	4	John Surtees	Surtees Ford	89	+1 lap	2
6	6	Peter  Gethin	McLaren Ford	88	+2 laps	1
7	24	Henri Pescarolo	Matra	87	+3 laps	0
8	23	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	85	OK	0
9	2	Francois  Cevert	March Ford	85	+5 laps	0
10	16	George Eaton	BRM	85	+5 laps	0
NC	10	Tim  Schenken	De Tomaso Ford	79	+11 laps	0
NC	9	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	77	+13 laps	0
NC	8	Andrea de Adamich	McLaren Alfa Romeo	69	DNF	0
NC	26	Ronnie Peterson	March Ford	65	+25 laps	0
NC	5	Denny Hulme	McLaren Ford	58	DNF	0
NC	11	Jack Brabham	Brabham Ford	57	DNF	0
NC	15	Jackie Oliver	BRM	52	+38 laps	0
NC	3	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell Ford	31	DNF	0
NC	12	Rolf Stommelen	Brabham Ford	23	DNF	0
NC	21	Jo Siffert	March Ford	22	DNF	0

1975

Juan Pablo Montoya was born on this day in Colombia. Known for his speed and aggression, Montoya joined Williams in 2001 after winning the Indianapolis 500. He was considered a potential challenger to Michael Schumacher, with his best year coming in 2003 when he narrowly missed out on the title after receiving a drive-through penalty at Indianapolis. Montoya switched to McLaren in 2005, winning three races, but left F1 in 2006, disillusioned with the sport. He then transitioned to racing in NASCAR in the United States.

1987

McLaren driver Alain Prost secured his 28th career win at the 1987 Portuguese Grand Prix, surpassing Jackie Stewart’s record of 27 victories. Prost’s relentless pursuit of leader Gerhard Berger paid off two laps from the end when Berger spun his Ferrari. “I wasn’t altogether surprised when he spun because we were both running very hard,” Prost remarked. The race, however, had to be restarted after a multi-car pile-up at the first corner stopped the initial attempt after only two laps. Off the track, Nigel Mansell made headlines, expressing frustration with the Honda engine in his Williams and claiming his car was “five miles-per-hour slower than the others.” He retired after 13 laps with engine trouble, severely denting his championship hopes. His teammate Nelson Piquet finished in third.

1987 Portuguese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Alain Prost	McLaren TAG	70	1:37:03.906	9
2	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	70	+20.493s	6
3	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams Honda	70	+63.295s	4
4	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton Ford	69	DNF	3
5	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren TAG	69	+1 lap	2
6	18	Eddie  Cheever	Arrows Megatron	68	+2 laps	1
7	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus Honda	68	+2 laps	0
8	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus Honda	68	+2 laps	0
9	16	Ivan Capelli	March Ford	67	+3 laps	0
10	3	Jonathan  Palmer	Tyrrell Ford	67	+3 laps	0
11	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi Motori Moderni	66	+4 laps	0
12	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell Ford	66	+4 laps	0
13	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows Megatron	66	+4 laps	0
14	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton Ford	64	+6 laps	0
NC	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham BMW	54	DNF	0
NC	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	38	DNF	0
NC	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	35	DNF	0
NC	22	Franco Forini	Osella Alfa Romeo	32	DNF	0
NC	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola Ford	31	DNF	0
NC	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier Megatron	29	DNF	0
NC	21	Alex Caffi	Osella Alfa Romeo	27	DNF	0
NC	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier Megatron	24	DNF	0
NC	23	Adrian Campos	Minardi Motori Moderni	24	DNF	0
NC	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams Honda	13	DNF	0
NC	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham BMW	13	DNF	0

1989

American driver Richie Ginther passed away from a heart attack while on holiday in France at the age of 59. Ginther made his F1 debut at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix, finishing sixth in a Ferrari, leading to a full-time drive with the team in 1961, where he gained significant attention after a fierce battle with Stirling Moss at that years Monaco GP. He finished just 3.6 seconds behind. Ginther’s career highlight was his sole F1 win at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix for Honda. After a dangerous incident at the Indianapolis 500 in 1967, he retired on the spot. In total, Ginther made 52 F1 starts, securing one win.

2015

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel won the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix from pole position, with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finishing second and Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen taking third. Mercedes struggled at Singapore, with Lewis Hamilton suffering his first-season retirement and Nico Rosberg managing only fourth, narrowing the championship gap between the two drivers to 41 points.

This was the only Grand Prix of the 2015 season where Mercedes failed to secure pole position, with their drivers qualifying in fifth and sixth.

2015 Singapore Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	61	2:01:22.118	25
2	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing Renault	61	+1.478s	18
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	61	+17.154s	15
4	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	61	+24.720s	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Mercedes	61	+34.204s	10
6	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing Renault	61	+35.508s	8
7	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	61	+50.836s	6
8	33	Max Verstappen	STR Renault	61	+51.450s	4
9	55	Carlos Sainz	STR Renault	61	+52.860s	2
10	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber Ferrari	61	+90.045s	1
11	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	61	+97.507s	0
12	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	61	+97.718s	0
13	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	59	DNF	0
14	53	Alexander Rossi	Marussia Ferrari	59	+2 laps	0
15	28	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	59	+2 laps	0
NC	22	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	52	DNF	0
NC	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	33	DNF	0
NC	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	32	DNF	0
NC	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	30	DNF	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	12	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 20 September

Birthday	F1 Driver
20 September 1921	Horace Gould (d. 1968)
20 September 1975	Juan Pablo Montoya

F1 Driver Deaths 20 September

Death	F1 Driver
20 September 1952	Bill Schindler (b. 1909)
20 September 1989	Richie Ginther (b. 1930)