What Happened On This Day September 25 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, September 25 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1942

Henri Pescarolo, born on this day in Montfermeil, Seine-Saint-Denis, entered Formula One with Matra after impressive performances in Formula Three, Formula Two, and sports car racing. However, his career was almost derailed when he suffered severe burns in a crash at Le Mans in 1969. Remarkably, he fully recovered and joined the Matra Formula One team in 1970, securing a third-place finish at Monaco. In 1971, he achieved fourth place at Silverstone, driving for Frank Williams’ March. Pescarolo eventually stepped away from Formula One, making sporadic returns, but by the end of 1976, he focused entirely on sports car racing. Notably, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours for the fourth time in 1984. Today, he continues to run one of Europe’s top sports car teams, nurturing young French talent and remains a prominent figure at Le Mans.

1982

Williams driver Keke Rosberg won his only Drivers’ Championship in the final race of the season the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, held in the car park of Caesars Palace Casino in Las Vegas. His fifth-place finish was enough to beat his only remaining rival, McLaren driver John Watson, who finished second to 25-year-old Michele Alboreto in a Tyrrell. American Eddie Cheever finished third for Ligier.

It was a chaotic weekend, as Rosberg had recently lost an appeal against a disqualification from the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix, which could have made Watson the champion. However, Rosberg held on, and this marked the third US Grand Prix of the season and the last to be held at Caesars Palace. 41 years later F1 returned to Vegas at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix held on a new circuit featuring the Las Vegas Strip.

Despite neither of the Ferrari drivers, Mario Andretti and Patrick Tambay, finishing in the top six, the team’s efforts earlier in the season saw them win the 1982 Constructors’ Championship at race end.

1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell Ford	75	1:41:56.888	9
2	7	John Watson	McLaren Ford	75	+27.290s	6
3	25	Eddie  Cheever	Ligier Matra	75	+56.450s	4
4	15	Alain Prost	Renault	75	+68.650s	3
5	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams Ford	75	+71.380s	2
6	5	Derek Daly	Williams Ford	74	+1 lap	1
7	29	Marc Surer	Arrows Ford	74	+1 lap	0
8	4	Brian Henton	Tyrrell Ford	74	+1 lap	0
9	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	73	+2 laps	0
10	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	73	+2 laps	0
11	30	Mauro Baldi	Arrows Ford	73	+2 laps	0
12	17	Rupert Keegan	March Ford	73	+2 laps	0
13	18	Raul Boesel	March Ford	69	+6 laps	0
NC	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS Ford	62	DNC	0
NC	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren Ford	53	DNF	0
NC	33	Tommy Byrne	Theodore Ford	39	DNF	0
NC	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman Hart	32	DNF	0
NC	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus Ford	28	DNF	0
NC	28	Mario Andretti	Ferrari	26	DNF	0
NC	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham BMW	26	DNF	0
NC	16	Rene Arnoux	Renault	20	DNF	0
NC	2	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham BMW	17	DNF	0
NC	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus Ford	8	DNF	0
NC	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Matra	5	DNF	0

1983

Nelson Piquet won the 1983 European Grand Prix in a Brabham at Brands Hatch, cutting Renault driver Alain Prost‘s lead, who claimed second in the race, at the top of the drivers’ standings to just two points with one race left. Nigel Mansell came home in third for Lotus.

At the next race in South Africa, Piquet finished third while Prost retired, allowing Piquet to win his second of three world titles. At Brands Hatch, Piquet had a comfortable six-and-a-half-second lead over Prost. While Derek Warwick, who finished fifth, experienced an exploding fire extinguisher in the cockpit of his Toleman: “The fluid kept pouring out for a lap and it was a bit like frostbite. My gear-changing hand simply froze solid and I had to work hard to get some feeling back into it.”

1983 European Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham BMW	76	1:36:45.865	9
2	15	Alain Prost	Renault	76	+6.571s	6
3	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus Renault	76	+30.315s	4
4	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	76	+34.396s	3
5	35	Derek Warwick	Toleman Hart	76	+44.915s	2
6	36	Bruno Giacomelli	Toleman Hart	76	+52.190s	1
7	6	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham BMW	76	+72.684s	0
8	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS BMW	75	+1 lap	0
9	28	Rene Arnoux	Ferrari	75	+1 lap	0
10	16	Eddie  Cheever	Renault	75	+1 lap	0
11	30	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows Ford	75	+1 lap	0
12	33	Roberto Guerrero	Theodore Ford	75	+1 lap	0
13	42	Jonathan  Palmer	Williams Ford	74	+2 laps	0
14	40	Stefan Johansson	Spirit Honda	74	+2 laps	0
15	26	Raul Boesel	Ligier Ford	73	+3 laps	0
NC	27	Patrick Tambay	Ferrari	67	DNF	0
NC	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell Ford	64	DNF	0
NC	32	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella Alfa Romeo	63	+13 laps	0
NC	29	Marc Surer	Arrows Ford	50	DNF	0
NC	1	Keke Rosberg	Williams Ford	43	DNF	0
NC	23	Mauro Baldi	Alfa Romeo	39	DNF	0
NC	7	John Watson	McLaren TAG	36	DNF	0
NC	4	Danny Sullivan	Tyrrell Ford	27	DNF	0
NC	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren TAG	25	DNF	0
NC	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus Renault	12	DNF	0

1988

The 71-lap, 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix, was won by Alain Prost in a McLaren-Honda, with Ivan Capelli finishing second in a March-Judd and Thierry Boutsen taking third in a Benetton-Ford. Prost’s teammate and championship contender, Ayrton Senna, finished a distant sixth.

Prost’s fifth win of the season, and his first since the 1988 French Grand Prix, combined with Senna’s sixth-place finish, kept him firmly in contention for his third World Championship.

1988 Portuguese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	11	Alain Prost	McLaren Honda	70	1:37:40.958	9
2	16	Ivan Capelli	March Judd	70	+9.553s	6
3	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton Ford	70	+44.619s	4
4	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows Megatron	70	+67.419s	3
5	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	70	+71.884s	2
6	12	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	70	+78.269s	1
7	36	Alex Caffi	Dallara Ford	69	+1 lap	0
8	24	Luis Perez-Sala	Minardi Ford	68	+2 laps	0
9	14	Philippe Streiff	AGS Ford	68	+2 laps	0
10	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier Judd	68	+2 laps	0
11	31	Gabriele Tarquini	Coloni Ford	65	+5 laps	0
12	21	Nicola Larini	Osella	63	+7 laps	0
NC	15	Mauricio Gugelmin	March Judd	59	DNF	0
NC	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams Judd	54	DNF	0
NC	3	Jonathan  Palmer	Tyrrell Ford	53	DNF	0
NC	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton Ford	52	DNF	0
NC	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	35	DNF	0
NC	1	Nelson Piquet	Lotus Honda	34	DNF	0
NC	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams Judd	29	DNF	0
NC	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ford	27	DNF	0
NC	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola Ford	20	DNF	0
NC	2	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus Honda	16	DNF	0
NC	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Rial Ford	11	DNF	0
NC	18	Eddie  Cheever	Arrows Megatron	10	DNF	0
NC	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola Ford	7	DNF	0
NC	26	Stefan Johansson	Ligier Judd	4	DNF	0

1994

At the 1994 Portuguese Grand Prix, Damon Hill led his Williams team-mate David Coulthard to the first British 1-2 finish since Hill’s father, Graham Hill, and Piers Courage achieved the feat at Monaco 25 years earlier. Coulthard had led early after the Ferrari of Gerhard Berger retired, but on lap 28, he ran wide at a hairpin, allowing Hill to pass. Coulthard admitted it was a “great overtaking manoeuvre” but noted he thought “we’d agreed we wouldn’t overtake at that corner.”

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1994 Portuguese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	0	Damon Hill	Williams Renault	71	1:41:10.165	10
2	2	David Coulthard	Williams Renault	71	+0.603s	6
3	7	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Peugeot	71	+20.193s	4
4	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan Hart	71	+28.003s	3
5	6	Jos Verstappen	Benetton Ford	71	+29.385s	2
6	8	Martin Brundle	McLaren Peugeot	71	+52.702s	1
7	15	Eddie Irvine	Jordan Hart	70	+1 lap	0
8	9	Christian Fittipaldi	Footwork Ford	70	+1 lap	0
9	10	Gianni Morbidelli	Footwork Ford	70	+1 lap	0
10	25	Eric Bernard	Ligier Renault	70	+1 lap	0
11	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Mugen Honda	70	+1 lap	0
12	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ford	69	+2 laps	0
13	24	Michele Alboreto	Minardi Ford	69	+2 laps	0
14	19	Yannick Dalmas	Larrousse Ford	69	+2 laps	0
15	32	Jean-Marc Gounon	Simtek Ford	67	+4 laps	0
16	11	Philippe Adams	Lotus Mugen Honda	67	+4 laps	0
NC	4	Mark Blundell	Tyrrell Yamaha	61	DNF	0
NC	5	Jyrki Jarvilehto	Benetton Ford	60	DNF	0
NC	29	Andrea de Cesaris	Sauber Mercedes	54	DNF	0
NC	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	38	DNF	0
NC	31	David Brabham	Simtek Ford	36	DNF	0
NC	30	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber Mercedes	31	DNF	0
NC	20	Erik Comas	Larrousse Ford	27	DNF	0
NC	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell Yamaha	26	DNF	0
NC	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	7	DNF	0

2005

Third place at the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix was enough for Renault’s Fernando Alonso to become the youngest world champion, at the time, at 24 years and 59 days. “The final laps seemed to take forever,” Alonso said. “It took a while for it to sink in once I stopped. I won the championship with maybe not the best car, so I am proud of what I did. Taking the title from Michael Schumacher is a bonus. I come from a country with no Formula One tradition, and I had to fight my way alone, with help from only two or three people.” Schumacher, reflecting on his title loss, remarked that he was “not sad” after his long reign.

McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya took first place while his teammate Kimi Raikkonen came home in P2 for a McLaren 1-2 finish.

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2005 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	10	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren Mercedes	71	1:29:20.574	10
2	9	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	71	+2.527s	8
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	71	+24.840s	6
4	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	71	+35.668s	5
5	6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	71	+40.218s	4
6	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	71	+69.173s	3
7	3	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	70	+1 lap	2
8	17	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	70	+1 lap	1
9	15	Christian Klien	RBR Cosworth	70	+1 lap	0
10	4	Takuma Sato	BAR Honda	70	+1 lap	0
11	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	70	+1 lap	0
12	11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber Petronas	70	+1 lap	0
13	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	69	DNF	0
14	21	Christijan Albers	Minardi Cosworth	69	+2 laps	0
15	19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan Toyota	68	+3 laps	0
NC	18	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan Toyota	55	DNF	0
NC	7	Mark Webber	Williams BMW	45	+26 laps	0
NC	20	Robert Doornbos	Minardi Cosworth	34	DNF	0
NC	8	Antonio Pizzonia	Williams BMW	0	DNF	0
NC	14	David Coulthard	RBR Cosworth	0	DNF	0
Note – Villeneuve forced to start from pit lane as penalty for infringement of parc ferme regulations.

2011

Sebastian Vettel, the 2011 Drivers’ Championship leader, secured victory at the 2011 Singapore Grand Prix for Red Bull Racing after starting from pole position. Jenson Button finished second for McLaren, while Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber claimed the final podium spot in third.

With this win, Vettel extended his lead in the World Drivers’ Championship to 124 points over Button, who moved up to second place. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso and Webber, ranked third and fourth in the standings, were mathematically eliminated from title contention.

2011 Singapore Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	61	1:59:06.757	25
2	4	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	61	+1.737s	18
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	61	+29.279s	15
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	61	+55.449s	12
5	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	61	+67.766s	10
6	15	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	61	+111.067s	8
7	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	60	+1 lap	6
8	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	60	+1 lap	4
9	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	60	+1 lap	2
10	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber Ferrari	60	+1 lap	1
11	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Cosworth	60	+1 lap	0
12	18	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	60	+1 lap	0
13	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams Cosworth	60	+1 lap	0
14	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	59	+2 laps	0
15	9	Bruno Senna	Renault	59	+2 laps	0
16	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Renault	59	+2 laps	0
17	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	59	+2 laps	0
18	25	Jerome d’Ambrosio	Virgin Cosworth	59	+2 laps	0
19	22	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT Cosworth	57	+4 laps	0
20	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT Cosworth	57	+4 laps	0
21	19	Jaime Alguersuari	STR Ferrari	56	DNF	0
NC	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Renault	47	DNF	0
NC	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	28	DNF	0
NC	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Cosworth	9	DNF	0

2022

The 2022 Russian Grand Prix was cancelled in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, before the contract for all future races was terminated also due to the invasion.

The event is notable for having only ever been won by Mercedes during the race’s inclusion as a World Championship event.

F1 Driver Birthdays 25 September

Birthday	F1 Driver
25 September 1938	Neville Lederme
25 September 1942	Henri Pescarolo
25 September 1991	Alexander Rossi

F1 Driver Deaths 25 September

Death	F1 Driver
25 September 1998	George Tichenor (b. 1920)

F1 Champion 25 September

Date	Driver/Team
25 September 1982	Keke Rosberg
25 September 2005	Fernando Alonso
25 September 1982	Ferrari