What Happened On This Day September 26 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, September 26 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1943

Tim Schenken, born on this day in Sydney, came into F1 in 1970 with an impressive pedigree in British Formula racing but in tragic circumstances as a replacement at De Tomaso for Piers Courage. In 1971, he drove for Brabham, where he more than matched No. 1 driver Graham Hill and secured his only podium at the 1971 Australian Grand Prix. A switch to Surtees in 1972 proved to be a bad decision, and his career ended in 1974 driving for the uncompetitive Trojan outfit. He subsequently drove in sports car events before retiring in 1977.

1980

Patrick Friesacher, born on this day in Wolsberg, Austria, had half a season in Formula One in 2005 with the struggling Minardi team. The record books will show he finished sixth at the 1980 US Grand Prix, but that was the infamous race where only six cars started after a boycott over safety. He was ditched midway through the year after his sponsors failed to come up with the promised money.

1993

Alain Prost became only the second man after the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio to win four world championships when a second-place finish with Williams at the 1993 Portuguese Grand Prix secured him the title. A title he took, having taken the 1992 season as a sabbatical. Ironically, the winner was Benetton driver Michael Schumacher, the man who went on to take five and equal Fangio. “These records only mean anything when you are racing,” Prost said. “Once you have stopped they are of no consequence.” Prost drove a typically safe race, steering clear of several accidents, but the drive of the day was by Prost’s teammate, Damon Hill. Starting the day on pole, he stalled on the grid before the formation lap, began the race at the back, and then stormed through the field to take third. “My father once said to me you’re a better class of person from the back of the grid,” he said, adding: “But I’m not sure I would agree after that.”

1993 Portuguese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton Ford	71	1:32:46.309	10
2	2	Alain Prost	Williams Renault	71	+0.982s	6
3	0	Damon Hill	Williams Renault	71	+8.206s	4
4	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	71	+67.605s	3
5	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber	70	+1 lap	2
6	25	Martin Brundle	Ligier Renault	70	+1 lap	1
7	30	Jyrki Jarvilehto	Sauber	69	+2 laps	0
8	24	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ford	69	+2 laps	0
9	23	Christian Fittipaldi	Minardi Ford	69	+2 laps	0
10	19	Philippe Alliot	Larrousse Lamborghini	69	+2 laps	0
11	20	Erik Comas	Larrousse Lamborghini	68	+3 laps	0
12	4	Andrea de Cesaris	Tyrrell Yamaha	68	+3 laps	0
13	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan Hart	68	+3 laps	0
14	22	Luca Badoer	Lola Ferrari	68	+3 laps	0
15	9	Derek Warwick	Footwork Mugen Honda	63	DNF	0
16	6	Riccardo Patrese	Benetton Ford	63	DNF	0
NC	11	Pedro Lamy	Lotus Ford	61	DNF	0
NC	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Ford	60	DNF	0
NC	26	Mark Blundell	Ligier Renault	51	DNF	0
NC	21	Michele Alboreto	Lola Ferrari	38	DNF	0
NC	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	35	DNF	0
NC	7	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Ford	32	DNF	0
NC	10	Aguri Suzuki	Footwork Mugen Honda	27	DNF	0
NC	8	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Ford	19	DNF	0
NC	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell Yamaha	12	DNF	0
NC	15	Emanuele Naspetti	Jordan Hart	8	DNF	0

1999

The 66-lap 1999 European Grand Prix saw Johnny Herbert claim victory in a Stewart, with Jarno Trulli finishing second for Prost, and Herbert’s teammate Rubens Barrichello taking third.

The race was marked by a high number of retirements, which allowed Marc Gene to secure sixth place for the Minardi team, earning their first points since Pedro Lamy’s finish at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix.

This race would mark Herbert’s third and final Formula 1 victory, as well as his seventh and last podium finish. It was also the only win for the Stewart Grand Prix team, and their sole double podium in the team’s history.

1999 European Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	17	Johnny Herbert	Stewart Ford	66	1:41:54.314	10
2	19	Jarno Trulli	Prost Peugeot	66	+22.618s	6
3	16	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart Ford	66	+22.865s	4
4	6	Ralf Schumacher	Williams Supertec	66	+39.507s	3
5	1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	66	+62.950s	2
6	21	Marc Gene	Minardi Ford	66	+65.154s	1
7	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	66	+66.683s	0
8	23	Ricardo Zonta	BAR Supertec	65	+1 lap	0
9	18	Olivier Panis	Prost Peugeot	65	+1 lap	0
10	22	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Supertec	61	DNF	0
NC	20	Luca Badoer	Minardi Ford	53	DNF	0
NC	14	Pedro de la Rosa	Arrows	52	DNF	0
NC	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Playlife	48	DNF	0
NC	3	Mika Salo	Ferrari	44	DNF	0
NC	15	Toranosuke Takagi	Arrows	42	DNF	0
NC	2	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	37	DNF	0
NC	11	Jean Alesi	Sauber Petronas	35	DNF	0
NC	8	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan Mugen Honda	32	DNF	0
NC	5	Alessandro Zanardi	Williams Supertec	10	DNF	0
NC	7	Damon Hill	Jordan Mugen Honda	0	DNF	0
NC	10	Alexander Wurz	Benetton Playlife	0	DNF	0
NC	12	Pedro Diniz	Sauber Petronas	0	DNF	0

2004

With Michael Schumacher’s fifth consecutive title for Ferrari wrapped up before the end of August, it was team-mate Rubens Barrichello‘s chance to take his rewards for his yeoman-like support, and he followed victory a fortnight earlier at Monza with another win at the debut 2004 Chinese Grand Prix. The race as a spectacle was helped by Schumacher being forced to start from the back of the grid after a spin during qualifying, and without him dominating there was a real battle, less than a second and a half covering Barrichello, the BAR of Jenson Button, and the McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen at the finish. Richard Williams in the Guardian said of the new venue that it was an “outstanding new track, which combines a rich architectural spectacle with a layout that encourages the drivers to attempt the overtaking manoeuvres that used to be the point of motor racing. The result is remarkable enough to make it seem a shame that it took the course designer, Hermann Tilke, three goes to get it right. But where the German architect’s previous efforts in Malaysia and Bahrain produced circuits manifestly unconducive to proper racing.”

2004 Chinese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	56	1:29:12.420	10
2	9	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	56	+1.035s	8
3	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	56	+1.469s	6
4	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	56	+32.510s	5
5	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	56	+45.193s	4
6	10	Takuma Sato	BAR Honda	56	+54.791s	3
7	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber Petronas	56	+65.464s	2
8	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	56	+80.080s	1
9	5	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	56	+80.619s	0
10	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar Cosworth	55	+1 lap	0
11	7	Jacques Villeneuve	Renault	55	+1 lap	0
12	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	55	+1 lap	0
13	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan Ford	55	+1 lap	0
14	17	Olivier Panis	Toyota	55	+1 lap	0
15	19	Timo Glock	Jordan Ford	55	+1 lap	0
16	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi Cosworth	53	+3 laps	0
NC	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi Cosworth	38	DNF	0
NC	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	37	DNF	0
NC	16	Ricardo Zonta	Toyota	35	DNF	0
NC	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar Cosworth	11	DNF	0

2010

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix from pole position, with Sebastian Vettel finishing second for Red Bull, followed by his teammate Mark Webber in third. The victory marked Alonso’s second consecutive win and his fourth of the 2010 season, having also started from pole to claim the 2010 Italian Grand Prix two weeks prior. This win propelled Alonso to second place in the 2010 Drivers’ Championship, just eleven points behind the leader, Mark Webber.

2010 Singapore Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	61	1:57:53.579	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	RBR Renault	61	+0.293s	18
3	6	Mark Webber	RBR Renault	61	+29.141s	15
4	1	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	61	+30.384s	12
5	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	61	+49.394s	10
6	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams Cosworth	61	+56.101s	8
7	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	61	+86.559s	6
8	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	61	+113.297s	4
9	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	61	+132.416s	2
10	10	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams Cosworth	61	+132.791s	1
11	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	60	+1 lap	0
12	17	Jaime Alguersuari	STR Ferrari	60	+1 lap	0
13	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	60	+1 lap	0
14	16	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	60	+1 lap	0
15	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Cosworth	59	+2 laps	0
16	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Cosworth	58	DNF	0
NC	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Cosworth	49	DNF	0
NC	22	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Ferrari	36	DNF	0
NC	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	35	DNF	0
NC	20	Christian Klien	HRT Cosworth	31	DNF	0
NC	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	30	DNF	0
NC	21	Bruno Senna	HRT Cosworth	29	DNF	0
NC	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Cosworth	27	DNF	0
NC	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India Mercedes	1	DNF	0

2021

The 2021 Russian Grand Prix was the tenth running of the event and the eighth and final race held at the Sochi Autodrom.

McLaren’s Lando Norris secured pole position and led most of the race. However, he lost the lead after opting not to switch to intermediate tyres as weather conditions worsened. The race was ultimately won by Mercedes‘ Lewis Hamilton, who became the first driver in Formula 1 history to achieve 100 Grand Prix victories. Max Verstappen finished second with Red Bull, with Carlos Sainz taking third for Ferrari. Hamilton’s win also allowed him to reclaim the championship lead from Verstappen.

This would be the last Formula One race at Sochi and the final Russian Grand Prix as of the 2025 season, following the cancellation of future races due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

2021 Russian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:30:41.001	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	53	+53.271s	18
3	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	53	+62.475s	15
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren Mercedes	53	+65.607s	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	53	+67.533s	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine Renault	53	+81.321s	8
7	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	53	+87.224s	7
8	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	53	+88.955s	4
9	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda	53	+90.076s	2
10	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	53	+100.551s	1
11	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Mercedes	53	+116.198s	0
12	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Mercedes	52	+1 lap	0
13	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri Honda	52	+1 lap	0
14	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	52	+1 lap	0
15	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
16	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	52	+1 lap	0
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri Honda	52	+1 lap	0
18	9	Nikita Mazepin	Haas Ferrari	51	+2 laps	0
19	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	47	DNF	0
NC	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas Ferrari	32	DNF	0
Note – Norris scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Stroll received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

F1 Driver Birthdays 26 September

Birthday	F1 Driver
26 September 1943	Tim Schenken
26 September 1980	Patrick Friesacher

F1 Driver Deaths 26 September

Death	F1 Driver
26 September	None

F1 Champion 26 September

Date	Driver/Team
26 September 1993	Alain Prost