What Happened On This Day September 28 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, September 28 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1968

Double world champion Mika Hakkinen was born on this day in Vantaa, Finland. Known for his immense natural speed he overcame serious head injuries from a crash at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix and returned to form in 1996 and 1997. In 1998, Hakkinen edged out Michael Schumacher in the final race to win the title with eight victories. He retained his crown in 1999, despite winning only five races, before the Ferrari-Schumacher era began. After a season plagued by mechanical issues in 2001, Hakkinen announced a sabbatical, from which he never returned.

Consistent and quick, he scored points in over half his races and took to the top of the podium 20 times. In their 11 years as rivals, only Michael Schumacher achieved more, and Schumacher himself said that the opponent he most respected was Hakkinen.

1980

Williams driver Alan Jones won an accident-filled 1980 Canadian Grand Prix to secure his only World Championship, with teammate Carlos Reutemann claiming second and Ligier driver Didier Pironi third. Nelson Piquet, who had arrived in Montreal leading the standings, was forced out of the race when the Ford engine in his Brabham blew on lap 23. “It’s what I’ve been dreaming of and working for,” Jones said after his victory. “I still don’t believe it … when I’m back in the hotel and having a shower then I might start jumping up and down.” A seven-car crash at the first turn delayed the race for almost an hour.

The most serious casualty of the race was a few laps later with Jean-Pierre Jabouille, who broke both legs when his Renault crashed into a barrier. Jabouille had to be cut from the car.

Jones became only the second Australian to claim the world championship, a title last won by Jack Brabham in 1966.

1980 Canadian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	27	Alan  Jones	Williams Ford	70	1:46:45.530	9
2	28	Carlos Reutemann	Williams Ford	70	+15.540s	6
3	25	Didier Pironi	Ligier Ford	70	+19.130s	4
4	7	John Watson	McLaren Ford	70	+30.980s	3
5	2	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	70	+55.230s	2
6	6	Hector Rebaque	Brabham Ford	69	+1 lap	1
7	3	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell Ford	69	+1 lap	0
8	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Ford	68	DNF	0
9	21	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi Ford	68	+2 laps	0
10	12	Elio de Angelis	Lotus Ford	68	+2 laps	0
11	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows Ford	67	+3 laps	0
12	14	Jan Lammers	Ensign Ford	66	+4 laps	0
NC	8	Alain Prost	McLaren Ford	41	DNF	0
NC	16	Rene Arnoux	Renault	39	DNF	0
NC	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	25	DNF	0
NC	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham Ford	23	DNF	0
NC	11	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	11	DNF	0
NC	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	8	DNF	0
NC	31	Eddie  Cheever	Osella Ford	8	DNF	0
NC	20	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	8	DNF	0
NC	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	7	DNF	0
NC	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	6	DNF	0
NC	4	Derek Daly	Tyrrell Ford	0	DNF	0
NC	43	Mike Thackwell	Tyrrell Ford	0	DNF	0

1990

Martin Donnelly’s short but promising career came to a devastating end when he crashed his Lotus during practice for the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix. He hit a barrier at 140 mph, causing his car to disintegrate and leaving him thrown onto the track, still strapped into his seat. Onlookers initially feared he had been killed. Medical assistance took three minutes to arrive, and he was stabilised after an hour, then airlifted to the hospital with severe head injuries and broken legs. Donnelly endured a long recovery, suffering from kidney failure and facing the potential loss of his right leg. Although he eventually recovered, he never raced again.

1997

The 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix saw no brotherly love between the Schumachers when Ralf‘s Jordan collided with Michael‘s Ferrari just 200 meters from the start, damaging Michael’s front suspension. Two laps later, Michael retired, severely denting his chances of winning a third championship, while Jacques Villeneuve won the race in his Williams, taking a nine-point lead in the title race with two races remaining. “After Ralf hit me, my car was handling strangely,” Michael said. “In the pits we saw the suspension arm was bent. It was a shame it happened with my brother, but I don’t think it was deliberate. That’s motor racing.”

Benetton driver Jean Alesi finished in second, while Villeneuve’s teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen took third.

1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams Renault	67	1:31:27.843	10
2	7	Jean Alesi	Benetton Renault	67	+11.770s	6
3	4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams Renault	67	+13.480s	4
4	8	Gerhard Berger	Benetton Renault	67	+16.416s	3
5	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows Yamaha	67	+43.147s	2
6	14	Olivier Panis	Prost Mugen Honda	67	+43.750s	1
7	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber Petronas	67	+44.354s	0
8	1	Damon Hill	Arrows Yamaha	67	+44.777s	0
9	17	Gianni Morbidelli	Sauber Petronas	66	+1 lap	0
10	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell Ford	66	+1 lap	0
NC	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell Ford	50	DNF	0
NC	9	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	43	DNF	0
NC	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart Ford	43	DNF	0
NC	10	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	42	DNF	0
NC	23	Jan Magnussen	Stewart Ford	40	DNF	0
NC	6	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	22	DNF	0
NC	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost Mugen Honda	16	DNF	0
NC	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	2	DNF	0
NC	21	Tarso Marques	Minardi Hart	1	DNF	0
NC	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi Hart	1	DNF	0
NC	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan Peugeot	0	DNF	0
NC	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Peugeot	0	DNF	0

2003

Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher won the 2003 United States Grand Prix after starting from seventh on the grid. McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, who started from pole position, finished second, while Sauber driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen secured third place, marking his first podium finish in three years and the final one of his career.

2003 United States Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	73	1:33:35.997	10
2	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	73	+18.258s	8
3	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber Petronas	73	+37.964s	6
4	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	73	+48.329s	5
5	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	73	+56.403s	4
6	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	72	+1 lap	3
7	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Ford	72	+1 lap	2
8	15	Justin Wilson	Jaguar Cosworth	71	+2 laps	1
9	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	71	+2 laps	0
10	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi Cosworth	69	+4 laps	0
11	18	Nicolas Kiesa	Minardi Cosworth	69	+4 laps	0
NC	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	63	DNF	0
NC	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan Ford	48	DNF	0
NC	5	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	45	DNF	0
NC	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	44	DNF	0
NC	17	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	41	DNF	0
NC	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	27	DNF	0
NC	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar Cosworth	21	DNF	0
NC	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	21	DNF	0
NC	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	2	DNF	0

2008

Fernando Alonso‘s victory for Renault at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix was hailed as a miracle after he started 15th in the first-ever night race. However, the race later became infamous as part of the “Crashgate” scandal. On the 14th lap, Alonso’s teammate, Nelson Piquet Jr., crashed, bringing out the safety car, which worked in Alonso’s favour. Ten months later, the true nature of Piquet’s intentional crash came to light. Meanwhile, race leader Felipe Massa’s Ferrari team suffered a disastrous pit stop, where Massa drove off with the fuel hose still attached, dropping him to last after a penalty. Nico Rosberg took second for Williams, and Lewis Hamilton third in a McLaren.

2008 Singapore Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	61	1:57:16.304	10
2	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	61	+2.957s	8
3	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	61	+5.917s	6
4	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	61	+8.155s	5
5	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR Ferrari	61	+10.268s	4
6	3	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	61	+11.101s	3
7	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Renault	61	+16.387s	2
8	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams Toyota	61	+18.489s	1
9	16	Jenson Button	Honda	61	+19.885s	0
10	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	61	+26.902s	0
11	4	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	61	+27.975s	0
12	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR Ferrari	61	+29.432s	0
13	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	61	+35.170s	0
14	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India Ferrari	61	+43.571s	0
15	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	DNF	0
NC	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	50	DNF	0
NC	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India Ferrari	49	DNF	0
NC	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Renault	29	DNF	0
NC	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	14	DNF	0
NC	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	13	DNF	0

2009

Lewis Hamilton‘s victory at the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix kept the championship fight alive, despite Brawn GP driver Jenson Button finishing fifth and maintaining a 15-point lead. Hamilton, reflecting on his own 2007 experience of losing a 17-point lead with two races to go, advised Button to “continue pressing hard all the way to the finish.” Fernando Alonso finished third, his best result of the season, and controversially dedicated his performance to his agent Flavio Briatore, who had been banned from the sport by the FIA just six days earlier for his role in the Crashgate scandal. Timo Glock came home in second for Toyota.

2009 Singapore Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	61	1:56:06.337	10
2	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	61	+9.634s	8
3	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	61	+16.624s	6
4	15	Sebastian Vettel	RBR Renault	61	+20.261s	5
5	22	Jenson Button	Brawn Mercedes	61	+30.015s	4
6	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn Mercedes	61	+31.858s	3
7	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	61	+36.157s	2
8	5	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	61	+55.054s	1
9	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams Toyota	61	+56.054s	0
10	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	61	+58.892s	0
11	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	61	+59.777s	0
12	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	61	+73.009s	0
13	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	61	+79.890s	0
14	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India Mercedes	61	+93.502s	0
NC	11	Jaime Alguersuari	STR Ferrari	47	DNF	0
NC	12	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	47	DNF	0
NC	14	Mark Webber	RBR Renault	45	DNF	0
NC	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	23	DNF	0
NC	6	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	19	DNF	0
NC	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	3	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 28 September

Birthday	F1 Driver
28 September 1920	Jiggs Peters (d. 1993)
28 September 1927	Russ Congdon (d. 1998)
28 September 1963	Erik Comas
28 September 1968	Mika Hakkinen
28 September 2004	Isack Hadjar

F1 Driver Deaths 28 September

Death	F1 Driver
28 September 1958	Jimmy Reece (b. 1929)
28 September 1996	Mennato Boffa (b. 1930)

F1 Champion 28 September

Date	Driver/Team
28 September 1980	Alan Jones