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The First Race
The first prearranged match race of two self-powered road vehicles over a prescribed route occurred in the north west of England at 4:30 A.M. on August 30, 1867, between Ashton-under-Lyne and Old Trafford, Manchester, a distance of eight miles. It was won by the carriage of Isaac Watt Boulton, -
First US motor race
The Wisconsin legislature passed an act in 1875 offering a substantial purse for the first US motor race, which was run on July 16, 1878, over a 200-mile course from Green Bay to Appleton, Oshkosh, Waupon, Watertown, Fort Atkinson and Janesville, then turning north and ending in Madison. Only two actually competed: the Oshkosh and the Green Bay -
First organized contest
Internal combustion auto racing events began soon after the construction of the first successful gasoline-fueled automobiles. It ran 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Neuilly Bridge to the Bois de Boulogne. The record books show that on this day Georges Bouton “won the world’s first motor race”. But it was a hollow victory and there was no champagne celebration because Bouton and his co-driver were the only ones taking part. And, in fact, it wasn’t even a car. It was a steam-powered quadricycle. -
Solo Event
Another solo event occurred in 1891 when Auguste Doriot and Louis Rigoulot of Peugeot drove their gasoline-fueled Type 3 Quadricycle in the bicycle race from Paris–Brest–Paris. By the time they reached Brest, the winning cyclist, Charles Terront, was already back in Paris. -
The world's first motoring contest
On July 22, 1894, the Parisian magazine Le Petit Journal organized what is considered to be the world's first motoring competition. Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver. Sixty-nine cars started the 50 km (31 mi) selection event that would show which entrants would be allowed to start the main event, the 127 km (79 mi) race. -
Paris–Bordeaux–Paris Race
The Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race of June 1895 has sometimes been described as the "first motor race,"Émile Levassor finished first in the 1,178 km Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race, taking 48 hours and 48 minutes, nearly six hours before the runner-up Louis Rigoulot, and eleven hours before the official winner, Paul Koechlin in his Peugeot. Officially, the race was for four-seater cars, and Levassor and Rigoulot drove two-seater cars. 30 entrants 21 qualified
12 stopped. -
Chicago Times-Herald race
The first American automobile race is generally held to be the Thanksgiving Day Chicago Times-Herald race of November 28, 1895. Press coverage of the event first aroused significant American interest in the automobile. The 54.36-mile (87.48 km) course ran from the south side of the city, north along the lakefront to Evanston, Illinois, and back again. Frank Duryea won the race in 7 hours and 53 minutes, beating the other five entrants. -
First ever closed-circuit motor race.
The first closed-circuit automobile race was held on September 7, 1896 at the Narragansett Trotting Park in Cranston, Rhode Island, and was won by an electric car built by the Riker Electric Vehicle Company. It was not purposely built for motor racing, however. It started as a one-mile (1.6 km) horse-racing track in the 19th century. -
Regular auto racing venue
The first regular auto racing venue was Nice, France, run in late March 1897, as a "Speed Week". To fill out the schedule, most types of racing events were invented here, including the first hill climb (Nice – La Turbie) and a sprint that was, in spirit, the first drag race. -
Gordon Bennett Cup.
Formally titled the I Coupe Internationale, was a motor race held on this day on public roads between Paris and Lyon in France the route was 568.66 km (353.35 mi) long. Each country was allowed to enter up to 3 cars, which had to be fully built in the country that they represented and entered by that country's automotive governing body. International racing colours were established in this event. The race was won by Fernand Charron, who represented France and drove a car manufactured by Panhard. -
First use Grand Prix
1901 The first use of the words grand prix to describe a race, the French Grand Prix at Le Mans. -
Circuit du Sud-Ouest
Some anglophone sources wrongly list a race called the Pau Grand Prix in 1901. This may stem from a mistranslation of the contemporary French sources such as the magazine La France Auto of March 1901. The name of the 1901 event was the Circuit du Sud-Ouest and it was run in three classes around the streets of Pau. -
1903 Gordon Bennett Cup
The 1903 event occurred in the aftermath of the fatalities at the Paris-Madrid road race, so the race, at Athy in Ireland, though on public roads, was run over a closed circuit: the first ever closed-circuit motor race. It was the first international motor race to be held in Ireland.There was considerable public concern about safety after the 1901 Paris-Bordeaux Rally, in which at least eight people had been killed. -
The FIA established
he formation of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), a non-profit association established to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. -
Aspendale Racecourse opened
Aspendale Racecourse, in Australia, was the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit, opening in January 1906. The pear shaped track was close to a mile in length, with slightly banked curves and a gravel surface of crushed cement. -
French Grand Prix 1906
The French Grand Prix is the oldest race on the Formula1 calendar. 1st run in 1906, it was the 1st race to carry the ‘grand prix' name.10 French manufacturers entered cars in the Grand Prix, 2 teams came from Italy, and 1 from Germany. No British or American manufacturers entered the Grand Prix. There were a total field of 34 entries. video -
Giuseppe Farina Born
Emilio Giuseppe Farina, also known as Giuseppe Antonio "Nino" Farina,[3] (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈniːno faˈriːna]; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver and the first official Formula One World Champion in 1950. He was the Italian Champion in 1937, 1938 and 1939 -
Brooklands opened
The Brooklands circuit was the brainchild of Hugh Fortescue Locke-King, and was the first purpose-built banked race circuit in the world. It featured a 4.43 km (2.75 mi) concrete track with high-speed banked corners. Brooklands was also a centre of the aviation industry, with Vickers setting up a factory and aerodrome there during WWI. The racing circuit was closed in 1939 as war-time aircraft production took over. Damage done to the track during WWII meant the track never reopened for racing. -
Juan Manuel Fangio Born
Fangio is born, he would dominate the first decade of Formula One racing, winning the World Drivers' Championship five times and keep that record for over 46 years untill 2003 when Micheal Schumacher won his 6th -
Alberto Ascari Born
Born in Milan, Ascari was the son of Antonio Ascari, a talented Grand Prix motor racing star in the 1920s, racing Alfa Romeos. Just a fortnight before Alberto's seventh birthday, Antonio was killed while leading the French Grand Prix in 1925 at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry, but the younger Ascari had an interest in racing in spite of this. He raced motorcycles in his earlier years. At the age of just 19, Ascari was signed to ride for the Bianchi team. -
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps opened
Jules de Thier, owner of the Liège newspaper La Meuse, was looking for a site to host a race, and following a meeting at the Hotel des Bruyères in Francorchamps, with burgomaster Joseph de Crawhez and racing-car driver Henri Langlois van Ophem, it was decided that the roads from Spa-Francorchamps to the former German Malmedy, to Stavelot, and back towards Francorchamps constituted an ideal triangle-shaped circuit with few tight corners and long fast sections. The old spa can be seen today on map -
European Grand Prix 20s
Formula One automobile racing has its roots in the European Grand Prix championships of the 1920s and 1930s, though the foundation of the modern Formula One began in 1946 with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA) standardisation of rules, which was followed by a World Championship of Drivers in 1950. -
Autodromo Nazionale Monza Opened
The Monza Circuit is a 5.793 km (3.600 mi) race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after Brooklands and Indianapolis and the oldest in mainland Europe. The track was officially opened on 3 September 1922, with the maiden race the second Italian Grand Prix held on 10 September 1922. -
Farina joins in Aosta-Gran San Bernardo Hillclimb.
While still at university Farina purchased his first car, a second-hand Alfa Romeo, and ran it in the 1925 Aosta-Gran San Bernardo Hillclimb. While trying to beat his father, he crashed, breaking his shoulder and receiving facial cuts, establishing a trend that continued throughout his crash-prone career. His father finished fourth. -
Jack Brabham born
John Arthur 'Jack' Brabham was born on 2 April 1926 in Hurstville, New South Wales, then a commuter town outside Sydney. Brabham was involved with cars and mechanics from an early age. At the age of 12, he learned to drive the family car and the trucks of his father's grocery business. Brabham attended technical college, studying metalwork, carpentry, and technical drawing. -
Mike Hawthorn Born
Mike Hawthorn was born in Mexborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex, followed by studies at Chelsea technical college and an apprenticeship with a commercial vehicle manufacturer. His father owned the Tourist Trophy Garage in Farnham, franchised to supply and service several high performance brands, including Jaguar and Ferrari. When he died in a road accident, in 1954, Mike Hawthorn inherited the business. -
Circuit de Monaco opened
The idea for a Grand Prix race around the streets of Monaco came from Antony Noghès, the president of the Monegasque motor club, Automobile Club de Monaco, and close friend of the ruling Grimaldi family. The inaugural race was held in 1929 and was won by William Grover-Williams in a Bugatti. The track has remained substantially unchanged since its creation in 1929: as a city circuit, its conformation is closely linked to that of the principality's road system. -
Stirling Moss Born
Moss was born in London to amateur racing drivers Alfred and Aileen Moss. His grandfather was Jewish and from a family that changed their surname from Moses to Moss. His father was an amateur racing driver, who had come 16th in the 1924 Indianapolis 500, and his mother had also been involved in motorsport, entering into hillclimbs at the wheel of a Singer Nine. Moss received his first car, an Austin 7, from his father at the age of 9 and drove it on the fields around Long White Cloud. -
European Grand Prix 30s
Races continued into the 30's untill World War 2. New tracks were added and is also part of the foundation of Formula 1. -
Bernie Ecclestone born
Ecclestone was born on 28 October 1930 in St Peter, South Elmham. Ecclestone attended primary school in Wissett in Suffolk before the family moved to Danson Road, Bexleyheath, southeast London, in 1938. Immediately after the end of the Second World War, Ecclestone went into business trading in spare parts for motorcycles, -
First Qualifying
Starting positions on the grid were decided by qualifying times for the first time at the Monaco Grand Prix. This was the first Grand Prix where grid positions were decided by practice time. -
Meetings held for WDC
A number of meetings were held with a view to establishing a world drivers' championship throughout 1935 to 1939; these were shelved at the outbreak of World War Two. -
Fangio Starts Racing
After finishing his military service, Fangio opened his own garage and raced in local events. He began his racing career in Argentina in 1936, driving a 1929 Ford Model A that he had rebuilt. -
Farina Grand Prix Winner
He became a Grand Prix winner when he won the 1937 Grand Prix of Naples, with an Alfa Romeo 12C, this was a Non-championship Grands Prix. -
Fangio drives in Turismo carretera
In the Tourismo Carretera category, Fangio participated in his 1st race between 18 and 30 October 1938 as the co-driver of Luis Finocchietti. Despite not winning the Argentine Road Grand Prix, Fangio drove most of the way and finished 5th. In November of that year, he entered the "400 km of Tres Arroyos", which was suspended due to a fatal accident. -
Ascari 1st recorded race
Ascari entered the Mille Miglia with an Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, supplied by his father's close friend, Enzo Ferrari. Unfortunately he dnf'ed but it was this race that he eventually started racing on four wheels regularly. Mille Miglia was driven on 04 April 1940 shortly before Italy entered World War II, it was dubbed the Grand Prix of Brescia, -
Formula 1 First defined
Formula One was first defined in 1946 by the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) of the FIA, forerunner of FISA, as the premier single-seater racing category in worldwide motorsport to become effective in 1947.Initially, when the concept of the new racing category was voted through by the CSI in 1946, it was felt that the expression ‘formula’ best summarised a racing division, Formula 1 was chosen as most recognizable. Formula One was agreed as a recognised formula. -
Farina wins Nations Grand Prix
In 1946 Farina continues to win the Nations Grand Prix. However, he left Alfa Corse after a disagreement over team leadership and sat out the whole of the 1947 season -
Turin Grand Prix
It is claimed to be the first ever Formula One race, as the race regulations anticipated the official introduction of the new formula on 1 January 1947. However it is NOT the first official championship race. Jean-Pierre Wimille, despite his number one status at Alfa Romeo, was told before the start that he should not win the race, as the team wanted an Italian driver to win what was 1 of the very few major races happening in Italy that year. -
World drivers' championship formalised
World drivers' championship formalised. It was to take three more years before the first championship race, although there were races under F1 regulations from this year. -
Moss his 1st race & 1st win.
Sir Stirling’s parents were active members of the Harrow Car Club and Stirling himself began his motor sport career by competing in a Harrow CC trial with a Frazer Nash BMW 328 in 1947 and winning. -
European Grand Prix 1947 - 1949
As there were no official Championships during wartime, most of the Grand Prix were held in America during Wartime. However after the war had ended, the championships were quick to start again in Europe. -
Formula Two
Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was first formally codified by the FIA as a smaller and cheaper complement to the Grand Prix cars of the era to be effective from 1 January 1948 -
Jack brabham 1st Win
Brabham started racing after an American friend, Johnny Schonberg, persuaded him to watch a midget car race. At 1st Schonberg drove the homemade device, powered by a modified JAP motorcycle engine built by Brabham in his workshop. In 1948, Schonberg's wife persuaded him to stop and on his suggestion Brabham took over. Brabham won the 1948 Australian Speedcar Championship, the 1949 Australian and South Australian Speedcar championships, and the 1950–1951 Australian championship with the car. -
Ascari wins 1st GrandPrix
He won his first Grand Prix, the Gran Premio di San Remo in 1948. The 1948 San Remo Grand Prix was a non-Championship Voiturette motor race. It was the 8th race of the 1948 Grand Prix season. The race, contested over 85 laps, was won by Alberto Ascari in a Maserati 4CLT/48, starting from pole position. -
Fangio's 1st Grand Prix
Fangio's first Grand Prix race was the 1948 French Grand Prix at Reims, where he started his Simca Gordini from 11th on the grid but retired. -
Zandvoort Circuit opened
There were plans for races at Zandvoort before WWII: the first street race was held on 3 June 1939. However, a permanent race track was not constructed until after the war, using communications roads built by the occupying German army. The first race on the circuit, the "Prijs van Zandvoort", took place on 7 August 1948 The race was renamed the Grote Prijs van Zandvoort (Zandvoort Grand Prix) in 1949, then the Grote Prijs van Nederland (Dutch Grand Prix) in 1950. -
Silverstone Circuit opened
In 1948, Royal Automobile Club, under the chairmanship of Wilfred Andrews, set its mind upon running a Grand Prix and started to cast around public roads on the mainland. There was no possibility of closing the public highway, or the Channel Islands. In August 1948, Andrews employed James Brown on a 3-month contract to create the Grand Prix circuit in less than two months. Despite possible concerns about the weather, the 1948 British Grand Prix began at Silverstone on Thursday 30 September 1948. -
The first f1 world championship race
The first world championship race took place at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom on 13 May 1950. Giuseppe Farina, competing for Alfa Romeo, won the first Drivers' World Championship, narrowly defeating his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. -
Hawthorn Debuts and wins
Mike Hawthorn made his competitive debut in September of 1950, winning the 1100cc sports car class at Brighton Speed Trials with his 1934 Riley Ulster Imp. -
Farina the 1st f1 worldchampion
In 1950, Farina returned to Alfa Romeo for the inaugural FIA World Championship of Drivers. The opening race of the season was held at Silverstone Circuit, in front of 150,000 spectators. The victory made Farina the first of only three drivers to win on their World Drivers' Championship début. Giuseppe Farina, competing for Alfa Romeo, won the first Drivers' World Championship, narrowly defeating his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. -
Moss's international race victory
His first major international race victory came on the eve of his 21st birthday at the wheel of a Jaguar XK120 in the 1950 RAC Tourist Trophy in Northern Ireland. -
Moss's F1 Debut
His F1 debut would come at the 1951 Swiss Grand Prix where he would finish eighth. -
1st German Championship Grand Prix
The German Grand Prix hosted its first World Championship Grand Prix in 1951, the race was held at the Nürburgring on 29 July. Alberto Ascari qualified first and went on to win the race. -
The 1st Spanish Championship Grand Prix
The Spanish Grand Prix hosted its first World Championship Grand Prix in 1951, the race was held at the Pedralbes Circuit on 28 October. The Pedralbes Circuit (Spanish: Circuito de Pedralbes) was a 6.333 km (3.935 mi) street racing course in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The race was scheduled for the 1952 and 1953 seasons but did not take place due to a lack of money -
Fangio wins his 1st WDC
In 1951 Juan Manuel Fangio wins his first World Title with Alfa Romeo, after a fierce duel with the Ferrari team, which manages to beat the Alfetta in Silverstone, Monza, and Nürburgring. He won his first title at the Spanish Grand Prix. -
WDC run with F2 regulations
The drivers' championship was run to Formula Two regulations because of concerns about the number of F1 cars available. This continued through the 1953 season as well. -
Hawthorn 1st F1 Race
He made his Formula One debut at the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix on the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, finishing in fourth place. By the end of the season, he had already secured his first podium, with a third place at the RAC British Grand Prix and a brace of fourths driving a Cooper. -
Ascari wins his 1st WDC
Ascari won his First World Title at the German Grand Prix as
Ascari, who had taken his fourth consecutive victory, along with a fourth consecutive fastest lap, had now scored the maximum of 36 points for the season, as only a driver's four best results counted. As a result, he clinched the world championship, making him the first driver to win the championship with two races left to go. -
1st Dutch Championship Grand Prix
The Dutch Grand Prix hosted its first World Championship Grand Prix in 1952, the race was held at Circuit Zandvoort on 17 August. -
WDC run with F2 regulations
The drivers' championship was run to Formula Two regulations because of concerns about the number of F1 cars available. This continued through the 1953 season as well. -
1st Argentine Championship Grand Prix
The Argentine Grand Prix hosted its first World Championship Grand Prix in 1953, the race was held at Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez on 18 January. This was the first championship grand prix outside Europe. -
Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari opened
The track was originally called the Autodromo di Imola, and inaugurated as a semi-permanent venue in 1953. It had no chicanes, so the runs from Acque Minerali to Rivazza, and from Rivazza all the way to Tosa, through the pits and the Tamburello, were just straights with a few small bends; the circuit remained in this configuration until 1972. n 1980 Imola officially debuted in the Formula One World Championship calendar by hosting the 1980 Italian Grand Prix. -
Farina wins Spa 24 Hours
Giuseppe Farina and Mike Hawthorn won the 24Hours of Spa in 1953. The winning partnership, won in a time of 24hr 02:07.085mins., averaging a speed of 94.910 mph. They covered a distance of 2,281.182 miles with 260 laps in the number 8 Ferrari 375 MM car. -
Ascari wins his 2nd WDC
Ascari extended his unbeaten run to nine consecutive World Championship Grand Prix wins. he 1953 championship was the first genuinely global World Championship of Drivers, with a championship event staged outside of Europe or the United States for the first time.
Ascari claimed the World Championship for Drivers' at the Italian Grand Prix -
Farino wins 12 Hours Casablanca
In 1953 Giuseppe Farina and Piero Scotti drove the 12 hours of Casablanca and became 1st with the Ferrari 375 MM spyder. This was the 2nd time it and last time this event was held. -
New F1 Regulations
New F1 regulations, limiting engines to 2.5 litres, resulted in the world championship being reinstated under F1 regulations. -
Hawthorn Crash at Gran Premio di Siracusa
Gonzalez lost control, swerved and hooked a straw bale onto Hawthorn's bonnet. The Englishman, temporarily unable to see anything, swerved rather than plough into the Maserati and clipped a wall, at which point the straw covering his hot car caught fire. Hawthorn, his sports jacket aflame, jumped over the wall and into a field full of damp crops, soon putting the fire out and seeming largely unharmed but suffered serious burns. -
Fangio wins his 2nd WDC
Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio won his 2nd Drivers' Championship of 5, driving for Mercedes (Maserati for the Argentine and Belgian Grands Prix) With the rules in place at the time, González could not overhaul Fangio's total with 2 races left, and so the title went to Fangio for the 2nd time at the Swiss Grand Prix. -
Ascari monaco harbour incident
Ascari, miscalculated the chicane coming out of the tunnel, and his Lancia crashed through the barriers into the harbour. Three seconds passed before Ascari's pale blue helmet appeared bobbing on the surface. He was hauled into a boat and escaped with a broken nose. He is the first of two drivers who famously ended up in the Monaco waters, the second being Paul Hawkins -
Alberto Ascari Death
On 26 May, he went to Monza to watch his friend Eugenio Castellotti test a Ferrari 750 Monza sports car. Ascari was not supposed to drive that day but decided to try a few laps. In his jacket and tie, shirt sleeves, ordinary trousers and Castellotti's white helmet he set off. As he emerged from a fast curve on the third lap the car inexplicably skidded, turned on its nose and somersaulted twice. Thrown out onto the track, Ascari suffered multiple injuries and died a few minutes later. -
Hawthorn wins 24H of Le Mans
Hawthorn joined the Jaguar racing team, replacing Stirling Moss, who had left for Mercedes. Hawthorn won the 1955 les 24 Heures du Mans following what has been described as an inspired drive in which he set a lap record of 4 minutes and 6.6 seconds during a three-hour duel with Fangio in the early stages. However, the race was marred by the worst disaster in motor racing history, a crash which killed 83 spectators and Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh. -
Fangio wins his 3rd WDC
Juan Manuel Fangio won his second consecutive World Championship title in a season curtailed by tragedies. Fangio's points advantage over Moss at the British Grand prix was sufficient to secure his third World Drivers' Championship. -
Brabham's f1 debut
He made his Grand Prix debut at the age of 29 driving the car at the 1955 British Grand Prix. It had a 2-litre engine, half a litre less than permitted, and ran slowly with a broken clutch before retiring. -
last all-Mercedes
The 1955 British Grand Prix was the last time mercedes had the last all-Mercedes-powered podium until the 2014 Italian Grand Prix. -
Farina Retires from racing.
The 1955 Italian Grand Prix race was the last race for the 1950 world champion Nino Farina. Following his retirement, Farina became involved in Alfa Romeo and Jaguar distributorships and later assisted at the Pininfarina factory. -
Moss Runner Up
The British legend would begin to make his mark on the sport in 1955. Teaming up with the great Juan Manuel Fangio at Mercedes, Moss would score one win and two second places, finishing as runner-up in the championship to his teammate. Moss would once again drive for Maserati securing back-to-back second places in the championship, once again losing out to Fangio. This pattern would repeat itself for a third consecutive year despite Moss winning three races. -
Fangio wins his 4th WDC
Juan Manuel Fangio won his third consecutive title, the fourth of his career. Fangio retired with a broken steering arm, Luigi Musso, also driving for Ferrari, was told to hand his car over to Fangio to ensure the Argentine's third consecutive title but he refused. Brit Collins, with the opportunity for his first world championship, sportingly handed his car over to Fangio during a routine pit-stop. -
Fangio wins his 5th WDC
Fangio lives one of his best sporting years. He comes to Argentina, Monaco, France and the Nürburgring. The latter is considered one of the best races of his life, beating the Ferrari team in the last round and achieving its fifth World Championship. -
Most Tragic Season F1
The season was one of the most important and tragic seasons in Formula One's history. Four drivers died in four different races during this season. Englishman Stuart Lewis-Evans in his Vanwall at the Moroccan Grand Prix in Casablanca, and in a non-Formula One race, American Pat O'Connor at the Indianapolis 500. Mike Hawthorn lost both his teammates with the deaths of – Musso who was killed at the French Grand Prix in July, while Collins died after a crash at the German Grand Prix in August. -
Constructors Championship began
This was the first Formula One season in which a manufacturers title was awarded, the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. The first ever constructors championship was won by Vanwall. -
F1 Rule Changes
The practice of sharing cars during a race was banned. Rule changes included the introduction of AvGas in place of alcohol fuels and a reduction in the length of races from 500km or three hours to 300km or two hours -
Fangio Kidnapped
Two gunmen of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement entered the Hotel Lincoln in Havana and kidnapped Fangio. Batista ordered the race to continue as usual while a crack team of police hunted down the kidnappers. He later said:"Well, this is one more adventure. If what the rebels did was in a good cause, then I, as an Argentine, accept it."
He was released after 29 hours, after being"treated very well".
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Fangio Retired
After his series of consecutive championships he retired in 1958, following the French Grand Prix. During the rest of his life after retiring from racing Fangio sold Mercedes-Benz cars, often driving his former racing cars in demonstration laps. In 1990, Fangio met Ayrton Senna, a Brazilian 3-time world champion, who genuinely felt the encounter reflected the mutual affection of both drivers. -
Hawthorn F1 World Champion & Retirement
Hawthorn won the 1958 Formula One Championship despite achieving only one win, against four by Moss. In the last laps, second-placed Phil Hill slowed and waved Hawthorn through to gain enough points to take the Championship; the first ever to be won by an English driver. After winning the title, Hawthorn immediately announced his retirement from Formula One.He began a series of books for children featuring not only the wholly fictional Carlotti but also himself and other drivers of the day -
1st Moroccan Grand Prix
The first 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix, formally the VII Grand Prix International Automobile du Maroc, was a Formula One motor race held at Ain-Diab Circuit, Casablanca on 19 October 1958, after a six-week break following the Italian Grand Prix. -
Moss's best chance
The 1958 season was possibly Moss’ best chance at championship glory. He would start the season by winning the opening round in Argentina, and despite winning three more races including the championship’s only Moroccan Grand Prix, he would lose the title by a solitary point to the more consistent Mike Hawthorne despite winning four races to Hawthrone’s one. Second-placed Phil Hill slowed and waved Hawthorn through to gain enough points to take the Championship, making Moss Second. -
Mike Hawthorn Death
Only 3 months into his retirement, Hawthorn died in a car accident on the A3 Guildford bypass while driving to London. While the circumstances of the accident are well documented, the precise cause remains unknown. The accident occurred on a dangerous section of the road, while overtaking a Mercedes-Benz 300SL 'gull-wing' sports car driven by a friend. There was inevitable speculation that Hawthorn and Walker had been racing each other. Hawthorn was buried in West Street Cemetery in Farnham. -
Brabham's 1st WDC
Jack Brabham won his first World championship title at the 1959 United States Grand Prix. Jack Brabham ran out of fuel on the last lap and pushed his Cooper T51 across the line to finish fourth. Brooks's third-place finish clinched the title for Brabham. It was the first of three world championships for Brabham, and the first for an Australian, for Cooper, and for a rear-engined car. -
Moss Banned 1 year
The career of motor racing legend Stirling Moss suffered a severe blow when he was banned from driving after being involved in a crash near Newport in the autumn of 1959. He was fined £50 and banned from driving for one year after an incident near Chetwynd, Shropshire. He was able to get arround the ban by taking out an American licence which allowed him to enter events there and international events elsewhere. -
Brabham's 2nd WDC
Brabham won his second world championship title at the 1960 Portuguese Grand Prix. Brabham's victory meant he clinched the World Championship with two races remaining. -
1961 F1 Regulation changes
In 1961, everything changed with the new formula, cutting normally aspirated engine capacity from a maximum of 2.5 litres to 1.5l. A minimum weight was also introduced and set at 450kg, although it was originally 50kg higher. -
Moss's f1 retirement
Moss would end his F1 career with a string of third-place finishes in the championship retiring from the sport in 1961 as his career was ended by a heavy accident during the 1962 Glover Trophy race at Goodwood the following April. -
Moss Accident
In 1962, he crashed his Lotus in the Glover Trophy. The accident put him in a coma for a month, and for six months the left side of his body was paralysed. He recovered, but retired from professional racing after a test session in a Lotus 19 the following year, when he lapped a few tenths of a second slower than before. He felt that he had not regained his instinctive command of the car after recovering from the coma. -
Farina's death
On his way to the 1966 French Grand Prix, Farina lost control of his Lotus Cortina in the Savoy Alps, near Aiguebelle, hit a telegraph pole and was killed instantly. He had been on his way to both watch the race and to take part in filming as the adviser and driving double of the French actor Yves Montand, who played an ex-World Champion in the film Grand Prix. His age was only 59. -
Brabham's 3rd WDC
Jack Brabham took his third and final Drivers' Championship, this time in a car of his own manufacture with an Australian-engineered Repco V8 engine. In winning the championship in his own car, Australian Brabham became the first and the only driver to ever win the World Championship in a car carrying his own name. It is also the first time in the history of the World Championship dating back to 1950 that a non-European or British car had won the championship. -
Fangio's Death
Fangio died in Buenos Aires in 1995, at the age of 84 from kidney failure and pneumonia; he was buried in his home town of Balcarce. In his home country of Argentina, Fangio is revered as one of the greatest sportsmen the nation has ever produced. Argentines often refer to him as El Maestro, el mejor, which translates into The Master, the best one. -
Moss Retires from racing.
Moss announced his retirement from racing ahead of the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2011.
Stirling said after qualifying,“This afternoon I scared myself and I have always said that if I felt I was not up to it or that I was getting in the way of fellow competitors, then I would retire.”
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Moss retires fully
In December 2016, he was admitted to hospital in Singapore with a serious chest infection. As a result of this illness and a subsequent lengthy recovery period, Moss announced his retirement from public life in January 2018 at the age of 88. -
Stirling Moss death
Sir Stirling Moss died in the early hours of Easter morning, at the age of 90. The racing legend died after a long illness. He was being nursed by Lady Moss at their Mayfair home. The F1 icon has a long history with health problems over the last 10 years - most notably a long chest infection that lead to his retirement from public life.