Formula One - On This Day

Born on this day, "B. Bira" (Prince Birabongse Bhanutej Bhanubandh), a member of the Royal Thai family, Birabongse came to England in 1927 to study at Eton and Cambridge. He started racing in 1935 with a Riley and a MG Magnette. Continue Reading →

B. Bira

Born on this day, Ian Stewart, Scottish driver who participated in one World Championship Grand Prix, for the Scottish Ecurie Ecosse team, on 18 July 1953. He failed to finish due to an ignition fault, and scored no championship points. He also competed in several non-Championship Grands Prix.

The Bugatti Type 30 made its racing debut, with Pierre de Vizcaya and Pierre Marco taking second and third places at the French Grand Prix in Strasbourg.

Bugatti Type 30

The Mercedes-Benz SS made its racing debut at the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring and occupied the top three places - Halle in an Amilcar and Vinzenz Junek in a Bugatti were killed in accidents during the race.

Mercedes-Benz SS

Following a wet weekend, with torrential rain affecting both qualifying and the race start, the British Grand Prix at Aintree was ultimately dominated by Scuderia Ferrari, with their drivers taking all three podium positions. The race was won by German Wolfgang von Trips, who had led for much of the race after starting from fourth place. This was von Trips's second and last Grand Prix victory, as two races later he was killed in an accident during the 1961 Italian Grand Prix. Continue Reading →

Start of the 1961 British Grand Prix, Aintree

Jim Clark kick-started his faltering season with victory in the British Grand Prix. Lotus had the fastest car but struggled with transmission problems - both cars had retired while running 1-2 in the French Grand Prix a fortnight earlier - but as Clark and Graham Hill dominated all seemed to be right at Silverstone. Hill led up to the 55th lap when his car suffered from a rear suspension issues and then engine failure, but Clark held on.

Jim Clark - 1967 British Grand Prix

Emerson Fittipaldi won an eventful British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. Jackie Icyx led early on before retiring with oil pressure problems, while Ronnie Peterson appeared set to take fourth place when his engine cut out and he crashed into the abandoned cars of Graham Hill and Francois Cevert.

Emerson Fittipaldi, British Grand Prix 1972

Alain Prost secured his third successive win at the British Grand Prix to move ahead of Ayrton Senna in the drivers' championship. The early battle had been between Senna and Nigel Mansell as the pair swapped the lead, but mechanical problems took their toll on Mansell while Senna spun off, allowing Prost to cruise home. A fuming Mansell, who eventually had to retire on the 56th lap, said afterwards that he was "much quicker than anyone else … I'm bound to wonder why these problems don't happen to the other guys". Continue Reading →

1990 British Grand Prix

In his period of dominance, the British Grand Prix was a rare failure for Michael Schumacher as he failed to win despite taking pole, the victory going to Mike Hakkinen. For Heinz-Harald Frentzen it marked the end of his time with Jordan who sacked him following a disappointing season.

Following extensive wind tunnel testing, the final design of the first A1GP race car was shown in public for the first time at the Farnborough International Air Show in the UK.