On This Day In Formula One - 18 August

1957

Stirling Moss won the first ever Pescara Grand Prix in Italy, on the calendar after the cancelations of the Belgian and Dutch GPs. Ferrari did not bother to send cars for Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, partly because Juan Manuel Fangio had already secured the title but also in protest against Italian government moves to ban road racing. So it became a battle between Moss' Vanwall and the Maserati of Fangio, Moss winning after Fangio spun on oil left by Luigi Musso's privateer Ferrari.

                                                                                          1974

Carlos Reutemann wins the 1974 Austrian Grand Prix.

Carlos Reutemann won the Austrian Grand Prix from Denny Hulme and James Hunt. Having qualified second, Reutemann took the lead at the start and never looked back. While Reutemann carried on serenely at the front, cars were dropping like flies behind him, Scheckter, Lauda, Peterson, Pace and Fittipaldi all falling by the wayside.

1985

Italian driver Andrea de Cesaris lived up to his nickname of 'Andrea de Crasheris' at the Austrian Grand Prix when he had another spectacular accident, his Ligier going off the circuit and somersaulting several times. Although he walked away mercifully unscathed, a shaken De Cesaris was promptly sacked by Guy Ligier on his arrival back at the pits. "I can no longer afford the services of this young man," Ligier is reported to have said. Alain Prost went on to win the race.

2002

Rubens Barrichello led home Michael Schumacher for an easy 1-2 as Ferrari secured another constructors' title. In an uneventful procession of a race, Ralf Schumacher finished third and the only excitement came when Mika Salo was given a 25-second post-race penalty for an unsafe pit stop while trying to stay ahead of Pedro de la Rosa.

[INFORMATION BY - ESPNF1.com]