On This Day In Formula One - 23 July

1935

Former Formula One driver and automotive pioneer Jim Hall was born in Abilene, Texas. Hall competed in F1 from 1960 to 1963, participating in 12 World Championship Grands Prix and numerous non-Championship races. But Hall's place in motorsport history came as the owner and driving force of Chaparral Cars of Midland, Texas, which were the most innovative cars in racing. He was a very early adopter of aerodynamics applied to race cars and was leading proponent of that technology for an entire decade. Hall came back to prominence in the Championship Auto Racing Teams series, including two wins in the Indianapolis 500 in 1978 and 1980; the latter with the first of the ground effect cars to be raced in the event.

                                                               2002

Jenson Button with BAR team boss Dave Richards.

Jenson Button announced he would be joining the BAR team after an unsuccessful spell at Renault. "BAR provided me with an excellent opportunity to progress and ultimately, I hope, to achieve my ambition to be world champion," said Button. He was right on one count, but his success would come with Brawn GP in 2009 a year after his Honda team, who had bought BAR in 2006, folded.

2005

Flamboyant Renault team boss Flavio Briatore was signed up to play himself in an Italian movie shot around his Billionaire nightclub in Sardinia. On starring in Costa Smeralda, Briatore said: "I will play a part I know already: that of Flavio Briatore, aiming for the excesses, obviously. I'm laughing already,"

[INFORMATION BY - ESPNF1.com]

Part 3 - The Hungarian Grand Prix - DID YOU KNOW (FACTS)

'Topsy Turvy' - By Jake Davis

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On This Day In Formula One - 22 July

                                                                                     1984

Niki Lauda wins the 1984 British Grand Prix.

McLaren team-mates were at it again at the British Grand Prix, this time it was Niki Lauda who came out victorious to narrow the gap in the championship standings to Alain Prost. The race also marked the closest Derek Warwick would ever come to a Formula One victory when he finished second in his Renault. The race was also notable because the Tyrrell team was banned for using lead balls in its water ballast. They appealed but to no avail and they were stripped of their points for the entire season.

                                                              2003
Rubens Barrichello broke his winner's trophy for the British Grand Prix while checking in for his flight home at Heathrow airport. The gold replica of the original was accidently knocked to the ground and smashed leaving the Brazilian distraught after one of his greatest F1 victories. "Somebody bumped into the trophy and it fell and broke," he said.

                                                              2004

Bernie Ecclestone rushed to the defence of Michael Schumacher's dominance of F1, as the German was on the verge of a record seventh world title. Many claimed Schumacher had made the sport boring but Ecclestone, the sport's commercial rights holder and potentially the one with the most to lose by viewers switching off, said: "Michael is a superstar. That is exactly what we wanted - every sport needs a superstar and he is ours. Everybody tries to beat him and that is great publicity for Formula One. He is lucky to drive for a team that supports him the way Ferrari does but it was Michael who motivated them after their initial problems."

                                                                   2007

Turn 8 and 9 at the at the Nurburgring Circuit is named after the
 legendary 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher.

Michael Schumacher had a corner named after him at the Nurburgring grand prix circuit. The high speed turns nine and ten were officially named at that year's European Grand Prix to commemorate the German's career, which started nearby at a local kart track. "I'm absolutely thrilled to be privileged to experience a situation like this," said Schumacher.

                                                                   2007
Fernando Alonso won the European Grand Prix to close the gap in the championship standings to just two points between himself and McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton. A rainstorm hit the circuit after just one lap of action leading to the extraordinary sight of debutant Markus Winkelhock leading his first F1 race by half a minute - in a Spyker. Sadly for Winkelhock, conditions were so bad that the race had to be suspended and on the restart, Kimi Raikkonen led Felipe Massa and Alonso before further rainfall and more pitstops again shuffled the pack leaving Alonso to slither to victory from Massa and Mark Webber's Red Bull. Listeners to BBC radio were able to enjoy the commentary of Murray Walker for the first time since he retired in 2001. 

2008

BMW had to abandon testing of its Kinetic Energy Recovery System after one of its mechanics received an electric shock. The team had been testing for the following year when the revolutionary technology was introduced to the sport. The KERS unit was in its early stages of development and the first mechanic to touch the car after a test run fell to the ground after an electric shock. It was one of a number of scares about the new technology when it was first introduced, which eventually led to mechanics wearing rubber gloves when handling the cars.

[INFORMATION BY - ESPNF1.com]

Part 2 - The Hungarian Grand Prix - DID YOU KNOW (FACTS)

On This Day In Formula One - 21 July

                                                                1962

Jim Clark won the 1962 British Grand Prix at Aintree.

Jim Clark took the first of his five British Grand Prix victories. Clark secured the win, pole position and fastest lap, exhibiting his deep reserves of skill at a packed Aintree. The race itself was devoid of action but the home fans were kept happy by John Surtees, joining Clark on the podium in second place.

1985

McLaren's Alain Prost won the British Grand Prix after an intense battle with Ayrton Senna was brought to an end when the Lotus ran out of fuel. Senna made a brilliant start and shot ahead of Keke Rosberg on pole to take the lead. He led comfortably up to about lap 30 but then came under attack from Prost for the second half of the race. Heading into the final 10 laps Senna's engine started to sound rough and on lap 58 Prost slipped through to take the lead. Senna retaliated and actually got back past the McLaren before he was forced to retire when he ran out of fuel. Prost went on to take the win by over a lap from Michele Alboreto in the Ferrari. Rather embarrassingly for the race director, he put the chequered flag out one lap too late meaning the race was 2.9 miles longer than it should have been. Fortunately the mistake did not alter the result.

                                                                                                                                                         2002

Michael Schumacher celebrates his fifth World Championship.

Michael Schumacher took his fifth Formula One title, equalling the record of Juan Manuel Fangio. He sealed the championship at just the 11th round in France, taking his eighth win of the season and notching up his 96th point of the year. The race itself was fairly dull, with Kimi Raikkonen conceding victory to Schumacher five laps from the end when he ran wide on oil at the Adelaide hairpin. Schumacher's closest championship competitor before the race was his Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello but the Brazilian failed to make the start when his engine failed on the grid.

                2006

BAR Honda set a new land-speed record for a Formula One car.

BAR set a new land-speed record for a Formula One car but fell short of its ambitious 400km/h (248mph) target. The team had taken a modified version of its V10 F1 car to the Bonneville salt flats to attempt the record, with South African Alan van der Merwe at the wheel. The team did manage to get the BAR (with a fin instead of a rear wing) over 400km/h but couldn't repeat the feat driving the other way, which is necessary to set a record. Its official top speed was a still-impressive 397.360km/h average over two consecutive runs. Van der Merwe now drives the F1 medical car at grands prix.

[INFORMATION BY - ESPNF1.com] 

Part 1 - The Hungarian Grand Prix - DID YOU KNOW (FACTS)

BROADCAST TIMES for the FORMULA 1 PIRELLI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2014 [SKYSPORTS F1]

TRACK PROFILE - FORMULA 1 PIRELLI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2014

On This Day In Formula One - 20 July

1943

Often considered to be the greatest driver never to win a world-championship grand prix, Chris Amon was born in Bulls, New Zealand. At the age of 19 he made his F1 debut with Reg Parnell's racing team and scored his first points before the age of 21. After Parnell's death he competed in the odd race for Brabham before being signed up to drive for Ferrari in 1967. He immediately proved his class and took four podiums but his sought-after win eluded him. In 1970 he joined March where he did record a Formula One win but in the non-championship International Trophy at Silverstone. He won once more on his debut at Matra in 1971, but again it did not count towards the world championship and the rest of the season proved to be a struggle. He should have won the 1972 French Grand Prix but was deprived of almost-certain victory by a puncture. From that point onwards his career fizzled out and his attempt to run his own team in 1974 also proved fruitless. He now lives and works on his family farm and has also developed suspension for car giant Toyota since retiring from racing.

                                    1957

Sir Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks shared victory at the British Grand Prix at Aintree. The event marked the first victory for a British car in Formula One as the Vanwall led the Ferraris of Luigi Musso and Mike Hawthorn across the line. Moss, whose engine had failed, took over team-mate Brooks' car midway through the race, as his fellow Briton was still getting over the injuries from a massive accident at Le Mans that year. Moss rejoined in ninth place but immediately fought his way back into contention. "I came out quite a long way down but that suited me fine," he said. "You see the trouble is that when you are leading and the car fails, you get labelled as a car breaker. But when you're at the back coming through the field they don't care if you break it. So at least I could have a go." He worked his way back up to fourth and then took the lead when Jean Behra's clutch exploded and punctured the tyres of second place Mike Hawthorn. Moss passed team-mate Stewart Lewis-Evans and went on to take a comfortable victory. Over half a century later he told ESPNF1 it was his favourite British Grand Prix he ever took part in: "It was not a great circuit or anything else, but it was the first time a British car won a world championship race. And sharing it with Tony Brooks, who was such a fantastic driver anyway, certainly didn't take anything away from it."

1963

Jim Clark took his second of five eventual British Grand Prix victories in his career. After a shaky start from pole position he had a fairly straightforward race, regaining the four positions he lost on the first lap and going on to take the win by 25 seconds from John Surtees' Ferrari. BRM driver Graham Hill finished third to make it an all British podium at Silverstone.

1985

Keke Rosberg set one of the most incredible qualifying laps of all time at Silverstone, taking pole and lapping at an average speed in excess of 160mph. At the time it was a record and was the last qualifying lap set on one of the fastest layouts of the historic track. His best time was 0.658 up on Williams team-mate Nelson Piquet. The current fastest lap qualifying record is held by Juan Pablo Montoya, who recorded a lap at over 162 mph at Monza in 2004.

                                                                     2003

One of the most bizarre races of all time took place at Silverstone when a priest, baring a slightly confused religious message, burst on to the Hanger straight and forced drivers to swerve out of his way. Father Cornelius Horan, a defrocked Irish Roman Catholic clergyman, decided to break onto the track in order to spread his message that the world was coming to an end. Needless to say it didn't, but he did nearly stop the race and a safety car had to be deployed so he could be arrested, inadvertently shaking up the order and providing a thrilling race from that point onwards. Rubens Barrichello, who had started the race on pole, dropped a couple of places but got off lightly compared to his Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya and Fernando Alonso, who all ended up outside the top ten. Barrichello then mounted a fight back, pulling a brilliant overtaking move around the outside of Kimi Raikkonen at Bridge, to go to take one of the greatest victories of his career. Montoya finished second after his own spirited drive through the field and Raikkonen finished third. Horan was later charged with aggravated trespass and pleaded guilty saying an open gate onto the track had been a sign from God. He was jailed for two months but went on to enjoy more fame several years later on the TV show Britain's Got Talent.

2004

Sebastien Buemi became one of the youngest drivers ever to test an F1 car at just 15-years-old. He was let loose in a 1999 Arrows as a part of a tie-up with his sponsor TAG Huer. "The sensations are extraordinary," said Buemi. "More than ever after this experience I am determined to conquer the Formula BMW Championship in order to gradually climb the rungs that I hope will one day lead to Formula One." He eventually achieved his dream in 2009 when he was signed up as a Toro Rosso race driver.

2008

Lewis Hamilton recovered from a botched strategy to beat world championship-rival Felipe Massa to victory in one of his stand-out performances of his first title-winning season. Hamilton had the race under control until a huge accident involving Timo Glock's Toyota brought out the safety car. Most drivers followed convention and pitted, but Hamilton stayed out on track and lost position when he had to make his stop under racing conditions. However, he then recovered from fifth place with a brilliant display of overtaking around the Hockenheim circuit.

[Information By - ESPNF1.com]