What Happened On This Day April 15 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, April 15 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1922

Graham Whitehead, born on this day in Harrogate, began his racing career in 1951, driving his half-brother Peter Whitehead’s ERA. A year later, he made his sole appearance in a Formula One World Championship race, finishing 12th in his Formula Two Alta at the 1952 British Grand Prix.

During the 1950s, Whitehead raced Jaguars and Aston Martins, achieving his most notable result in 1958 when he finished second at the Le Mans 24 Hours alongside Peter. Tragically, just two weeks later, Peter was killed in a crash in France while Graham was behind the wheel. Though he survived with less severe injuries, the loss of his half-brother deeply affected him.

Whitehead continued racing for a few more years before retiring at the end of the 1961 season.

1999

Harvey Postlethwaite became one of the most distinguished British engineers and technical directors in Formula One, contributing significantly to several teams over three decades. Sadly he died on this day in 1999.

Postlethwaite attended the Royal Masonic School for Boys and later earned a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Birmingham. Initially working as a research scientist at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), he soon moved into motorsport engineering because of his passion for racing.

Formula One Career

• Hesketh Racing (1974–1975): Postlethwaite joined Hesketh Racing, where he designed the Hesketh 308. This car achieved the team’s sole victory at the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix with driver James Hunt.
• Wolf–Williams Racing and Wolf Racing (1976–1979): After Hesketh folded, he moved to Wolf–Williams Racing, which later became Wolf Racing under Walter Wolf. His WR1 design secured a win in its debut race in 1977, with Jody Scheckter finishing second in the Drivers’ Championship that year.
• Fittipaldi Automotive (1980): Postlethwaite transitioned to Fittipaldi Automotive, bringing along driver Keke Rosberg. He developed the F8 chassis during his tenure.
• Ferrari (1981–1987): Recruited by Enzo Ferrari, Postlethwaite enhanced the team’s chassis designs, contributing to Ferrari’s Constructors’ Championships in 1982 and 1983 with the 126C2 and its successor.
• Tyrrell (1987–1990, 1994–1998): At Tyrrell, he introduced the innovative high-nose design with the 019 model, influencing future Formula One car aerodynamics.
• Sauber (1991–1992): As technical director, Postlethwaite laid the groundwork for Sauber’s entry into Formula One, designing their inaugural car.
• Honda F1 Project (1999): In 1999, he led Honda’s in-house Formula One project. Tragically, he suffered a fatal heart attack during testing in Barcelona, Spain, leading to the project’s discontinuation.

2001

The Schumacher name once again topped the podium at the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix, but this time it was Michael’s younger brother, Ralf Schumacher, who took the checkered flag. In doing so, the duo became the first brothers in Formula One history to win a Grand Prix—just two weeks after making history as the first siblings to lock out the grid’s front row.

Ralf’s victory also marked a milestone for Williams BMW, securing their first win in nearly four years. Meanwhile, it was a race to forget for Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, as he endured a frustrating afternoon and failed to finish in the points, much to the disappointment of his passionate Italian supporters. The McLaren of David Coulthard finished second, and Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello finished third.

“I am very happy for Ralf,'” said Michael. “He has shown strongly in the past and he has also had some bad luck. But this time everything went well and he did it in style.”

2001 San Marino Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	62	1:30:44.817	10
2	4	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	62	+4.352s	6
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	62	+34.766s	4
4	3	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	62	+36.315s	3
5	12	Jarno Trulli	Jordan Honda	62	+85.558s	2
6	11	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan Honda	61	+1 lap	1
7	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	61	+1 lap	0
8	9	Olivier Panis	BAR Honda	61	+1 lap	0
9	22	Jean Alesi	Prost Acer	61	+1 lap	0
10	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows Asiatech	60	+2 laps	0
11	19	Luciano Burti	Jaguar Cosworth	60	+2 laps	0
12	8	Jenson Button	Benetton Renault	60	+2 laps	0
NC	20	Tarso Marques	Minardi European	50	DNF	0
NC	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	48	DNF	0
NC	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	42	DNF	0
NC	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Renault	31	DNF	0
NC	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	30	DNF	0
NC	23	Gaston Mazzacane	Prost Acer	28	DNF	0
NC	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	24	DNF	0
NC	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber Petronas	17	DNF	0
NC	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows Asiatech	6	DNF	0
NC	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi European	5	DNF	0

2007

Mclaren driver Lewis Hamilton and his extraordinary debut season continued at the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix, where he secured his third podium in as many races—setting a new benchmark for the best start by a rookie. Outpacing his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso, Hamilton finished second behind the Ferrari of race winner Felipe Massa, who had just enough in hand to fend off the Briton’s late challenge. Massa’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen finished third.

“Three races in to be a contender for the world championship is phenomenal,” said McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh. “We all have to conclude now that Lewis is a serious title challenger. He’ll want to go better now and win a race. I don’t think anybody doubts that he will do that this season.”

2007 Bahrain Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	57	1:33:27.515	10
2	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	57	+2.360s	8
3	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	+10.839s	6
4	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	57	+13.831s	5
5	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Mercedes	57	+14.426s	4
6	10	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	57	+45.529s	3
7	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	57	+81.371s	2
8	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	57	+81.701s	1
9	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	57	+89.411s	0
10	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	57	+89.916s	0
11	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams Toyota	56	+1 lap	0
12	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	56	+1 lap	0
13	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	56	+1 lap	0
14	21	Christijan Albers	Spyker Ferrari	55	+2 laps	0
15	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker Ferrari	53	+4 laps	0
16	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri Honda	51	DNF	0
NC	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Renault	41	DNF	0
NC	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Renault	36	DNF	0
NC	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri Honda	34	DNF	0
NC	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	STR Ferrari	26	DNF	0
NC	7	Jenson Button	Honda	0	DNF	0
NC	19	Scott Speed	STR Ferrari	0	DNF	0

2012

Nico Rosberg claimed his maiden Formula One victory in dominant fashion at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix, securing Mercedes‘ first win since rejoining the sport as a works team. It was Rosberg’s first race win since leaving the GP2 Series six years earlier and a historic moment, as he became the first German driver to win a Grand Prix in a German car.

The victory also marked Mercedes’ first triumph as a factory team since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix, after which the manufacturer withdrew from Formula One for 55 seasons. Rosberg crossed the finish line over 20 seconds ahead of the McLaren duo of Jenson Button in second and Lewis Hamilton, who completed the podium in third.

2012 Chinese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	1:36:26.929	25
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	56	+20.626s	18
3	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	56	+26.012s	15
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	56	+27.924s	12
5	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	56	+30.483s	10
6	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	56	+31.491s	8
7	19	Bruno Senna	Williams Renault	56	+34.597s	6
8	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	56	+35.643s	4
9	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	+37.256s	2
10	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	56	+38.720s	1
11	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber Ferrari	56	+41.066s	0
12	11	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	56	+42.273s	0
13	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	56	+42.779s	0
14	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus Renault	56	+50.573s	0
15	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	56	+51.213s	0
16	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	56	+51.756s	0
17	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	56	+63.156s	0
18	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham Renault	55	+1 lap	0
19	24	Timo Glock	Marussia Cosworth	55	+1 lap	0
20	25	Charles Pic	Marussia Cosworth	55	+1 lap	0
21	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT Cosworth	55	+1 lap	0
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT Cosworth	54	+2 laps	0
23	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham Renault	53	+3 laps	0
NC	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	12	DNF	0
Note – Hamilton qualified second, but dropped five grid places as penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. Vergne qualified 18th, but started from the pit lane following pre-race car changes.

2018

Defending race winner Lewis Hamilton arrived in China trailing Sebastian Vettel by 17 points in the 2018 World Drivers’ Championship, while Ferrari held a 10-point advantage over Mercedes in the Constructors’ standings.

Vettel secured pole position, giving Ferrari its first pole in China in 14 years. However, the race unfolded, with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo winning after a well-timed strategy call. Valtteri Bottas finished second for Mercedes, while Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the podium for Ferrari.

Vettel’s race took a turn for the worse after late-race contact with Max Verstappen, dropping him to eighth place and cutting his championship lead over Hamilton to just nine points.

2018 Chinese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	56	1:35:36.380	25
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	56	+8.894s	18
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	56	+9.637s	15
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	+16.985s	12
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	56	+20.436s	10
6	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	56	+21.052s	8
7	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Renault	56	+30.639s	6
8	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	56	+35.286s	4
9	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	56	+35.763s	2
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	56	+39.594s	1
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India Mercedes	56	+44.050s	0
12	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	56	+44.725s	0
13	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren Renault	56	+49.373s	0
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams Mercedes	56	+55.490s	0
15	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Mercedes	56	+58.241s	0
16	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	56	+62.604s	0
17	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	56	+65.296s	0
18	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	56	+66.330s	0
19	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber Ferrari	56	+82.575s	0
20	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	51	DNF	0
Note – Gasly and Verstappen received 10-second time penalties for causing collisions.

F1 Driver Birthdays 15 April

Birthday	F1 Driver
15 April 1922	Graham Whitehead (d. 1981)
15 April 1923	Ernesto Prinoth (d. 1981)

F1 Driver Deaths 15 April

Death	F1 Driver
15 April 1973	Ernst Klodwig (b. 1903)
15 April 2005	Art Cross (b. 1918)

Death	F1 Mentions
15 April 1999	Harvey Postlethwaite (b. 1944) Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.