What happened on this day, August 5 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.
1930
American racing driver Richie Ginther was born. Competing in 52 Formula One races between 1960 and 1967, Ginther scored one grand prix victory at the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix and secured 14 other podium finishes. Due to the sport’s intense danger, he abruptly retired from motorsport during the qualifying session of the Indy 500 in 1967. Ginther died of a heart attack in 1989.
1956
Juan Manuel Fangio won from pole position and secured the fastest lap at the Nurburgring during the 1956 German Grand Prix with Ferrari. Fangio finished 46.6 seconds ahead of the Maserati of Stirling Moss. Jean Behra came home for Maserati in third.
As well as the win, at forty-five years old, Argentine Fangio still had the speed; he broke Hermann Lang’s 17-year-old lap record, which was set in a Mercedes.
1962
Dan Gurney achieved Porsche’s only pole position at the 1962 German Grand Prix. The race was won by BRM driver Graham Hill, with Gurney’s Porsche finishing third. John Surtees finished second for the Lola team.
After a heavy midday downpour, the race was delayed by over an hour due to streams of water and mud covering parts of the track. The track never fully dried, and the race was run in wet conditions.
The race was also notable for having six different constructors occupy the top six positions.
1984
McLaren driver Alain Prost won the 1984 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim from pole position and recorded the fastest lap during the race. Teammate Niki Lauda finished second, McLaren’s second 1-2 of the season so far while Renault driver Derek Warwick took third to complete the podium, which would turn out to be the final podium finish of his career.
2004
Williams announced they had signed Jenson Button on a two-year deal for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. However, his current team, BAR-Honda, claimed he was in breach of his contract. The dispute went before the Formula One Contract Recognition Board, which ruled in BAR’s favour, and Button remained with the team. Interestingly, a year later, Williams claimed Button was contracted to them for the 2006 season, but Button wanted to stay at BAR. Button reportedly paid £20 million to Williams to be released from the contract.
2007
Lewis Hamilton secured his third win and 10th podium finish of his debut season at the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari took second, while Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber completed the top three.
The qualifying session on Saturday was caught up in controversy when Alonso deliberately delayed in the pit box, preventing Hamilton from changing his tyres and completing his final flying lap in Q3. This denied Hamilton the chance to take pole position. However, Alonso received a five-place grid penalty, handing pole to the Englishman.
F1 Driver Birthday’s 5 August
| Birth Date | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 5 August 1907 | Roger Loyer |
| 5 August 1930 | Richie Ginther |
| 5 August 1936 | Ronnie Bucknum |
| 5 August 1943 | Leo Kinnunen |
| 5 August 1991 | Esteban Gutierrez |
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