What Happened On This Day February 3 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, February 3 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1920

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Tony Gaze was the first Australian to participate in a Grand Prix at the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix, after which he participated in three more races in a privately entered HWM. Despite his brief Formula 1 career, he was a decorated World War II Spitfire pilot who survived being shot down in occupied France. Gaze achieved 12.5 aerial victories, landed first in France post-D-Day, and was the first to shoot down a jet. He contributed to establishing the Goodwood race circuit in 1948 and later worked to develop Australian motorsport.

1956

John Claes, who raced under the Belgian flag from 1950 to 1955, passed away at age 39 in Brussels. Born in Fulham and educated in Oxfordshire, he began racing a Talbot Lago for his team, Ecurie Belge, achieving notable results as a privateer. Claes later switched to Gordini, Connaught and Maserati cars but remained associated with Ecurie Belge throughout his career. He succumbed to a prolonged battle with tuberculosis. His F1 career saw 23 starts.

1957

Chico Serra, born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, gained recognition in Formula 2 racing for Ron Dennis’s Project Four Racing at 23. He progressed into Formula 1 in 1980 with Emerson Fittipaldi’s team but faced frequent qualification challenges. He achieved his best result, sixth place, at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix the following year. After a stint with Arrows in 1983, Serra later won the Brazilian V8 title in 2000 and 2001. He is also remembered for a 1982 altercation with Raul Boesel in the Canadian Grand Prix pit lane, which escalated from verbal exchanges to punches being thrown before being broken up by team members.

2000

Mercedes‘ parent company, Daimler, acquired a 40% stake in McLaren, enhancing their existing engine supply partnership that began in 1995. The collaboration aimed to co-develop sports cars, leading to the launch of the McLaren Mercedes SLR in 2003. By 2009, however, McLaren announced its intention to manufacture its own road cars independently, and Mercedes established its own Formula 1 team. McLaren then began a process of repurchasing the shares acquired by Mercedes.

2006

Midland F1 Racing introduced the first Russian Formula One car, the M16, after billionaire Alex Schnaider purchased the team in 2005. Initially, the team competed under the Jordan name with a British license during Schnaider’s first season. In 2006, it raced under the Midland name, marking the first display of the Russian flag in F1 history. Later in the season, Spyker Cars acquired the team, and it competed in the final three Grands Prix as Spyker MF1 Racing.

F1 Driver Birthdays 3 February

F1 Driver Deaths 3 February