What happened on this day, February 5 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.
1882
Louis Wagner, the winner of the first British Grand Prix in 1926, was born in Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Wagner’s major victories included the inaugural US Grand Prix in 1907 and the Vanderbilt Cup in 1906. His 1926 win at Brooklands was remarkable; despite severe burns to his feet due to car issues, he persevered by cooling his feet in a bucket of cold water during a pit stop.
1922
Alain de Changy, born in Brussels, Belgium, competed in only one F1 race, the 1959 Monaco Grand Prix, failing to qualify with Ecurie Nationale Belge. However, he found more success in sports car racing.
1956
Hector Rebaque, F1 driver and team owner, was born in Mexico City. Over his five-year F1 career, he competed in 58 Grands Prix races, driving for his own team, Rebaque, before moving to Brabham where he achieved his best finishes of fourth place three times in 1981. He then moved to the CART series in the USA, winning at Elkhart Lake in what would be his final race, retiring shortly after due to the dangers of oval racing, influenced by a testing accident.
2001
Flavio Briatore announced Fernando Alonso‘s Formula 1 debut with Minardi. After testing Alonso in a Benetton to qualify for an F1 super-license, Briatore convinced Paul Stoddart to recruit him for the small Italian team. Despite two years out of karting and a fourth-place finish in the F3000 series, Alonso managed solid performances with Minardi, although he didn’t score any points. After a year as a test driver, he joined Briatore’s Renault team in 2003, eventually becoming a double world champion by 2006.
2003
Manfred von Brauchitsch, the last surviving driver from the inter-war Silver Arrows, passed away at 97 in Graefenwarth. During the 1930s, he raced for Mercedes, achieving three Grands Prix wins, though often plagued by misfortune. His most notable victory was at the 1937 Monaco Grand Prix, where he set a lap record that lasted 18 years. Coming from a military family, von Brauchitsch faced employment challenges in post-war West Germany and was later imprisoned for espionage in 1951. After posting bail, he defected to East Germany, where he led the national motorsport organisation. Following Hermann Lang’s death in 1987, he became the last living Silver Arrows member.
F1 Driver Birthdays 5 February
| Birthday | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 5 February 1922 | Alain de Changy (d. 1994) |
| 5 February 1956 | Hector Rebaque |
F1 Driver Deaths 5 February
| Death | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 5 February | None |
| Death | F1 Mentions |
|---|---|
| 5 February 2003 | Manfred von Brauchitsch German driver who drove for Mercedes-Benz in the famous “Silver Arrows” of Grand Prix motor racing in the 1930s. |
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