What Happened On This Day January 27 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, January 27 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1934

Born in Phoenix, George Follmer carved out a lengthy career in U.S. motorsports before joining the Shadow team in 1973. His peak achievement came in his second race, finishing third in Spain, although he was the final driver to complete the race. His stint in Formula 1 was marked by a memorable and heated row with Francois Cevert on the podium. He returned to racing in the United States at the end of the season.

1974

The Formula 1 circus returned to Brazil, yet the 1974 Brazilian Grand Prix faced initial delays due to the need to clean the circuit of broken glass from fan celebrations. As the race started, the track’s condition deteriorated with signs of disintegration, exacerbated by rain that eroded the track edges and washed mud across sections of the circuit. Heavy rain led to the race being suspended and eventually called off after 31 of the 40 scheduled laps, Emerson Fittipaldi securing a 15-second lead over the Ferrari of Clay Regazzoni—this marked Fittipaldi’s first victory with McLaren and the team’s tenth in Formula 1. Jacky Ickx took third for Lotus.

1974 Brazilain Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren Ford	32	1:24:37.060	9
2	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	32	+13.570s	6
3	2	Jacky Ickx	Lotus Ford	31	+1 lap	4
4	18	Carlos Pace	Surtees Ford	31	+1 lap	3
5	33	Mike Hailwood	McLaren Ford	31	+1 lap	2
6	1	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus Ford	31	+1 lap	1
7	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham Ford	31	+1 lap	0
8	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell Ford	31	+1 lap	0
9	24	James Hunt	March Ford	31	+1 lap	0
10	14	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	31	+1 lap	0
11	26	Graham Hill	Lola Ford	31	+1 lap	0
12	6	Denny Hulme	McLaren Ford	31	+1 lap	0
13	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell Ford	31	+1 lap	0
14	15	Henri Pescarolo	BRM	30	+2 laps	0
15	8	Richard Robarts	Brabham Ford	30	+2 laps	0
16	37	Francois Migault	BRM	30	+2 laps	0
17	19	Jochen Mass	Surtees Ford	30	+2 laps	0
NC	28	John Watson	Brabham Ford	27	DNF	0
NC	9	Hans-Joachim Stuck	March Ford	24	DNF	0
NC	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow Ford	22	DNF	0
NC	20	Arturo Merzario	Iso Marlboro Ford	20	DNF	0
NC	16	Peter Revson	Shadow Ford	11	DNF	0
NC	10	Howden Ganley	March Ford	9	DNF	0
NC	27	Guy Edwards	Lola Ford	3	DNF	0
NC	12	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	3	DNF	0

1980

Rene Arnoux celebrated his inaugural victory at the 1980 Brazilian Grand Prix, although it was his Renault teammate Jean-Pierre Jabouille who initially dominated. Jabouille led the race until a mechanical failure forced his withdrawal. Arnoux managed his lead carefully in the closing laps, conserving his tyres to finish 22 seconds ahead of Elio de Angelis in the Lotus-Ford and Alan Jones in a Williams.

1980 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	16	Rene Arnoux	Renault	40	1:40:01.330	9
2	12	Elio de Angelis	Lotus Ford	40	+21.860s	6
3	27	Alan Jones	Williams Ford	40	+66.110s	4
4	25	Didier Pironi	Ligier Ford	40	+100.130s	3
5	8	Alain Prost	McLaren Ford	40	+145.410s	2
6	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	39	+1 lap	1
7	9	Marc Surer	ATS Ford	39	+1 lap	0
8	6	Ricardo Zunino	Brabham Ford	39	+1 lap	0
9	21	Keke Rosberg	Fittipaldi Ford	39	+1 lap	0
10	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows Ford	39	+1 lap	0
11	7	John Watson	McLaren Ford	39	+1 lap	0
12	3	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell Ford	39	+1 lap	0
13	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	39	+1 lap	0
14	4	Derek Daly	Tyrrell Ford	38	+2 laps	0
15	20	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	38	+2 laps	0
16	2	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	36	DNF	0
NC	22	Patrick Depailler	Alfa Romeo	33	DNF	0
NC	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	25	DNF	0
NC	5	Nelson Piquet	Brabham Ford	14	DNF	0
NC	14	Clay Regazzoni	Ensign Ford	13	DNF	0
NC	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Ford	13	DNF	0
NC	1	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	10	DNF	0
NC	28	Carlos Reutemann	Williams Ford	1	DNF	0
NC	11	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	1	DNF	0

1997

After announcing they would take over F1 coverage in December 2005, ITV finally announced the hiring of veteran commentator Murray Walker to lead their Formula 1 coverage. Walker acknowledged negotiating a salary increase, describing it as modest and stating his primary motivation was his passion for the sport. He had been held to secrecy for some time before the announcement of his hiring.

2009

The FIA abolished a contentious rule penalising drivers for pitting early under safety car conditions. They also updated the regulations to keep the pit lane open during such incidents, with new software introduced to control the pace of drivers returning to refuel.

2021

Adrian Campos was a Spanish driver who competed in 21 Grands Prix with Minardi Sadly, he passed away on this day, aged just 60, due to an aortic dissection. While he never scored a championship point in F1, he achieved greater success in team management. He founded the Campos Meta Formula One team, which was later renamed HRT and participated in Formula One from 2010 to 2012. In 1997, he also established Campos Racing, which saw huge success in Formula Three, GP2 Series and F4 Spanish Championship. Drivers have included Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, and Lando Norris.

F1 Driver Birthdays 27 January

Birthday	F1 Driver
27 January 1934	George Follmer

F1 Driver Deaths 27 January

Death	F1 Driver
27 January 1990	Bob Schroeder
27 January 1990	Spider Webb
27 January 2002	John James
27 January 2021	Adrian Campos

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Ben is a staff writer specialising in F1 from the 1990s to the modern era. Ben has been following Formula 1 since 1986 and is an avid researcher who loves understanding the technology that makes it one of the most exciting motorsport on the planet. He listens to podcasts about F1 on a daily basis, and enjoys reading books from the inspirational Adrian Newey to former F1 drivers.