What Happened On This Day July 1 In F1 History?

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

1951

Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli, driving an Alfa Romeo, claimed victory at the 1951 French Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Ferrari drivers Jose Froilan Gonzalez and Alberto Ascari in second. Luigi Villoresi finished in third place for Ferrari. It was the first of three occasions where two drivers would be credited with a Grand Prix win after sharing a car.

Luigi Fagioli’s victory in this race marked his first and only World Championship win, making him the oldest driver ever to win a Formula One Grand Prix—a record that still stands.

This race is also the longest Formula One Grand Prix in F1 History in terms of total distance covered. The 77 laps around the 4.856-mile Reims-Gueux circuit added up to a gruelling 373.961 miles.

1951 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	8	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	77	3:22:11.000	5
1	8	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo		SHC	4
2	14	Jose Froilan Gonzalez	Ferrari		SHC	3
2	14	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	77	+58.200s	3
3	10	Luigi  Villoresi	Ferrari	74	+3 laps	4
4	26	Reg  Parnell	Thin Wall Ferrari	73	+4 laps	3
5	2	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	73	+4 laps	2
6	42	Louis  Chiron	Talbot-Lago	71	+6 laps	0
7	46	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago	71	+6 laps	0
8	44	Eugene  Chaboud	Talbot-Lago	69	+8 laps	0
9	48	Guy  Mairesse	Talbot-Lago	66	+11 laps	0
10	6	Consalvo  Sanesi	Alfa Romeo	58	+19 laps	0
11	4	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo	55	+22 laps	0
11	4	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo		SHC	0
NC	28	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago	54	DNF	0
NC	40	Louis  Rosier	Talbot-Lago	43	DNF	0
NC	38	Philippe  Etancelin	Talbot-Lago	37	DNF	0
NC	36	Aldo  Gordini	Simca-Gordini	27	DNF	0
NC	20	Harry Schell	Maserati	24	DNF	0
NC	32	Maurice  Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	11	DNF	0
NC	12	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	10	DNF	0
NC	34	Andre  Simon	Simca-Gordini	7	DNF	0
NC	30	Robert  Manzon	Simca-Gordini	3	DNF	0
NC	50	Onofre Marimon	Maserati Milano	2	DNF	0
NC	18	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	1	DNF	0
NC	24	Peter  Whitehead	Ferrari	1	DNF	0

1956

Ferrari dominated the 1956 French Grand Prix, with Peter Collins leading his teammate Eugenio Castellotti to victory. The team nearly secured a 1-2-3 finish, but a fuel leak dropped Juan Manuel Fangio to fourth place behind Jean Behra, who took third in a Maserati.

Bugatti made a rare one-off appearance in this race, entering the Type 251 with Maurice Trintignant behind the wheel. However, the car proved uncompetitive, and Trintignant retired after just 18 laps.

The race was also the only Formula One World Championship entry as a driver for Lotus founder Colin Chapman.

Formula One History Recommends

• 

  Which F1 Team Has the Most 1-2 Finishes in Formula 1 History?

1956 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	14	Peter Collins	Ferrari	61	2:34:23.400	8
2	12	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	61	+0.300s	6
3	4	Jean Behra	Maserati	61	+89.900s	4
4	10	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	61	+95.100s	4
5	6	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati		SHC	1
5	6	Stirling Moss	Maserati	59	+2 laps	1
6	36	Louis  Rosier	Maserati	58	+3 laps	0
7	40	Paco  Godia	Maserati	57	+4 laps	0
8	32	Hermano da Silva Ramos	Gordini	57	+4 laps	0
9	30	Robert  Manzon	Gordini	56	+5 laps	0
10	24	Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall		SHC	0
10	24	Harry Schell	Vanwall	56	+5 laps	0
11	34	Andre Pilette	Gordini	55	+6 laps	0
NC	42	Andre  Simon	Maserati	41	DNF	0
NC	8	Piero  Taruffi	Maserati	40	DNF	0
NC	44	Olivier  Gendebien	Ferrari	38	DNF	0
NC	38	Luigi  Villoresi	Maserati	23	DNF	0
NC	16	Alfonso de Portago	Ferrari	20	DNF	0
NC	28	Maurice  Trintignant	Bugatti	18	DNF	0
NC	2	Stirling Moss	Maserati	12	DNF	0
NC	22	Harry Schell	Vanwall	5	DNF	0

1973

Ronnie Peterson secured his first Formula One victory at the 1973 French Grand Prix, finishing ahead of local favourite François Cevert. Jody Scheckter initially took the lead, with a fast-starting Peterson chasing him, followed by pole-sitter Jackie Stewart, Denny Hulme, and Emerson Fittipaldi.

When Stewart and Hulme retired due to tyre problems, Peterson allowed Fittipaldi to move into second place to challenge Scheckter. On lap 42, Scheckter hesitated while lapping Jean-Pierre Beltoise, giving Fittipaldi an opportunity to overtake. However, Scheckter didn’t yield, resulting in a collision that forced both drivers to retire.

Peterson took the lead and went on to claim his first Grand Prix win, followed by Cevert and Carlos Reutemann, who achieved his first podium finish.

1973 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus Ford	54	1:41:36.520	9
2	6	Francois  Cevert	Tyrrell Ford	54	+40.920s	6
3	10	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham Ford	54	+46.480s	4
4	5	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell Ford	54	+46.930s	3
5	3	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	54	+48.900s	2
6	27	James Hunt	March Ford	54	+82.540s	1
7	4	Arturo Merzario	Ferrari	54	+89.190s	0
8	7	Denny Hulme	McLaren Ford	54	+89.530s	0
9	21	Niki Lauda	BRM	54	+105.760s	0
10	12	Graham Hill	Shadow Ford	53	+1 lap	0
11	20	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	BRM	53	+1 lap	0
12	19	Clay Regazzoni	BRM	53	+1 lap	0
13	24	Carlos Pace	Surtees Ford	51	+3 laps	0
14	25	Howden  Ganley	Iso Marlboro Ford	51	+3 laps	0
15	29	Rikky von Opel	Ensign Ford	51	+3 laps	0
16	11	Wilson Fittipaldi	Brabham Ford	50	DNF	0
NC	8	Jody Scheckter	McLaren Ford	43	DNF	0
NC	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus Ford	41	DNF	0
NC	23	Mike Hailwood	Surtees Ford	29	DNF	0
NC	9	Andrea de Adamich	Brabham Ford	28	DNF	0
NC	15	Reine  Wisell	March Ford	20	DNF	0
NC	16	George  Follmer	Shadow Ford	16	DNF	0
NC	26	Henri Pescarolo	Iso Marlboro Ford	16	DNF	0
NC	14	Jean-Pierre Jarier	March Ford	7	DNF	0
NC	17	Jackie Oliver	Shadow Ford	0	DNF	0

1979

Jean-Pierre Jabouille won the 1979 French Grand Prix, but the race is best remembered for an epic final lap battle between Gilles Villeneuve and René Arnoux.

At the start, Villeneuve jumped from third on the grid to take the lead, with Jabouille in second and Jody Scheckter in third. Arnoux had a poor start, dropping to ninth, but he fought back to third by lap 15. Villeneuve’s Ferrari struggled with handling issues, allowing Jabouille to pass him for the lead.

The race then featured a dramatic fight for second place between Arnoux and Villeneuve, with the two drivers swapping positions and banging wheels. On the last corner, Arnoux drifted wide, and Villeneuve seized the opportunity to pass him on the inside, finishing just two-tenths of a second ahead.

This race was the first victory for Renault and the first for a turbocharged engine, a significant milestone in F1 history.

1979 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Renault	80	1:35:20.420	9
2	12	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	80	+14.590s	6
3	16	Rene Arnoux	Renault	80	+14.830s	4
4	27	Alan  Jones	Williams Ford	80	+36.610s	3
5	4	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Tyrrell Ford	80	+64.510s	2
6	28	Clay Regazzoni	Williams Ford	80	+65.510s	1
7	11	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	79	+1 lap	0
8	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Ford	79	+1 lap	0
9	20	Keke Rosberg	Wolf Ford	79	+1 lap	0
10	8	Patrick Tambay	McLaren Ford	78	+2 laps	0
11	7	John Watson	McLaren Ford	78	+2 laps	0
12	31	Hector Rebaque	Lotus Ford	78	+2 laps	0
13	2	Carlos Reutemann	Lotus Ford	77	+3 laps	0
14	29	Riccardo Patrese	Arrows Ford	77	+3 laps	0
15	30	Jochen Mass	Arrows Ford	75	+5 laps	0
16	18	Elio de Angelis	Shadow Ford	75	+5 laps	0
17	35	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	75	+5 laps	0
18	17	Jan Lammers	Shadow Ford	73	+7 laps	0
NC	3	Didier Pironi	Tyrrell Ford	71	DNF	0
NC	14	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	53	DNF	0
NC	6	Nelson Piquet	Brabham Alfa Romeo	52	DNF	0
NC	1	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	51	DNF	0
NC	25	Jacky Ickx	Ligier Ford	45	DNF	0
NC	5	Niki Lauda	Brabham Alfa Romeo	23	DNF	0

2001

In 2001, Michael Schumacher reached his 50th F1 career win at the 2001 French Grand Prix, overcoming tough competition from his brother Ralf Schumacher, who had started from pole position.

Ralf, driving for Williams, posed the main threat to Michael, maintaining his lead until the first pit stop on lap 24. However, a slow stop due to a problem with the right rear tyre allowed Michael to take the lead during the second stint and begin pulling away.

Juan Pablo Montoya, who was running longer on harder tyres, emerged as Schumacher’s direct challenger until engine failure on lap 53 ended his chances of winning. Ultimately, the Schumacher brothers finished first and second, with Rubens Barrichello securing third place for Ferrari.

2001 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	72	1:33:35.636	10
2	5	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	72	+10.399s	6
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	72	+16.381s	4
4	4	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	72	+17.106s	3
5	12	Jarno Trulli	Jordan Honda	72	+68.285s	2
6	16	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	71	+1 lap	1
7	17	Kimi Räikkönen	Sauber Petronas	71	+1 lap	0
8	11	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan Honda	71	+1 lap	0
9	9	Olivier Panis	BAR Honda	71	+1 lap	0
10	23	Luciano Burti	Prost Acer	71	+1 lap	0
11	7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Renault	71	+1 lap	0
12	22	Jean Alesi	Prost Acer	70	+2 laps	0
13	14	Jos Verstappen	Arrows Asiatech	70	+2 laps	0
14	19	Pedro de la Rosa	Jaguar Cosworth	70	+2 laps	0
15	20	Tarso Marques	Minardi European	69	+3 laps	0
16	8	Jenson Button	Benetton Renault	68	DNF	0
17	21	Fernando Alonso	Minardi European	65	DNF	0
NC	18	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	54	DNF	0
NC	6	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	52	DNF	0
NC	15	Enrique Bernoldi	Arrows Asiatech	17	DNF	0
NC	10	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	5	DNF	0
NC	3	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	0	DNF	0

2007

On this day, Kimi Raikkonen dominated the 2007 French Grand Prix, thwarting a bid from Lewis Hamilton for a hat-trick of wins.

Hamilton’s strategy hinged on a three-stop plan that required a strong start. However, Raikkonen overtook him at the beginning and set his sights on catching Felipe Massa in the leading Ferrari. The race then became a duel between the two Ferrari drivers, with Raikkonen gaining the upper hand when Massa encountered traffic during his second stint.

Massa, who started the race from pole, finished second, with Lewis Hamilton third in the McLaren.

2007 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	70	1:30:54.200	10
2	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+2.414s	8
3	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	70	+32.153s	6
4	10	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	70	+41.727s	5
5	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	70	+48.801s	4
6	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	70	+52.210s	3
7	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Mercedes	70	+56.516s	2
8	7	Jenson Button	Honda	70	+58.885s	1
9	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	70	+68.505s	0
10	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	69	+1 lap	0
11	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	69	+1 lap	0
12	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Renault	69	+1 lap	0
13	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Renault	69	+1 lap	0
14	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams Toyota	69	+1 lap	0
15	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	69	+1 lap	0
16	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri Honda	68	+2 laps	0
17	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker Ferrari	68	+2 laps	0
NC	19	Scott Speed	STR Ferrari	55	DNF	0
NC	21	Christijan Albers	Spyker Ferrari	28	DNF	0
NC	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri Honda	1	DNF	0
NC	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1	DNF	0
NC	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	STR Ferrari	0	DNF	0

2018

The 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, held on July 1 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, marked the ninth round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship. Mercedes‘ Valtteri Bottas had secured pole the day before with a time of 1:03.130, narrowly edging out teammate Lewis Hamilton. At the race’s start, Hamilton overtook Bottas to claim the lead, while the Red Bull of Max Verstappen moved up to third place after passing Kimi Räikkönen. The race’s dynamics shifted dramatically on lap 14 when Bottas retired due to a hydraulic issue, prompting a Virtual Safety Car. Capitalising, Red Bull and Ferrari opted to pit their drivers, whereas Mercedes kept Hamilton out—a strategic misstep that later impacted his race.

As the race progressed, Verstappen assumed the lead, showing exceptional tyre management to fend off the Ferraris of Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel. Teammate Daniel Ricciardo retired on lap 54 due to an exhaust failure, and Hamilton’s challenge ended on lap 64 with a fuel pressure issue, marking Mercedes’ first double retirement since 2016. Verstappen won, delivering Red Bull Racing its first win at their home circuit. Räikkönen and Vettel secured second and third, respectively.

The outcome propelled Vettel back to the top of the 2018 Drivers’ Championship standings with 146 points, one ahead of Hamilton, while Ferrari overtook Mercedes in the 2018 Constructors’ Championship with a ten-point lead. ​

2018 Austrian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	71	1:21:56.024	25
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	71	+1.504s	18
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	71	+3.181s	15
4	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	70	+1 lap	12
5	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	70	+1 lap	10
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India Mercedes	70	+1 lap	8
7	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	70	+1 lap	6
8	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Renault	70	+1 lap	4
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber Ferrari	70	+1 lap	2
10	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	70	+1 lap	1
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	70	+1 lap	0
12	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	70	+1 lap	0
13	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Mercedes	69	+2 laps	0
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams Mercedes	69	+2 laps	0
15	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren Renault	65	DNF	0
NC	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	62	DNF	0
NC	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	54	DNF	0
NC	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	53	DNF	0
NC	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	13	DNF	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	11	DNF	0
Note – Stroll originally finished 13th, but had 10 seconds added to his race time for ignoring blue flags.

F1 Driver Birthdays 1 July

Birthday	F1 Driver
1 July 1941	Ernie de Vos (d, 2005)
1 July 1947	Kazuyoshi Hoshino
1 July 1989	Daniel Ricciardo

F1 Driver Deaths 1 July

Death	F1 Driver
1 July 2015	Robert La Caze (b. 1917) F2 Driver to Increase F1 Grid.