What Happened On This Day July 12 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, July 12 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1930

Guy Ligier, born on this day, started motor racing late, switching from a successful rugby career to racing in his 30s. He achieved several top-six finishes in Formula Two in 1964 and moved to Formula One in 1966. Despite breaking his kneecap mid-season, he returned in 1967 with a Brabham, scoring his only point at the Nurburgring. After a brief retirement following the death of his friend Jo Schlesser, Ligier returned to racing and began building sports cars in 1970, eventually founding the Ligier Formula One team in 1976. Though his team had sporadic success, they never fully capitalised on their potential. Ligier sold most of his shares in the team in the early 1990s.

1987

Nigel Mansell extracted the maximum performance from his Williams, overtaking teammate Nelson Piquet three laps before the end of the 1987 British Grand Prix, only to run out of fuel during his victory lap. Piercarlo Ghinzani had a less fortunate day, running out of fuel and being push-started by his mechanics. Already on the stewards’ radar for exceeding his qualifying laps, he was swiftly disqualified.

1987 British Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams Honda	65	1:19:11.780	9
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams Honda	65	+1.918s	6
3	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus Honda	64	+1 lap	4
4	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus Honda	63	+2 laps	3
5	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows Megatron	63	+2 laps	2
6	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton Ford	63	+2 laps	1
7	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton Ford	62	+3 laps	0
8	3	Jonathan  Palmer	Tyrrell Ford	60	+5 laps	0
9	14	Pascal Fabre	AGS Ford	59	+6 laps	0
NC	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell Ford	57	DNF	0
NC	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	54	+11 laps	0
NC	1	Alain Prost	McLaren TAG	53	DNF	0
NC	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	52	DNF	0
NC	18	Eddie  Cheever	Arrows Megatron	45	DNF	0
NC	23	Adrian Campos	Minardi Motori Moderni	34	DNF	0
NC	21	Alex Caffi	Osella Alfa Romeo	32	DNF	0
NC	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	32	DNF	0
NC	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham BMW	28	DNF	0
NC	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren TAG	18	DNF	0
NC	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi Motori Moderni	10	DNF	0
NC	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham BMW	8	DNF	0
NC	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	7	DNF	0
NC	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola Ford	7	DNF	0
NC	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier Megatron	3	DNF	0
NC	16	Ivan Capelli	March Ford	3	DNF	0

1992

The 1992 British Grand Prix faced disruptions due to a French trucker strike, which caused logistical chaos for teams trying to reach Silverstone following the 1992 French Grand Prix. Mika Hakkinen encountered additional local issues, missing the warm-up due to heavy traffic and receiving a police caution for driving on the wrong side of the road. Nigel Mansell, who qualified on pole, briefly lost the lead to Riccardo Patrese on the first lap but quickly reclaimed it to secure an easy victory.

1992 British Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams Renault	59	1:25:42.991	10
2	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams Renault	59	+39.094s	6
3	20	Martin Brundle	Benetton Ford	59	+48.395s	4
4	19	Michael Schumacher	Benetton Ford	59	+53.267s	3
5	2	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda	59	+55.795s	2
6	11	Mika Hakkinen	Lotus Ford	59	+80.138s	1
7	9	Michele Alboreto	Footwork Mugen Honda	58	+1 lap	0
8	26	Erik Comas	Ligier Renault	58	+1 lap	0
9	28	Ivan Capelli	Ferrari	58	+1 lap	0
10	25	Thierry Boutsen	Ligier Renault	57	+2 laps	0
11	3	Olivier Grouillard	Tyrrell Ilmor	57	+2 laps	0
12	10	Aguri Suzuki	Footwork Mugen Honda	57	+2 laps	0
13	21	Jyrki Jarvilehto	Dallara Ferrari	57	+2 laps	0
14	15	Gabriele Tarquini	Fondmetal Ford	57	+2 laps	0
15	22	Pierluigi Martini	Dallara Ferrari	56	+3 laps	0
16	8	Damon Hill	Brabham Judd	55	+4 laps	0
17	24	Gianni Morbidelli	Minardi Lamborghini	53	DNF	0
NC	1	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	52	DNF	0
NC	4	Andrea de Cesaris	Tyrrell Ilmor	46	DNF	0
NC	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	43	DNF	0
NC	32	Stefano Modena	Jordan Yamaha	43	DNF	0
NC	33	Mauricio Gugelmin	Jordan Yamaha	37	DNF	0
NC	29	Bertrand Gachot	Venturi Lamborghini	32	DNF	0
NC	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Ford	31	DNF	0
NC	16	Karl Wendlinger	March Ilmor	27	DNF	0
NC	30	Ukyo Katayama	Venturi Lamborghini	27	DNF	0

1998

The 1998 British Grand Prix was overshadowed by poor stewarding that enabled Michael Schumacher to secure a controversial victory. A late penalty allowed Ferrari to exploit the rules, bringing Schumacher into the pits on the final lap. Consequently, he technically won the race in the pit lane, crossing the finish line in the pit lane to win the race before reaching his pit box and serving his stop-and-go penalty. The penalty was issued for overtaking race leader Mika Hakkinen as the safety car exited the track, but the stewards’ delayed response played into Ferrari’s hands.

Following the race, controversy emerged over how Schumacher’s penalty was issued and served. Schumacher’s team contested that the penalty should have been communicated within 25 minutes of the incident, but they were notified after 31 minutes. They also claimed that the handwritten notification was ambiguous, failing to specify whether the penalty was a stop-and-go or a 10-second addition to Schumacher’s race time. The FIA’s International Court of Appeal later clarified it was the latter. Despite this, the stewards applied the 10-second addition post-race. However, this type of penalty was only valid for infractions occurring in the last 12 laps of a Grand Prix, which was not the case here. Consequently, the stewards eventually rescinded the penalty.

McLaren lodged a protest, accusing Ferrari of cheating by not having Schumacher serve the penalty, but the FIA rejected this protest. During the hearing, the International Court of Appeal confirmed that the stewards made several errors, including issuing a 10-second time penalty for an incident that occurred outside the last 12 laps and exceeding the permitted time limit for notifying the penalty. As a result of these mistakes, the three stewards involved surrendered their licenses at a meeting of the FIA World Council.

1998 British Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	60	1:47:02.450	10
2	8	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	60	+22.465s	6
3	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	60	+29.199s	4
4	6	Alexander Wurz	Benetton Playlife	59	+1 lap	3
5	5	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Playlife	59	+1 lap	2
6	10	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan Mugen Honda	59	+1 lap	1
7	1	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams Mecachrome	59	+1 lap	0
8	22	Shinji Nakano	Minardi Ford	58	+2 laps	0
9	21	Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell Ford	56	+4 laps	0
NC	14	Jean Alesi	Sauber Petronas	53	DNF	0
NC	16	Pedro Diniz	Arrows	45	DNF	0
NC	11	Olivier Panis	Prost Peugeot	40	DNF	0
NC	18	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart Ford	39	DNF	0
NC	19	Jos Verstappen	Stewart Ford	38	DNF	0
NC	7	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	37	DNF	0
NC	12	Jarno Trulli	Prost Peugeot	37	DNF	0
NC	20	Ricardo Rosset	Tyrrell Ford	29	DNF	0
NC	23	Esteban Tuero	Minardi Ford	29	DNF	0
NC	15	Johnny Herbert	Sauber Petronas	27	DNF	0
NC	17	Mika Salo	Arrows	27	DNF	0
NC	2	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams Mecachrome	15	DNF	0
NC	9	Damon Hill	Jordan Mugen Honda	13	DNF	0

2009

Mark Webber achieved his first F1 win at the 2009 German Grand Prix despite receiving a drive-through penalty for clipping the Brawn GP car of Rubens Barrichello on the first corner. It was a tough day for Barrichello and teammate Jenson Button, whose early-season dominance faded as they struggled with three-stop strategies, ultimately finishing sixth and fifth, respectively.

2009 German Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	14	Mark Webber	RBR Renault	60	1:36:43.310	10
2	15	Sebastian Vettel	RBR Renault	60	+9.252s	8
3	3	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	60	+15.906s	6
4	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	60	+21.099s	5
5	22	Jenson Button	Brawn Mercedes	60	+23.609s	4
6	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn Mercedes	60	+24.468s	3
7	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	60	+24.888s	2
8	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	60	+58.692s	1
9	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	60	+61.457s	0
10	6	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	60	+61.925s	0
11	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India Mercedes	60	+62.327s	0
12	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams Toyota	60	+62.876s	0
13	8	Nelson Piquet	Renault	60	+68.328s	0
14	5	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	60	+69.555s	0
15	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	60	+71.941s	0
16	12	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	60	+90.225s	0
17	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	60	+90.970s	0
18	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	59	+1 lap	0
NC	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	34	DNF	0
NC	11	Sebastien Bourdais	STR Ferrari	18	DNF	0

2020

The 2020 Styrian Grand Prix marked the first-ever running of the event and took place exactly one week after the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix at the same circuit, the Red Bull Ring. This unique scheduling was part of the revised Formula One calendar, implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lewis Hamilton delivered a commanding performance in the race, converting pole position into victory. His Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finished second, while Max Verstappen secured third place for Red Bull.

Hamilton’s win brought him within six points of championship leader Bottas, while Mercedes extended their lead in the Constructors’ Championship to 41 points, strengthening their early dominance in the season.

2020 Styrian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	71	1:22:50.683	25
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	71	+13.719s	18
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	71	+33.698s	15
4	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing Honda	71	+44.400s	12
5	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Renault	71	+61.470s	10
6	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	71	+62.387s	8
7	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	71	+62.453s	6
8	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	71	+62.591s	4
9	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Renault	70	+1 lap	3
10	26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri Honda	70	+1 lap	1
11	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	70	+1 lap	0
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	70	+1 lap	0
13	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	70	+1 lap	0
14	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	70	+1 lap	0
15	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri Honda	70	+1 lap	0
16	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	69	+2 laps	0
17	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	69	+2 laps	0
NC	31	Esteban Ocon	Renault	25	DNF	0
NC	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	4	DNF	0
NC	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1	DNF	0
Note – Sainz scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.

F1 Driver Birthdays 12 July

Birth	F1 Driver
12 July 1930	Guy Camille Ligier

F1 Driver Deaths 12 July

Death	F1 Driver
12 July	None