What Happened On This Day July 4 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, July 4 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1954

Juan Manuel Fangio led Karl Kling to victory as Mercedes dominated the 1954 French Grand Prix at Reims, securing its first Formula One win as a team. Arriving with their striking but unconventional silver W196 cars, Mercedes dominated in practice, securing the front row alongside Alberto Ascari in a Maserati. However, Ascari’s race ended abruptly due to a transmission failure on the first lap, allowing Fangio and Kling to pull away from the pack, finishing a lap ahead of Robert Manzon in a Ferrari.

1954 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	18	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes-Benz	61	2:42:47.900	8
2	20	Karl Kling	Mercedes-Benz	61	+0.100s	6
3	34	Robert  Manzon	Ferrari	60	+1 lap	4
4	46	Prince Bira	Maserati	60	+1 lap	3
5	14	Luigi  Villoresi	Maserati	58	+3 laps	2
6	24	Jean Behra	Gordini	56	+5 laps	0
NC	28	Paul Frere	Gordini	50	DNF	0
NC	4	Maurice  Trintignant	Ferrari	36	DNF	0
NC	36	Louis  Rosier	Ferrari	27	DNF	0
NC	12	Onofre Marimon	Maserati	27	DNF	0
NC	16	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	24	DNF	0
NC	42	Ken  Wharton	Maserati	19	DNF	0
NC	48	Harry Schell	Maserati	19	DNF	0
NC	22	Hans  Herrmann	Mercedes-Benz	16	DNF	1
NC	44	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	15	DNF	0
NC	2	Jose Froilan Gonzalez	Ferrari	13	DNF	0
NC	32	Lance Macklin	HWM Alta	10	DNF	0
NC	30	Georges Berger	Gordini	9	DNF	0
NC	6	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	9	DNF	0
NC	26	Jacques  Pollet	Gordini	8	DNF	0
NC	10	Alberto Ascari	Maserati	1	DNF	0

1971

Jackie Stewart won the 1971 French Grand Prix from pole position, leading his Tyrrell teammate and home crowd favourite, François Cevert, to a 1-2 finish. Cevert, starting from seventh on the grid, drove tenaciously and capitalised on the retirements of Clay Regazzoni and Pedro Rodriguez, securing his first-ever podium finish behind his good friend at his home race. Lotus driver Emerson Fittipaldi came in third.

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1971 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	11	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell Ford	55	1:46:41.680	9
2	12	Francois  Cevert	Tyrrell Ford	55	+28.120s	6
3	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus Ford	55	+34.070s	4
4	14	Jo Siffert	BRM	55	+37.170s	3
5	20	Chris Amon	Matra	55	+41.080s	2
6	2	Reine  Wisell	Lotus Ford	55	+76.020s	1
7	21	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	55	+76.930s	0
8	22	John Surtees	Surtees Ford	55	+84.910s	0
9	10	Peter  Gethin	McLaren Ford	54	+1 lap	0
10	16	Howden  Ganley	BRM	54	+1 lap	0
11	24	Rolf Stommelen	Surtees Ford	53	+2 laps	0
12	8	Tim  Schenken	Brabham Ford	50	DNF	0
13	34	Francois  Mazet	March Ford	50	+5 laps	0
NC	28	Max  Jean	March Ford	46	+9 laps	0
NC	27	Henri Pescarolo	March Ford	45	DNF	0
NC	7	Graham Hill	Brabham Ford	34	DNF	0
NC	19	Andrea de Adamich	March Alfa Romeo	31	DNF	0
NC	15	Pedro Rodriguez	BRM	27	DNF	0
NC	5	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	20	DNF	0
NC	17	Ronnie Peterson	March Alfa Romeo	19	DNF	0
NC	9	Denny Hulme	McLaren Ford	16	DNF	0
NC	4	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	4	DNF	0
NC	18	Alex  Soler-Roig	March Alfa Romeo	4	DNF	0

1976

James Hunt won the 1976 French Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Patrick Depailler and John Watson. Starting from pole, Hunt was initially overtaken by Ferrari’s Niki Lauda, who led until his engine blew on lap nine. Hunt then faced a strong challenge from Clay Regazzoni, but Regazzoni’s subsequent retirement left Hunt with a clear path to victory. John Watson secured a fortunate third place after late retirements by Jody Scheckter and Ronnie Peterson.

It was Hunt’s second win for the year and his third career Grand Prix victory, although at this stage his appeal against disqualification from the Spanish Grand Prix win had yet to be upheld.

1976 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	11	James Hunt	McLaren Ford	54	1:40:58.600	9
2	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell Ford	54	+12.700s	6
3	28	John Watson	Penske Ford	54	+23.550s	4
4	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham Alfa Romeo	54	+24.820s	3
5	5	Mario Andretti	Lotus Ford	54	+43.920s	2
6	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell Ford	54	+55.070s	1
7	34	Hans-Joachim Stuck	March Ford	54	+81.550s	0
8	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow Ford	54	+90.670s	0
9	35	Arturo Merzario	March Ford	54	+113.570s	0
10	20	Jacky Ickx	Wolf-Williams	53	+1 lap	0
11	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham Alfa Romeo	53	+1 lap	0
12	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow Ford	53	+1 lap	0
13	21	Michel Leclere	Wolf-Williams	53	+1 lap	0
14	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Matra	53	+1 lap	0
15	12	Jochen Mass	McLaren Ford	53	+1 lap	0
16	18	Brett Lunger	Surtees Ford	53	+1 lap	0
17	25	Guy Edwards	Hesketh Ford	53	+1 lap	0
18	22	Patrick Neve	Ensign Ford	53	+1 lap	0
19	10	Ronnie Peterson	March Ford	51	DNF	0
NC	19	Alan  Jones	Surtees Ford	44	DNF	0
NC	9	Vittorio Brambilla	March Ford	28	DNF	0
NC	30	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	38	Henri Pescarolo	Surtees Ford	19	DNF	0
NC	2	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	17	DNF	0
NC	1	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	8	DNF	0
NC	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus Ford	8	DNF	0
NC	24	Harald Ertl	Hesketh Ford	4	DNF	0

1993

Alain Prost led Damon Hill to a Williams 1-2 finish at the 1993 French Grand Prix. Ayrton Senna, competing in his 150th Grand Prix, finished fourth behind Michael Schumacher, who took third for Benetton. Shortly after the race, Senna announced his departure from McLaren to join Williams for the 1994 season.

Prost’s win took him to his 100th F1 podium, making him the first driver to achieve the milestone. It was also the last Grand Prix for Fabrizio Barbazza.

This was the first race to feature BBC commentary from Jonathan Palmer, replacing James Hunt after his death following the Canadian Grand Prix. Palmer would partner Murray Walker until the conclusion of the 1996 season when the television rights went to ITV for 1997.

1993 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Alain Prost	Williams Renault	72	1:38:35.241	10
2	0	Damon Hill	Williams Renault	72	+0.342s	6
3	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton Ford	72	+21.209s	4
4	8	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Ford	72	+32.405s	3
5	25	Martin Brundle	Ligier Renault	72	+33.795s	2
6	7	Michael Andretti	McLaren Ford	71	+1 lap	1
7	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan Hart	71	+1 lap	0
8	23	Christian Fittipaldi	Minardi Ford	71	+1 lap	0
9	19	Philippe Alliot	Larrousse Lamborghini	70	+2 laps	0
10	6	Riccardo Patrese	Benetton Ford	70	+2 laps	0
11	15	Thierry Boutsen	Jordan Hart	70	+2 laps	0
12	10	Aguri Suzuki	Footwork Mugen Honda	70	+2 laps	0
13	9	Derek Warwick	Footwork Mugen Honda	70	+2 laps	0
14	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	70	+2 laps	0
15	4	Andrea de Cesaris	Tyrrell Yamaha	68	+4 laps	0
16	20	Erik Comas	Larrousse Lamborghini	66	DNF	0
NC	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	47	DNF	0
NC	22	Luca Badoer	Lola Ferrari	28	DNF	0
NC	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber	25	DNF	0
NC	30	Jyrki Jarvilehto	Sauber	22	DNF	0
NC	26	Mark Blundell	Ligier Renault	20	DNF	0
NC	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Ford	16	DNF	0
NC	24	Fabrizio Barbazza	Minardi Ford	16	DNF	0
NC	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell Yamaha	9	DNF	0
NC	11	Alessandro Zanardi	Lotus Ford	3	DNF	0

2004

Michael Schumacher clinched his ninth victory in ten races during a dominant season by winning the 2004 French Grand Prix. Renault had shown exceptional speed in qualifying, prompting Ferrari to adopt an unconventional four-stop strategy. This tactic surprised Renault and Fernando Alonso, allowing Schumacher to capitalise on lighter fuel loads and set blisteringly quick laps. He ultimately finished over eight seconds ahead of his Spanish rival.

Rubens Barrichello finished third in his Ferrari, having overtaken Jarno Trulli in the last corners of the last lap.

2004 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	70	1:30:18.133	10
2	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	70	+8.329s	8
3	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	70	+31.622s	6
4	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	70	+32.082s	5
5	9	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	70	+32.484s	4
6	5	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	70	+35.520s	3
7	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	70	+36.230s	2
8	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	70	+43.419s	1
9	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar Cosworth	70	+52.394s	0
10	4	Marc Gene	Williams BMW	70	+58.166s	0
11	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar Cosworth	69	+1 lap	0
12	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber Petronas	69	+1 lap	0
13	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	69	+1 lap	0
14	16	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	69	+1 lap	0
15	17	Olivier Panis	Toyota	68	+2 laps	0
16	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan Ford	68	+2 laps	0
17	19	Giorgio Pantano	Jordan Ford	67	+3 laps	0
18	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi Cosworth	65	DNF	0
NC	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi Cosworth	31	DNF	0
NC	10	Takuma Sato	BAR Honda	15	DNF	0

2021

The 2021 Austrian Grand Prix was the second of two consecutive races held at the Red Bull Ring, following the Styrian Grand Prix the previous week at the same venue. The race saw early drama when Esteban Ocon retired on the first lap after colliding with Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo, breaking his front suspension. The incident triggered a safety car, with racing resuming on lap 4.

On the final lap, Kimi Raikkonen collided with Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin, forcing Vettel to retire just before the finish.

At the front, Max Verstappen dominated the race, securing his first career Grand Slam—taking pole position, setting the fastest lap, leading every lap, and winning the race. Valtteri Bottas finished second with Mercedes with Lando Norris third for McLaren.

2021 Austrian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	71	1:23:54.543	26
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	71	+17.973s	18
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	71	+20.019s	15
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	71	+46.452s	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	71	+57.144s	10
6	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda	71	+57.915s	8
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren Mercedes	71	+60.395s	6
8	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	71	+61.195s	4
9	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri Honda	71	+61.844s	2
10	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine Renault	70	+1 lap	1
11	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	70	+1 lap	0
12	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri Honda	70	+1 lap	0
13	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Mercedes	70	+1 lap	0
14	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	70	+1 lap	0
15	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	70	+1 lap	0
16	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	70	+1 lap	0
17	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Mercedes	69	DNF	0
18	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas Ferrari	69	+2 laps	0
19	9	Nikita Mazepin	Haas Ferrari	69	+2 laps	0
NC	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	0	DNF	0
Note – Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Perez received a 10-second time penalty for forcing another driver off track. Stroll received a 5-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Tsunoda received a 5-second time penalty for crossing the white line at the pit entry. Raikkonen received a drive-through penalty, converted to a 20-second time penalty, for causing a collision. Mazepin and Latifi received 10-second stop-and-go penalties, converted to 30-second time penalties, for not respecting double yellow flags.

F1 Driver Birthdays 4 July

Births	F1 Driver
4 July 1907	Ernst Loof (d. 1956)
4 July 1918	Johnnie Parsons (d. 1984)
4 July 1926	Wolfgang Seidel (d. 1987)
4 July 1927	Jim Mcwithey (d. 2009)
4 July 1938	Ernie Pieterse (d. 2017)
4 July 1948	Rene Arnoux
4 July 1960	Roland Ratzenberger (d. 1994)
4 July 1973	Jan Magnussen

F1 Driver Deaths 4 July

Deaths	F1 Driver
4 July 1998	Peter Monteverdi (b. 1934)
4 July 2005	Brain Whitehouse (b. 1936)