What Happened On This Day July 6 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, July 6 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1952

Ferrari achieved a commanding 1-2-3 finish at the 1952 French Grand Prix in Rouen, decisively outpacing the local favourites, Gordini. Prior to the race, there was optimism that the enigmatic Jean Behra might replicate his winning performance from a non-championship race the previous weekend. However, Ferrari introduced a more powerful engine for its 500s in the world championship race. Their three factory drivers, Alberto Ascari, Nino Farina, and Piero Taruffi, secured the front row at the start and swept the podium at the finish.

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1952 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	8	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	77	3:00:00.000	9
2	10	Nino Farina	Ferrari	76	+1 lap	6
3	12	Piero  Taruffi	Ferrari	75	+2 laps	4
4	2	Robert  Manzon	Gordini	74	+3 laps	3
5	44	Maurice  Trintignant	Gordini	72	+5 laps	2
6	22	Peter Collins	HWM Alta	70	+7 laps	0
7	4	Jean Behra	Gordini	70	+7 laps	0
8	28	Philippe  Etancelin	Maserati	70	+7 laps	0
9	20	Lance Macklin	HWM Alta	70	+7 laps	0
10	24	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	HWM Alta	68	+9 laps	0
11	34	Rudi  Fischer	Ferrari		SHC	0
11	34	Peter Hirt	Ferrari	66	+11 laps	0
12	38	Franco  Comotti	Ferrari	63	+14 laps	0
NC	6	Prince Bira	Gordini	56	DNF	0
NC	42	Mike Hawthorn	Cooper Bristol	51	DNF	0
NC	16	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati Plate		SHC	0
NC	16	Harry Schell	Maserati Plate	34	DNF	0
NC	26	Peter  Whitehead	Alta	26	DNF	0
NC	14	Louis  Rosier	Ferrari	17	DNF	0
NC	32	Johnny Claes	Simca-Gordini	15	DNF	0
NC	18	Harry Schell	Maserati Plate	7	DNF	0
NC	40	Piero Carini	Ferrari	2	DNF	0

1958

Mike Hawthorn secured a tainted victory for Ferrari at the 1958 French Grand Prix after his teammate, Italy’s top driver Luigi Musso, was tragically killed in an attempt to catch him. Hawthorn had been the faster driver all weekend. After a brief challenge from Harry Schell in a BRM, Hawthorn regained the lead. Musso was not far behind and was closing the gap as they approached the high-speed Geuz curve. With growing confidence, Musso attempted to take the corner flat-out for the first time. Unfortunately, this move exceeded the limits of the 246 Dino’s grip, causing the car to spin off the circuit. Travelling at approximately 150 mph, the car hit a ditch and somersaulted into the air, ejecting Musso from the driver’s seat. He was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries the same day.

1958 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	4	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	50	2:03:21.300	9
2	8	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	50	+24.600s	6
3	6	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	50	+59.700s	4
4	34	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	50	+150.600s	3
5	42	Peter Collins	Ferrari	50	+324.900s	2
6	22	Jack Brabham	Cooper Climax	49	+1 lap	0
7	36	Phil Hill	Maserati	49	+1 lap	0
8	38	Jo Bonnier	Maserati	48	+2 laps	0
9	32	Gerino  Gerini	Maserati	47	+3 laps	0
10	30	Troy Ruttman	Maserati	45	+5 laps	0
NC	14	Jean Behra	BRM	41	DNF	0
NC	16	Harry Schell	BRM	41	DNF	0
11	20	Roy Salvadori	Cooper Climax	37	+13 laps	0
NC	12	Stuart  Lewis-Evans	Vanwall		SHC	0
NC	12	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	35	DNF	0
NC	24	Graham Hill	Lotus Climax	33	DNF	0
NC	40	Paco  Godia	Maserati	28	DNF	0
NC	18	Maurice  Trintignant	BRM	23	DNF	0
NC	10	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	16	DNF	0
NC	28	Carroll  Shelby	Maserati	9	DNF	0
NC	2	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	9	DNF	0
NC	26	Cliff Allison	Lotus Climax	6	DNF	0

1969

The 1969 French Grand Prix, held on July 6 at the Charade Circuit, was the fifth round of the 1969 Formula One World Championship. The race featured thirteen entrants and was contested over 38 laps, covering a total distance of 306.090 kilometers. Jackie Stewart secured pole position for Matra with a time of 3:00.6. He dominated the race, leading from start to finish, and also recorded the fastest lap on lap 27 with a time of 3:02.7. Stewart’s teammate, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, finished second, making it a 1-2 finish for the team. Jacky Ickx completed the podium in third place, driving for Brabham. ​

The race saw the Formula One World Championship debut for British driver John Miles and was the 100th participation of a New Zealand driver in the championship, a milestone that included eight Grand Prix victories and one World Championship title up to that point.

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1969 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Jackie Stewart	Matra Ford	38	1:56:47.400	9
2	7	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra Ford	38	+57.100s	6
3	11	Jacky Ickx	Brabham Ford	38	+57.300s	4
4	5	Bruce McLaren	McLaren Ford	37	+1 lap	3
5	10	Vic  Elford	McLaren Ford	37	+1 lap	2
6	1	Graham Hill	Lotus Ford	37	+1 lap	1
7	12	Silvio  Moser	Brabham Ford	36	+2 laps	0
8	4	Denny Hulme	McLaren Ford	35	+3 laps	0
9	3	Jo Siffert	Lotus Ford	34	+4 laps	0
NC	6	Chris Amon	Ferrari	30	DNF	0
NC	15	Jochen Rindt	Lotus Ford	22	DNF	0
NC	9	Piers  Courage	Brabham Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	14	John  Miles	Lotus Ford	1	DNF	0

1975

The 1975 French Grand Prix, held on July 6 at Circuit Paul Ricard, was the ninth round of the 1975 Formula One World Championship. Niki Lauda, despite battling the flu, secured pole with a time of 1:47.82 and led the race from start to finish, clinching his fourth victory of the season for Ferrari. James Hunt, driving for Hesketh, finished a close second, just 1.6 seconds behind Lauda, while Jochen Mass secured third place for McLaren, 2.3 seconds adrift. Lauda’s win extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 22 points over Brabham driver Carlos Reutemann.

The race saw several incidents. Clay Regazzoni, Lauda’s teammate, moved up to second place early on but retired on lap six due to an engine failure. Jody Scheckter, who had initially held second, struggled with handling issues and eventually finished ninth. Jean-Pierre Jarier, after a strong qualifying performance, faced rev-limiter problems during the race, causing him to fall back and finish eighth. Mario Andretti and Patrick Depailler delivered commendable drives, finishing fifth and sixth respectively, after starting from lower grid positions.

1975 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	12	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	54	1:40:18.840	9
2	24	James Hunt	Hesketh Ford	54	+1.590s	6
3	2	Jochen Mass	McLaren Ford	54	+2.310s	4
4	1	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren Ford	54	+39.770s	3
5	27	Mario Andretti	Parnelli Ford	54	+62.080s	2
6	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell Ford	54	+67.400s	1
7	23	Tony Brise	Hill Ford	54	+69.610s	0
8	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow Ford	54	+79.780s	0
9	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell Ford	54	+91.680s	0
10	5	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus Ford	54	+96.020s	0
11	21	Jacques Laffite	Frank Williams Racing Cars/Williams	54	+96.770s	0
12	15	Jean-Pierre Jabouille	Tyrrell Ford	54	+97.130s	0
13	18	John Watson	Surtees Ford	53	+1 lap	0
14	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham Ford	53	+1 lap	0
15	31	Gijs van Lennep	Ensign Ford	53	+1 lap	0
16	22	Alan  Jones	Hill Ford	53	+1 lap	0
17	14	Bob Evans	BRM	52	+2 laps	0
18	10	Lella Lombardi	March Ford	50	+4 laps	0
NC	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham Ford	26	DNF	0
NC	6	Jacky Ickx	Lotus Ford	17	DNF	0
NC	30	Wilson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	14	DNF	0
NC	28	Mark Donohue	Penske Ford	6	DNF	0
NC	9	Vittorio Brambilla	March Ford	6	DNF	0
NC	11	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	6	DNF	0
NC	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow Ford	2	DNF	0

1986

Nigel Mansell won the 1986 French Grand Prix after Ayrton Senna spun out of contention. Senna had secured his fifth pole position in eight races but was overtaken by Mansell at the first corner. Senna maintained second place until Andrea de Cesaris‘ engine exploded, spilling oil on the track. Senna continued at full speed through the accident zone but lost control on the slippery surface and crashed into the barriers. Mansell then faced a challenge from Alain Prost, who was running a one-stop strategy against Mansell’s two-stop plan. Although Prost briefly took the lead on his home soil, Mansell reclaimed the position on lap 59 with fresh tyres. The positions remained unchanged until the end of the race.

1986 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Nigel Mansell	Williams Honda	80	1:37:19.272	9
2	1	Alain Prost	McLaren TAG	80	+17.128s	6
3	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams Honda	80	+37.545s	4
4	2	Keke Rosberg	McLaren TAG	80	+48.703s	3
5	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier Renault	79	+1 lap	2
6	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Renault	79	+1 lap	1
7	7	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham BMW	78	+2 laps	0
8	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	78	+2 laps	0
9	8	Derek Warwick	Brabham BMW	77	+3 laps	0
10	3	Martin Brundle	Tyrrell Renault	77	+3 laps	0
11	17	Christian Danner	Arrows BMW	76	+4 laps	0
NC	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows BMW	67	+13 laps	0
NC	16	Patrick Tambay	Lola Ford	64	DNF	0
NC	11	Johnny Dumfries	Lotus Renault	56	DNF	0
NC	14	Jonathan  Palmer	Zakspeed	46	DNF	0
NC	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell Renault	43	DNF	0
NC	29	Huub Rothengatter	Zakspeed	32	DNF	0
NC	22	Allen Berg	Osella Alfa Romeo	25	DNF	0
NC	20	Gerhard Berger	Benetton BMW	22	DNF	0
NC	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton BMW	7	DNF	0
NC	28	Stefan Johansson	Ferrari	5	DNF	0
NC	12	Ayrton Senna	Lotus Renault	3	DNF	0
NC	21	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella Alfa Romeo	3	DNF	0
NC	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi Motori Moderni	3	DNF	0
NC	23	Andrea de Cesaris	Minardi Motori Moderni	3	DNF	0
NC	15	Alan  Jones	Lola Ford	2	DNF	0

2003

Juan Pablo Montoya strained his relationship with the Williams team at the 2003 French Grand Prix after shouting abuse over the radio at his pit wall for favouring his teammate and eventual race winner Ralf Schumacher. Both Williams drivers had been dominant, but a minor mistake during Montoya’s first pit stop and the team’s decision to fuel him for a shorter stint than Schumacher infuriated the Colombian driver. While Williams attempted to downplay the incident at the time, it marked the beginning of a steadily deteriorating relationship between Montoya and the team, leading to his departure in 2004.

2003 French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	70	1:30:49.213	10
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	70	+13.813s	8
3	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	70	+19.568s	6
4	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	70	+38.047s	5
5	5	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	70	+40.289s	4
6	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar Cosworth	70	+66.380s	3
7	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	69	+1 lap	2
8	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	69	+1 lap	1
9	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	69	+1 lap	0
10	15	Antonio Pizzonia	Jaguar Cosworth	69	+1 lap	0
11	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	69	+1 lap	0
12	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber Petronas	68	+2 laps	0
13	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	68	+2 laps	0
14	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi Cosworth	67	+3 laps	0
15	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan Ford	67	+3 laps	0
16	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi Cosworth	66	+4 laps	0
NC	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	45	DNF	0
NC	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	43	DNF	0
NC	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Ford	42	DNF	0
NC	17	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	21	DNF	0

2008

Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 British Grand Prix by well over a minute in torrential rain at Silverstone. Despite the appalling conditions, Hamilton drove flawlessly, coming from fourth on the grid, overtaking his teammate Heikki Kovalainen for the lead, and pulling away from the field. Many drivers struggled, but none more so than Felipe Massa, who spun his Ferrari five times and finished 13th, two laps down. After securing his first F1 victory on home soil, Hamilton said: “When I came round the last time, I saw the crowd standing up and I prayed: ‘Just finish, just finish.’ It was a very emotional moment to win my home grand prix and I want to dedicate this victory to my family.”

2008 British Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	60	1:39:09.440	10
2	3	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber BMW	60	+68.577s	8
3	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	60	+82.273s	6
4	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	59	+1 lap	5
5	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	59	+1 lap	4
6	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	59	+1 lap	3
7	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	59	+1 lap	2
8	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams Toyota	59	+1 lap	1
9	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams Toyota	59	+1 lap	0
10	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Renault	59	+1 lap	0
11	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR Ferrari	59	+1 lap	0
12	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	59	+1 lap	0
13	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	58	+2 laps	0
NC	4	Robert Kubica	Sauber BMW	39	DNF	0
NC	16	Jenson Button	Honda	38	DNF	0
NC	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	35	DNF	0
NC	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India Ferrari	26	DNF	0
NC	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India Ferrari	10	DNF	0
NC	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR Ferrari	0	DNF	0
NC	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Renault	0	DNF	0

2014

The 2014 British Grand Prix, held on July 6 at Silverstone Circuit, was the ninth round of the 2014 Formula One World Championship. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg lined up on pole with a time of 1:35.766. However, the race witnessed a first-lap incident involving Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen, who crashed heavily, leading to a red flag and a delay of over an hour for barrier repairs. At the race’s restart, Rosberg maintained his lead until lap 29, when he retired due to a gearbox failure. This development allowed his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who had started sixth, to take the lead and ultimately win the race. Williams‘ Valtteri Bottas delivered an impressive drive, finishing second after starting from 14th on the grid, while Red Bull‘s Daniel RicciardoDaniel Ricciardo secured third place.

The race had implications for the championship standings. Rosberg’s retirement reduced his lead over Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship to just four points, with Rosberg at 165 points and Hamilton at 161. Ricciardo remained third with 98 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes extended its dominance with 326 points, far ahead of Red Bull’s 168 points. Ferrari held third place with 106 points, while Williams moved up to fourth with 103 points, passing Force India’s 91 points.

2014 British Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	52	2:26:52.094	25
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Mercedes	52	+30.135s	18
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing Renault	52	+46.495s	15
4	22	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	52	+47.390s	12
5	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	52	+53.864s	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	52	+59.946s	8
7	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren Mercedes	52	+62.563s	6
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	52	+88.692s	4
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR Renault	52	+89.340s	2
10	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Renault	51	+1 lap	1
11	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	51	+1 lap	0
12	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	51	+1 lap	0
13	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber Ferrari	51	+1 lap	0
14	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Ferrari	51	+1 lap	0
15	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham Renault	50	+2 laps	0
16	4	Max Chilton	Marussia Ferrari	50	+2 laps	0
17	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Renault	49	DNF	0
NC	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	28	DNF	0
NC	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham Renault	11	DNF	0
NC	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	9	DNF	0
NC	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	0	DNF	0
NC	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	0	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 6 July

Births	F1 Driver
6 July 1906	Cuth Harrison (d. 1981)
6 July 1930	Ian Burgess (d. 2012)

F1 Driver Deaths 6 July

Deaths	F1 Driver
6 July 1958	Luigi Musso (b. 1924)
6 July 1958	Art Bisch (d. 1926)