What Happened On This Day March 14 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, March 14 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1957

Italian racer Eugenio Castellotti tragically died at Modena at just 26 years old. Castellotti, who was on holiday, was summoned by Enzo Ferrari to test drive at Modena, incensed that a Maserati had recently set a lap record there.

Eugenio Castellotti

F1 Debut 1955 Argentine Grand Prix

Current/Last Team Ferrari

After a brief warm-up, he signalled readiness but soon after lost control of his car, which vaulted a concrete wall and crashed into a nearby grandstand, killing him instantly. Castellotti had participated in 14 Grand Prix races for Ferrari, earning 19.5 points.

1993

The 1993 South African Grand Prix was the final GP at Kyalami, where the Williams of Alain Prost dominated despite a challenging start. Starting on pole, he was outpaced to the first corner by Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill, and Michael Schumacher. Despite the setback, he went on to claim the fastest lap and the race victory. Prost admitted to difficulties with the clutch, nearly stalling the engine at the start. “It is very difficult to find the clutch,” he said afterwards. “I was not very confident, and I almost stalled the engine.”

South African Grand Prix

Kyalami

Laps 72

First Grand Prix 1967

Circuit Length 4.261 km

Race Distance 306.792 km

It was a milestone race for Martin Brundle, who celebrated his 100th Grand Prix start and Mark Blundell his first podium finish. However, the race ended with only five cars due to numerous accidents triggered by heavy rain, including a misfortune for Derek Warwick in the Footwork car, who spun off just shy of earning a point.

The race also saw the debut of the Swiss Sauber team, which scored its first points with Finn JJ Lehto’s fifth-place finish.

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Alain Prost	Williams Renault	72	1:38:45.082	10
2	8	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Ford	72	+79.824s	6
3	26	Mark Blundell	Ligier Renault	71	+1 lap	4
4	23	Christian Fittipaldi	Minardi Ford	71	+1 lap	3
5	30	Jyrki Jarvilehto	Sauber	70	+2 laps	2
6	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	69	DNF	1
7	9	Derek Warwick	Footwork Mugen Honda	69	DNF	0
NC	25	Martin Brundle	Ligier Renault	57	DNF	0
NC	21	Michele Alboreto	Lola Ferrari	55	DNF	0
NC	20	Erik Comas	Larrousse Lamborghini	51	DNF	0
NC	6	Riccardo Patrese	Benetton Ford	46	DNF	0
NC	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton Ford	39	DNF	0
NC	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Ford	38	DNF	0
NC	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber	33	DNF	0
NC	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan Hart	31	DNF	0
NC	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	30	DNF	0
NC	19	Philippe Alliot	Larrousse Lamborghini	27	DNF	0
NC	24	Fabrizio Barbazza	Minardi Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	10	Aguri Suzuki	Footwork Mugen Honda	21	DNF	0
NC	22	Luca Badoer	Lola Ferrari	20	DNF	0
NC	0	Damon Hill	Williams Renault	16	DNF	0
NC	11	Alex Zanardi	Lotus Ford	16	DNF	0
NC	7	Michael Andretti	McLaren Ford	4	DNF	0
NC	15	Ivan Capelli	Jordan Hart	2	DNF	0
NC	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell Yamaha	1	DNF	0

2010

The 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix was the seventh edition of the race and the first round of the 2010 season. It was the first time since 2006 that Bahrain had opened the season, and the event featured a longer track layout than in previous years. Fernando Alonso clinched the win, celebrating his first as a Ferrari driver. His teammate, Felipe Massa, finished second. McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton rounded out the podium in third place.

Bahrain Grand Prix

Bahrain International Circuit

Laps 57

First Grand Prix 2004

Circuit Length 5.412km

Race Distance 308.238 km

Sebastian Vettel, driving for Red Bull, started on pole and led the race until lap 34 when a power issue slowed him down, allowing Alonso to take the lead. The problem also resulted in Vettel being passed by Massa and Hamilton, relegating him to a fourth-place finish.

The debut race for the three new teams—Lotus, HRT, and Virgin—proved challenging. Their six cars filled the bottom six spots in qualifying, and among them, only Heikki Kovalainen in the Lotus managed to finish the race. Jarno Trulli‘s Lotus, although not finished, was classified in last place.

2010 Bahrain Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

2010 Bahrain Grand Prix Race Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	49	1:39:20.396	25
2	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	49	+16.099	18
3	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	49	+23.182	15
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	49	+38.799	12
5	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	49	+40.213	10
6	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	49	+44.163	8
7	1	Jenson Button	McLaren	49	+45.280	6
8	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	49	+46.360	4
9	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	49	+53.008	2
10	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	49	+1:02.489	1
11	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	49	+1:09.093	0
12	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	49	+1:22.958	0
13	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	49	+1:32.656	0
14	10	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams	48	+1 Lap	0
15	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Racing	47	+2 Laps	0
16	16	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	46	Electrical	0
17	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Racing	46	Hydraulics	0
Ret	22	Pedro de la Rosa	Sauber	28	Hydraulics	0
Ret	21	Bruno Senna	HRT	17	Airbox	0
Ret	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	16	Gearbox	0
Ret	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	13	Suspension	0
Ret	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	11	Hydraulics	0
Ret	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Racing	2	Hydraulics	0
Ret	20	Karun Chandhok	HRT	1	Accident/Spun off	0

2019

Charlie Whiting, a much-loved and respected figure in the F1 paddock, died on this day in 2019. He was initially the Chief Mechanic for the Brabham F1 team before becoming the Formula One Race Director. At the FIA, he served as the Race Director, Safety Delegate, Permanent Starter, and head of the F1 Technical Department. His responsibilities included managing the logistics of each F1 Grand Prix, inspecting cars in parc fermé conditions before races, enforcing FIA regulations, and operating the lights that signal the start of each race.

Charlie Whiting: The Life, Career and Legacy of the FIA Race Director

On the morning of 14 March 2019 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, just three days before the 2019 Formula One season’s opening race at the Australian Grand Prix, Whiting died at the age of 66 from a pulmonary embolism. Whiting is survived by his three children from two marriages. At the 2019 British Grand Prix, the FIA chose his son Justin as the starter for the race.

The motorsport community mourned the death of Charles Whiting. In his honour, moments of silence were observed before the start of both the Australian Grand Prix and the 1000 Miles of Sebring. Valtteri Bottas dedicated his win at the Australian Grand Prix to Whiting, and Jean-Eric Vergne did the same after his victory at the Sanya ePrix. In recognition of his contributions, Whiting was posthumously awarded the John Bolster Award at the Autosport Awards in December 2019.

2026

Kimi Antonelli delivered a sensational performance in qualifying for the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, storming to pole position with a blistering 1:32.064 and becoming the youngest Grand Prix pole sitter in F1 history at 19 years, 6 months, and 17 days, beating the record previously held by Sebastian Vettel.

F1 Driver Birthdays 14 March

Birthday	F1 Driver
14 March 1912	Charles Van Acker (d. 1998) He made one Formula One World Championship entry, at the 1950 Indianapolis 500, which was made a round of the 1950 Formula One Season. He failed to qualify for the race.
14 March 1918	Jean Achard (d. 1951) At the end of 1950, Achard acquired Philippe Étancelin‘s Talbot-Lago T26C and began to find his way back into motor racing, moving to Brazil in January 1951 to enter local racing events and the 1951 Indianapolis 500. His entry to the Indianapolis event was accepted, but the Frenchman failed to attend.

F1 Driver Deaths 14 March

Death	F1 Mentions
14 March 2019	Charlie Whiting (b. 1952) He was the FIA Formula One Race Director, Safety Delegate, Permanent Starter, and head of the F1 Technical Department until his death in March 2019.

Death	F1 Driver
14 March 1957	Eugenio Castellotti (b. 1930)

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Lee is our staff writer specialising in anything technical within Formula 1 from aerodynamics to engines. Lee writes most of our F1 guides for beginners and experienced fans as well as our F1 on this day posts having followed the sport since 1991, researching and understanding how teams build the ultimate machines. Like everyone else on the team he listens to podcasts about F1 and enjoys reading biographies of former drivers.

What Happened On This Day March 14 In F1 History?