What happened on this day, March 20 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.
1955
American race driver Larry Crockett tragically died on this day in 1955, at age 28, in a crash at Langhorne Speedway. He had raced in only one F1 race, the 1954 Indianapolis 500, when the race formed part of the Championship between 1950 and 1960.
1972
Born in 1972 in Aldeia Galega, Portuguese driver Pedro Lamy, the son of a used car dealer, climbed the racing ladder from karting to Formula Ford and Formula Three, before almost winning the Formula 3000 championship in his debut season. By 21, he was poised for a promising F1 career. However, his time at Lotus was tainted by several crashes, including a serious one at Silverstone, resulting in his car catching fire and sidelining him until mid-1995. He briefly returned with Minardi, remained through 1996 but left F1 at the end of the season, later finding success in sports car racing. Over 32 races, he scored a single point at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix with Minardi.
2005
The 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix was the season’s second round, with Fernando Alonso starting from pole and securing a decisive win with Renault, finishing 23.4 seconds ahead of Toyota‘s Jarno Trulli. This win not only gave Alonso the honour of being the first Spaniard to lead the F1 World Championship but also delivered Trulli and Toyota their first podium finish. Meanwhile, Ferrari faced challenges as Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello finished far behind, with their performance in a subpar car prompting team manager Jean Todt to admit they were outperformed by stronger rivals. Nick Heidfeld finished third for Williams.
2005 Malaysian Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 56 | 1:31:33.736 | 10 |
| 2 | 16 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 56 | +24.327s | 8 |
| 3 | 8 | Nick Heidfeld | Williams BMW | 56 | +32.188s | 6 |
| 4 | 10 | Juan Pablo Montoya | McLaren Mercedes | 56 | +41.631s | 5 |
| 5 | 17 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 56 | +51.854s | 4 |
| 6 | 14 | David Coulthard | RBR Cosworth | 56 | +72.543s | 3 |
| 7 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 56 | +79.988s | 2 |
| 8 | 15 | Christian Klien | RBR Cosworth | 56 | +80.835s | 1 |
| 9 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren Mercedes | 56 | +81.580s | 0 |
| 10 | 12 | Felipe Massa | Sauber Petronas | 55 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 11 | 19 | Narain Karthikeyan | Jordan Toyota | 54 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 12 | 18 | Tiago Monteiro | Jordan Toyota | 53 | +3 laps | 0 |
| 13 | 21 | Christijan Albers | Minardi Cosworth | 52 | +4 laps | 0 |
| NC | 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | 49 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 6 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 36 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 7 | Mark Webber | Williams BMW | 36 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 11 | Jacques Villeneuve | Sauber Petronas | 26 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 3 | Jenson Button | BAR Honda | 2 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 4 | Anthony Davidson | BAR Honda | 2 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 20 | Patrick Friesacher | Minardi Cosworth | 2 | DNF | 0 |
2016
At the 2016 Australian Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg emerged as the race winner, with his teammate Lewis Hamilton finishing second. Hamilton had started the race from pole position, marking his 50th career pole in a qualifying session that introduced a new but controversial, one-by-one elimination format. The race was temporarily stopped on lap 18 due to a crash involving Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutiérrez. This interruption allowed Mercedes to change tyres, ultimately securing the team’s 1–2 finish. Sebastian Vettel finished third for Ferrari.
Romain Grosjean earned sixth place, scoring points for the Haas F1 team in their debut, making them the first entirely new team to score points on their debut since 2002. This victory also helped Mercedes tie the record for most consecutive 1–2 finishes, with their fifth in a row.
2016 Australian Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 57 | 1:48:15.565 | 25 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 57 | +8.060s | 18 |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 57 | +9.643s | 15 |
| 4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 57 | +24.330s | 12 |
| 5 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams Mercedes | 57 | +58.979s | 10 |
| 6 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 57 | +72.081s | 8 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India Mercedes | 57 | +74.199s | 6 |
| 8 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams Mercedes | 57 | +75.153s | 4 |
| 9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 57 | +75.680s | 2 |
| 10 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 57 | +76.833s | 1 |
| 11 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 57 | +83.399s | 0 |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 57 | +85.606s | 0 |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 57 | +91.699s | 0 |
| 14 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren Honda | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber Ferrari | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | MRT Mercedes | 56 | +1 lap | 0 |
| NC | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 38 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 21 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 88 | Rio Haryanto | MRT Mercedes | 17 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas Ferrari | 16 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 16 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 0 | DNS | 0 |
2022
At the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc clinched victory after starting from pole position, marking his first win since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix. Dominating the race, Leclerc led all but two laps and achieved a hat-trick by securing pole, the race win, and the fastest lap, narrowly missing a grand slam. His teammate, Carlos Sainz, finished in second place, while Lewis Hamilton completed the podium in third. The race saw setbacks for reigning champion Max Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez, both retired from podium-contending positions due to late-race fuel issues. This race was Ferrari’s first win and 1–2 finish since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix. The race also saw the debut of Zhou Guanyu for Alfa Romeo, who became the first Chinese driver to compete in Formula One and to score points in his debut race.
2022 Bahrain Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 57 | 1:37:33.584 | 26 |
| 2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 57 | +5.598s | 18 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 57 | +9.675s | 15 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 57 | +11.211s | 12 |
| 5 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 57 | +14.754s | 10 |
| 6 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 57 | +16.119s | 8 |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 57 | +19.423s | 6 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri RBPT | 57 | +20.386s | 4 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine Renault | 57 | +22.390s | 2 |
| 10 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 57 | +23.064s | 1 |
| 11 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas Ferrari | 57 | +32.574s | 0 |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 57 | +45.873s | 0 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 57 | +53.932s | 0 |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren Mercedes | 57 | +54.975s | 0 |
| 15 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 57 | +56.335s | 0 |
| 16 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams Mercedes | 57 | +61.795s | 0 |
| 17 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 57 | +63.829s | 0 |
| 18 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing RBPT | 56 | DNF | 0 |
| 19 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing RBPT | 54 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri RBPT | 44 | DNF | 0 |
| Note – Leclerc scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. | ||||||
F1 Driver Birthdays 20 March
| Birthday | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 20 March 1972 | Pedro Lamy |
F1 Driver Deaths 20 March
| Death | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 20 March 1955 | Larry Crockett (b. 1926) |
| 20 March 2022 | Reine Wisell (b. 1941) |
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