What Happened On This Day March 21 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, March 21 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1913

F1 and British driver George Abecassis was born on this day in 1913. One of the founders of the HWM team, Abecassis competed in two Grands Prix the 1951 and 1952 Swiss Grand Prix for the team he founded. He started racing in 1934 in a modified Austin 7, making a name for himself in British club racing. Abecassis died aged 78, in Ibstone, near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

1916

British racing and F1 driver Ken Wharton was born on this day in 1916. Wharton raced in 15 Grands Prix between 1952 and 1955 as a privateer and with the BRM and Vanwall teams. Before entering F1, he was a hillclimb driver; to this day, he is the only man to have won four consecutive British Hillclimb championships, holding the title from 1951 to 1954. In 1957 Wharton was fatally injured when his Ferrari Monza crashed in a sports-car race at the Ardmore Circuit in Auckland, New Zealand. His best F1 result was fourth place in his debut race, the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix, securing three Championship points, the only points of his career.

1921

The Spanish racing driver Paco Godia was born on this day in Barcelona. Between 1951 and 1958, he raced intermittently in Formula One, competing in 13 championship races, driving exclusively Maserati cars as a privateer and for the Maserati works team. His best results were two fourth-place finishes in 1956, ending his career on six points. In addition to his racing career, Godia was a fine art collector and established a museum in Barcelona. Since his passing in 1990, the museum has also housed a collection of his motorsport memorabilia.

1960

A legend of the sport, Ayrton Senna was born on this day in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Senna won the World Drivers’ Championship three times during his illustrious career, in 1988, 1990, and 1991. With 41 Grand Prix wins and 65 pole positions, Senna cemented his place in the history of Formula One, holding the latter record until 2006. Unfortunately, the possibility of more records would never be realised, as Senna’s untimely death during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix while driving for the Williams team shook the racing world to its core.

Senna’s journey to the top began with karting, and he quickly moved up the ranks to open-wheel racing, winning the 1983 British Formula Three Championship. He made his Formula One debut with Toleman-Hart in 1984 before joining Lotus and winning six Grand Prix in the following three seasons.

In 1988, he joined forces with Frenchman Alain Prost at McLaren-Honda, and together, they dominated the competition, winning all but one of the 16 races that season. Senna claimed his first World Championship that year, while Prost won the title in 1989. Senna won his second and third championships in 1990 and 1991. He remains one of the most successful drivers of all time regarding race wins and holds the record for the most wins for McLaren.

1982

The 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix was embroiled in controversy when Nelson Piquet (Brabham) and Keke Rosberg (Williams), who initially finished first and second, were disqualified for having underweight cars. This led to Alain Prost being declared the winner, with British drivers John Watson and Nigel Mansell finishing second and third, respectively. The race also celebrated Rene Arnoux’s 50th F1 start.

As a result, the FOCA teams boycotted San Marino two races later. The problem was with a “ballast water tank”, used to cool the brakes. This would gradually empty during the race and then be replenished at the end so as to pass post-race scrutineering. The FIA Appeals Tribunal upheld the disqualification seven weeks later and these tanks were permanently banned.

1982 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
DQ	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham Ford	63	1:43:53.760	0
DQ	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams Ford	63	DSQ	0
1	15	Alain Prost	Renault	63	1:44:33.134	9
2	7	John Watson	McLaren Ford	63	+2.990s	6
3	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus Ford	63	+36.860s	4
4	3	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell Ford	63	+50.760s	3
5	9	Manfred Winkelhock	ATS Ford	62	+1 lap	2
6	28	Didier Pironi	Ferrari	62	+1 lap	1
7	4	Slim Borgudd	Tyrrell Ford	61	+2 laps	0
8	17	Jochen Mass	March Ford	61	+2 laps	0
9	31	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Osella Ford	60	+3 laps	0
10	30	Mauro Baldi	Arrows Ford	57	+6 laps	0
NC	10	Eliseo Salazar	ATS Ford	38	DNF	0
NC	20	Chico Serra	Fittipaldi Ford	36	DNF	0
NC	2	Riccardo Patrese	Brabham Ford	34	DNF	0
NC	27	Gilles Villeneuve	Ferrari	29	DNF	0
NC	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren Ford	22	DNF	0
NC	16	Rene Arnoux	Renault	21	DNF	0
NC	5	Carlos Reutemann	Williams Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus Ford	21	DNF	0
NC	25	Eddie  Cheever	Ligier Matra	19	DNF	0
NC	23	Bruno Giacomelli	Alfa Romeo	16	DNF	0
NC	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Matra	15	DNF	0
NC	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Alfa Romeo	14	DNF	0
NC	33	Derek Daly	Theodore Ford	12	DNF	0
NC	18	Raul Boesel	March Ford	11	DNF	0

2004

At the Sepang circuit, the 2004 Malaysian Grand Prix was dominated by the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher, who started from pole and took the win. Britain’s Jenson Button the future 2009 World Champion, also achieved his first F1 podium finish by securing third place with BAR. Juan Pablo Montoya took third for Williams, 5-seconds behind Schumacher.

2004 Malaysian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	56	1:31:07.490	10
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	56	+5.022s	8
3	9	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	56	+11.568s	6
4	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	56	+13.616s	5
5	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	56	+37.360s	4
6	5	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	56	+53.098s	3
7	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	56	+67.877s	2
8	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	55	+1 lap	1
9	16	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	55	+1 lap	0
10	15	Christian Klien	Jaguar Cosworth	55	+1 lap	0
11	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sauber Petronas	55	+1 lap	0
12	17	Olivier Panis	Toyota	55	+1 lap	0
13	19	Giorgio Pantano	Jordan Ford	54	+2 laps	0
14	20	Gianmaria Bruni	Minardi Cosworth	53	+3 laps	0
15	10	Takuma Sato	BAR Honda	52	DNF	0
16	21	Zsolt Baumgartner	Minardi Cosworth	52	+4 laps	0
NC	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	40	DNF	0
NC	18	Nick Heidfeld	Jordan Ford	34	DNF	0
NC	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	27	DNF	0
NC	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar Cosworth	23	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 21 March

Birthday	F1 Driver
21 March 1913	George Abecassis (d. 1964)
21 March 1916	Ken Wharton (d. 1957)
21 March 1921	Francisco Godia-Sales (d. 1990)
21 March 1960	Ayrton Senna (d. 1994)

Birthday	F1 Mentions
21 March 1974	Ted Kravitz A British Formula One pit reporter for ITV, BBC Sport F1 and Sky Sports F1.

F1 Driver Deaths 21 March

Death	F1 Driver
21 March	None