What Happened On This Day March 25 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, March 25 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1925

American racing driver Don Freeland was born in Los Angeles, California. He competed in eight Grand Prix events, all at Indianapolis, from 1953 to 1960. His highest achievement was a third-place finish in 1956 behind the wheel of a Philips with a 4.5-liter Offenhauser engine. Freeland passed away in 2007 at the age of 82.

1938

Fritz d’Orey, a Brazilian racing driver, was born in Sao Paulo. He drove in the 1959 French and British Grand Prix driving a Maserati 250F and also raced at the 1959 United States Grand Prix that year in a Tex Mec equipped with a Maserati engine. He scored no championship points.

1984

During the 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna made his Formula 1 debut with Toleman but had to withdraw just eight laps into his home race due to a turbo failure. The same race saw the F1 debut of Martin Brundle and Stefan Bellof, both of whom were later disqualified for the season after their Tyrrell cars failed to meet technical standards. Alain Prost, driving for McLaren, claimed his tenth career victory, while Patrick Tambay nearly secured second place but ran out of fuel on the final lap, eventually finishing in fifth after penalties for the Tyrrell team came later in the season. Keke Rosberg, who was in a Williams, came home in second, and the Lotus of Elio de Angelis, who started on pole, finished in third.

1984 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	7	Alain Prost	McLaren TAG	61	1:42:34.492	9
2	6	Keke Rosberg	Williams Honda	61	+40.514s	6
3	11	Elio de Angelis	Lotus Renault	61	+59.128s	4
4	23	Eddie Cheever	Alfa Romeo	60	+1 lap	3
5	15	Patrick Tambay	Renault	59	DNF	2
6	18	Thierry Boutsen	Arrows Ford	59	+2 laps	1
7	17	Marc Surer	Arrows Ford	59	+2 laps	0
8	10	Jonathan Palmer	RAM Hart	58	+3 laps	0
NC	16	Derek Warwick	Renault	51	DNF	0
NC	26	Andrea de Cesaris	Ligier Renault	42	DNF	0
NC	22	Riccardo Patrese	Alfa Romeo	41	DNF	0
NC	8	Niki Lauda	McLaren TAG	38	DNF	0
NC	12	Nigel Mansell	Lotus Renault	35	DNF	0
NC	1	Nelson Piquet	Brabham BMW	32	DNF	0
NC	2	Teo Fabi	Brabham BMW	32	DNF	0
NC	28	Rene Arnoux	Ferrari	30	DNF	0
NC	24	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Osella Alfa Romeo	28	DNF	0
NC	25	Francois Hesnault	Ligier Renault	25	DNF	0
NC	9	Philippe Alliot	RAM Hart	24	DNF	0
NC	20	Johnny Cecotto	Toleman Hart	18	DNF	0
NC	5	Jacques Laffite	Williams Honda	15	DNF	0
NC	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	14	DNF	0
NC	21	Mauro Baldi	Spirit Hart	12	DNF	0
NC	19	Ayrton Senna	Toleman Hart	8	DNF	0

1990

Brazil’s Interlagos circuit, recently reconstructed, hosted the season’s second race, the 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix, its first since 1981. Alain Prost, driving for Ferrari, secured a win that was described by the Guardian as a humiliation of his former teammate, Ayrton Senna, in front of Senna’s home crowd. Senna began from pole for McLaren but collided early with Satoru Nakajima in a Tyrrell, dashing his hopes. During the podium ceremony, tension was palpable as Senna and Prost avoided making eye contact, with Senna’s teammate, Gerhard Berger, awkwardly positioned between them and unsure whom to address. It was Prost’s 40th Grand Prix victory, and his sixth and final Brazilian win.

1990 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Alain Prost	Ferrari	71	1:37:21.258	9
2	28	Gerhard Berger	McLaren Honda	71	+13.564s	6
3	27	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	71	+37.722s	4
4	2	Nigel Mansell	Ferrari	71	+47.266s	3
5	5	Thierry Boutsen	Williams Renault	70	+1 lap	2
6	20	Nelson Piquet	Benetton Ford	70	+1 lap	1
7	4	Jean Alesi	Tyrrell Ford	70	+1 lap	0
8	3	Satoru Nakajima	Tyrrell Ford	70	+1 lap	0
9	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ford	69	+2 laps	0
10	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton Ford	68	DNF	0
11	25	Nicola Larini	Ligier Ford	68	+3 laps	0
12	26	Philippe Alliot	Ligier Ford	68	+3 laps	0
13	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams Renault	65	DNF	0
14	21	Gianni Morbidelli	Dallara Ford	64	+7 laps	0
NC	10	Alex Caffi	Arrows Ford	49	DNF	0
NC	12	Martin Donnelly	Lotus Lamborghini	43	DNF	0
NC	8	Stefano Modena	Brabham Judd	39	DNF	0
NC	24	Paolo Barilla	Minardi Ford	38	DNF	0
NC	18	Yannick Dalmas	AGS Ford	28	DNF	0
NC	11	Derek Warwick	Lotus Lamborghini	25	DNF	0
NC	30	Aguri Suzuki	Lola Lamborghini	24	DNF	0
NC	9	Michele Alboreto	Arrows Ford	24	DNF	0
NC	7	Gregor Foitek	Brabham Judd	14	DNF	0
NC	29	Eric Bernard	Lola Lamborghini	13	DNF	0
NC	14	Olivier Grouillard	Osella Ford	8	DNF	0

1995

John Hugenholtz passed away on this day in 1995. He was a renowned Dutch race track and car designer. Over his career, Hugenholtz designed several iconic circuits for Formula One, including Suzuka in Japan (1962), Zolder in Belgium (1963), the “Motodrom” stadium section of Germany’s Hockenheimring (1965), Jarama in Spain (1967), the Ontario Motor Speedway in California (1970, co-designed with Michael Parker), and Nivelles in Belgium (1971). Although often credited with designing the Zandvoort Circuit, the layout was primarily shaped by the existing roads, with Sammy Davis as the chief consultant. Tragically, Hugenholtz’s life came to a sombre end when he and his wife, Marianne Sophie van Rheineck Leyssius, were involved in a fatal car crash in Zandvoort on January 10, 1995. His wife died at the scene, and Hugenholtz passed away from his injuries two months later at home.

2012

The 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix was won by the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, followed by Sergio Pérez, driving for Sauber, who secured an impressive second place, achieving his first F1 podium finish and recording the best result for Sauber (excluding their time as BMW Sauber). This was also the first podium for a Ferrari customer engine since Sebastian Vettel won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix in a Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso. Completing the podium was the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, who started from pole and finished third. Among the first achievements, Jean-Eric Vergne earned his first points in Formula One by finishing eighth in only his second race for the Toro Rosso team.

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	2:44:51.812	25
2	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber Ferrari	56	+2.263s	18
3	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	56	+14.591s	15
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	56	+17.688s	12
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus Renault	56	+29.456s	10
6	19	Bruno Senna	Williams Renault	56	+37.667s	8
7	11	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	56	+44.412s	6
8	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	56	+46.985s	4
9	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	56	+47.892s	2
10	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	56	+49.996s	1
11	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	56	+75.527s	0
12	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	56	+76.828s	0
13	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	+78.593s	0
14	3	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	56	+79.719s	0
15	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	56	+97.319s	0
16	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham Renault	55	+1 lap	0
17	24	Timo Glock	Marussia Cosworth	55	+1 lap	0
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham Renault	55	+1 lap	0
19	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	54	DNF	0
20	25	Charles Pic	Marussia Cosworth	54	+2 laps	0
21	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT Cosworth	54	+2 laps	0
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT Cosworth	54	+2 laps	0
NC	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	46	DNF	0
NC	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	3	DNF	0

Heikki Kovalainen penalised five grid spots for safety-car infringement at previous round. Kimi Raikkonen penalised five grid spots for unscheduled gearbox change.
Narain Karthikeyan finished 21st, but had 20 seconds added to race time for causing a collision.

2018

On this day in 2018, the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel won the 2018 Australian Grand Prix. The defending race winner of 2017 not only drove to victory but also celebrated his 100th podium appearance and achieved his 48th career win. Lewis Hamilton, starting from pole for the seventh time in Australia—a record for the event—finished behind Vettel for second. The race also saw the Grand Prix debut of Charles Leclerc, a future star and race winner who drove for Sauber. The race will also go down in F1 history, which will be remembered as the first race to feature the “Halo” cockpit safety device, enhancing driver protection in the sport. Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the podium for third with Ferrari.

2018 Australian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	58	1:29:33.283	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	58	+5.036s	18
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	58	+6.309s	15
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	58	+7.069s	12
5	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Renault	58	+27.886s	10
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	58	+28.945s	8
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	58	+32.671s	6
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	58	+34.339s	4
9	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren Renault	58	+34.921s	2
10	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	58	+45.722s	1
11	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	58	+46.817s	0
12	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India Mercedes	58	+60.278s	0
13	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber Ferrari	58	+75.759s	0
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams Mercedes	58	+78.288s	0
15	28	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	57	+1 lap	0
NC	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	24	DNF	0
NC	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	22	DNF	0
NC	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	13	DNF	0
NC	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	5	DNF	0
NC	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Mercedes	4	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 25 March

Birthday	F1 Driver
25 March 1925	Don Freeland (d. 2007)
25 March 1938	Fritz d’Orey

F1 Driver Deaths 25 March

Death	F1 Driver
25 March	None

Death	F1 Mentions
25 March 1995	John Hugenholtz (b. 1914) A Dutch designer of race tracks and cars.

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Ben is a staff writer specialising in F1 from the 1990s to the modern era. Ben has been following Formula 1 since 1986 and is an avid researcher who loves understanding the technology that makes it one of the most exciting motorsport on the planet. He listens to podcasts about F1 on a daily basis, and enjoys reading books from the inspirational Adrian Newey to former F1 drivers.