What Happened On This Day March 26 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.

1941

Lella Lombardi, the only female driver to earn points in Formula 1 by finishing sixth in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, was born on this day in Frugarolo, Italy, 1941. That race was cut short due to a tragic accident that resulted in four fatalities, leading to half points being awarded. Earlier that year, Lombardi made history as the first woman to qualify for a Grand Prix in South Africa, securing sponsorship and significant media attention. She continued to impress, placing seventh later that season in the 1975 German Grand Prix. Lombardi passed away at the age of 50 from breast cancer in Milan in 1992.

1952

Didier Pironi was born on this day in Villecresnes, Paris. He raced in 70 Grand Prix from 1978 to 1982, achieving three wins before an accident during practice for the 1982 German Grand Prix ended his F1 racing career with significant leg injuries. Pironi later took up powerboat racing but tragically died in a crash off the Isle of Wight in 1987. His girlfriend, Catherine, was pregnant with twins and gave birth two weeks later, naming them Gilles and Didier.

1958

Elio de Angelis was born on this day, 1958, in Rome. Competing in 108 Grands Prix from 1979 to 1986, he secured two wins with Team Lotus in 1982 and 1985. de Angelis tragically died during a test session at Paul Ricard in France when his car’s rear wing detached sending his car off the track, where it cleared a barrier, landed upside down, and caught fire. Trapped in the blaze for several minutes, de Angelis died from his injuries. He was also a concert-level pianist and entertained his fellow drivers during the 1982 South African Grand Prix drivers’ strike.

1964

Martin Donnelly, born on this day in Belfast, Northern Ireland, raced in Formula One in 1989 and 1990, until he suffered severe injuries during a crash at the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, being ejected from his Lotus still attached to the seat. He later managed several lower formula teams and worked in driver development.

1989

The 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix was the opening round of the season. Held over 61 laps, the race saw Nigel Mansell clinch an unexpected victory on his debut for Ferrari, which also featured a semi-automatic gearbox—a first for a race-winning car. Following Mansell, Alain Prost finished second in his McLaren-Honda, with Brazil’s own Maurício Gugelmin securing third in a March-Judd. Adding a touch of humour to his triumph, Mansell had joked about booking an early flight home, doubting his chances of victory. However, his win was not without mishap; he sustained a cut on his hand during the trophy-lifting ceremony on the podium.

This was the last F1 race at Jacarepaguá and in Rio de Janeiro. From 1990, the Brazilian Grand Prix would be held at a shortened Interlagos in São Paulo, the home town of Ayrton Senna, where it is still held today.

1989 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	27	Nigel Mansell	Ferrari	61	1:38:58.744	9
2	2	Alain Prost	McLaren Honda	61	+7.809s	6
3	15	Mauricio Gugelmin	March Judd	61	+9.370s	4
4	20	Johnny Herbert	Benetton Ford	61	+10.493s	3
5	9	Derek Warwick	Arrows Ford	61	+17.866s	2
6	19	Alessandro Nannini	Benetton Ford	61	+18.241s	1
7	3	Jonathan  Palmer	Tyrrell Ford	60	+1 lap	0
8	12	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus Judd	60	+1 lap	0
9	26	Olivier Grouillard	Ligier Ford	60	+1 lap	0
10	4	Michele Alboreto	Tyrrell Ford	59	+2 laps	0
11	1	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Honda	59	+2 laps	0
12	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola Lamborghini	58	+3 laps	0
13	22	Andrea de Cesaris	Dallara Ford	57	DNF	0
14	38	Christian Danner	Rial Ford	56	DNF	0
NC	6	Riccardo Patrese	Williams Renault	51	DNF	0
NC	10	Eddie  Cheever	Arrows Ford	37	DNF	0
NC	34	Bernd Schneider	Zakspeed Yamaha	36	DNF	0
NC	7	Martin Brundle	Brabham Judd	27	DNF	0
NC	16	Ivan Capelli	March Judd	22	DNF	0
NC	11	Nelson Piquet	Lotus Judd	10	DNF	0
NC	17	Nicola Larini	Osella Ford	10	DNF	0
NC	8	Stefano Modena	Brabham Judd	9	DNF	0
NC	5	Thierry Boutsen	Williams Renault	3	DNF	0
NC	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ford	2	DNF	0

1995

The 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix was mired in controversy when Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard, initially finishing first and second, were disqualified hours later due to fuel irregularities. Gerhard Berger was then declared the winner. The disqualifications were later overturned on appeal, although constructor points were not awarded for the race. Berger openly criticised the officials, accusing them of making the sport a joke.

1995 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Michael Schumacher	Benetton Renault	71	1:38:34.154	10
2	6	David Coulthard	Williams Renault	71	+8.060s	6
3	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	70	+1 lap	4
4	8	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	70	+1 lap	3
5	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	70	+1 lap	2
6	7	Mark Blundell	McLaren Mercedes	70	+1 lap	1
7	4	Mika Salo	Tyrrell Yamaha	69	+2 laps	0
8	25	Aguri Suzuki	Ligier Mugen Honda	69	+2 laps	0
9	17	Andrea Montermini	Pacific Ilmor	65	+6 laps	0
10	21	Pedro Diniz	Forti Ford	64	+7 laps	0
NC	9	Gianni Morbidelli	Footwork Hart	62	DNF	0
NC	10	Taki Inoue	Footwork Hart	48	DNF	0
NC	24	Luca Badoer	Minardi Ford	47	DNF	0
NC	22	Roberto Moreno	Forti Ford	47	DNF	0
NC	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber Ford	41	DNF	0
NC	5	Damon Hill	Williams Renault	30	DNF	0
NC	2	Johnny Herbert	Benetton Renault	30	DNF	0
NC	16	Bertrand Gachot	Pacific Ilmor	23	DNF	0
NC	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan Peugeot	16	DNF	0
NC	12	Jos Verstappen	Simtek Ford	16	DNF	0
NC	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell Yamaha	15	DNF	0
NC	15	Eddie Irvine	Jordan Peugeot	15	DNF	0
NC	11	Domenico Schiattarella	Simtek Ford	12	DNF	0
NC	30	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber Ford	10	DNF	0
NC	26	Olivier Panis	Ligier Mugen Honda	0	DNF	0
NC	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ford	0	DNF	0

2000

Brazil hosted the championship’s second round with the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix, where post-race disqualifications affected five of the top six finishers due to issues with the wooden skid blocks on their cars. After appeals, all but the McLaren of David Coulthard were reinstated; his car’s wing-end plates were found to be 7mm too low. On the race’s eve, Jean Alesi narrowly avoided a disaster when he collided with a fallen advertising hoarding at 180mph. Sauber withdrew both cars due to rear-wing failures caused by the newly relaid yet uneven track. Bernie Ecclestone faced criticism for not condemning the track conditions, unlike his criticisms of Silverstone and Malaysia, likely because he owned the commercial rights to the Interlagos event. The Ferrari of Michael Schumacher, won the 71-lap race after starting third. Benetton’s Giancarlo Fisichella finished second, and Jordan’s Heinz-Harald Frentzen was third.

2000 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	71	1:31:35.271	10
2	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Playlife	71	+39.898s	6
3	5	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan Mugen Honda	71	+42.268s	4
4	6	Jarno Trulli	Jordan Mugen Honda	71	+72.780s	3
5	9	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	70	+1 lap	2
6	10	Jenson Button	Williams BMW	70	+1 lap	1
7	19	Jos Verstappen	Arrows Supertec	70	+1 lap	0
8	18	Pedro de la Rosa	Arrows Supertec	70	+1 lap	0
9	23	Ricardo Zonta	BAR Honda	69	+2 laps	0
10	21	Gaston Mazzacane	Minardi Fondmetal	69	+2 laps	0
NC	8	Johnny Herbert	Jaguar Cosworth	51	DNF	0
NC	20	Marc Gene	Minardi Fondmetal	31	DNF	0
NC	1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	30	DNF	0
NC	4	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	27	DNF	0
NC	7	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	20	DNF	0
NC	22	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	16	DNF	0
NC	14	Jean Alesi	Prost Peugeot	11	DNF	0
NC	15	Nick Heidfeld	Prost Peugeot	9	DNF	0
NC	12	Alexander Wurz	Benetton Playlife	6	DNF	0

2017

In the 2017 Australian Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton started from pole position, equalling Ayrton Senna‘s record of six pole positions in Australia. The race saw Sebastian Vettel clinching victory, marking both his and Ferrari‘s first win since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix. This victory was also Ferrari’s first in Australia since 2007. Hamilton finished second, and his teammate, Valtteri Bottas rounded out the podium in third, making a successful debut race with his new team, Mercedes. There was also a notable absence in the paddock with the reigning World Champion Nico Rosberg, who had also won the 2016 race, after he had retired from the sport.

2017 Australian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	57	1:24:11.672	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	57	+9.975s	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	57	+11.250s	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	+22.393s	12
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	57	+28.827s	10
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	57	+83.386s	8
7	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	56	+1 lap	6
8	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	56	+1 lap	4
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	56	+1 lap	2
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India Mercedes	56	+1 lap	1
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	56	+1 lap	0
12	36	Antonio Giovinazzi	Sauber Ferrari	55	+2 laps	0
13	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren Honda	55	+2 laps	0
NC	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	50	DNF	0
NC	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	46	DNF	0
NC	18	Lance Stroll	Williams Mercedes	40	DNF	0
NC	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	25	DNF	0
NC	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	21	DNF	0
NC	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	15	DNF	0
NC	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	13	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 26 March

Birthday	F1 Driver
26 March 1933	Renato Pirocchi (d. 2002)
26 March 1941	Lella Lombardi (d. 1992)
26 March 1952	Didier Pironi (d. 1987)
26 March 1958	Elio de Angelis (d. 1986)
26 March 1964	Martin Donnelly
26 March 1992	Stoffel Vandoorne

F1 Driver Deaths 26 March

Death	F1 Driver
26 March 2007	Heinz Schiller (b. 1930)