What Happened On This Day March 28 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, March 28 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1929

Australian racer Paul England was born on this day in Melbourne. He competed in the 1957 German Grand Prix driving a privateer Cooper-Climax but retired on lap four. He later ran and owned a general engineering company called Paul England & Staff in Essendon, Victoria, Australia. He later won three Australian Hillclimb Championships, in 1970, 1973 and 1974.

1935

German race driver Hubert Hahne was born on this day in Moers. Known more for racing in touring cars rather than in Formula 1, he competed in three Grands Prix and failed to qualify for a fourth. Hahne famously set a record at the Nurburgring, becoming the first to complete a lap under ten minutes in a touring car during a support race for the 1966 German Grand Prix. He competed in that Grand Prix for Tyrrell, finishing ninth.

1952

British Formula 1 driver Tony Brise, who drove in 10 Grand Prix races in 1975, was born on this day in Erith, Kent. His first race came at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix for Frank Williams Racing Cars, where he placed seventh. He returned two rounds later at the 1975 Belgian Grand Prix for Embassy Hill and continued with the team for the rest of the season, including a points finish in Sweeden taking sixth place. His promising career was tragically cut short at 23 when he died in a plane crash alongside Graham Hill on November 29, 1975, in Arkley during dense fog.

1976

The inaugural United States Grand Prix West took place in Long Beach, California, on this day in 1976 becoming the first of two F1 races in the USA that year. It was the first new race to be added to the calendar since the Brazilian and Swedish Grand Prix were added in 1973. Clay Regazzoni dominated the event, taking pole, recording the fastest lap, and taking the win for Ferrari. The challenging street circuit proved tough on the cars, with only five managing to complete all 80 laps. An early collision on the third lap between James Hunt and Patrick Depailler, led to Hunt retiring while Depailler finished third for Tyrrell. The two yelled at each other in the press conference after the race, Hunt accusing Depailler of “flagrant stupidity” before warning him to “watch it”. Depailler’s interpreter added to the row by telling Hunt he ought to “learn to drive alongside people who could”. Depailler tried to apologise but Hunt was having none of it and stormed off. Regazzoni’s teammate, Niki Lauda, finished second.

1976 United States Grand Prix West Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	80	1:53:18.471	9
2	1	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	80	+42.414s	6
3	4	Patrick Depailler	Tyrrell Ford	80	+49.972s	4
4	26	Jacques Laffite	Ligier Matra	80	+72.828s	3
5	12	Jochen Mass	McLaren Ford	80	+82.292s	2
6	30	Emerson Fittipaldi	Fittipaldi Ford	79	+1 lap	1
7	17	Jean-Pierre Jarier	Shadow Ford	79	+1 lap	0
8	22	Chris Amon	Ensign Ford	78	+2 laps	0
9	8	Carlos Pace	Brabham Alfa Romeo	77	+3 laps	0
10	10	Ronnie Peterson	March Ford	77	+3 laps	0
NC	19	Alan Jones	Surtees Ford	70	+10 laps	0
NC	28	John Watson	Penske Ford	69	+11 laps	0
NC	3	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell Ford	34	DNF	0
NC	16	Tom Pryce	Shadow Ford	32	DNF	0
NC	27	Mario Andretti	Parnelli Ford	15	DNF	0
NC	11	James Hunt	McLaren Ford	3	DNF	0
NC	34	Hans-Joachim Stuck	March Ford	2	DNF	0
NC	6	Gunnar Nilsson	Lotus Ford	0	DNF	0
NC	7	Carlos Reutemann	Brabham Alfa Romeo	0	DNF	0
NC	9	Vittorio Brambilla	March Ford	0	DNF	0

1993

Brazil hosted the second race of the season with the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix. The race faced persistent rain and multiple accidents, which resulted in debris scattered across the track, prompting the debut use of the safety car in the modern era for eight laps. The race will be remembered as the local hero Ayrton Senna won, clinching McLaren’s 100th victory despite a penalty, and Damon Hill taking his first-ever F1 podium by finishing second for Williams. Michael Schumacher was third for Benetton. Meanwhile, Michael Andretti and Gerhard Berger miraculously walked away from a dramatic crash on the first lap at turn 1. Both of them, along with Martin Brundle and Fabrizio Barbazza were out. After the race, fans invaded the circuit in celebration of Senna’s victory.

1993 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	8	Ayrton Senna	McLaren Ford	71	1:51:15.485	10
2	0	Damon Hill	Williams Renault	71	+16.625s	6
3	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton Ford	71	+45.436s	4
4	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus Ford	71	+46.557s	3
5	26	Mark Blundell	Ligier Renault	71	+52.127s	2
6	11	Alessandro Zanardi	Lotus Ford	70	+1 lap	1
7	19	Philippe Alliot	Larrousse Lamborghini	70	+1 lap	0
8	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	70	+1 lap	0
9	9	Derek Warwick	Footwork Mugen Honda	69	+2 laps	0
10	20	Erik Comas	Larrousse Lamborghini	69	+2 laps	0
11	21	Michele Alboreto	Lola Ferrari	68	+3 laps	0
12	22	Luca Badoer	Lola Ferrari	68	+3 laps	0
NC	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber	61	DNF	0
NC	30	Jyrki Jarvilehto	Sauber	52	DNF	0
NC	4	Andrea de Cesaris	Tyrrell Yamaha	48	DNF	0
NC	2	Alain Prost	Williams Renault	29	DNF	0
NC	23	Christian Fittipaldi	Minardi Ford	28	DNF	0
NC	10	Aguri Suzuki	Footwork Mugen Honda	27	DNF	0
NC	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell Yamaha	26	DNF	0
NC	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan Hart	13	DNF	0
NC	6	Riccardo Patrese	Benetton Ford	3	DNF	0

2010

Reigning World Champion and McLaren driver Jenson Button clinched the win at the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, his first win for McLaren after moving from Brawn GP/Mercedes after his title-winning previous season. Starting from fourth on the grid, Button, who had previously triumphed at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix, told the press about his hunger to return to Albert Park and secure a podium finish again. The Renault of Robert Kubica secured second place, followed by the Ferrari of Felipe Massa in third.

2010 Australian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	58	1:33:36.531	25
2	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	58	+12.034s	18
3	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	58	+14.488s	15
4	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	58	+16.304s	12
5	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	58	+16.683s	10
6	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	58	+29.898s	8
7	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India Mercedes	58	+59.847s	6
8	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams Cosworth	58	+60.536s	4
9	6	Mark Webber	RBR Renault	58	+67.319s	2
10	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	58	+69.391s	1
11	17	Jaime Alguersuari	STR Ferrari	58	+71.301s	0
12	22	Pedro de la Rosa	Sauber Ferrari	58	+74.084s	0
13	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Cosworth	56	+2 laps	0
14	20	Karun Chandhok	HRT Cosworth	53	+5 laps	0
NC	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Cosworth	41	DNF	0
NC	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Cosworth	26	DNF	0
NC	5	Sebastian Vettel	RBR Renault	25	DNF	0
NC	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	9	DNF	0
NC	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	9	DNF	0
NC	21	Bruno Senna	HRT Cosworth	4	DNF	0
NC	16	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	0	DNF	0
NC	10	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams Cosworth	0	DNF	0
NC	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	0	DNF	0
NC	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Cosworth		DNS	0

2021

The 2021 Formula One season kicked off with the seventeenth running of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen dominated all three practice sessions and secured pole during Saturday’s qualifying—the fourth of his career. In a thrilling Sunday race, Lewis Hamilton emerged as the winner over Verstappen, who managed to overtake Hamilton during the race but had to relinquish the position after being judged to have exceeded track limits, ultimately finishing in second. Valtteri Bottas completed the podium in third, contributing to a strong start for Mercedes in the 2021 Constructors’ Championship. The race sparked a considerable controversy regarding the enforcement of track limits, drawing criticism from both teams over what they perceived as overly complex regulations.

2021 Bahrain Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	1:32:03.897	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	56	+0.745s	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	56	+37.383s	16
4	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	56	+46.466s	12
5	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda	56	+52.047s	10
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	56	+59.090s	8
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren Mercedes	56	+66.004s	6
8	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	56	+67.100s	4
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri Honda	56	+85.692s	2
10	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Mercedes	56	+86.713s	1
11	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	56	+88.864s	0
12	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	55	+1 lap	0
13	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	55	+1 lap	0
14	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	55	+1 lap	0
15	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Mercedes	55	+1 lap	0
16	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas Ferrari	55	+1 lap	0
17	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri Honda	52	DNF	0
18	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	51	DNF	0
NC	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine Renault	32	DNF	0
NC	9	Nikita Mazepin	Haas Ferrari	0	DNF	0

Bottas scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.
Vettel received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

F1 Driver Birthdays 28 March

Birthday	F1 Driver
28 March 1911	Consalvo Sanesi (d. 1988)
28 March 1929	Paul England (d. 2014)
28 March 1935	Hubert Hahne (d. 2019)
28 March 1952	Tony Brise (d. 1975)

F1 Driver Deaths 28 March

Death	F1 Driver
28 March 2001	George Connor (b. 1906)

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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.