What Happened On This Day March 9 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, March 9 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1937

British racing driver Brian Redman was born in Burnley, Lancashire. He competed in 12 Grands Prix, achieving his best result, a third-place finish in Spain, with Cooper in 1968. Redman later found success in endurance racing and became a life member of the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) and a contributing editor to the American magazine “Road and Track.”

1955

Italian racing driver Teo Fabi, born on this day, took part in 64 Grands Prix from 1982 to 1987 and continued racing in CART until 1996. He also achieved significant success in sports cars, winning the world sports car championship in 1991 with TWR Jaguar. Post-racing, he joined his brother Corrado in running their family business, who also raced in F1. Interestingly, at the 1984 Indianapolis 500, Fabi became the last active Formula One driver to race at the event until Fernando Alonso in 2017. His F1 career ended with two podium finishes and 23 career points, having raced for Toleman, Brabham, and Benetton.

1966

Argentine racing driver Pablo Birger tragically died in a road accident at 42 on this day. Before his death, Birger had competed in two Grand Prix for Gordini and was a well-loved figure in Argentine motorsport. In the 1953 Argentine Grand Prix his car lasted just twenty-one laps. Two years later he again rented a seat with Gordini, this time racing a Type 16, but spun on the first lap and collided with Carlos Menditeguy.

1997

David Coulthard won at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix for McLaren, starting from fourth on the grid, marking the team’s first win in 50 races. This was also a huge win for a Mercedes engine, the first since Juan Manuel Fangio‘s championship-sealing race at Monza in 1955. Although Williams had dominated the previous season, the race unfolded differently. Jacques Villeneuve was eliminated by Eddie Irvine right at the start, and his teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen ended his race in the gravel three laps from the finish due to a pit stop error. Meanwhile, defending champion Damon Hill, having switched to Arrows from Williams, faced a mechanical failure during the parade lap after qualifying 20th. None of the teams that had considered signing him, Jordan and Stewart, finished the race, offering him slight consolation.

Coulthard’s teammate Mika Hakkinen finished third with the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher finishing second.

1997 Australian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	10	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	58	1:30:28.718	10
2	5	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	58	+20.046s	6
3	9	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Mercedes	58	+22.177s	4
4	8	Gerhard Berger	Benetton Renault	58	+22.841s	3
5	14	Olivier Panis	Prost Mugen Honda	58	+60.308s	2
6	17	Nicola Larini	Sauber Petronas	58	+96.040s	1
7	15	Shinji Nakano	Prost Mugen Honda	56	+2 laps	0
8	4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams Renault	55	DNF	0
9	21	Jarno Trulli	Minardi Hart	55	+3 laps	0
10	2	Pedro Diniz	Arrows Yamaha	54	+4 laps	0
NC	22	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart Ford	49	DNF	0
NC	19	Mika Salo	Tyrrell Ford	42	DNF	0
NC	23	Jan Magnussen	Stewart Ford	36	DNF	0
NC	7	Jean Alesi	Benetton Renault	34	DNF	0
NC	20	Ukyo Katayama	Minardi Hart	32	DNF	0
NC	12	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Peugeot	14	DNF	0
NC	18	Jos Verstappen	Tyrrell Ford	2	DNF	0
NC	11	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan Peugeot	1	DNF	0
NC	6	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	0	DNF	0
NC	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams Renault	0	DNF	0
NC	16	Johnny Herbert	Sauber Petronas	0	DNF	0
NC	1	Damon Hill	Arrows Yamaha	0	DNF	0

2003

The 2003 Australian Grand Prix, held at the Albert Park Circuit, began the season with David Coulthard for McLaren securing the win. The podium was completed by Juan Pablo Montoya for Williams finishing in second place, and Coulthard’s teammate, Kimi Räikkönen taking third. Race conditions were challenging with intermittent rain, with Williams seeming to have the first victory of the year in their pocket; Montoya spun after entering the first corner too fast, with eight laps from the end. It was David Coulthard’s 13th and final race victory of his Formula One career.

2003 Australian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes	58	1:34:42.124	10
2	3	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams BMW	58	+8.675s	8
3	6	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	58	+9.192s	6
4	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	58	+9.482s	5
5	7	Jarno Trulli	Renault	58	+38.801s	4
6	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber Petronas	58	+43.928s	3
7	8	Fernando Alonso	Renault	58	+45.074s	2
8	4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW	58	+45.745s	1
9	16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	58	+65.536s	0
10	17	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	58	+65.974s	0
11	19	Jos Verstappen	Minardi Cosworth	57	+1 lap	0
12	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Jordan Ford	52	DNF	0
13	15	Antonio Pizzonia	Jaguar Cosworth	52	DNF	0
NC	20	Olivier Panis	Toyota	31	DNF	0
NC	9	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber Petronas	20	DNF	0
NC	18	Justin Wilson	Minardi Cosworth	16	DNF	0
NC	14	Mark Webber	Jaguar Cosworth	15	DNF	0
NC	21	Cristiano da Matta	Toyota	7	DNF	0
NC	12	Ralph Firman	Jordan Ford	6	DNF	0
NC	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	5	DNF	0

2010

Bernie Ecclestone sank hopes for Formula 1’s return to Africa, noting the continent’s arrangement with the football World Cup as a major distraction. Despite previous discussions that nearly ended in an agreement, Ecclestone noted that ongoing World Cup preparations meant further dialogue was useless at that time.

2024

As was the case with the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula 1 hosted yet another race on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, with practice, quali and race day all moved a day earlier than normal to prevent an overlap with the start of Ramadan on the 10th of March.

Red Bull showed their strength again, with Max Verstappen taking his second pole of the season. He was closely followed by Charles Leclerc‘s Ferrari and Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez in third.

From lights out, Max Verstappen flawlessly extended his winning streak to a ninth consecutive victory, aiming for his fourth straight F1 world championship, by leading Red Bull to another one-two finish. Ferrari’s Leclerc followed home in third.

• 

  2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Full Weekend Report & Highlights

2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/Retired	PTS
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	50	1:20:43.273	25
2	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing	50	+13.643s	18
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	50	+18.639s	16*
4	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	50	+32.007s	12
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	50	+35.759s	10
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	50	+39.936s	8
7	38	Oliver Bearman	Ferrari	50	+42.679s	6
8	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	50	+45.708s	4
9	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	50	+47.391s	2
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	50	+76.996s	1
11	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	50	+88.354s	0
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	50	+105.737s	0
13	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	49	+1 lap	0
14	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	49	+1 lap	0
15	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams	49	+1 lap	0
16	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	49	+1 lap	0
17	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	49	+1 lap	0
18	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	49	+1 lap	0
NC	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	5	DNF	0
NC	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 9 March

Birthday	F1 Driver
9 March 1937	Brian Redman
9 March 1950	Danny Sullivan
9 March 1955	Teo Fabi
9 March 1985	Pastor Maldonado

Birthday	F1 Mentions
9 March 1951	Gary Anderson Known as an F1 car designer and motorsport pundit/commentator.
9 March 1961	Mark Smith Former technical director of the Sauber Formula One team.
9 March 1962	Mark Gallagher Worked at various F1 teams including Head of Marketing at Jordan.

F1 Driver Deaths 9 March

Death	F1 Driver
9 March 1963	Jorge Daponte (b. 1923)
9 March 1966	Pablo Birger (b. 1924)