What happened on this day, May 9 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.
1937
The German teams, Mercedes and Auto Union dominated the 1937 Tripoli Grand Prix on May 9, capturing all eight top positions. Herman Lang secured his inaugural victory in a Mercedes, but post-race tensions flared dramatically. Luigi Fagioli, after a prolonged on-track battle, passed Mercedes’ Rudolf Caracciola and, in a fit of rage, threw a hammer at Caracciola in the Mercedes garage before being restrained.
1949
Count Carlo Felice Trossi, an Italian aristocrat who had been a prominent driver and designer for Alfa Romeo and Mercedes before the war, passed away from a brain tumour. Trossi, who became president of the Ferrari racing team in 1931, achieved notable successes, including second place at the 1932 Mille Miglia and winning the 1933 European Hillclimb Championship. He later won the 1947 Italian Grand Prix and the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix before his death on May 9, 1949.
1982
The 1982 Belgium Grand Prix on May 9, was marred by the tragic death of Gilles Villeneuve just 24 hours earlier, leading to Ferrari’s withdrawal. John Watson triumphed in his McLaren, overcoming Keke Rosberg, who led most of the race in his Williams. Rosberg, struggling with worn soft tyres and failing rear brakes, was overtaken by Watson on the penultimate lap after making an error. The final podium place went to Eddie Cheever driving for Ligier.
Niki Lauda finished third on track but was disqualified when his car was found to be underweight in post-race scrutineering.
1982 Belgium Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | John Watson | McLaren Ford | 70 | 1:35:41.995 | 9 |
| 2 | 6 | Keke Rosberg | Williams Ford | 70 | +7.268s | 6 |
| DQ | 8 | Niki Lauda | McLaren Ford | 70 | DSQ | 0 |
| 3 | 25 | Eddie Cheever | Ligier Matra | 69 | +1 lap | 4 |
| 4 | 11 | Elio de Angelis | Lotus Ford | 68 | +2 laps | 3 |
| 5 | 1 | Nelson Piquet | Brabham BMW | 67 | +3 laps | 2 |
| 6 | 20 | Chico Serra | Fittipaldi Ford | 67 | +3 laps | 1 |
| 7 | 29 | Marc Surer | Arrows Ford | 66 | +4 laps | 0 |
| 8 | 18 | Raul Boesel | March Ford | 66 | +4 laps | 0 |
| 9 | 26 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier Matra | 66 | +4 laps | 0 |
| NC | 5 | Derek Daly | Williams Ford | 60 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 17 | Jochen Mass | March Ford | 60 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 15 | Alain Prost | Renault | 59 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 2 | Riccardo Patrese | Brabham BMW | 52 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 30 | Mauro Baldi | Arrows Ford | 51 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 31 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | Osella Ford | 37 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 22 | Andrea de Cesaris | Alfa Romeo | 34 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 4 | Brian Henton | Tyrrell Ford | 33 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 3 | Michele Alboreto | Tyrrell Ford | 29 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 35 | Derek Warwick | Toleman Hart | 29 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 36 | Teo Fabi | Toleman Hart | 13 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 12 | Nigel Mansell | Lotus Ford | 9 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 16 | Rene Arnoux | Renault | 7 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 9 | Manfred Winkelhock | ATS Ford | 0 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 10 | Eliseo Salazar | ATS Ford | 0 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 23 | Bruno Giacomelli | Alfa Romeo | 0 | DNF | 0 |
1993
On May 9, Alain Prost won the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya by 16.8 seconds, in what was a largely uneventful race apart from his rivalry with Williams teammate Damon Hill. The duel ended when Hill’s engine failed two-thirds into the race. Hill commented on the intense battle: “That was a proper race and we were not playing about”. Ayrton Senna, who finished second, struggled with visibility issues due to his visor being coated with oil from other cars’ engine failures. Michael Schumacher came home in third for Benetton.
1993 Spanish Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Alain Prost | Williams Renault | 65 | 1:32:27.685 | 10 |
| 2 | 8 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren Ford | 65 | +16.873s | 6 |
| 3 | 5 | Michael Schumacher | Benetton Ford | 65 | +27.125s | 4 |
| 4 | 6 | Riccardo Patrese | Benetton Ford | 64 | +1 lap | 3 |
| 5 | 7 | Michael Andretti | McLaren Ford | 64 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 6 | 28 | Gerhard Berger | Ferrari | 63 | +2 laps | 1 |
| 7 | 26 | Mark Blundell | Ligier Renault | 63 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 8 | 23 | Christian Fittipaldi | Minardi Ford | 63 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 9 | 20 | Erik Comas | Larrousse Lamborghini | 63 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 10 | 10 | Aguri Suzuki | Footwork Mugen Honda | 63 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 11 | 15 | Thierry Boutsen | Jordan Hart | 62 | +3 laps | 0 |
| 12 | 14 | Rubens Barrichello | Jordan Hart | 62 | +3 laps | 0 |
| 13 | 9 | Derek Warwick | Footwork Mugen Honda | 62 | +3 laps | 0 |
| 14 | 11 | Alessandro Zanardi | Lotus Ford | 60 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 30 | Jyrki Jarvilehto | Sauber | 53 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 22 | Luca Badoer | Lola Ferrari | 43 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 29 | Karl Wendlinger | Sauber | 42 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 4 | Andrea de Cesaris | Tyrrell Yamaha | 42 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 0 | Damon Hill | Williams Renault | 41 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 27 | Jean Alesi | Ferrari | 40 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 24 | Fabrizio Barbazza | Minardi Ford | 37 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 19 | Philippe Alliot | Larrousse Lamborghini | 26 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 25 | Martin Brundle | Ligier Renault | 11 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 3 | Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell Yamaha | 11 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 12 | Johnny Herbert | Lotus Ford | 2 | DNF | 0 |
2004
On May 9, in his 200th Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher clinched victory at the 2004 Spanish Grand Prix, matching Nigel Mansell‘s record from 1992 of winning the season’s first five races. The confidence in Schumacher’s success was so high that some bookmakers began paying out bets for his anticipated fifth consecutive championship title, which he eventually secured. Remarkably, Schumacher achieved this win while racing with a cracked exhaust on his Ferrari. His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second with Jarno Trulli third in a Renault car. Meanwhile, Jenson Button managed an eighth-place finish despite eye issues caused by a small carbon fragment lodged in his eye.
2004 Spanish Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 66 | 1:27:32.841 | 10 |
| 2 | 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | 66 | +13.290s | 8 |
| 3 | 7 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | 66 | +32.294s | 6 |
| 4 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 66 | +32.952s | 5 |
| 5 | 10 | Takuma Sato | BAR Honda | 66 | +42.327s | 4 |
| 6 | 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams BMW | 66 | +73.804s | 3 |
| 7 | 11 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Sauber Petronas | 66 | +77.108s | 2 |
| 8 | 9 | Jenson Button | BAR Honda | 65 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 9 | 12 | Felipe Massa | Sauber Petronas | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 10 | 5 | David Coulthard | McLaren Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 11 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 12 | 14 | Mark Webber | Jaguar Cosworth | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 13 | 16 | Cristiano da Matta | Toyota | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| NC | 19 | Giorgio Pantano | Jordan Ford | 51 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 3 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Williams BMW | 46 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 15 | Christian Klien | Jaguar Cosworth | 43 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 17 | Olivier Panis | Toyota | 33 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 18 | Nick Heidfeld | Jordan Ford | 33 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 20 | Gianmaria Bruni | Minardi Cosworth | 31 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 21 | Zsolt Baumgartner | Minardi Cosworth | 17 | DNF | 0 |
2021
The 2021 Spanish Grand Prix was the fourth round of the Formula One World Championship. Lewis Hamilton secured victory from pole position, leading Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to claim his 98th career win. The result extended Hamilton’s championship lead over Verstappen to 14 points.
This race was also the first Formula One event held on the newly modified layout of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where Turn 10 was reprofiled from a tight hairpin into a faster, sweeping curve to enhance driver safety.
2021 Spanish Grand Prix Race Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 66 | 1:33:07.680 | 25 |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda | 66 | +15.841s | 19 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 66 | +26.610s | 15 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 66 | +54.616s | 12 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda | 66 | +63.671s | 10 |
| 6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren Mercedes | 66 | +73.768s | 8 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 66 | +74.670s | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 4 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 65 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri Honda | 65 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 12 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 13 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 63 | George Russell | Williams Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine Renault | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas Ferrari | 64 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 19 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas Ferrari | 64 | +2 laps | 0 |
| NC | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri Honda | 6 | DNF | 0 |
| Note – Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. | ||||||
F1 Driver Birthdays 9 May
| Birthday | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 9 May 1947 | Andy Sutcliffe |
F1 Driver Deaths 9 May
| Death | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 9 May | None |
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