What Happened On This Day November 15 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, November 15 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1932

Jerry Unser was born on this day in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The first of the famous Unser family to compete at Indianapolis, he narrowly escaped injury after a 13-car crash during his debut, going airborne over the wall at turn three. However, he was tragically killed a year later during practice for the 1959 race. His brothers Al and Bobby, and his nephew Al Jr., would go on to win the Indianapolis 500, while his son Johnny and nephew Robby also competed.

1987

The 1987 Australian Grand Prix, the final race of the season, had a laid-back vibe with Nelson Piquet already crowned champion. This didn’t deter Gerhard Berger, who, fresh off his recent victory, seized pole position and led the race from start to finish despite battling a severe cold and earache. Berger’s Ferrari teammate Michele Alboreto took second, marking Ferrari’s first 1-2 finish in over two years. Ayrton Senna initially placed second but was disqualified after officials found the brake cooling ducts on his Lotus were 2.5mm too wide. This handed the Benetton of Belgian Thierry Boutsen third. The race was also Piquet’s last with Williams before his move to Lotus for the following season.

Berger’s victory would end up being the last Ferrari win during team founder Enzo Ferrari’s life, who would die in August of the following year.

1987 Australian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	82	1:52:56.144	9
2	27	Michele Alboreto	Ferrari	82	+67.884s	6
3	20	Thierry Boutsen	Benetton Ford	81	+1 lap	4
4	3	Jonathan  Palmer	Tyrrell Ford	80	+2 laps	3
5	29	Yannick Dalmas	Lola Ford	79	+3 laps	0
6	14	Roberto Moreno	AGS Ford	79	+3 laps	1
7	10	Christian Danner	Zakspeed	79	+3 laps	0
8	8	Andrea de Cesaris	Brabham BMW	78	DNF	0
9	5	Riccardo Patrese	Williams Honda	76	DNF	0
NC	6	Nelson Piquet	Williams Honda	58	DNF	0
NC	16	Ivan Capelli	March Ford	58	DNF	0
NC	1	Alain Prost	McLaren TAG	53	DNF	0
NC	18	Eddie  Cheever	Arrows Megatron	53	DNF	0
NC	2	Stefan Johansson	McLaren TAG	48	DNF	0
NC	19	Teo Fabi	Benetton Ford	46	DNF	0
NC	23	Adrian Campos	Minardi Motori Moderni	46	DNF	0
NC	30	Philippe Alliot	Lola Ford	45	DNF	0
NC	25	Rene Arnoux	Ligier Megatron	41	DNF	0
NC	7	Stefano Modena	Brabham BMW	31	DNF	0
NC	26	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Ligier Megatron	26	DNF	0
NC	11	Satoru Nakajima	Lotus Honda	22	DNF	0
NC	17	Derek Warwick	Arrows Megatron	19	DNF	0
NC	9	Martin Brundle	Zakspeed	18	DNF	0
NC	4	Philippe Streiff	Tyrrell Ford	6	DNF	0
NC	24	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi Motori Moderni	0	DNF	0

2001

Guildford Cathedral hosted a service of thanksgiving for Ken Tyrrell, the influential Tyrrell F1 team owner who passed away from cancer earlier that year. The event gathered a distinguished lineup of F1 drivers, including former Tyrrell drivers Jean Alesi, Martin Brundle, Jonathan Palmer, and Sir Jackie Stewart, who delivered a tribute. Other notable figures in attendance included Ron Dennis, Patrick Head, Craig Pollock, Rob Walker, Derek Bell, John Coombs, and Teddy Mayer. The service featured a performance by opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and concluded with Chris Barber’s jazz band playing “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

2004

Ford Motor Company confirmed Red Bull as the new owner of Jaguar Racing, with Tony Purnell remaining to oversee operations. Ford also announced the sale of its Cosworth engine division to Champ Car team owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, who were determined to carry forward Cosworth’s rich F1 heritage. “We are strongly committed to continuing the great F1 tradition at Cosworth and taking that very successful legacy into the future,” said Kalkhoven.

2006

Super Aguri announced Anthony Davidson would join Takuma Sato for the 2007 F1 season. Davidson, who had been a Honda test driver for several seasons, had made his F1 debut in 2002 with Minardi and had one race with Honda in 2004. “This is a fantastic opportunity, and I’m thrilled about my first full season as a race driver,” Davidson said. “The team has shown great progress during 2006, and from my visits to the factory, I can see how hard-working and motivated everyone is. I’m eager to get started.” Davidson competed in 21 Grand Prix over the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

2008

Amid criticism for initially downplaying racial abuse directed at Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona as “a bit of a joke,” Bernie Ecclestone called for lifetime bans for anyone found guilty of such offences in the sport. “I want you to know that I’m not a racist,” Ecclestone told the Mail on Sunday, explaining, “It came out wrong. I was shaving when the radio station called early in the morning, and I wasn’t fully focused. No excuses—I was careless in my choice of words. I messed up. I called Lewis and his dad to apologise, and they accepted it immediately. They know I’m not a racist.” Asked if he would support lifetime bans for offenders making racist gestures or sounds, he responded, “OK, I will. That’s what should happen, and I’m happy for you to report that I want it to happen.”

2015

At the 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg, driving for Mercedes and the defending race winner, continued his strong performance, taking pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session—the 21st of his career. Rosberg then led the race, securing victory ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who had already claimed the 2015 Drivers’ Championship two races prior in the 2015 United States Grand Prix. With Mercedes having also clinched the 2015 Constructors’ Championship at the 2015 Russian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel rounded off the podium in third for Ferrari, marking a solid finish for the season’s penultimate race.

2015 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	71	1:31:09.090	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	71	+7.756s	18
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	71	+14.244s	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	71	+47.543s	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Mercedes	70	+1 lap	10
6	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	70	+1 lap	8
7	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing Renault	70	+1 lap	6
EX	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	70	+1 lap	0
8	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	70	+1 lap	4
9	33	Max Verstappen	STR Renault	70	+1 lap	2
10	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	70	+1 lap	1
11	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing Renault	70	+1 lap	0
12	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	70	+1 lap	0
13	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber Ferrari	70	+1 lap	0
14	22	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	70	+1 lap	0
15	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	70	+1 lap	0
16	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber Ferrari	69	+2 laps	0
17	28	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	67	+4 laps	0
18	53	Alexander Rossi	Marussia Ferrari	67	+4 laps	0
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	STR Renault	0	DNF	0

2020

The 2020 Turkish Grand Prix was added to the revised F1 calendar to replace races cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 58-lap race was held on a newly resurfaced track with low-grip conditions, worsened by rain before the start. Racing Point driver Lance Stroll secured the first pole position of his career and led much of the race, but after his car sustained damage, he fell back to finish ninth. Lewis Hamilton, starting from sixth for Mercedes, navigated the challenging conditions to take a sublime and historic win, securing his seventh World Drivers’ Championship title and equaling Michael Schumacher’s record.

Hamilton’s tyres were nearly slick by the end of the race, as he opted not to replace his worn intermediate tyres, as others around him did, a testament to his tyre management in the changing track conditions. The podium was rounded out by Stroll’s teammate, Sergio Perez, in second and Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Ferrari in third—marking both drivers’ first podiums of the season. Hamilton’s victory also ensured the World Drivers’ Championship remained with Mercedes for the seventh consecutive year, with only his teammate Valtteri Bottas remaining in contention before the race, trailing by 85 points.

2020 Turkish Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	58	1:42:19.313	25
2	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	58	+31.633s	18
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	58	+31.960s	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	58	+33.858s	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Renault	58	+34.363s	10
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	58	+44.873s	8
7	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing Honda	58	+46.484s	6
8	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Renault	58	+61.259s	5
9	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	58	+72.353s	2
10	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	58	+95.460s	1
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Renault	57	+1 lap	0
12	26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri Honda	57	+1 lap	0
13	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri Honda	57	+1 lap	0
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	57	+1 lap	0
15	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	57	+1 lap	0
16	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	57	+1 lap	0
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	55	DNF	0
NC	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	49	DNF	0
NC	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	39	DNF	0
NC	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	11	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 15 November

Find a complete list here of the birthdays of current and past F1 Drivers’ birthdays, death’s and when a Drivers’ or Constructors’ Championship was won.

Birthday	F1 Driver
15 November 1932	Jerry Unser

F1 Driver Deaths 15 November

Death	F1 Driver
15 November	None

F1 Champion 15 November

Date	Team/Driver
15 November 2020	Lewis Hamilton