What Happened On This Day November 17 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, November 17 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1902

In an era of rapid technological advances, Frenchman M. Augieres set a new land-speed record, achieving 77.13 mph (124.13 kph) in a 60-brake-horsepower Mors on a road near Chartres. His achievement, breaking a record set just 12 days prior, held for eight months.

2001

Flavio Briatore announced he would continue leading the Renault Sport F1 team for the next three years, with the support of Renault Sport chairman Patrick Faure. “I have no intention of stepping down,” Briatore stated. “I am an integral part of Renault. Not everyone may appreciate an Italian boss, but even Ferrari has a French one. Renault chose me, and things are going well.” He ultimately left Renault under difficult circumstances in 2009 due to the Crashgate scandal.

2003

McLaren revealed that Juan Pablo Montoya would leave Williams to join their team in 2005 despite another season of racing for the Williams team. Montoya expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “The team is consistently a world championship contender and has a great heritage. It’s a fantastic opportunity, and I can’t wait for my first time behind the wheel of one of their cars. Joining McLaren is an incredible experience and challenge that I intend to fully enjoy.” Although a shoulder injury disrupted his 2005 season, Montoya returned strong, securing three wins and matching the pace of teammate Kimi Raikkonen. In 2006, however, he often trailed Raikkonen, culminating in a dramatic incident at the start of the 2006 US Grand Prix where both drivers collided.

2008

At the Autocar Awards in London, Martin Brundle announced he would be joining the BBC as a Formula 1 commentator in 2009. “I’m thrilled to tell you all that I’ll be with the BBC next year,” he shared. “After twelve years in F1 commentary, I briefly considered stepping back, but ultimately, the BBC’s offer was too exciting to pass up.”

2009

Rumours swirled that world champion Jenson Button was leaving Brawn for McLaren, sparking scepticism among Formula 1 insiders. “It’s not ideal for F1 to have two world champions in the same team, but Button and Brawn are probably just sparring, and something will be worked out,” remarked Bernie Ecclestone. Veteran commentator Murray Walker added, “I would fear for Jenson in what is very much Lewis Hamilton’s team.” Ross Brawn dismissed the reports, stating, “Negotiations [with Button] are ongoing, and rumours of him agreeing with McLaren are unhelpful. I would be amazed if that were true. His best future is with our team, where he has strong support.” Despite the logic Brawn cited, Button signed with McLaren the very next day.

2013

The 2013 United States Grand Prix was the eighteenth and penultimate race of the season, and only the second time the event took place at the Circuit of the Americas. Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel clinched his eighth consecutive victory, setting a new Formula 1 record for the most consecutive wins in a single season. Lotus F1 driver Romain Grosjean fought hard to secure second place, successfully holding off Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber who completed the podium in third. This win would be Red Bull’s last at the Circuit of the Americas until the 2021 United States Grand Prix.

In the week leading up to the race, Kimi Raikkonen announced that he would miss the season’s final two races to undergo back surgery, an operation he initially hoped to postpone until the off-season. His increasing discomfort forced the decision to make the previous race his last for Lotus before his planned return to Ferrari in 2014. Raikkonen’s seat was filled by Heikki Kovalainen, who stepped in under a two-race deal with the team.

2013 United States Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	56	1:39:17.148	25
2	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	56	+6.284s	18
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	56	+8.396s	15
4	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	+27.358s	12
5	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	+29.592s	10
6	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber Ferrari	56	+30.400s	8
7	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren Mercedes	56	+46.692s	6
8	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault	56	+54.509s	4
9	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	+59.141s	2
10	5	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	56	+77.278s	1
11	19	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	56	+81.004s	0
12	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	56	+86.914s	0
13	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	56	+91.707s	0
14	7	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Renault	56	+95.063s	0
15	14	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	56	+96.853s	0
16	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	56	+104.574s	0
17	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	55	+1 lap	0
18	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Cosworth	55	+1 lap	0
19	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Renault	55	+1 lap	0
20	20	Charles Pic	Caterham Renault	55	+1 lap	0
21	23	Max Chilton	Marussia Cosworth	54	+2 laps	0
NC	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	0	DNF	0

2019

The 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen take the victory, with Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz achieving their first-ever podium finishes in second and third, respectively. Sainz’s result marked McLaren’s first podium since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, while Gasly’s finish became the final podium for Toro Rosso in Formula One.

Drama unfolded in the final moments of the race as the stewards launched an investigation into a collision between Lewis Hamilton and Alexander Albon on lap 70. Although the podium ceremony initially featured Verstappen, Gasly, and Hamilton, the investigation resulted in a five-second time penalty for Hamilton, dropping him from third to seventh place. This penalty elevated Sainz to third, awarding him his maiden podium finish and officially setting a new record for the youngest combined age of a Formula 1 podium, surpassing the previous record set at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. Sainz’s promotion to the podium, however, took place after the ceremony had concluded, so he was not present to celebrate on the podium.

2019 Brazilian Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	71	1:33:14.678	25
2	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	71	+6.077s	18
3	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Renault	71	+8.896s	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	71	+9.452s	12
5	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	71	+10.201s	10
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	71	+10.541s	8
7	44	Lewis Hamilton¹	Mercedes	71	+11.139s	6
8	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Renault	71	+11.204s	4
9	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	71	+11.529s	2
10	26	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	71	+11.931s	1
11	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	71	+12.732s	0
12	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	71	+13.599s	0
13	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	71	+14.247s	0
14	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing Honda	71	+14.927s	0
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg²	Renault	71	+18.059s	0
16	88	Robert Kubica	Williams Mercedes	70	+1 lap	0
17	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	65	DNF	0
18	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	65	DNF	0
19	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	65	DNF	0
NC	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	51	DNF	0

¹Hamilton received a post-race, 5-second time penalty for causing a collision.
²Nico Hulkenberg received a post-race, 5-second time penalty for overtaking under safety-car conditions.

F1 Driver Birthdays 17 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
17 November 1929	Jimmy Reece
17 November 1939	Chris Craft
17 November 1945	Damien Magee
17 November 1967	Domenico Schiattarella

F1 Driver Deaths 17 November

Death	F1 Driver
17 November	None

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Mark is a staff writer specialising in the history of Formula 1 races. Mark researches most of our historic content from teams to drivers and races. He has followed Formula 1 since 1988, and admits to having a soft spot for British drivers from James Hunt and Nigel Mansell to Lando Norris. He loves a great F1 podcast and has read pretty much every drivers biography.