What happened on this day, September 27 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.
1981
Ligier driver Jacques Laffite‘s victory at the 1981 Canadian Grand Prix set up a thrilling finale to the season three weeks later. Carlos Reutemann, who finished ninth for Williams, led the championship by one point over eventual champion Nelson Piquet, who finished fifth for Brabham. In appalling conditions, the race start was delayed by an hour due to confusion over insurance coverage for the drivers. Despite significant damage to his nose wing, Gilles Villeneuve thrilled his home fans by finishing third, with the wing flying off his Ferrari just four laps from the finish.
Despite a lacklustre performance from Reutemann and teammate Alan Jones retiring on lap 24, mathematically, Williams clinched the 1981 Constructors’ Championship.
1987
Williams driver Nigel Mansell delivered a commanding performance at the 1987 Spanish Grand Prix, a win described by team boss Frank Williams as “perfect … an absolutely brilliant performance.” Mansell overtook championship rival and teammate Nelson Piquet on the opening lap and remained unchallenged throughout the race. His day improved further when Piquet spun while battling the McLaren of Alain Prost for second place and eventually finished fourth. Ayrton Senna, who came fifth for Lotus, using a no-stop strategy, was criticised for creating a traffic jam as he defended his position. Prost’s teammate Stefan Johansson finished third.
With Mansell’s 9 points and Piquet’s 3, Williams clinched the 1987 Constructors’ Championship.
1992
Nigel Mansell, who had secured his only Drivers’ Championship with Williams a month earlier, completed his ninth win of the season at the 1992 Portuguese Grand Prix, breaking Ayrton Senna’s four-year-old record. Starting from pole, Mansell built a 2.4-second lead after the first lap and extended it to 37.5 seconds by the end. His teammate Riccardo Patrese narrowly escaped injury after a terrifying 170mph collision with Gerhard Berger‘s McLaren, which saw Patrese’s car cartwheel and disintegrate before slamming upside down into the pit wall. “I really could have hurt myself … I’m just glad to be here,” Patrese admitted. Berger finished in second place, and teammate Senna finished third.
1998
McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen won the 1998 Luxembourg Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in front of a capacity crowd, giving him a four-point lead in the 1998 Drivers’ Championship with one race remaining. Despite Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine taking the front row of the grid, Hakkinen overtook Irvine on lap 14 and closed in on Schumacher. He ultimately took the lead by staying out five laps longer than Schumacher during the pit stop cycle, securing a crucial victory. Schumacher came home in second, and Hakkinen’s teammate, David Coulthard, in third.
2009
Lewis Hamilton won the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix for McLaren to keep the Drivers’ Championship fight alive, despite Brawn driver Jenson Button finishing fifth and maintaining a 15-point lead. Hamilton, reflecting on his own 2007 experience of losing a 17-point lead with two races to go, advised Button to “continue pressing hard all the way to the finish.” Fernando Alonso finished third, his best result of the season with Renault, and controversially dedicated his performance to his agent Flavio Briatore, who had been banned from the sport by the FIA just six days earlier for his role in the Crashgate scandal. Tim Glock, who was driving for Toyota, finished third.
2015
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix after overtaking teammate Nico Rosberg at the start, with Rosberg initially dropping to fourth before recovering to finish second. As a result, Rosberg’s gap in the 2015 Drivers’ Championship increased to 48 points. Sebastian Vettel secured third place for Ferrari. Notably, this was the first race since the 2011 European Grand Prix where all cars were classified as finishers, a feat that wouldn’t be repeated until the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix.
2020
The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas won the 2020 Russian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen finishing in second for Red Bull, and Bottas’s teammate Lewis Hamilton completing the podium in third.
The 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the cancellation or postponement of many originally scheduled races. As a result, the FIA introduced a revised calendar, though the Russian Grand Prix retained its original date. Up to 30,000 fans were allowed to attend the race under social distancing guidelines. Haas driver Romain Grosjean voiced concerns about the management of the pandemic at his hotel during the event.
F1 Driver Birthdays 27 September
| Birthday | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 27 September | None |
F1 Driver Deaths 27 September
| Death | F1 Driver |
|---|---|
| 27 September 2003 | Jean Lucas World |
| 27 September 2010 | Trevor Taylor |
F1 Champion 27 September
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