Next weekend marks the 1,000th World Championship Grand Prix to be held since the inauguration of Formula 1 in 1950. Motorsport Week takes a look back at the other milestones in the history of the sport.
1st, Britain 1950
The inaugural World Championship calendar featured just seven Grands Prix – a third of the size of the current schedule – and began with the British Grand Prix on May 13 at converted World War II airbase Silverstone. The well-attended event was graced by King George VI as a new era of motor-racing began. But was Formula 1 more competitive in the past? Consider that Alfa Romeo locked out the first two rows of the grid and took a 1-2-3 finish in the 70-lap Grand Prix, as Giuseppe Farina triumphed ahead of Luigi Faglioli and Reg Parnell. Fourth-placed Talbot-Lago driver Yves Giraud-Cabantous came home two laps behind Farina.
100th, Germany 1961
Such was the sparse nature of the calendar during the early phase of Formula 1 history that it took 11 years for the centenary to be reached – and it happened at the fearsome Nordschleife in 1961. Wet weather only added to the occasion. The race proved to be the final triumph for greatest-driver-to-never-win-the-title Sir Stirling Moss, who brought his Lotus-Climax home 20 seconds clear of home representative Wolfgang von Trips and eventual champion Phil Hill. The rest of the points-paying positions were filled out by Jim Clark, John Surtees and Bruce McLaren – not a bad crop of drivers…
200th, Monaco 1971
Formula 1’s jewel in the crown played host to race number 200 and it was Jackie Stewart who put in a commanding performance to claim victory for Tyrrell. It was one of six wins taken by Stewart during a 1971 campaign en route to the title, the second of the three that he secured during his distinguished career. Ronnie Peterson finished a distant runner-up for March while Jacky Ickx was on the bottom step of the podium for a Ferrari team that fielded two cars in race trim after future World Champion Mario Andretti failed to qualify.
300th, South Africa 1978
Kyalami was the venue for the 300th Grand Prix as the 1978 South African Grand Prix was won by Lotus’ Ronnie Peterson, who prevailed in a scrap for victory against Tyrrell rival Patrick Depailler. Peterson led just a single of the 78 laps but crucially it was the one that mattered. Reigning champion Niki Lauda failed to make the finish due to an engine failure in his Brabham while just moments later both Ferrari drivers – Carlos Reutemann and Gilles Villeneuve – retired on the same lap.
400th, Austria 1984
The 400th race concluded with a home victory at the Osterreichring for Niki Lauda in the last of his three title-winning campaigns, profiting when firstly McLaren team-mate Alain Prost spun off an oil, and latterly when Nelson Piquet was hampered by tyre issues. Michele Alboreto finished in third position for Ferrari while Piquet’s Brabham team-mate Teo Fabi was the only other driver to finish on the lead lap.
500th, Australia 1990
The 500th World Championship Grand Prix was the 1990 season finale at Adelaide, which took place just after the iconic title-deciding collision between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at Suzuka, which settled the championship in favour of the McLaren driver. But in Australia neither Senna nor Prost triumphed; Senna led before crashing out due to a gearbox failure and instead it was Benetton’s Nelson Piquet who ended the year on a high, surviving a passing attempt from Prost’s outgoing Ferrari team-mate Nigel Mansell.
600th, Argentina 1997
Jacques Villeneuve secured back-to-back wins in an Argentine Grand Prix memorable for a handful of collisions. The Williams driver escaped the drama behind as title rival Michael Schumacher was embroiled in a first-lap clash that led to his retirement. Schumacher’s younger brother Ralf went on to claim a podium finish in only his third grand prix – but did so only after a collision with Jordan team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella that left the Italian watching from the sidelines.
700th, Brazil 2003
The 700th race delivered an unlikely victor in the form of Jordan’s Giancarlo Fisichella in one of Formula 1’s most chaotic Grands Prix. The rain-affected race accounted for several of the front-runners, including reigning champion Michael Schumacher, who crashed at the ironically named Curva do Sol. Fisichella had trailed Kimi Raikkonen but an error from the Finn handed the lead to the Jordan driver, and mere laps later the race was curtailed when Fernando Alonso ploughed heavily into the barriers moments after Mark Webber had done likewise. Officials initially awarded Raikkonen the win on countback but after further scrutiny Fisichella was declared the victor, and received his trophy at the next event.
800th, Singapore 2008
Race 800 was a momentous one for it was the championship’s inaugural night race – though the events of that Grand Prix mean it has since been rubber-stamped into memory as one of its most controversial. Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed his Renault through Turn 16 in Singapore to assist team-mate Fernando Alonso in ultimately surging to the lead of the race, from where he claimed victory. The full details only emerged 10 months later after Piquet Jr.’s axe from Renault. Early leader Felipe Massa suffered a disastrous pit stop after being given the signal to leave the box when the fuel hose was still attached to his Ferrari.
900th, Bahrain 2014
Race 900 also took place at night and it marked the year that Bahrain switched its Grand Prix from afternoon to evening. Mercedes arrived as the dominant force and the race was fought out in style between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who put in one of the all-time classic fights for victory which was settled in Hamilton’s favour. Force India finished on the podium courtesy of Sergio Perez while another dire performance from Ferrari was the final straw for Stefano Domenicali, who resigned as Team Principal in the aftermath.
1000th, China 2019
Next weekend Formula 1 heads to China for its 1,000th race and it has already been the home of some historic moments. It was the scene of Schumacher’s last victory in 2006. It was a heartbreaking moment for Hamilton in 2007 after a trip into the pitlane gravel trap cost him a possible victory and what could have been a maiden title. Red Bull scored its first victory at the Shanghai circuit courtesy of a 21-year-old Vettel in 2009 while Rosberg’s maiden F1 win in 2012 was also Mercedes’ first since 1955! Now it will go down in history as host of the 1,000 F1 race…let’s hope it delivers a race worthy of that title.
