Portal:Formula One/Did you know

Did you know?

These are the different sets of Did You Know facts which appear on Portal:Formula One. Please do not add hooks directly into any of these sets, suggest them first on the talk page.

... that Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo (pictured) was so angry with the result of the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix he destroyed his television?
...that the period from the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix (where Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died), to the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix (where Jules Bianchi suffered injuries from which he died several months later) was the longest run in the history of the World Championship without a Formula One driver having been killed while driving?
...that 1996 Champion Damon Hill played the guitar in the opening song of the Def Leppard album, Euphoria?
... that Scuderia Ferrari's fans are known as the Tifosi?

...that Aguri Suzuki (pictured) failed to pre-qualify for all 16 rounds of the 1989 Formula One Season?
... that the 1995 Pacific Grand Prix was delayed until October of that year because of the Great Hanshin earthquake?
... that, from 1950 to 1960, the Indianapolis 500 was a round of the World Drivers' Championship (now known as the Formula One World Championship)?
... that the Lola T93/30 Formula One car was described as "virtually undriveable" by the team's drivers after its first race, the 1993 South African Grand Prix, because of its aerodynamic deficiencies?

... that Sebastian Vettel's (pictured) win from pole position at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix made him both the youngest driver to take pole position and the youngest driver to win a Formula One race? Also, it was the youngest podium in F1 history. With Vettel winning the race, Kovalainen finished 2nd, and Robert Kubica finished 3rd.
... that the Ferrari F60 was named to celebrate Ferrari's 60 years in Formula One?
... that racing engineer Harvey Postlethwaite said he agreed to join the Hesketh Racing team because they got him drunk?
... that the 1952 and 1953 World Drivers' Championships were run under Formula Two rules?

... that the McLaren MP4/4 (pictured) was the most dominant car in the history of Formula One, winning all but one of the races in the 1988 Formula One season?
... that the tyres at the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix had their grooves painted green to promote environmentally friendly driving?
... that AVUS, a track which consisted entirely of two straights and two hairpins, was once part of the Formula One Championship?
... that in 2009 Brawn GP won the first two Grands Prix they entered, becoming the first team to do so since Alfa Romeo in 1950?

... that the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix (podium pictured) was the first Formula One race to be held at night?
... that Ayrton Senna was disqualified from the 1987 Australian Grand Prix for having oversized brake ducts?
... that the United Kingdom has had the most drivers in the World Drivers' Championship, with 158, ahead of the United States with 156 (including Indy 500 entries from 1950-1960) and Italy with 99? But the United States and Italy have only had two Champions each, to the United Kingdom's ten?
... that three teams withdrew from the 1960 Italian Grand Prix, saying the track was too fast?

... that Nigel Mansell (pictured) scored 14 pole positions, out of a possible 16, in the 1992 Formula One season?
... that Jody Scheckter and Damon Hill are the only drivers to have ever competed with car number zero in a Formula One Grand Prix? While Hill raced #0 for two full seasons, Scheckter only used it for two races.
... that Nelson Piquet once described the Monaco Grand Prix as being akin to "trying to cycle round your living room"?
... that John Watson and Niki Lauda climbed from 22nd and 23rd on the grid at the 1983 United States Grand Prix West to take the first two positions on the podium?

... Fernando Alonso finished as runner-up by the biggest margin in 2013, 155 points behind Sebastian Vettel?
... that Michael Schumacher has led Grands Prix for a total distance of 24,148 kilometres (15,005 mi)?
... that Keke Rosberg, Formula One World Champion in 1982 with Williams, scored no points at all with Fittipaldi the previous year?
...that the McLaren MP4/1 (pictured) in 1981 was the first Formula One car to have a chassis constructed entirely from carbon fibre composites?

... that the "Wall of Champions" (pictured) at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is so-called because three Champions (Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve) crashed into it during the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix?
... that Scuderia Ferrari won eight of the ten Constructors' Championships between 1999 and 2008?
... that Desiré Wilson is the only woman to have won a Formula One race of any kind, winning the 1980 Brands Hatch round of the British Formula One Championship?
... that the 2019 Formula One season was the 70th World Championship season?

Jody Scheckter driving the Tyrrell P34 at the 1976 German Grand Prix

... that the Tyrrell P34 (pictured) and the March 2-4-0 both had six wheels? But the Tyrrell was the only one to race and scored its only victory at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix?
... that no driver has won multiple Championships with the Williams team? Williams have had seven Champions: Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.
...that, as of 2023, the last win by a driver older than 40 years was in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix by Nigel Mansell?
... that Pirelli is the sole supplier of Formula One tyres?

... that no American driver has won a World Championship Grand Prix since Mario Andretti (pictured) at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix?
... that at age ten, former McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton approached McLaren team boss Ron Dennis for an autograph, and told him "one day I want to be racing your cars"?
... that Nigel Mansell cut his hands on the trophy after winning the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix?
... that the oldest driver to start a Formula One race, Louis Chiron, was aged 55 years, 292 days when he did so?

... that the Aston Martin DBR4 (pictured) Formula One car failed to score even a single World Championship point, even though Aston Martin sports cars won many races?
... that Johnny Servoz-Gavin is the only driver to score a point in the World Championship with a four-wheel drive car?
... that motor racing was banned in Switzerland from 1955 to 2015, but a Swiss Grand Prix was held in 1982?
... that Manchester City F.C. chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak was also the man who negotiated the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix's inclusion in the 2009 Formula One season?

... that Jack Brabham (pictured) is the only driver to win a Championship for a team bearing his name?
... that the Haas Lola Formula One team's cars were not built or designed by Lola Cars, but were entered as Lolas because Carl Haas was their official importer to the United States? Also, that they have no relation to the modern Haas F1 Team?
... that Jo Siffert was killed in an end-of-season non-championship Formula One race on October 24, 1971 at Brands Hatch?
... that the 2003 British Grand Prix was disrupted when defrocked Catholic priest Neil Horan ran into the path of the oncoming cars?

... that Max Verstappen (pictured) became the youngest Grand Prix winner after winning the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, having been 18 years old at the time?
... that there were allegations of cheating during the 1994 Formula One season, including the use of illegal software?
... that Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix seven times in eight years, from 2014-2017 and 2019-2021?
... that in 1995 MTV sponsored the Simtek team not with money but airtime?

The Force India VJM02 driven by Adrian Sutil

... that Force India's 2009 Formula One car, the VJM02 (pictured) was painted in the colours of the Indian flag, but the team was based in England and neither of the drivers were Indian?
... that as part of the F1 in Schools programme students have to design and build a miniature Formula One car?
... that Robert Kubica was the first and only Polish driver to compete in Formula One?
... that former journalist Walter Hayes developed the business case for the development of the Ford Cosworth DFV, the most successful engine in Formula One history?

... that Denny Hulme (pictured) was the first former Formula One champion to die of natural causes?
... that Fernando Alonso is the most experienced racer in the history of Formula One, having started more than 350 Grands Prix?
... that Narain Karthikeyan became the first Indian driver to race in Formula One when he drove for Jordan at the 2005 Australian Grand Prix?
... that Graham Hill is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport (the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Formula One World Championship)?

... that with his finish of seventh in the 2009 Australian Grand Prix, Sébastien Buemi (pictured) became Switzerland's first points scorer since Marc Surer at the 1985 Italian Grand Prix?
... that Scuderia Ferrari have entered every FIA Formula One season?
... that in the 1972 season, David Walker failed to score a point, while his teammate, Emerson Fittipaldi, won the Drivers' Championship?
... that a Formula One team can have a budget as high as $400 million per year?

... that the layout of Shanghai International Circuit (pictured) was inspired from the Chinese character shang (上), the first character in the name of the city Shanghai?
... that there have only been six races in the history of Formula One that have awarded half points to finishers due to a premature end?
... that the 2009 season was the first without a race in North America?
... that prior to Singapore's first Formula One race in 2008, the last running of the Singapore Grand Prix was as a non-championship race run to Australian Formula Two rules in 1973?

... that Nick Heidfeld (pictured) holds the record for most second place finishes without a win?
... that at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix the Ferrari and Toro Rosso cars displayed messages of support for the victims of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake?
... that the Nürburgring is the only circuit to have hosted four different Formula One Grands Prix: the German, European, Luxembourg and Eifel Grands Prix?
... that Al Pease is the only driver to have been disqualified for being too slow?

...that slick tyres (pictured), reintroduced in 2009 after being banned in 1998, were first used in Formula One by Firestone in the 1971 Spanish Grand Prix?
... that the first time an onboard camera was used in a Formula One race was the 1985 German Grand Prix, on François Hesnault's Renault?
... that the longest gap between consecutive Grand Prix starts by a driver is more than 10 years? Jan Lammers retired from the Dutch Grand Prix on July 3, 1982, and did not make another start until the Japanese Grand Prix on October 25, 1992.
... that Jacques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen set identical times during qualifying for the 1997 European Grand Prix?

... that it took 2009 World Champion Jenson Button (pictured) 113 race starts before he recorded his first win?

... that former racer Esteban Tuero refused to race with the numbers thirteen or seventeen because of their religious significance?

... that Tyrrell Racing ran sponsorship for Xena: Warrior Princess at the 1997 British Grand Prix?

... that a total of forty-six drivers competed in the 1994 season, including fourteen rookies?

... that Sebastian Vettel is the youngest double world champion, at 24 years 98 days, taking the record from Fernando Alonso?
... that Jochen Rindt (pictured) became the 1970 Formula One World Champion posthumously after being killed when his Lotus 72 crashed during practice for the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza?
... that at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Jenson Button won the race after pitting six times, having a drive-through penalty and taking the lead on the last lap?
... that Vanwall won the first Formula One constructors' championship in 1958?

David Coulthard driving the Red Bull RB3 at the 2007 British Grand Prix

... that there have been 3 Formula One drivers from Germany who have won Drivers' Championships (Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg), winning 12 championships between them from 1994 to 2016?
... that Stirling Moss finished as runner-up four years in a row, from 1955 to 1958, but never won the World Championship?
... that Mercedes first entered F1 in 1954, but abandoned motorsport after the 1955 Le Mans disaster until they became a constructor again in 2010?
... that at the 2007 British Grand Prix, Red Bull ran their cars with thousands of individual fans faces (pictured) in support for the Wings for Life Charity?