OTD: History, Swearing and Comebacks in F1

October 30th was quite an interesting day in F1 standards. The sport witnessed a legend triumph for the first time, F1 set foot in uncharted territory and controversy.

Brazilian legend, Ayrton Senna secured his first F1 championship in an impressive manner. He stalled from pole position and by the time he got going, he was down in 14th. By the end of the first lap he was back up to eighth.

On lap 11 he was third, and by lap 20 he was second. Teammate Alain Prost was leading but was struck by gearbox gremlins. Finally, on lap 28, Senna shot past the Frenchman. From then on reliability was the only thing that could stop him. But he went on to win the race and his first world title, with Prost second and Thierry Boutsen third.

The first F1 Indian Grand Prix saw Sebastian Vettel achieve his first career grand chelem (pole, win, fastest lap, led every lap). Jenson Button was second and Fernando Alonso finished third. Further back, Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton crashed into each other for the fifth time that season. Hamilton attempted an optimistic move but Massa left him no space. As a result the McLaren’s front wing was destroyed and the Briton dropped down the order.

Fast-forward to the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix, there was serious controversy. Lewis Hamilton went unpunished when he misjudged his braking at the first corner. He then cut the chicane in order to retain the lead, but the real drama was yet to begin.

Max Verstappen was under serious pressure for third place from Sebastian Vettel. He pulled off the same corner-cutting antics as Hamilton had earlier. He didn’t give up the place and proceeded to defend heavily, allowing Daniel Ricciardo onto the back of the Ferrari. This seriously angered Vettel who screamed down the radio that Max needed penalising and then told Charlie Whiting to f**k off.

In addition to all that, the first ever F1 world champion, Guiseppe Farina was also born on 30th October.