Emerson Fittipaldi began the defence of his drivers' championship with victory in Argentina at the Autodromo Oscar Alfredo Galvez. The race was a gripping battle between Fittipaldi, Jackie Stewart and Francois Cevert - a slow puncture meant Stewart did well to finish third, while Fittipaldi overhauled Cevert ten laps from the end. Stewart went out of his way to praise team-mate and protégé Cevert. "He drove the race of his life … it was remarkable. He really is the great young driver everyone has been saying he was going to be. In my opinion, he has already arrived." Cevert was killed practising for the final grand prix of the season.
1949
Bernd Jean-Pierre Wimille, the leading driver in the immediate post-war years, was killed when he crashed into a tree while practising for the Argentinian GP. Some said he was blinded by a shaft of sunlight coming between the trees, others that he had swerved to avoid a dog. It was the first time he had driven in a crash helmet. He won the 1947 Swiss and Belgian GPs, and in 1948 the French and Italian, and was the leading driver of the season.
1938
Eleven years earlier and another top driver was killed. Bernd Rosemeyer was a leading driver for the German Auto Union team of the 1930s, winning several grands prix between 1935 and 1937 and taking the European Championship in 1936. He died attempting to break the land speed record when he lost control of his Auto Union Streamliner on the Autobahn between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. It is believed the car was hit by a gust of wind and he lost control and Rosemeyer was hurled clear as it somersaulted through the air.
2005
The cracks between teams and the establishment were beginning to show as only Ferrari turned up to a meeting called by the FIA president Max Mosley to discuss rule changes. While the stay-away by the other nine was symbolic, it indicated the days of them being told what to do and how to do it were over. The fact yesterday's meeting went ahead with only one team present will aggravate the divisions already splitting the sport," noted the Guardian. "It reinforces the view that Ferrari has an uncomfortably close relationship with the governing body."
2002
Alain Prost's team became the first major F1 casualty for seven years when it collapsed with debts of US$30 million. Prost blamed the economic downturn following the terrorist attacks in the United States for difficulties in finding a saviour.
1995
Aldo Gordini, son of Amedee - who founded the French sports car company, died in Paris at the age of 73. Aldo worked occasionally for the team as a mechanic and drove the cars in different disciplines, including the 1951 French Grand Prix. He was well known in France and regarded as a rich playboy.
