The first Brazilian Grand Prix to contribute towards the Formula One world championship was won by Emerson Fittipaldi at Interlagos. He took victory to the delight of the home crowd ahead of Jackie Stewart and Denny Hulme. The other three Brazilian drivers taking part didn't fare so well. Wilson Fittipaldi, Emerson's brother, retired on lap five when his Brabham overheated, Carlos Pace made it to lap nine before his Surtees' suspension failed and debutant Luiz Bueno qualified and finished last in what turned out to be his one and only grand prix.
2003
Two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi announced his return to the Champ Car series as a team owner. He had retired from the series in 1996 after a massive accident at Michigan. Initial reports in 2003 suggested he would race in the series but in the end he recruited Tiago Montiero to do the job. The team raced for just one season with disappointing results, making it even less successful than Fittipaldi's F1 team that he owned with his brother and scored just three podiums in 103 races.
2008
Passengers at Zurich airport were given the opportunity to buy a Formula One car with their duty free shopping. Ex-team boss Peter Sauber put a collection of F1 cars and memorabilia in a tax-free auction over a six week period starting on this day in 2008. The cars on sale included the 1998 and 1999 Sauber's driven by Jean Alesi as well as Kimi Raikkonen's first F1 car from 2001.
1934
World champion on both four wheels and two, John Surtees was born in Tatsfield, Surrey. A four time 500cc motorbike champion in the 1950s and early 1960s, he moved to Formula One in 1960 with Lotus and in just his second race, the British Grand Prix, scored a podium. In 1963 he became a Ferrari driver and took his first victory at the daunting Nurburgring. Just one year later he was world champion, beating fellow Brits Graham Hill and Jim Clark to the title. He fell out with the Ferrari management in 1966 at Le Mans and saw out the rest of the season at Cooper-Maserati. In 1967 he spearheaded Honda's move into Formula One but didn't enjoy the same level of success as he did at Ferrari. For 1970 he became a constructor, having entered cars in the Can-Am series since 1966, but despite some promising performances his season was dogged by mechanical retirements. He retired from racing in 1972, the same year his team won the Formula 2 championship with Mike Hailwood - its greatest achievement. The team finally withdrew from the sport in 1978 but Surtees remained a key figure in British motorsport.
2005
Champ Car driver Mario Dominguez had the shortest Formula One career of all time, completing just one lap in a Jordan F1 car at Silverstone. Jordan was testing its new car at Silverstone with drivers Tiago Montiero and Narain Karthikeyan taking up most of the running time. Dominguez was scheduled to get out in the car in the afternoon but fog and rain meant the medical helicopter could not safely take off. He completed one very slow installation lap before returning to the pits. There were rumours linking him to a drive with the team at the time but he returned to Champ Cars and most recently raced in the FIA GT series.
