Williams boss Patrick Head reopened old wounds with his driver Juan Pablo Montoya, when he speculated that the Colombian had signed a contract with McLaren for 2005 because of an argument he had with him at the 2003 French Grand Prix. Montoya swore at his team over the radio when he believed it had altered the strategy of his team-mate Ralf Schumacher to give the German an advantage. Head said: "I think that Juan was not impressed at having his knuckles rapped and I know the decision to sign with McLaren was taken within a few days of that. Juan incorrectly thought that we had notified Ralf of his actions and called Ralf in one lap early. So he was pretty strong on the radio, abusing the team verbally for the next ten minutes."
1948
Jim Crawford was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. He spent his early career strapped for cash and worked as a mechanic in order to try and get a break. Eventually he drove in the John Players Special Formula Atlantic with some success and then had his dreams come true when Lotus driver Jacky Ickx retired from the sport and left an empty seat at the championship winning team. Colin Chapman came calling, offering him the chance to drive at the British Grand Prix. An accident brought his race to a premature end and he had to wait until the Italian Grand Prix before he was given another chance to race. He finished 13th at his second attempt but it wasn't up to Chapman's expectations and he was dropped for good. He drove in the Aurora AFX championship for F1 cars in the UK before moving to the USA where he had an intermittent career in Champ Cars. After racing he became a skipper on a fishing boat in Florida but died of a heart attack at just 54-years-old.
2005
The last man to drive a Bugatti in a grand prix, Maurice Trintignant died aged 87. He had been successful in the 1930s but had the prime of his career cut short by World War II. Despite that, he still won the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix twice.
1997
Alain Prost bought out Ligier to set up the Prost Formula One team. Ligier had been in the sport since 1976 but hadn't been a serious contender since the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Prost team experienced some success in its first year, scoring two podiums and finishing sixth in the constructors' championship. However, it failed to match that performance again and finally went bust in 2001.
