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On this day... 10 July (1994) - Obstinate Schumacher pays a hefty penalty


On this day... 10 July (1994) - Obstinate Schumacher pays a hefty penalty

What started as a poor weekend for Damon Hill when the suspension on his Williams fell apart on the first practice lap finished with him winning the British Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher's good start was undone when he was slapped with a five-second stop-go penalty for twice overtaking Hill on the parade lap, but his Benetton team refused to call him in arguing the notification of the punishment was not handled properly. Eventually he was black flagged but he ignored that as well, claiming he hadn't seen it, and it took a visit to the Benetton pit by the race director to finally bring the team to heel. That allowed Hill to take the lead and Schumacher, $25,000 worse off after an FIA fine, finished second before his disqualification - promoting Jean Alesi. Rubens Barrichello collided with Mika Hakkinen on the final lap, Hakkinen finding a way out of sand to just beat Barrichello who limped home on three wheels.

1988

Ayrton Senna won a wet British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but the loudest cheers of the day were reserved for Nigel Mansell who chipped his way through the field to take second. It was less memorable for Alain Prost who retired on the 24th lap moaning his car was handling too badly for him to continue.

1965

Jim Clark held on to win the British Grand Prix by three seconds from Graham Hill, his fourth consecutive victory at the event. He appeared set for an easy win but on the final laps his Lotus began to misfire allowing Hill to eat away at his lead. British entrants took all top-five places.

1946

Jean-Pierre Jarier, who was born on this day, raced in 134 grands prix between 1973 and 1983 but, despite being both fast and brave, he never won one. He was at his best for the Shadow team in the mid-1970s, and lost the 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix only when a fuel-metering unit forced him to retire. Similarly, when a chance to revive his career came with Lotus in 1978, he was dominating the Canadian Grand Prix before brake problems intervened.

1928

Alessandro de Tomaso, who was born on this day in Buenos Aires, made little mark as a driver in F1 - three unmemorable races - but he founded the Italian sports car company De Tomaso Automobili in 1959, and later built up a substantial business empire. His family fled Argentina in 1955 after he was implicated in a plot to assassinate president Juan Peron.

2005

Juan Pablo Montoya won the British Grand Prix but second-placed Fernando Alonso was left fuming after being caught up in traffic.

1955

Jerry Hoyt, who died on this day while taking part in a sprint race, drove in four Indianapolis 500s when they were included in the F1 World Championship. In 1955 he started on pole despite being only the 10th fastest qualifier.

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