Gerhard Berger had to endure a tense few hours after the Canadian Grand Prix before his victory was confirmed as technical scrutineers gave his McLaren a thorough going over.
It was alleged a bolt on the rear wing tail-flap was one millimetre too long and it took the best persuasive powers of Ron Dennis to ensure the win stood. There was also drama after Nigel Mansell accused Ayrton Senna of forcing him off the track and into retirement. "I got alongside Senna and he pushed me off," he moaned. Senna - and many witnesses - saw it differently. "I think Nigel knew he wasn't going to stop so he opened the throttle and tried to get through the sand trap," he said. "He came back on before me but his car landed on its nose, so it didn't work."
1964
What had appeared to be an uneventful Belgian Grand Prix had a thrilling conclusion as leader Graham Hill and second-placed Dan Gurney both ran out of fuel on the last lap. Bruce McLaren shot past them but within sight of the finish his engine spluttered to a halt as well, and as he coasted towards the chequered flag he was passed by a surprised Jim Clark. "Gurney passed me on the last lap," McLaren said, "but then I saw him stop and ahead of him Hill was pushing his car … then my engine stopped and I had just enough petrol left to tick-over as I came into the last bend. So I thought 'this is it' and coasted home."
1943
John Miles, born on this day in London, drove for Lotus in 1969 and 1970, signed to replace Graham Hill in his second season as No. 2 to Jochan Rindt. While Rindt dominated, Miles struggled and after Rindt's death at Monza he fell out with team boss Colin Chapman and was fired. He test drove for BRM in 1971, taking part in a few non-championship races, dabbled with two-litre racing and then retired. He continued to write on the sport and became one of the world's finest chassis-development engineers, as well as producing jazz records as a sideline.
1958
George Fonder, who raced four times in the Indianapolis 500, three times when it was included in the FIA World Championship, was killed when he crashed at a midget sprint event at Hatfield Speedway. He had only come out of retirement as a favour to the race promoter.
