This week in motor sport from the Archive and Database, featuring some of Formula 1’s fastest and Lauda wins for the first time in F1
1937: Reinhold Joest, founder of the most successful team at Le Mans, is born. In profile
1970: FIA GT champion Jean-Philippe Belloc is born. In profile
1983: ‘Consummate professional’ Rolf Stommelen dies. In profile
1982: Didier Pironi pips Gilles Villeneuve and Ferrari dominate the San Marino Grand Prix. Report
1985: Talented Dutchman Giedo van der Garde is born. In profile
1990: Formula E and WEC racer Jean-Eric Vergne is born. In profile
2001: Supremely popular Michele Alboreto dies. In profile
1937: Monaco Grand Prix winner Jean-Pierre Beltoise is born. In profile
1974: Touring car champion James Thompson is born. In profile
1983: José María ‘Pechito’ López is born. In profile
1994: Daniil Kvyat, the second Russian to race in F1, is born. In profile
1943: Helmut Marko, Red Bull supremo whose promising career was cut short by injury, is born. In profile
1973: Carlos Menditeguy passes away aged 58. In profile
1933: Bob Bondurant is born. In profile
1966: Three-time Le Mans winner Marco Werner is born. In profile
1974: Niki Lauda claims his maiden Grand Prix victory, winning in Spain. Report
1991: Ayrton Senna wins at Imola, van der Poele is denied a brilliant fifth, JJ Lehto stars. Report
1951: The Man in Black, Dale Earnhardt, is born. In profile
1973: Ronnie Peterson dominates, but team-mate Emerson Fittipaldi wins at Montjuich Park. Report
1979: Patrick Depailler and his Ligier are faultess on the way to victory at Jarama. Report
2008: Scarab racer and sports car winner Chuck Daigh passes away. In profile
1920: Duncan Hamilton, one of racing’s biggest characters, is born. In profile
1961: Stirling Moss and Graham HIll are denied victory on the Targa Florio, leaving Olivier Gendebien and Wolfgang von Trips to win. Report
1994: Roland Ratzenberger is killed in qualifying at Imola. In profile
Caught out by his own car, and facing a resurgent Red Bull: Oscar Piastri's 2025 season is increasingly resembling Jenson Button's 2009 championship winning year
Accompanied by a yellow-suited mechanic, third-placed Patrick Depailler was the only driver on the podium after James Hunt won the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix: an F1 moment that sums up the unpredictable, magnificent and tragic F1 circus of the 1970s
Max Verstappen has reignited his 2025 F1 championship chances after a dominant US Grand Prix weekend. Here's how he can win it — along with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris's paths to victory
Verstappen's double win in Austin moved him closer to a historic comeback while McLaren faced tough questions over its strategy and the fans were left to watch another processional race
