Chequered Past

Formula One history is often remembered in neat, simplified stories: a championship decided by a single corner, a rivalry reduced to heroes and villains, a career judged by statistics alone. But history is rarely that tidy. In Episode 200 of Chequered Past , we step back from the calendar and ask a more fundamental question: why does Formula One history still matter — and what happens when we stop...

On 16 December 1982, Formula One lost one of its most influential figures. Colin Chapman’s death marked the end of an era — but not the end of his impact. In this episode of Chequered Past , we explore how Team Lotus , under Chapman’s relentless and visionary leadership, forced Formula One to evolve faster than it ever had before. From the monocoque Lotus 25 to the ground-effect dominance of the L...

On 15 December 1962, Formula One gathered at Kyalami for a non-championship race that carried far greater significance than its status suggested. With the World Championship still undecided and South Africa preparing to host its first official Grand Prix just two weeks later, the Rand Grand Prix became a bridge between eras — linking Europe’s established Grand Prix world with Formula One’s expandi...

On 14 December , Chequered Past travels from the baking heat of South Africa to the cliff-edge roads of early-1950s Brazil, via the modern realities of Formula One careers beyond the podium. The episode opens with the 1963 Rand Grand Prix , a non-championship race at Kyalami where extreme summer heat exposed the fragility of even the sport’s greatest combinations. Jim Clark arrived as newly crowne...

On 13 December, Chequered Past revisits a Formula One finale unlike any other. The 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix did not decide a championship, but it brought down the curtain on the most disrupted season the sport has ever endured. Run behind closed doors, shaped by a Safety Car interruption and settled without drama at the front, it offered Formula One something it badly needed in 2020: closure. We...

On 12 December, Formula One has twice reached its most dramatic extremes — and this episode of Chequered Past tells the story of championships decided at the very limit. We begin at Sebring in 1959 , where the World Championship was settled not by a chequered flag sprint, but by sheer determination. Jack Brabham arrived leading the standings, watched his rivals fall away, then saw his own Cooper r...

In Part 2 of our deep dive into the 1995 Formula One season, we follow a championship fight that shifts decisively from a tense duel to a story of dominance, resilience and unravelled pressure. The second half of the season begins with Damon Hill’s flawless victory in Hungary — the last perfect moment of his campaign — before Michael Schumacher produces one of the greatest drives in Grand Prix his...

In the first part of our deep dive into the 1995 Formula One season, we revisit a campaign shaped by pressure, precision and the early stages of a rivalry that would come to define an era. Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher entered the year carrying the weight of expectation — Hill seeking redemption after Adelaide, Schumacher defending his first world title — and the opening rounds quickly reveale...

Non-championship races may have awarded no World Championship points, but they often revealed far more about drivers, teams and the sport than the official record ever shows. In this companion episode to The Races That Were Pointless, we revisit three events that officially “didn’t count” — yet proved deeply significant in their own right. We begin with the 1961 Rand Grand Prix, a race shaped by a...

On 8 December, Formula One’s 2024 season came to a dramatic close under the lights of Yas Marina — and McLaren completed one of the most remarkable rebuilds in modern motorsport. In this episode, we dive into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that sealed McLaren’s first Constructors’ Championship since 1998. Lando Norris delivered a flawless pole-to-flag victory, Oscar Piastri recovered to the points after...

On 7 December, Chequered Past marks Robert Kubica’s birthday by exploring one of Formula One’s most fascinating clubs: the drivers who claimed exactly one Grand Prix victory . Their names are etched into the sport forever, yet their triumphs came only once — moments of brilliance that racing history never repeated. We explore 4 members who joined this club in the 21st century, beginning with Kubic...

In today’s episode of Chequered Past , we relive one of the most dramatic and emotionally charged races of the modern era: the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix — the night when seasoned perseverance finally delivered Sergio Pérez his long-awaited first Formula One victory, while George Russell’s stunning stand-in performance for Mercedes ended in cruel heartbreak. We explore how Russell seized his opportuni...

On this day in Formula One history, the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix delivered one of the most explosive nights the sport has ever seen. In a season already defined by needle, Jeddah pushed Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s rivalry beyond its limits — from red flags and restarts to off-track negotiations and the infamous collision that left the title fight balanced on a knife edge. In today’s e...

In the second half of our deep-dive into the 2005 Formula One season, we rejoin the story with Fernando Alonso leading the points – but Kimi Räikkönen and McLaren mounting a ferocious chase. Part 2 follows a run of races where McLaren’s outright pace is breathtaking, yet Renault’s blend of consistency, reliability and calm decision-making keeps Alonso’s title bid on course. We chart the key beats...

In this special edition of Chequered Past, we step back twenty years to revisit one of the most transformative campaigns in modern Formula One history — the 2005 season. With sweeping regulation changes, a tyre war turned on its head, and the collapse of Ferrari’s once-impenetrable dynasty, the sport entered a new era defined by uncertainty, innovation and opportunity. Across the opening eleven ro...

On this day in motorsport history, a reigning World Champion stunned the world by choosing to walk away at the peak of his powers. In this episode, we revisit Nico Rosberg’s shock retirement on 2 December 2016 — a decision that reshaped the Formula One driver market and left Mercedes scrambling to fill the most coveted seat on the grid. We also look back at the 1997 sale of Tyrrell , the end of a...

On this episode of Chequered Past , we look back on an eventful 1st of December in motorsport history. Our main story takes us to the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix — a night defined by Safety Cars, penalties, and a result that carried real weight in the late-season constructors’ battle. George Russell started from pole, Max Verstappen seized control into Turn 1, and Lando Norris saw a strong podium challe...

On 30 November, Formula One finally gave this quiet date in its history something memorable — a floodlit sprint at Lusail that turned the desert sky bright orange. In this episode, we revisit the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix Sprint, where McLaren executed a controlled and confident one-two, Red Bull faltered on a rare off-day, and the competitive picture heading into the final race of the season shifted...

On 29 November, the extremes of motorsport stand side by side. In today’s episode, we revisit the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix — a race defined not by results, but by Romain Grosjean’s miraculous escape from a terrifying, high-impact fireball that proved beyond doubt the life-saving value of modern Formula One safety. We then step back to 1975, when tragedy struck far from the circuit. Graham Hill — do...

In today’s episode of Chequered Past , we step away from the racing calendar to explore the rivalries that shaped Formula One’s greatest eras. From the ideological clash between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, to the respectful yet razor-sharp duels of Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen, and finally the friendship-turned-feud of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, we examine how these battles pushed...

On this day’s episode of Chequered Past , we revisit a title showdown defined not by speed, but by nerve. The 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix brought the Hamilton–Rosberg rivalry to its boiling point as Nico Rosberg withstood relentless pressure — from his teammate, from the chasing pack, and from the weight of a lifetime’s ambition — to claim his first and only World Championship. We then turn to the r...

On this day’s episode of Chequered Past , we head to Yas Marina for two very different championship finales — one that restored confidence, and another that confirmed unstoppable dominance. We begin in 2017 , where Valtteri Bottas delivered the most complete performance of his career, taking pole, victory and fastest lap to score his first Formula 1 hat-trick. As Mercedes closed out another title-...

25 November in motorsport history brings together a trio of stories defined by pressure, resilience, and the ability to perform when everything feels on a knife-edge. Our main feature revisits the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix , one of Formula 1’s most chaotic and emotionally charged finales. From Sebastian Vettel’s first-lap spin and damaged Red Bull to the endlessly shifting weather, collisions, str...

On this day, we revisit the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix — a finale without championship tension, yet rich with meaning. It marked the end of Sebastian Vettel’s record-breaking dominance, the final Formula 1 appearance of Mark Webber, and the last roar of the V8 era before the hybrid revolution transformed the sport forever. We also celebrate the birthday of Norbert Haug, whose journey from racing dr...

On this day in motorsport history, Formula 1 delivered moments that revealed exactly what separates contenders from true champions.  We begin with the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix , the only double-points finale in F1 history, where the fierce Hamilton–Rosberg rivalry reached its decisive climax. Under the Yas Marina lights, one driver rose to the moment while the other was undone by cruel mechanical...