The 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix will be the fifth Grand Prix to be held on 19th July, but the first to not be held in Britain. It’s the first time a Formula 1 race has fallen on this date since 1975!
The 1952, 1958, 1969 and 1975 British Grands Prix have all taken place on 19th July. All four previous races held on this date took place at Silverstone. The polesitter has never won on this date, with Jochen Rindt scoring the polesitter’s best result on this date – fourth place in 1969. The drivers starting from second and seventh on the grid have appeared together on the podium three times in the four races held on 19th July. Peter Collins’ victory in 1958 is the only one which was not taken by more than a lap. Ferrari are the team with most wins on this date, having won twice – in 1952 and 1958. They scored 1-2 finishes in both of those races.
The 1952 British Grand Prix was won by Alberto Ascari, with team-mate Piero Taruffi following him home in second place, albeit one lap down. In third was future 1958 World Champion Mike Hawthorn, who recorded his first podium finish and the first top three result for Cooper. Meanwhile, Tony Crook, driving for Frazer Nash, became the first driver to race with a BMW engine in Formula 1.
There was another maiden podium finisher on the next race held on this date, in 1958. This time, it was Roy Salvadori who picked up the first top three finish of his career. The home crowd had plenty to cheer about, with Salvadori completing an all-British top three. With Stuart Lewis-Evans finishing fourth, it marked a rare occurrence of all the top four drivers being of the same nationality. Peter Collins won the race ahead of Ferrari team-mate Mike Hawthorn. The race was Collins’ final Formula 1 victory, as well as his last podium, points and finish. Collins would be killed in a crash in the German Grand Prix two weeks later. The race also marked the final entry for Bernie Ecclestone. The future F1 maestro owned the Connaught team and put his own name down for one of the entries, just in case.
Jackie Stewart took his tenth career victory at the 1969 British Grand Prix. There was a race-long battle in this Grand Prix between Stewart and Jochen Rindt, who made the most of slipstreaming to overtake each other. Their dicing was ended when Stewart alerted Rindt of a problem with his Lotus car. The Austrian pitted and Stewart ultimately won by over a lap. This race also saw the only entry for Cosworth as a works team. However, after finding too many teething problems in the run up to the race, their entry was abandoned.
The most recent race held on 19th July was the 1975 British Grand Prix. The race was halted by a hail storm, and many cars crashed out as a result. The race had seven different leaders, with Tom Pryce having started from pole for the only time in his career. His pole marked the last pole position for the Shadow team. It was Emerson Fittiapldi who took victory at Silverstone this time around, claiming the fourteenth and final victory of his career. The race is also notable for being the first time a lights system was used to start a Grand Prix.
