The 14th of April is just another date on the calendar. Unless you love motorsport — in which case it's one of the most remarkable dates in Formula One history.
In this episode we tell the stories of four races, all run on the same date across nine decades. In 1929, a mysterious British driver called W. Williams guided a privately-entered Bugatti through the streets of Monte Carlo to win the very first Monaco Grand Prix — a race that almost didn't happen, organised by a cigarette manufacturer who needed to impress a governing body. In 2002, Michael Schumacher and Ferrari arrived at Imola with a car so dominant it bordered on the unwatchable — and proceeded to prove exactly that. In 2013, Fernando Alonso produced a masterclass in tyre management and race craft at the Shanghai International Circuit to win his 31st Grand Prix at his 200th. And in 2019, Lewis Hamilton stood on the podium in Shanghai as the winner of the 1,000th World Championship Grand Prix — ninety years to the day after Grover-Williams took the chequered flag in Monaco.
Four races. Four champions. One date. This is the chequered past.
Music by #Mubert Music Rendering
