• January 11 down the years

Legendary constructor Shelby born

1923
While Carroll Shelby, who was born in Leesburg, Texas, had a short and unmemorable Formula One career - nine races in 1958 and 1959 without a podium finish - he went on to become a legendary designer of some of the most beautiful and successful cars of the era including the legendary Shelby Cobra. Childhood heart issues meant he spent years in bed, but he overcame them to race before health problems forced him to quit active participation soon after winning the 1959 Le Mans 24-Hours alongside Roy Salvadori in an Aston Martin. Under licence from British manufacturer AC Motors, he installed an American engine into what was to become the Shelby Cobra, continuing to develop performance cars with companies such as Ford, Dodge and Oldsmobile. His health problems saw him receive a new heart in 1990, but he continued to work - designing the Shelby Series 1 two-seat muscle car, a 21st century clone of his 1965 Cobra. Shelby died in June 2012 at the age of 89.

2003
BBC Top Gear's first Stig was unmasked by the Sunday Mirror as former F1 driver Perry McCarthy. "Stig's true identity is one of TV's best- kept secrets," a show insider told the newspaper. "A lot of the stars who have appeared on the show think they are great drivers, but none of them could compete with Perry. He just blew them away. It's hilarious watching them trying to beat him." It was not exactly a world exclusive as McCarthy had already outed himself in an autobiography a few months earlier. His replacement - the White Stig - lasted until 2009 when he too spilt the beans.

1983
Adrian Sutil was born in Starnberg, Germany. He joined the F1 grid in 2006, and has technically driven every one of his F1 appearances for the same team. He joined Midland and remained with the team when it was bought by Spyker, before it became Force India. That is set to change in 2014, with Sutil having signed to drive for Sauber,

1985
Kazuki Nakajima was born in Aichi, Japan. He is the son of former F1 driver Satoru. He raced for Williams between 2007 and 2009 - his debut was eventful in that he ran over two of his mechanics - with a best finish of sixth in Australia in 2008. He was dropped at the end of 2009 and linked with the doomed Stefan GP team; its failure to secure a grid position left him sidelined without a drive. His younger brother Daisuke also races and according to Satoru is the quicker of his two sons.

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