- April 18 down the years
A posthumous champion is born
What happened on April 18 in Formula One history?
1942
Austrian driver Jochen Rindt was born in Mainz, Germany. He is the only driver to posthumously win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship after being killed in practice for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix. Rindt's first victory in the 1970 season was at Monaco, where he overtook Jack Brabham in the last corner. Thereafter, armed with one of the greatest F1 cars of all time, the Lotus 72, Rindt won four more Grands Prix in The Netherlands, France, Britain and Germany but during practice for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix team he crashed and had his throat cut by his seatbelt.
1971
Jackie Stewart guided Tyrrell to its first grand prix victory in a car entirely of its own construction after winning the Spanish Grand Prix from Jackie Ickx. For 70 laps Stewart fought a desperate battle to keep Ickx's 12-cylinder Ferrari at bay, while Chris Amon's Matra-Simca was more than a minute off the pace in third. The race also marked the first in Formula One where slick tyres were used - they were introduced by Firestone based on its experience in American open-wheel racing series.
1990
American racing driver Bob Drake died. Drake participated in one grand prix, on November 20, 1960, but scored no championship points. Notably, he was the last driver to race the famous Maserati 250F in a Formula One Grand Prix.
1979
Anthony Davidson was born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Davidson raced for Minardi and Super Aguri and was a test and reserve driver for the British American Racing, Honda and Brawn GP teams. He is currently a commentator for BBC's Radio 5 Live Formula One coverage.
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