Some say that racing originated when the second car was built, and we can surely understand that. For centuries, motorsport has been one of the most exciting forms of competition and true symbiosis of man and machine in the quest for speed and the fastest lap time. Such an exciting world provided us with an enormous amount of memorable moments, scattered through different series, championships and parts of the world. Many of them became notable moments in modern history and influenced the car industry and development processes. Compiling all-important points of motorsport history from its beginning to modern-day would be an almost impossible task. However, we will concentrate today on our top 10 memorable motorsport moments of the last decade…
Belgian Grand Prix 2021
This year’s Belgian Grand Prix race held on the legendary Spa track will remain as one of the strangest Formula One races of all time. It has already secured its place in motorsports history as the shortest Grand Prix race ever, which was driven on 1 of scheduled 44 laps. The reason was extremely poor weather conditions with low temperatures and pouring rain, which forced the drivers to drive behind the safety car for most of the race. Max Verstappen won the event, and some fans even wanted FIA to cancel this Grand Prix since it wasn’t a race at all!
Ford Winning A Le Mans After 40 Years
We’ve all seen the fantastic 2019 film “Ford vs Ferrari” which is based on a true story and one of the greatest rivalries in motorsport history. The magnificent Ford GT40 won the 1966 Le Mans and kept doing so for the next three years, making Carroll Shelby and Henry Ford II very happy and Enzo Ferrari very sad. But not many movie fans know that Ford managed to repeat this success in 2016, precisely 40 years after the GT40 took the chequered flag. In 2016, Ford debuted the new Ford GT race car and sent it to Le Mans, hoping to win the LM GTE class. Once again, it managed to take the win in front of the furious Ferrari 488 GTE, recreating one of the greatest moments in motorsport.
Hamilton – Verstappen Crash In Monza 2021
The controversial Halo cockpit protection device became mandatory for F1 cars in 2018 and has proven itself as an essential part of the relentless quest for safety. But the most significant proof was the crash, including Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen during the 2021 Italian Grand Prix in Monza. At one moment, Verstappen’s rear right wheel hit Hamilton’s helmet in an extremely dangerous incident that could have possibly been fatal if Halo wasn’t part of the car. Fortunately, Hamilton was unhurt, and Halo critics went quiet after this. We all know that motorsports are dangerous, but we have to strive to make it safer for drivers as well as the audience on the stands.
GT World Challenge Europe Series
We were always fans of GT racing which included fantastic sports cars driven by experienced drivers on the world’s best tracks. That is why we were thrilled to see an inaugural season of the GT World Challenge Europe series in 2014, which soon became known as the Blancpain GT Series. This sports car championship included FIA GT3 type cars from Bentley, McLaren, Audi, Ferrari and Porsche racing in two formats – Sprint (short races) and Endurance (long races). Since the GT3 cars are based on road-going models, races were exciting and included a list of well-known professional and talented amateur racers.
Second Generation Drivers
After Damon Hill and Jacques Wilnevue, who rose to fame in the 90s, in the 2010s, we saw the arrival of new generation drivers whose fathers were established Formula One stars. Yes, Max Verstappen, Mick Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Kevin Magnussen and David Schumacher all have fathers who were F1 legends, but this is not the end. There is also Bruno Senna (nephew of Ayrton Senna) and Carlos Sainz Jr, whose father, Carlos Sainz, is a well-known WRC champion. We love to see second-generation drivers and young men and women who continue promoting their family names.
Audi At The 24 Hours Of Le Mans
Audi has been dominating the 24 Hours of Le Mans since the early 2000s with their famous diesel-powered cars. However, in 2012, Audi introduced a revolutionary new endurance racer – the Audi R18 e-Tron Quattro, a hybrid-powered beast capable of achieving incredible speeds. This was the dawn of a new era in motorsports and a new class in endurance racing. Soon, Porsche and Toyota introduced their hybrid racing cars, but Audi was first and managed to win three Le Mans events in a row (2012, 2013, 2014).
Scuderia Glickenhaus Winning Its Class At Nürburgring 2020
Although 2020 wasn’t exactly a good year for motorsport, it was an excellent time for the small but very ambitious Scuderia Glickenhaus team, who managed to win its class on the gruesome 24 Hours of Nürburgring. For those who don’t know, Scuderia Glickenhaus is a company that rose to fame with its version of the Ferrari Enzo and its racing car called SCG 003C. For years, Jim Glickenhaus and his team developed this car until they managed to beat the factory teams with much bigger budgets and logistics. This achievement is a sign that a small but talented group of enthusiasts still can beat the big companies on the track.
Jenson Button’s 2011 Canadian Grand Prix Victory
The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix looked like it would be a messy affair, with the race starting behind the safety car due to heavy rain and challenging conditions. Button, driving for McLaren Mercedes, started 7th but fell down to last place by the mid-race due to a collision with another driver. Everybody thought Button would not be able to do anything and considered him lucky even to finish the race. However, he steadily improved his position, from 21st to 1st, overtaking Sebastian Vettel and triumphantly winning the race. This was indeed a fantastic motorsport moment which showed that skill, determination, and a lot of luck could make you a winner.
2018 Rally Italy Sardegna
The 2018 Rally Italy was a critical motorsport moment for two reasons. First, it was an incredibly tough battle between Thierry Neuville in Hyundai and Sebastian Ogier in Ford Fiesta. So much so that the overall time difference between Neuville and Ogier was 0.7 seconds! Second, this round of the 2018 WRC championship introduced us to a live stream of all stages, which transformed the way we follow rally events.
European Grand Prix 2012 And Alonso’s Brilliant Win
The 2012 European Grand Prix was held in Valencia, Spain, and favourites were Mercedes and Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel who was on the pole and Nico Rosberg, who had the fastest lap. However, after 57 laps of tough fight under the Mediterranean sun, the hometown hero Fernando Alonso managed to take the chequered flag after 57 laps of furious on-track battle. However, the biggest surprise was the fact that Ferrari’s car was considered slower than the competition and not been able to achieve high results. Alonso, in front of its own fans, proved the critics wrong.
