F1 News
Celebrating Lewis Hamilton's 35th birthday: What happened in Formula 1 in 1985?
Lewis Hamilton is celebrating his 35th birthday today (Tuesday, January 7). The six-time Formula 1 world champion is one of the biggest F1 stars to have ever graced the track, let alone in the current paddock. The British driver will start his campaign to equal Michael Schumacher's record of seven world titles in around 10 weeks time when F1 gets back underway.
Schumacher currently holds the record of 91 Grands Prix victory, but that is likely to be beaten during the 2020 F1 season with Lewis Hamilton hunting him down. It could well be a big year for man from Stevenage and maybe he'll take that into account when he's celebrating!
To help us celebrate his birthday, we thought we'd take a flashback to the year in which Hamilton was born.
What happened in F1 1985?
When talking about the greatest drivers to ever race in Formula 1, Hamilton's name often comes up alongside Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. The latter driver recorded his first-ever race win during the 1985 season. He didn't have to wait long as the Brazilian won in just the second race of the season though he had to wait 11 races before getting his second.
Senna finished the championship in fourth-place despite having more races outside the points than in. Something that was more common for the top drivers in the past than it is today.
With just five races left on the schedule, it looked as if the fans were in for a great finale to the season. At the conclusion of the Dutch Grand Prix, Alain Prost had just a three-point lead over rival Michele Alboreto, the same points difference between a win and second place. But the title fight just wasn't to be as the Italian failed to score any points in the last five races meaning Prost cruised to his first world championship title.
Thanks to a win in the final race, the Australian Grand Prix, Keke Rosberg finished the season in third.
In contrast to the start of the season, Niki Lauda achieved his final ever race win. Another one of the sport's greats, Lauda completed just three races through the year and announced his retirement in Australia. Having won the championship the year before, he dropped from 1st to 10th.
Lauda's victory at Zandvoort was the final Dutch Grand Prix. That, of course, will be changed when the Hamilton and the rest of the circus make their return to the circuit.