When were the other times half points were handed out for a Grand Prix?

Last Sunday Max Verstappen was declared the winner of the shortest Formula 1 race ever. The drivers drove two laps behind the safety car, but officially it goes in the books as one lap. It has happened five times before that the required 75 percent could not be covered. When was that, and has the championship ever been decided by a half-point?

Spain 1975

In 1975 the Spanish Grand Prix took place on the street circuit of Montjuïc Park in Barcelona. Before the start of the race two-time world champion, Emerson Fittipaldi pulled out because he thought the circuit was too unsafe. That these worries were justified was shown when Ralf Stommelen made a hard crash with his car flying over the guardrail into the public. Four people were killed. The race went on for a few more laps until the seriousness of the accident was noticed and the race was flagged.

Austria 1975

The 1975 Austrian race weekend had two fatalities; Mark Donohue was seriously injured in the warm-up and died a few days later. A marshal was hit during the crash and also died from his injuries. The race was characterized by heavy rainfall, so it was eventually flagged off after lap 29.

Monaco 1984

The finish of the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix is well known to many Formula One viewers. Ayrton Senna came at Alain Prost at breakneck speed, gaining two to three seconds per lap. However, the rainfall became heavier and Prost gestured that the race should be stopped. This happened at the exact moment that Senna did his overtaking manoeuvre. The race was not resumed and so Prost took the victory.

Championship decided by half a point

The early ending of the Monaco Grand Prix cost Prost dearly later that year. He lost the championship by half a point to Niki Lauda, who won his third world title. Since Lauda did not finish at Monaco, Prost may have lost the championship that weekend. However, he most likely would not have won the race if it had gone ahead, so to what extent this made the difference remains speculation, partly due to the fact that there were fewer points distributed then than now.

Australia 1991

The shortest race in Formula 1 history until last Sunday took place at the Adelaide circuit. This time Senna was in the lead until the race was stopped after fourteen laps due to heavy rainfall. Senna won the race ahead of Nigel Mansell, who crashed shortly before but still finished second because the score of one lap before was used as the result.

Malaysia 2009

The race started in dry conditions, but rain was soon expected. Ferrari made the gamble to put Kimi Raikkonen on rain tyres while it was still dry but did so too early. Once the rain came, more and more drivers spun off the track, and eventually, the race was stopped. Just like in Belgium in 2021, it was a long wait for nothing. The race ended and Jenson Button was declared the winner. This time, Nick Heidfeld was lucky: he also spun, but because the position of the previous lap was used, he managed to hold on to second place.