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The Zandvoort circuit first hosted races in 1948 but it wasn’t until 1950 that the race was held to Formula 1 rules and given the title of the Dutch Grand Prix – and even then, it was still a non-championship race. Held on this day in 1950, the race was won by Louis Rosier driving a Talbot-Lago as he beat the trio of Ferraris. It was a result he repeated the following year before the Dutch GP became a championship event for the first time in 1952 and did so 34 times between then and 1985. The race was due to return in 2020 but the global pandemic necessitated it being delayed until 2021.
Birthdays
John Cordts (born 1935) made a single F1 appearance in the home race of the Canadian GP in 1969, where he qualified 19th and was running only ahead of Al Pease (who was later disqualified for driving too slowly) when his Brabham hit problems and he retired.
Jim Hall (born 1935) started 11 grand prix between 1960 and 1963, the majority of which came in 1963 as he raced a Lotus for the BRP team, managing a best finish of fifth in the German GP. Despite his somewhat modest F1 results he had immense success in sportscars, both as a driver and then as a team owner with his legendary Chaparral cars. Through his designs, Hall pioneered a number of designs with later made their way over to F1, such as adjustable wings, side-mounted radiators, and fan-assisted ground effect.
Jean-Claude Rudaz (born 1942) managed to qualify a Cooper for the 1964 Italian GP, but its engine failed before the race and he was unable to take the start.
Torsten Palm (born 1947) entered a Hesketh for two races in 1975. Although he failed to qualify in Monaco, he comfortably made the grid for his home race in Sweden and despite running out of fuel, was still classified 10th – ahead of drivers like Alan Jones, Patrick Depailler and Jacky Ickx.
