The
European Grand Prix (sometimes referred to as
the
Grand Prix of Europe) is a
Formula One event that was reintroduced during
the mid-1980s and has been held regularly since 1999. From 2008 it
will take place for at least another 7 years. In earlier years, one
of the national Grands Prix was also designated as the
European Grand Prix. Since its reintroduction, the
European Grand Prix is usually held in a country that also holds a
national Grand Prix in that same year.
The first race to be
so named was the 1923 Italian
Grand Prix, held at Monza
and won by Carlo
Salamano in a Fiat
.
Historical
The European Grand Prix was created as an honorific title by the
AIACR, the
FIA's
predecessor in the organisation of motor racing events.
The first
race to receive the title was the Italian Grand Prix
, in 1923, and it was followed by the French Grand
Prix
and Belgian Grand Prix
. After a hiatus in 1929, Spa received the
last honorific title of the pre-WWII years, in 1930.
The title
was revived by the FIA
after World War II, and was first given to the Belgian Grand
Prix in 1947, and was distributed across several
countries until the 1977 British
Grand Prix, the last race to receive the honorific
title. All post-war honorific European Grands Prix were F1
races.
First modern incarnation
The event was initially created as a stopgap.
In 1983, the Formula
One schedule originally featured a race near Flushing Meadows
Park
in New
York
. When the race was cancelled three months
before the event, track organizers at Brands Hatch
were able to create a European Grand Prix at the track in its place.
The success of the event, buoyed by a spirited battle for the World
Championship, led to the event returning on the schedule the
following year.
Brands
Hatch was unable to host the European Grand Prix in 1984, as it was
hosting the British Grand
Prix
in even numbered years (alternating with Silverstone
) so the European GP went to a redesigned and
shorter Nürburgring
circuit in 1984. It was a far cry from the
14 mile Nürburgring that most were used to seeing, and was
initially unpopular during Formula One's return.
Brands Hatch returned
to host the European Grand Prix in 1985, but the race was replaced
in 1986 by the Hungarian Grand Prix
.
Second modern incarnation
In 1990, a
wealthy Japanese
businessman, Tomonori
Tsurumaki, built an extravagant (and remote) race track called
Nippon
Autopolis
with the idea of hosting a Formula One race.
In 1992, plans were made to have an
Asian Grand
Prix in 1993 to replace the
Mexican
Grand Prix on the schedule. However, these plans failed to
materialize.
Instead, Bernie
Ecclestone added a race at Donington Park
to the schedule, which brought back the European
Grand Prix moniker. The race was the brainchild of
Tom Wheatcroft, who had been trying to bring
F1 to the track since an abortive attempt to host the British Grand
Prix in 1988. The first (and so far only) race at Donington Park
resulted in
Ayrton Senna's famous
victory in wet/dry conditions where he essentially lapped the
field.
The
European race would go to Jerez
the following season, and then returned to
Nürburgring, which was now popular again with drivers.
Because of this it hosted the race again in 1996, but after
complaints that no other countries were to get the race, the
Nürburgring race was renamed the
Luxembourg Grand Prix. Jerez got the
race back in 1997 as a replacement for the
Portuguese Grand Prix. Jerez hosted
the season finale that year, and it was the site of the famous
incident between
Michael
Schumacher and
Jacques
Villeneuve which saw Schumacher get disqualified from the
championship. It was also the scene of
Mika Häkkinen's first Formula One
victory.
In 1998, the European Grand Prix was dropped from the schedule, but
returned in 1999 when the race at Nürburgring re-adopted the
European Grand Prix name.
The 1999 race was notable for the torrential rain conditions which
saw many experienced drivers slide off the circuit, presenting
Johnny Herbert with the opportunity
to take
Stewart Grand Prix's
first (and only) victory in its final season before being sold to
Ford.
The race
continued to be held at the Nürburgring until 2007. On
August
29,
2006 it was announced that it had been
removed from the F1 calendar for the 2007 season. From then there
would only be one GP hosted in Germany each year, alternating
between Hockenheimring and Nürburgring.
However, what the
name of this Grand Prix would be was uncertain for a time; while
originally intended to be the German Grand Prix
from 2007, the Nürburgring race of 2007 was renamed
"Großer Preis von Europa" (European Grand Prix) due to a dispute
over the ownership of the title German Grand Prix.
In the
European Grand Prix took place in Valencia
, Spain
, and will do
so again in . During the 2009 event, Valencia signed a deal
for a further 5 races, which puts Valencia on the calendar until
.
Sponsors
John Player Grand Prix of Europe
1983
AvD Grand Prix of Europe
1984
Shell Oils Grand Prix of Europe
1985
Sega European Grand Prix
1993
Warsteiner
Grand Prix of Europe
1999-2001
Allianz
Grand Prix of Europe
2002-2005,2007
Vodafone Grand Prix of Europe
2006
Telefónica Grand Prix of Europe
2008-
Winners of the European Grands Prix
Repeat winners
Only includes standalone events
The European Grand Prix as a standalone event
The European Grand Prix as an honorary designation
References
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