F1 Rewind: The 1973 Francois Cevert Tragedy and Nigel Mansell's First Win in 1985

On October 6th, 1973, Formula 1 was preparing for its final round of the season at the United States Grand Prix in Watkins Glen. Jackie Stewart had already secured his third World Championship title and secretly decided to retire after the race. His Tyrrell team planned for French driver Francois Cevert, who had taken his maiden Grand Prix victory at the same venue two years prior, to step up as the team's lead driver.

However, during qualifying, Cevert lost control of his car at The Esses while attempting to improve his time. The car hit the guardrail head-on, killing him immediately. Following the tragic loss, Stewart withdrew from what would have been his 100th race and announced his retirement shortly afterwards.

In 1985, Brands Hatch hosted the European Grand Prix with just two races remaining in the season. Alain Prost was on course for his first Drivers' Championship after narrowly missing out to teammate Niki Lauda by half a point the previous year. His main title challenger, Ferrari's Michele Alboreto, suffered a breakdown when his turbo seized and caught fire. Prost finished fourth to claim the title, marking the first of his four World Championship victories.

Meanwhile, Williams driver Nigel Mansell recorded the first Grand Prix win of his career. Having qualified third, Mansell produced a strong drive on race day to cross the line first at Brands Hatch, defying a prior prediction from his former Lotus team boss Peter Warr that he would never win a race.