Chequered Past
Chequered Past is a Formula 1 history podcast that dives deep into iconic races, legendary drivers, and forgotten moments from motorsport’s rich and dramatic past. Each episode revisits Grand Prix events that took place on the same date in history, uncovering fascinating stories, on-track controversies, and the evolution of F1 through the decades. Whether you're a lifelong fan or new to the sport, Chequered Past offers compelling insights and nostalgia-fuelled storytelling from the world’s fastest sport.
Episodes
376 episodes
18th June 1966: The Race That Rewrote The Rules Part 8
The eighteenth of June spans nearly ninety years of Le Mans history, and four races that couldn't be more different from each other.In 1927, a Bentley crippled in a multi-car crash raced through the night on one headlamp, chasing a lead ...
17th June 1995: The Race That Rewrote The Rules Part 7
The 17th of June has seen some of the most improbable results in the history of Le Mans.In 1933, Tazio Nuvolari and Raymond Sommer led the race in an Alfa Romeo — until the fuel tank started leaking. What followed involved makeshift repa...
16th June 2007: The Race That Rewrote The Rules Part 6
16th June is a date that has delivered some of motorsport's most extraordinary stories. In 1984, Porsche made the remarkable decision to boycott their own sport's most prestigious race — and the privateers they left behind produced ...
15th June 1935: The Race That Rewrote The Rules Part 5
Five races. Ninety years. One date.The fifteenth of June has a habit of producing the unexpected at Le Mans. In 1929, Bentley arrived to collect what they’d already won twice before — and they did, but not without being made to work for...
14th June 1952: The Race That Rewrote The Rules Part 4
Four races. Four dates. All June the fourteenth.In 1924, a privately entered Bentley fought three works Lorraine-Dietrichs through brutal heat to give the British marque its first Le Mans victory. In 1952, a Frenchman named Pierre Levegh...
13th June 1953: The Race That Rewrote The Rules Part 3
Three races share the 13th of June. Three times, the result confounded expectations.In 1953, Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton spent the night in a French bar after being disqualified before the race had started. By Sunday afternoon they had...
12th June 1999: The Race That Rewrote The Rules Part 2
On the twelfth of June, across seventy-three years of motorsport history, Le Mans produced four races that refused to deliver the winner anyone expected. In 1926, Bentley ended up in a sandbank in the final half-hour while their com...
11th June 1955: The Race That Rewrote The Rules Part 1
The eleventh of June appears more than once in the history of the twenty-four hours of Le Mans — and the first of those appearances casts a shadow over everything that follows.In 1955, a crash in the third hour of the race killed more t...
Le Mans: The Race That Rewrote The Rules
Before the races, the circuit. Before the results, the race itself.This opening episode of Chequered Past’s Le Mans series sets the scene for everything that follows — examining what the twenty-four hours of Le Mans actually is, what it...
31st May 1959: The Date That Proved Everyone Wrong
On 31st May 1959, Jo Bonnier won BRM's first Grand Prix at Zandvoort in a car the team had already started replacing. In 1981, Gilles Villeneuve won at Monaco in a turbo that everyone agreed couldn't win there. In 1987, Ayrton Senna won Monaco'...
30th May 1965: The Day The Championship Looked West
The thirtieth of May has appeared on the Formula One World Championship calendar more times than almost any other date — and it has never produced a quiet afternoon.In this episode of Chequered Past, we follow four stories across seven d...
29th May 1960: The Pit Stops That Decided Monaco
On the twenty-ninth of May, Formula One has been decided in the pit lane more than once. In 1960, Stirling Moss brought a Rob Walker Lotus to the pits in Monaco running on three cylinders — and went on to win, delivering Lotus their...
28th May 1989: The Suspicion That Never Goes Away
The 28th of May appears four times in Formula One's history as a date that produced not just results, but questions — the kind that follow drivers and teams for years without ever reaching a clean answer.In Mexico City in 1989, Alain Pro...
27th May 2018: The Circuit That Offers Redemption
There are dates in the Formula One calendar that give you one story. And then there are dates that seem to have been waiting — accumulating history across decades, storing it up, until you can’t look at them without seeing everything at once.
26th May 2024: The Race That Calls You Home
Monaco doesn’t simply produce the fastest driver — it produces the one who belongs there. On the twenty-sixth of May, across 1963, 1968, 1974, 2002 and 2024, five races asked that question in five different ways. Graham ...
25th May 2008: The Day That The Lead Changed
On May the twenty-fifth, across four decades of Formula 1, the world championship changed hands. Four times. Four drivers. One date.In 1975, Niki Lauda drove a controlled, clinical race at Zolder and went to the top of a championship he ...
24th May 2015: The Calculation That Cost The Race
On the 24th of May, three Monaco Grands Prix separated by seventeen years each asked the same question of the teams on the pit wall — and got three very different answers. In 1998, Mika Häkkinen and McLaren answered it perfectl...
23rd May 1982: The Race That Nobody Wanted To Win
The 23rd of May has a habit of producing extraordinary racing at Monaco. Three times across three different decades, the same date has delivered three completely different kinds of grand prix.In 1971, Jackie Stewart arrived already leadi...
22nd May 1955: The Teddy Bear That Won at Monaco
On 22 May 1955, Maurice Trintignant — a Provençal winegrower's son who had once been declared clinically dead and carried a stuffed teddy bear in the pocket of every racing car he ever drove — became the first Frenchman to win a World Champions...
21st May 1950: The Crowd That Looked Away
On the 21st of May, Formula One has produced three races that looked, at the time, like any other Sunday — and only revealed their true significance long after the chequered flag.In 1950, at the second round of the very first World Champ...
20th May 1973: The Day That the Drivers Drew the Line
On 20th May, Formula 1 has a habit of making history. In 1962, Jim Clark arrived at Zandvoort with a car that would change the sport forever — even though it didn't win. In 1973, the drivers arrived at a brand new circui...
19th May 1996: The Race That Destroys Its Favourites
On the nineteenth of May, three times across four decades, Monaco did what Monaco does. It destroyed the favourites and handed the race to someone else.Stirling Moss, Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn — three of the fastest drivers in...
18th May 1969: The Race That Wouldn't Follow The Script
On 18th May 1952, Piero Taruffi won the Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten after a former champion's Ferrari failed — twice. On 18th May 1958, Maurice Trintignant won at Monaco after every faster car in the field broke before half dista...
17th May 1981: The Weekend That The Pitlane Wept
Three Formula One races share the date of May the seventeenth. Each one is a story in its own right. Together, they trace something larger.In 1981, the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder was overshadowed before it began — a mechanic killed in ...
16th May 1976: The Winners That No One Could Touch
Three races. Three decades. Three drivers who were utterly, completely, unreachably dominant on the day — and yet somehow ended up as supporting characters in their own stories.On the sixteenth of May 1976, Niki Lauda produced one of the...
