10th March 1996: The Debut That Almost Won The Australian Grand Prix

On this day in motorsport history, a remarkable debut nearly rewrote the record books.In 1996, Formula One arrived at Albert Park in Melbourne for the first time as the Australian Grand Prix moved from Adelaide. It was also the debut race for Jacques Villeneuve, the reigning CART and Indianapolis 500 champion — and the Canadian immediately made history by taking pole position in his first Formula One race. After a dramatic start and race restart, Villeneuve led most of the race and even set fastest lap, but an oil leak in the closing laps forced him to slow, handing victory to teammate Damon Hill, who equalled the career win total of his father, two-time World Champion Graham Hill.We also remember Tony Vandervell, who died on this day in 1967. The industrialist behind the Vanwall team helped transform Britain’s place in Grand Prix racing, delivering the country’s first Formula One Constructors’ Championship in 1958 and paving the way for the era of British engineering dominance that followed.And in 1991, the Formula One season began on the streets of Phoenix, Arizona, where Ayrton Senna delivered a commanding victory in the United States Grand Prix — the opening step in the campaign that would bring him his third World Championship.Cover Image: Jacques Villeneuve 1996 by Rdikeman, CC BY-SA 3.0, LinkSend us Fan MailMusic by #Mubert Music Rendering