On October 3rd, 1971, François Cevert claimed his first and only Formula 1 victory at Watkins Glen, seizing the moment when Jackie Stewart stepped aside and fortune played its hand. It was a breakthrough drive that marked him as a future star — yet history remembers that podium with poignancy, as Cevert, Jo Siffert, and Ronnie Peterson would all later lose their lives to racing.

In this episode of Chequered Past, we relive Cevert’s day of glory at the Glen, celebrate the birthdays of Andrea de Adamich and Max Papis, revisit James Hunt’s vital victory in the 1976 Canadian Grand Prix, and look back to Graham Hill’s mastery of the 1965 United States Grand Prix.

A day of breakthroughs, milestones, and moments that remind us how triumph and tragedy often intertwined in Formula 1’s past.

By Martin Lee, François Cevert 1971, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

Music by #Mubert Music Rendering