A Year for Racing Anniversaries in Formula 1

It's a celebratory year in Formula 1 for some reason. Ferrari, the oldest team in the sport, has decided to celebrate 60 years of its existence.... The interesting thing is that the team has decided to date the anniversary back to the year of its first victory, with Franco Cortese's win at the Grand Prix of Rome in 1947, and not the first year of the founding of the company.

Not a company to miss an opportunity, Toyota has decided to celebrate 50 years in auto racing - although it only started racing in F1 in 2002.

I wonder if Williams will decide to celebrate 30 years since the founding of the company under its present guise.... Somehow I doubt it. But who knows, if the results improve, maybe they'll celebrate 30 years of racing next season....

Did I forget any other teams that might be celebrating? Oh, yes, I did. Renault is, in fact, celebrating its 30 years of Formula 1 - forget the couple of breaks it took in the meantime, and the fact that it was just an engine provider for most of the period.

The Ferrari 375 F1, which raced for the first time at Monza in 1950, the first year of the F1 championship. Photo (c) Ferrari.