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On this day: F1's 500th race and Räikkönen's Abu Dhabi win

Nelson Piquet won F1's 500th championship race in Adelaide on 4 November 1990, and Kimi Räikkönen won for Lotus in Abu Dhabi on the same date in 2012.

A black and gold Lotus Formula 1 car with the number 9 racing on track
Kimi Räikkönen in the Lotus E20 during qualifying for the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, four weeks before his Abu Dhabi win. Photo: Takayuki Suzuki_(8096997392).jpg), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Two F1 races on 4 November produced wins that are still remembered: a milestone in Adelaide and Räikkönen's first win in three years in Abu Dhabi.

1990: Piquet wins F1's 500th race in Adelaide

Nelson Piquet won the 1990 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide for Benetton-Ford. It was the 500th race to count towards the drivers' championship since it began in 1950.

Ayrton Senna started from pole for McLaren and led until his gearbox failed. Piquet went on to win by 3.129 seconds from Ferrari's Nigel Mansell after 81 laps of the street circuit.

It was Mansell's last race for Ferrari, and he set the fastest lap, a 1:18.203. His team-mate Alain Prost finished third.

The win was Piquet's second in a row. He had not won back-to-back races since the 1987 German and Hungarian Grands Prix.

2012: Räikkönen wins in Abu Dhabi

Kimi Räikkönen won the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina for Lotus. It was his first victory since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton started on pole for McLaren and led until a fuel pressure problem stopped him on lap 20. Räikkönen went on to win, with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso second.

On lap 23 Räikkönen famously told his race engineer over the radio to leave him alone, because he knew what to do.

Sebastian Vettel finished third for Red Bull, despite starting from the pit lane.

Race it on Late Brake

Neither Adelaide nor Yas Marina is in Late Brake. The free browser game has six real circuits, including Interlagos, where this weekend's race is held, and Monza, Spa and Silverstone. Take on the AI rivals or race other players online.

Sources: Wikipedia: 1990 Australian Grand Prix, Wikipedia: 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Researched and written with the help of AI, using the sources above. How we write posts