Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver born in the 2000s to race in Formula 1 in 2021, but after 1,114 World Championship races, Oscar Piastri, born April 6, 2001, became the first driver born in the 21st Century to win a Formula One Grand Prix with his win in Hungary…

Despite McLaren’s best efforts to drain all the fun out of an emphatic 1-2 finish and a driver’s maiden Grand Prix victory.

Still, as I noted when Piastri finished 2nd at Qatar last year, he is NOT the first Grand Prix winner born outside of the 20th Century, because the only other driver is the Italian Luigi Fagioli, born in 1898, who won the 1951 French Grand Prix at Reims-Gueux at the age of 53, which was his final Grand Prix start, making him the only Grand Prix winner born in the 19th Century, and the oldest Grand Prix winner in history – In all, Fagioli started 7 races and finished on the podium 6 times.

Two other facts from that 1951 race – It remains the longest Formula 1 race in history in terms of distance (601.832km/373.961 miles), and 20 laps into the race, Fagioli was ordered by the Alfa Romeo team to swap his Alfa with future 5-time World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio, who was suffering multiple problems with his Alfa, and Fangio ultimately used Fagioli’s car to catch the ailing Ferraris and win the race, with both drivers officially credited with the victory, one of only three races to have this distinction (1956 Argentine Grand Prix & 1957 British Grand Prix).

However, Fagioli, who was one of Alfa’s Three Fs of the pre & post-war era (Farina and Fangio being the others), was so disgusted by the forced swap that he quit Grand Prix racing on the spot, making him one of only two drivers to win their last Grand Prix – The other is 2-time World Champion Jim Clark, who won the 1968 South African Grand Prix during the New Year, before his fatal F2 crash at Hockenheim 3 months later.

Sadly, the next year (’52) Fagioli crashed while practicing for the Monaco Grand Prix (which was being run for sports cars) and died from his injuries 3 weeks later.

Grand Prix wins by the century that drivers were born in

20th Century: 1,112

21st Century: 1

19th Century: 1

Another odd fact – The last 3 Australian drivers to compete in Formula 1 (Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo & Oscar Piastri) have all won the Hungarian Grand Prix.