Ferrari on 18 March: Kimi Räikkönen’s winning debut
On 18 March 2007, Kimi Räikkönen won the Australian Grand Prix in his first Formula 1 race for Ferrari. The Melbourne victory began a season that would end with the Finnish driver becoming Drivers’ World Champion.
The date also includes Ferrari’s one-two finish in the 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix, linking two successful season-opening periods from different eras.
March 18 in Ferrari Formula 1 history
Explore Ferrari Grand Prix results, qualifying and Sprint sessions, driver birthdays, remembrance dates and selected milestones connected with this day.
Ferrari Grands Prix held on March 18
Race, qualifying, Sprint and Ferrari driver biographical dates are generated from the locally processed F1DB dataset. Session anniversaries are shown only when an explicit session date is available in the source. Selected non-race Ferrari milestones are curated separately from Ferrari sources. Historical shared-car result rows are preserved without inventing additional Grand Prix starts.
2007: an immediate victory for Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen arrived at Ferrari following Michael Schumacher’s departure from the race team. At Albert Park, he began the new partnership with pole position and victory, while Felipe Massa finished sixth in the other Ferrari.
The result gave Kimi Räikkönen the strongest possible start to his first season in red. His championship would ultimately be secured at the Brazilian Grand Prix in October, but Melbourne supplied the first victory and points of that campaign.
2001: Ferrari finishes first and second at Sepang
Michael Schumacher won the Malaysian Grand Prix on 18 March 2001, with Rubens Barrichello finishing second. The result gave Ferrari a one-two during the opening stages of a season in which the team would retain both championships.
Although the Melbourne and Sepang races share a calendar date, their significance differs: one introduced a new Ferrari winner, while the other reinforced an established championship partnership.
Another Australian Grand Prix in 2012
The 2012 Australian Grand Prix also took place on 18 March. Fernando Alonso finished fifth for Ferrari, while Felipe Massa retired, providing a contrasting result at the same venue as Kimi Räikkönen’s debut victory.
Explore the Finnish driver’s career in our Kimi Räikkönen F1 records and statistics, or browse another anniversary in the Ferrari On This Day calendar.
