7 October in Ferrari history: Kimi Räikkönen’s crucial China win
7 October connects two Ferrari victories achieved near the end of their respective seasons. Kimi Räikkönen won the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix to keep his championship challenge alive, while Gilles Villeneuve won the 1979 season finale at Watkins Glen.
2007: Kimi Räikkönen wins in Shanghai
Kimi Räikkönen finished ahead of Fernando Alonso and Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa in China. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton retired, leaving the title to be decided at the final race in Brazil.
The result was therefore more than another Ferrari victory. It preserved Kimi Räikkönen’s opportunity to fight for the championship at the last round, where he would complete his successful title challenge.
Felipe Massa’s third place also put both Ferrari drivers on the Shanghai podium. The complete season sits within our Kimi Räikkönen Formula 1 records and statistics.
1979: Gilles Villeneuve closes the season with victory
On 7 October 1979, Gilles Villeneuve won the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. It was his third victory of that season, following earlier successes in South Africa and at Long Beach.
The two anniversaries capture different late-season achievements: one victory kept a championship contest open, while the other brought a successful campaign to a winning finish.
Ferrari results and anniversaries for 7 October
October 7 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 October 7
Overall F1 Constructors' Championship decided during this Grand Prix weekend
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.
Explore more season-defining dates in the Ferrari on this day calendar.
