Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Marks 75 Years of Formula 1
The event will celebrate F1’s anniversary with 30-plus historic race cars, including Niki Lauda's legendary Ferrari 312 T2…
The 74th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will be held on Aug. 17, 2025, at The Lodge at Pebble Beach, celebrating the centennials of Chrysler, Invicta, Moretti and the Rolls-Royce Phantom. Virgil Exner designs, and the Shelby Cobra 427 will also be featured. The highlight of the show, however, will be the Ferrari 312 T2 (chassis 026) driven by Niki Lauda in 1976 when he reshaped what it meant to be a champion, event organizers stated in a press release.
“Ferrari is synonymous with Formula 1, being the only manufacturer to have contested all 75 F1 seasons and winning 15 titles in the process,” said Miles Morris, a concours selection committee member. “Perhaps their most memorable season was in 1976, with Austrian Niki Lauda racing the sublime Ferrari 312 T2, an example of which we will have on the Pebble Beach Concours lawn as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of F1.”
World Champion Niki Lauda Rose From the Ashes Like a Phoenix
Lauda, the 1975 World Champion, began the 1976 season behind the wheel of chassis 026, winning the Grand Prix in Belgium and Monte Carlo and finishing on the podium in Spain and Sweden. By the German Grand Prix at Nürburgring, Lauda had transitioned to chassis 028.
That morning, August 1, rain soaked the track, but moments before the five-light countdown, the skies cleared. Lauda was in the lead and ramping up speed when, approaching a sharp left turn, he lost control and crashed, and his Ferrari went up in flames. Lauda suffered severe burns and was given last rites. But just six weeks later, Lauda climbed back into 026 for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and finished 4th.
He and James Hunt battled to the last race of the season in Fuji, Japan. This race started in pouring rain, and after one lap, Lauda pulled into the pits saying, “There are more important things than the World Championship.” Hunt finished 3rd and pipped Lauda by one point to win that title. Lauda also raced 026 in the first two races of the 1977 season before switching to a new car and winning his second World Championship.
Celebrations for the 75th Anniversary of Formula 1
Chassis 026 will be on the Pebble Beach Concours competition field along with more than 30 other race cars tracing the full 75 history of Formula 1, from its origins in Grand Prix racing through to the present day, noted the release.
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, Aug. 13-16, also recently announced it will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Formula 1.
