Remembering when a solar eclipse impacted the F1 world

You may have heard.

There is a total solar eclipse happening later today.

The eclipse will begin starting around 2:00 p.m. Eastern along Mexico’s Pacific coast, traveling across a swath of the U.S., from Texas to Maine, and into Canada. The path of the eclipse has Americans setting aside time to take in the rare astronomical event, and will even have an impact on the sports world.

According to Major League Baseball, Monday’s event will be the first time in the history of the sport that a solar eclipse will be viewable in a city with an MLB game. In fact, two cities are in the path of the eclipse: Arlington, Texas and Cleveland, Ohio.

And while the Texas Rangers’ game tonight against the Houston Astros will begin after the eclipse, the Cleveland Guardians are opening gates early ahead of their home opener, so fans can take in the eclipse at Progressive Field.

That got us thinking.

Has an eclipse ever impacted a Formula 1 race?

In fact, one has!

Let’s go back to the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Before Yas Marina started hosting the season finales, and well before the final lap of the 2021 season, the F1 world came to Abu Dhabi for the 17th of 19 races on the calendar that year.

When the grid arrived, the championships had already been decided. In the previous race, the 2013 Indian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel won his 10th race of the season, clinching the Drivers’ Championship for the fourth-straight year. That result helped Red Bull secure the Constructors’ Championship as well for the fourth-straight season.

Still, there were three races left on the docket, and Vettel showed no signs of slowing down. Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber qualified on pole, with Vettel alongside him giving Red Bull a front row lockout at the start of the race.

When Sunday began, F1 fans were ready not just for a race, but for a solar eclipse. That day saw a total solar eclipse work its way from the northern Atlantic Ocean north of Florida, into Africa and then the Middle East. While Abu Dhabi was not in the “path of totality,” a partial solar eclipse was visible during the race, and shown briefly on the telecast.

The above photograph from Mark Thompson of Getty Images shows the eclipse as it was seen during the race.

The astronomical event made for some stunning images at Yas Marina, including this photograph from Hoch Zwei of Corbis/Getty of a bronze-colored sky as Vettel wound his RB9 around the track:

Looking down from the sky, and to the track, things were much less rare. Vettel won his 11th race of the season, and his seventh-consecutive victory, finishing over 30 seconds ahead of Webber. His victory equalled Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher’s record for the most consecutive wins, and gave Red Bull their 100th podium as a team.

Vettel would go on to win the next two races, finishing the season with nine-consecutive wins.

A record that stood until last season, when it was eclipsed by who else?

Max Verstappen.