The FIA Hall of Fame was inaugurated, 33 F1 champions are in

The new FIA Hall of Fame was inaugurated yesterday in Paris by the world’s motorsport regulator. All 33 Formula One champions are the first inductees into the Hall of Fame, with nine of them being present at the inauguration ceremony.

F1 champions Sir Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg participated in the event at the headquarters of the ACF in Paris, together with representatives and families of F1’s other title winners.

FIA President Jean Todt

“The FIA Hall of Fame has been created to highlight the values that run through motor sport and the champions who have been and who still are the exemplars of the FIA’s values of commitment, integrity, respect and sportsmanship.This is the first stage of an ambitious project: the FIA Hall of Fame will soon expand to the FIA headquarters in Geneva, and other champions and other disciplines will be in the spotlight in the coming years. In this way we will celebrate all the FIA champions who have made, and who still make the history of motor sport so incredibly rich and inspiring,” FIA President Jean Todt said.

Damon Hill, who won the 1996 F1 Championship, following the footsteps of his double title winning father Graham, said: “It was always very difficult to get it through my head that I’d become a world champion at all, so the thrill continues, and it just an amazing honour to be included. You see the people who are here and the names mentioned – Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Sir Jackie Stewart and it’s hard to believe I’m in the same gang. So, congratulations to the FIA for instigating the Hall of Fame and thank your for including me.”

Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel added: “It’s been incredible to see all these names, all these faces. Obviously a lot of them I only know from what I have read, what I have seen, but I think it’s a great idea. There’s so much history in the sports, it’s still so alive, and thanks to events like tonight’s, we’ll keep it like that. I love racing but as you get older you change your way of thinking and I think your appreciation for things and definitely for things like tonight grows.”

FIA Hall of Fame inauguration celebration

The inauguration also saw the launch of the FIA Hall of Fame website, where the achievements of those inducted will be celebrated in order to help inspire the legends of the future.

The FIA Hall of Fame gallery in Paris has been created by Wilmotte and Associates, a prominent global architecture firm headquartered in France, and will be open to the public upon reservation.