F1: Top 5 Unusual F1 Podium Ceremonies, bet you never knew!

#2 Happy Birthday playing instead of the national anthem

Alan Jones during the 1977 Austrian GP

First race wins are often the cause of unbridled joy. Standing on the top step of the podium with your country’s national anthem playing in the background can render quite a few sportspersons emotional.

Alan Jones might have expected the same during the first of his 12 career wins, but his victory was so unanticipated that the organizers did not have access to the Australian national anthem. So, the former world champion had to be content with a drunk playing the ‘Happy Birthday’ song on a trumpet during the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix.

While a birthday might have brought a person joy akin to a race victory, it was not the Australian’s birthday either, which made the whole affair rather comical.