Boutsen hoists the mainsail in Adelaide

On this day in 1989, Williams' Thierry Boutsen secured his second F1 win when he successfully navigated his way through the Australian GP's treacherous waters in Adelaide.

The Belgian survived the perils produced by the appalling weather that was so bad it enticed Alain Prost to call it a day after just one lap.

The rest of the field attempted to brave it out, but 13 of the 25 drivers crashed out of the race, including initial leader Ayrton Senna who rammed his McLaren into the back of Martin Brundle's Brabham.

Boutsen hoisted the mainsail and took command, but with cars spinning off left and right, the Aussie GP's race director eventually decided to bring everyone back to port eleven laps from the scheduled end.

Lotus' Nelson Piquet perhaps summed it up the best:

"This is a dangerous sport which does not need to be made more dangerous," said the Brazilian. "There is a difference between bravery and stupidity."