Taking the checkered flag is what every F1 driver dreams of when given the opportunity to race in the sport and over the years some have mastered the art more than others.
In 1950, Italian Nino Farina became the first official F1 winner ever to cross the finish line in his Alfa Romeo at the British Grand Prix – a race in which he also qualified for pole and set the fastest lap.
Max Verstappen won the final race of the 2022 season in Abu Dhabi and is the youngest winner, while George Russell in his Mercedes was the youngest first-time winner, climbing to the top step of the podium at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
113 different drivers have won races in Formula 1 in the last 73 years. RadioTimes.com brings you the top five drivers who have cost more than most wins.
5. Ayrton Senna – 41 races
The Brazilian was the figurehead of Formula 1 in the 1980s and 1990s and was revered by the public for his aggressiveness and determination behind the wheel, as well as his penchant for speaking his mind.
The world knew Senna was a particular talent when he won his first ever race at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix driving for Lotus.
Senna finished third in the 1987 championship and that convinced McLaren to take him on board for 1988, beginning his infamous rivalry with teammate Alain Prost.
He won eight of the 16 races that season, including a streak of six in seven races, to establish a dominant position in championship racing.
He famously dominated Monaco’s tight and twisting street circuit, winning five consecutive races there between 1989 and 1993.
The 1993 Australian Grand Prix was his last win in the sport before his untimely death in 1994 at Imola.
4. Alain Prost – 51 wins
Prost won four titles in his illustrious career and his racing victories spanned 12 years.
His first victory was on home soil when he won the 1981 French Grand Prix at the Dijon circuit in a Renault.
Prost’s remarkable consistency saw him win at least one race per season every year from 1981 to 1990.
He had a great record for a strong start to the season, winning six opening lap races over the course of his career.
Perhaps his greatest win came in the 1986 Australian Grand Prix when a puncture would end his title chances in the final race of a three-way battle between himself, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet.
He then rode the wheels off his McLaren to win the race and win back-to-back titles.
Prost took a sabbatical in 1992 and returned for Williams in 1993, dominating the pre-retirement season and becoming the first driver to record wins in half a century.
3. Sebastian Vettel – 53 wins
Vettel became the youngest driver to win a race when he crossed the finish line first at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, driving the unpopular Toro Rosso car.
Wet conditions played into his hands and he came home and won by a margin of 12 seconds over Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren.
It wasn’t long before he was promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull and 2010 was the year he came of age by winning his first title.
A memorable four horse race for the title ended in the last race of the season when Vettel was the unlikely winner, coming home to win the race and passing Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.
Vettel dominated the next three seasons, particularly in 2013 when he won nine straight victories at the end of the year.
He switched to Ferrari in 2015 and although he was unable to inspire the Scuderia to a first title since 2007, he was happy about 14 race wins in red.
2. Michael Schumacher – 91 wins
Schumacher’s first victory in Formula One came in the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix, driving for Benetton, and two years later he was a regular on the top step of the podium.
The German won 17 races in the 1994 and 1995 seasons and won both world titles.
Four untitled years still produced over a dozen victories before Schumacher dominated the sport for five years between 2000 and 2004.
2004 was statistically his most successful year – he won 13 out of 18 races, which is the highest percentage of Grand Prix wins in a season, apart from Alberto Ascari’s 1952 season, which had only eight races in total.
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His last race win came in his 22nd Grand Prix when he prevailed at the Chinese Grand Prix.
1. Lewis Hamilton – 103 wins
Hamilton became the first Grand Prix centurion in 2021 and it will take something really special to dethrone him.
He won for the first time after five podium finishes at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix to start his F1 career. Hamilton won from pole position and went on to win three more races that season.
The Brit won five more races in 2008, including his home race at Silverstone, en route to his first title, finishing over a minute ahead of Nick Heidfeld’s Williams in terrible rain conditions.
Hamilton has equaled Schumacher in seven world titles with another virtuosic win at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, again in the rain, and mastering the slippery surface.
His 100th win came at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix and he currently sits at 103.
2022 was his first winless year in 15 years of F1 racing but he’s still active and hungry as ever so don’t resist him adding more in 2023.
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Source: www.radiotimes.com
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