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Each active F1 driver’s first grand prix win, explained
In case you missed it, Lando Norris won his first Formula 1 grand prix this past weekend, holding off Max Verstappen to win the Miami Grand Prix. The victory was a long time coming for Norris, and praise quickly came in from around the paddock for the McLaren driver.
But that win got us thinking.
Can you recall when each active driver scored their own maiden F1 win? So we put together this little quiz. To help make things easier, here are the active drivers who have won a Formula 1 Grand Prix:
Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen
Fernando Alonso
Valtteri Bottas
Daniel Ricciardo
Sergio Pérez
Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz, Jr.
George Russell
Esteban Ocon
Pierre Gasly
Lando Norris
For those wondering about Oscar Piastri, the second-year McLaren driver did score a win in the F1 Sprint Race in Qatar last year, but we are focused on grands prix here.
So you know Norris, but what about the other drivers? We will highlight each other driver in turn, and then provide the answers at the bottom.
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Lewis Hamilton
The Mercedes — soon to be Ferrari — driver remains the winningest driver in Formula 1 history, as he enters next weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with 103 victories to his name. This was a fact pointed out by his current teammate, George Russell, during Thursday’s media session ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s last win came in the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, a spirited affair that saw sparks fly between Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Hamilton held Verstappen off for the win, but that was his last victory.
When was his first?
Max Verstappen
While he did not win in Miami, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen remains the hottest driver in recent memory, and enters the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with 58 grand prix victories over his career.
Verstappen’s last win came just a matter of weeks ago, in the Chinese Grand Prix.
But when was his first grand prix victory?
Fernando Alonso
The quest for Fernando Alonso’s elusive 33rd grand prix victory has become something of a rallying cry. The veteran driver and two-time Drivers’ Champion has now gone over a decade since his last grand prix victory, which came at the Spanish Grand Prix back in 2013 when he was driving for Ferrari.
Since then Alonso has driven for McLaren, Alpine, and Aston Martin.
He even stepped away for the sport for two years, before coming back for the 2021 season with Alpine.
But when did he taste his first grand prix win?
Valtteri Bottas
The next driver on the list of drivers with a grand prix victory is Valtteri Bottas, who enjoyed all ten of his grand prix wins during his time with Mercedes.
His last win came in his final year with the Silver Arrows, when he started on pole position in the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix after Hamilton, his teammate, was fastest in qualifying but endured a ten-place grid drop when the team installed a new internal combustion engine (ICE) and exhaust on his W12 prior to the race weekend. Bottas inherited pole position after qualifying second, and drove to victory in what was the last installment of the Turkish Grand Prix.
So that was his last win, when was his first?
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Daniel Ricciardo
Ah yes, the Honey Badger.
Daniel Ricciardo’s trademark smile was back this past weekend in Miami, as the now-Visa Cash App RB F1 Team driver delivered a strong performance in Sprint Qualifying, placing fourth on Friday. Ricciardo followed that up with a similarly-strong race, fending off Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz, Jr., to place P4.
But his last win? That came back in 2021 in the Italian Grand Prix, when he delivered a stunning win at Monza while with McLaren. “Drive to Survive” viewers might recall that as the win that led Zak Brown to get a tattoo of the track following the win.
Yet, when did Ricciardo score his maiden F1 win?
Sergio Pérez
The next driver on our list? Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, Sergio Pérez. The Mexican driver has enjoyed six wins over his F1 career, the last coming at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix when the “King of the Street” conquered Baku.
His first F1 grand prix win? Well, that is a tricky one, but no hints here.
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is next on our list, with five grand prix victories. His most recent win? The answer to that question might depend on who you talk to. Because some will say his most recent win came back in 2022, when he beat Verstappen at Red Bull Ring despite the Red Bull driver starting in pole position.
However, others might argue Leclerc’s most recent win came when he adopted Leo.
Circling back to the track, however, can you remember when Leclerc notched his first F1 win?
Photo by Jared C. Tilton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Carlos Sainz Jr.
The other Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz Jr., is next up on our list. The “Smooth Operator” has five wins to his name, like his current teammate, with the last win coming earlier this season in stunning fashion. After an emergency appendectomy sidelined him for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Sainz returned to the grid in the following race, scoring a win in the Australian Grand Prix.
But when did Sainz first reach the top step of the podium in an F1 race?
George Russell
Now we have reached the list of active drivers with one grand prix victory to their name.
First up? Mercedes driver George Russell. When did he first take the checkered flag in a grand prix?
Esteban Ocon
Our next one-time winner is current Alpine driver Esteban Ocon. He broke through with Alpine’s first points of the season down in Miami, holding off Nico Hülkenberg to deliver a tenth-place finish in the Miami Grand Prix.
But when did he break through for his first — and to date, only — grand prix win in F1?
Pierre Gasly
Then there is Ocon’s current teammate at Alpine, Pierre Gasly. Similar to Ocon, Gasly has enjoyed one grand prix win over the course of his F1 career.
When did he reach the top of the podium?
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Now that we’ve outlined each active driver with a grand prix victory, let’s uncover some answers.
Lewis Hamilton
As noted above, Hamilton’s last grand prix victory came in the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?
But his first? That came back in 2007, during his rookie season. After a third-place finish in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and four-straight P2 finishes, Hamilton and the rest of the grid arrived in Montreal for the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. It was there where Hamilton first tasted a grand prix victory, in just his sixth race. He left Canada leading the Drivers’ Championship as a 22-year-old rookie.
He also became the first black driver to win a Formula 1 grand prix.
Max Verstappen
At the moment, Max Verstappen is the most dominant force in F1. He has won three-straight Drivers’ Championships, and certainly looks on his way to a fourth this season. His success, along with the success of teammate Sergio Pérez, has seen Red Bull win two-straight Constructors’ Championships as well.
But for Verstappen, the breakthrough win came in the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. It was Verstappen’s second full season on the grid, and he started the race fourth. Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg started at the front, with Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo in third.
Early in the race, the two Mercedes teammates collided, knocking each other out of the running. Red Bull chose to employ a three-stop strategy for Ricciardo, which ended up costing him time and a shot at a podium. The result? A maiden win for Verstappen.
It also came in his Red Bull debut, as the team promoted him to Red Bull from Toro Rosso ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. The rest, well, is history.
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso’s first win?
It may have come before a few of you were born.
While Alonso last tasted victory in 2013, his maiden F1 win came back in 2003, at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. It was Alonso’s second season as a driver on the grid, after his 2001 rookie campaign. After serving as a test driver for Renault in 2002 he was given a spot on the grid for the team in 2003, when Jenson Button was dropped by the team in Alonso’s favor.
At the Hungaroring that day back in August of 2003 Alonso started on pole, and took the checkered flag ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Juan Pablo Montoya. It was Renault’s first grand prix win since the 1983 Austrian Grand Prix.
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Valtteri Bottas
As noted, Valtteri Bottas has enjoyed ten F1 wins over his career, all of which came during his time driving for Mercedes. His last win came back in 2021, in the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix.
But his first? That came back in 2017, in just his fourth race with Mercedes. After starting the season with a third-place finish in the Australian Grand Prix, a sixth-place finish in the Chinese Grand Prix, and another P3 in Bahrain, Bottas broke through with his maiden win in the 2017 Russian Grand Prix. Bottas started third behind the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, but passed the two on the opening lap of the race and held on for his first win.
Daniel Ricciardo
After Bottas, Ricciardo is next on the list with eight wins, the last of which came at Monza in 2021 as outlined above.
The first? That came during the 2014 season, his first year with Red Bull. After a disqualification to open the year in his home race — Ricciardo was disqualified from the 2014 Australian Grand Prix for a fuel limit breach — and a retirement in the Malaysian Grand Prix, Ricciardo enjoyed two-straight P4 finishes in China and Bahrain. Up next were Spain and Monaco, where Ricciardo first reached the podium with two-straight third-place finishes.
That’s when the grid headed to Montreal for the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix. The race was a chaotic affair, and despite starting sixth, Ricciardo found himself behind only Nico Rosberg in the closing laps. Riccardo managed to pull within DRS range, and got past the Mercedes to take the lead on Lap 68 en route to his maiden win.
Sergio Pérez
As we noted above, the site of Sergio Pérez’s first F1 victory is something of a trick question.
Because if you said either Bahrain, or Sakhir, you are correct.
Back in 2020 COVID changed the world, and F1 was no exception. While the original 2020 F1 schedule had a list of 22 races, cancellations due to the pandemic forced an altered schedule.
That included a pair of races run at the Bahrain International Circuit. The 15th race of that season was the Bahrain Grand Prix, run on the traditional “grand prix” layout. But the 16th race that season was run on the lesser-used “outer” circuit in Bahrain, and was named the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.
Pérez, driving for Racing Point, won that race despite starting fifth. Adding to the chaos factor of that race? The two driver who joined him on the podium: Esteban Ocon with a P2, and Lance Stroll with a P3.
So if you are ever caught wondering what it might take to see a Pérez-Ocon-Stroll podium, there is your answer.
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Charles Leclerc
Leclerc, seen above celebrating his third-place finish in last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, last reached the top step of a podium in a grand prix at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix.
But his first win? That came at Spa in the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix. Leclerc qualified on pole, followed by Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel, and he held off a late charge from Lewis Hamilton to secure his maiden win.
The podium celebration, however, was a muted affair. In the F2 race on Saturday Anthoine Hubert was critically injured during a major crash on the second lap, and died from his injuries at the circuit’s medical center.
Leclerc dedicated his victory to Hubert, and fellow podium finishers Hamilton and Bottas all paid their respects to the French driver following the grand prix.
Carlos Sainz Jr.
Sainz’s first grand prix win capped off a weekend of firsts for the Ferrari driver at the 2022 British Grand Prix.
In wet conditions that Saturday in Silverstone Sainz captured his first F1 pole position, helped by a yellow flag in Q3 that interrupted Max Verstappen’s final push lap. That gave Sainz pole position, with Verstappen settling for P2.
As the grand prix began Verstappen was able to take the early lead following lights out, but behind the leaders chaos ensued. Contact between George Russell and Pierre Gasly sent Russell’s car into Zhou Guanyu’s, and the impact flipped Zhou’s car and saw the Alfa Romeo driver skid across the track upside down, and into the catch net. Valtteri Bottas and Alexander Albon both slowed in response to that incident, which resulted in Sebastian Vettel driving into the back of Albon’s car, spinning Albon into the barrier before his car came back onto the track, hitting both Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon.
Red flags flew and both Zhou and Albon were transported for medical attention, but both were released.
When the race resumed Sainz was allowed to start up front, as race officials could not determine the exact running order given the two red flags. Verstappen’s Red Bull picked up damage after the restart, opening the door for Sainz to drive to his maiden win.
George Russell
And now, our three one-time winners. Up first, George Russell, whose maiden F1 win came in the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix. After winning the F1 Sprint Race to capture pole position for the main event, Russell led teammate Hamilton across the line for Mercedes’ first one-two finish since the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
It was a hard-fought win for the team, given all the challenges Mercedes endured with that season’s challenger, the W13.
Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon’s only win? That came in the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. Rainy and wet conditions saw the grid start the race on intermediates, and there were a number of incidents on the opening lap. Eventually the race was red-flagged for a period of time, and when it resumed, only Lewis Hamilton was on intermediates, with the rest of the grid on the slicks.
When Hamilton pitted after the fourth lap to switch to dry tires, Ocon inherited the lead. He held off Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton in the closing laps for the win.
Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly’s lone F1 grand prix win? That came in Monza at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. Gasly started the race tenth, but caught a break when Kevin Magnussen’s Haas suffered a failure on pit lane during Lap 19. Gasly decided to pit on the following lap, after which the safety car was deployed to remove Magnussen’s Haas from pit lane. Lewis Hamilton and Antonio Giovinazzi then made pit stops, but when they did so while pit lane was closed, forcing both to take a ten-second stop-and-go penalty. When pit lane eventually opened under safety car conditions, most of the grid came into the pits, which allowed Gasly to move up to third behind Hamilton and Lance Stroll.
When the race restarted Gasly remained behind Hamilton and Stroll, but an accident from Charles Leclerc brought out another safety car. On the ensuing restart Stroll went wide, allowing Gasly to slide up into second behind Hamilton. The Mercedes driver eventually needed to pit to serve his penalty, and Gasly inherited the lead. He would hold off Kimi Räikkönen over the closing laps for his first — and to date only — F1 win.
