F1 now has 13 race-winning drivers

There have been no new winners in Method 1 final 12 months however we’ve already had two this season: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

However final 12 months now appears to be like like a blip in a sequence of seasons the place a number of drivers have claimed their maiden victories. Carlos Sainz Jnr and George Russell did in 2022, it was Esteban Ocon’s flip the 12 months earlier than that, Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly broke by means of in 2020 and Charles Leclerc likewise in 2019.

In consequence, F1’s 20-car grid is now full of winners. Piastri’s victory within the Hungarian Grand Prix means 13 of the 20 drivers now have not less than one win to their names.

This pushes F1 previous the excessive of 12 seen on the finish of 2022. Along with the drivers who scored their first wins since 2019, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas have been already race winners.

F1 has seen equally sturdy fields prior to now, albeit with bigger grid sizes. Within the lauded 2012 season finale at Interlagos 11 drivers had beforehand gained races, albeit in a discipline of 24 vehicles.

Additional again in F1 historical past, a handful of grids featured much more than 13 winners. That quantity was final reached on the penultimate race of 1980 in Montreal. Two rounds earlier at Zandvoort the grid included 14 winners on its 24-car grid.

Two years beforehand, the grid boasted its largest contingent of earlier winners. This primary occurred within the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, the sixth spherical of the championship.

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When the season started at Argentina’s Buenos Aires circuit in the midst of January, 13 of the 24-strong entry have been prior winners. They included reigning champion Niki Lauda and fellow title winners James Hunt and Emerson Fittipaldi.

The opposite race winners when the season started included Lotus staff mates Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson, who dominated that season. Ferrari’s Carlos Reutemann already had 5 wins to his title and ex-Ferrari driver Clay Regazzoni, now at Shadow, had 4. Wolf’s Jody Scheckter had gained seven occasions.

Different drivers had picked up sole wins with an array of various groups. Lauda’s Brabham staff mate John Watson gave Penske their solely win in 1976. ATS driver Jochen Mass scored the one win of his profession for McLaren in grim circumstances the 12 months earlier than when the Spanish Grand Prix at Montjuich Park was lower brief when a automotive was launched into the gang, killing 4.

Vittorio Brambilla took his solely win the identical 12 months on the Osterreiching. Two years later it had been Alan Jones’ flip, for Shadow, and that season Jacques Laffite gave Ligier their first triumph.

To these 13 grand prix winners a 14th was added in Monaco. Eight-times grand prix winner and two-times championship runner-up Jacky Ickx returned to the championship with Ensign.

For the subsequent spherical on the grid, the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, there was one other race winner on the grid – although he’d been there because the begin of the season. Patrick Depailler triumphed for Tyrrell in Monaco, changing into F1’s newest race winner, and boosting the contingent to fifteen.

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There have been solely 24 locations on the grid, and 32 drivers vying for them, however all of the previous victors certified. All of them made the lower a second time for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama two weeks later.

However for the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp, regardless of a lowered discipline of 27 vehicles trying to make the race, Ickx didn’t qualify. Sad with the uncompetitive Ensign, he didn’t return for the remainder of the season.

F1 has by no means had as many race-winning drivers on a grid earlier than or since that two-race spell in the midst of 1978. With the smaller grid of as we speak, hitting that peak once more would require three-quarters of the sector to be race winners. Will we ever see that occur?

Race winners on the 1978 and 2024 Belgian grands prix

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