Revealed: The five longest winning streaks by a single driver in F1
Max Verstappen joined an impressive list with his Hungarian GP victory and moved clear at Spa – but there is one driver still ahead of him.
For the majority of drivers to race in F1, a single victory would be enough for them to have considered their career a success but when it comes to the best of the best, they have much higher standards.
Lewis Hamilton’s 103 victories remains the most of a single driver and while Verstappen is still over 60 behind them, there is one record that he may soon have outright.
=3 Nico Rosberg – Seven victories (Mexico 2015 – Russia 2016)
The man next on the list was actually the man on hand to interview Verstappen after his latest victory.
Nico Rosberg was given interview duties for the top three drivers in Hungary and unlike Verstappen’s current run, Rosberg’s stretched over two seasons.
Having gone eight races without a win in 2015 and conceding the advantage to Lewis Hamilton in the title battle, the German was successful in the last three grands prix of the season.
运行的是一个东西来将有限的迹象ntinue into 2016 as Rosberg secured victory in the opening four races. It was that period that set the tone for the title battle with Rosberg demonstrating he was a real threat to Hamilton’s dominance.
=3 Michael Schumacher – Seven victories (Europe 2004 – Hungary 2004)
Another German on this list is Michael Schumacher who equalled the then-record with his own run of seven victories on the trot.
While his years at Benetton had been the making of Schumacher, it was the Ferrari period that would come to define the legendary figure and 2004 was Schumacher at the peak of his powers.
Such was his dominance that he started the season with five consecutive wins before being beaten by a surprise Jarno Trulli success in Monaco. But it was the middle portion of the season when Schumacher fully stamped his authority.
Starting with the European Grand Prix in his home country at the Nürburgring, Schumacher would finish first in the next seven races.
After that run was stopped by Kimi Räikkönen, Schumacher would win one more race that year and break the then-record for the most victories in a single season in what was his last title-winning campaign.
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=3 Alberto Ascari – Seven victories (Belgium 1952 – Argentina 1953)
Even though he does not top this list, the achievement of Alberto Ascari is perhaps the most impressive of all.
Ascari has a place in Formula 1 history but particularly in Ferrari’s story. He was the team’s first Drivers’ champion and remains to this day the last Italian World Champion.
It would take until Schumacher for another Ferrari driver to win back to back titles but what is most impressive Ascari he did this during a time of great unreliability.
While F1 cars these days can have their own problems, in the 1950s it was a different story altogether.
In his first ever race, Ascari was one of just seven finishes out of a field of 54 entries and in the first race of this run, the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix, five of the seven retirements were due to mechanical problems.
But still, Ascari guided his Ferrari 500 to seven consecutive wins not only giving him the then-record of most consecutive victories but also the driver with the highest percentage of wins in a single season at 75%.
The run of consecutive victories gave Ascari the first of two title wins and kick-started the second. It would take 51 years for another driver to match the feat.
2 Max Verstappen – Eight victories (Miami 2023 – Spa 2023)
Verstappen extended his winning run to eight victories with a comfortable P1 at Spa, moving ever closer to Vettel’s record.
Verstappen’s run began in Miami when he passed team-mate Sergio Perez and started what would go on to be 248 consecutive laps led by the Dutchman.
That streak was eventually broken by Charles Leclerc in Austria, 57 laps short of the all-time tally, but one record attempt still on the go is his consecutive race wins.
因为胜利在美国,Verstappen产生了dominant run of performances that has not only seen him take home every winner’s trophy but also made a third consecutive World Championship look a certainty.
1 Sebastian Vettel – Nine victories (Belgium 2013 – Brazil 2013)
As is often the case with any Formula 1 record concerned with consistent dominance, it is the name of Sebastian Vettel at the very top.
Just as Schumacher was with Ferrari, Vettel in the Red Bull of the early 2010s was an unstoppable force.
His first title win came in the 2010 season and by 2013, he was already the joint-fourth most successful driver in history.
In 2013, he enjoyed a season much like Schumacher’s 2004 run. Having been victorious in four of the opening 10 events, Vettel took control of the title race at Spa when he won the first of nine consecutive races.
By the end of the year, he had a 155-point lead over P2 Fernando Alonso which remains the biggest title-winning margin in F1 history.
As was also the case with Schumacher, the season in which this run occurred would be Vettel’s last title as engine regulation changes brought in the era of Mercedes.
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