One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Huh, No Six Yet?
Asides

One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Huh, No Six Yet?

Oliver White
15th September, 2008
13 comments
4 min read

I’ve been noticing a lot of curiosity on the Formula One websites, blogs and forums today, much of it centred around first time winners and maiden victories for teams. Given that Sebastian Vettel’s win has gone down with a lot of popularity, it’s hardly surprising. Also, Sebastian is the third new winner this year so far, which prompted Alex to ask on Sidepodcast if anyone knew the last time a season had four new winners…

First Time Winners, Season By Season

Year First-Time Winners Total
2008 Robert Kubica, Heikki Kovalainen, Sebastian Vettel 3
2007 Lewis Hamilton 1
2006 Felipe Massa, Jenson Button 2
2005 0
2004 Jarno Trulli 1
2003 Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Giancarlo Fisichella 3
2002 0
2001 Juan Pablo Montoya, Ralf Schumacher 2
2000 Rubens Barrichello 1
1999 Eddie Irvine 1
1998 0
1997 Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Mika Hakkinen 2
1996 Jacques Villeneuve, Olivier Panis 2
1995 David Coulthard, Johnny Herbert, Jean Alesi 3
1994 0
1993 Damon Hill 1
1992 Michael Schumacher 1
1991 0
1990 0
1989 Thierry Boutsen, Alessandro Nannini 2
1988 0
1987 0
1986 Gerhard Berger 1
1985 Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna 2
1984 0
1983 0
1982 Patrick Tambay, Michele Alboreto, Riccardo Patrese, Elio de Angelis, Keke Rosberg 5
1981 Alain Prost 1
1980 Nelson Piquet, René Arnoux 2
1979 Jean-Pierre Jabouille 1
1978 Gilles Villeneuve, Patrick Depailler 2
1977 Gunnar Nilsson, Jacques Laffite, Alan Jones 3
1976 John Watson 1
1975 James Hunt, Carlos Pace, Jochen Mass, Vittorio Brambilla 4
1974 Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Carlos Reutemann 3
1973 Ronnie Peterson, Peter Revson 2
1972 Jean-Pierre Beltoise 1
1971 Mario Andretti, Peter Gethin, François Cevert 3
1970 Clay Regazzoni, Emerson Fittipaldi 2
1969 Jochen Rindt 1
1968 Jacky Ickx, Jo Siffert 2
1967 Denny Hulme, Pedro Rodriguez 2
1966 Ludovico Scarfiotti 1
1965 Jackie Stewart, Richie Ginther 2
1964 Lorenzo Bandini 1
1963 John Surtees 1
1962 Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Dan Gurney 3
1961 Wolfgang von Trips, Giancarlo Baghetti, Innes Ireland 3
1960 Phil Hill 1
1959 Jack Brabham, Joakim Bonnier, Bruce McLaren 3
1958 0
1957 Tony Brooks 1
1956 Peter Collins, Luigi Musso 2
1955 Stirling Moss, Maurice Trintignant 2
1954 0
1953 Mike Hawthorn 1
1952 Piero Taruffi 1
1951 Alberto Ascari, José Froilán González 2
1950 Juan Manuel Fangio, Giuseppe Farina 2

*All Indy 500 winners (that were part of the championship) have been excluded because for most of them the 500 was their only win in Formula One and many of the regular F1 drivers didn’t take part.

So, the last time three drivers won their maiden races in a year was 2003, with Alonso and Raikkonen beginning their winning careers, and Giancarlo Fisichella being awarded a strange victory after the Brazilian Grand Prix was red flagged and Raikkonen took the win initially. Before then, 1995 was the last time three new faces joined the record books; Briton’s Coulthard and Herbert and the emotionally charged Jean Alesi who cried his way around Montreal on the parade lap.

1982 was perhaps the most special year for multiple first-timers and is also the answer to Alex’s question; Keke Rosberg, Elio de Angelis, Riccardo Patrese, Patrick Tambay and Michele Alboreto all won their first races that year, totalling 5 and to date, the most ever. In fact, that year saw eleven different winners, and Rosberg took the title with only his one maiden win under his belt.

1975 was the previous landmark season, with James Hunt, Carlos Pace, Jochen Mass, Vittorio Brambilla each taking a winners trophy. 1974 and and 1971 both saw three drivers break into the winners circle, as did 1962, 1961, 1959 and of course, 1950. Although as I state in the table, Johnnie Parsons and all other Indy 500 winners have been excluded because for most of them the 500 was their only win in Formula One and many of the regular F1 drivers didn’t take part.

So there you have it. There have been many times when three drivers have broken their winning-virginity in one single year, but only once have four, and only once again have five.

13 comments

  • You spend an hour-and-a-half doing something and all they do is point out a typo…! Ollie’s mind joking.

    Whoops, didn’t bother proof-reading. Just checked the table, then left it. Correcting now by going back to the future… 😀

  • excellent research. one further question for you then…

    has there ever been a time when x3 new winners, all shared a podium together in that same year (other than in the picture above)?

  • has there ever been a time when x3 new winners, all shared a podium together in that same year

    I don’t know, but I did wonder the same when I chose the image for the post – it did add a nice bit of symmetry to the day. Maybe I’ll look into that tomorrow.

    I did genuinely love it though

    I know, I’m just jesting! 🙂

  • Also maybe this post should be brought to you in association with this Feist song…

    there must be some twisted people writing for sesame street!

  • there must be some twisted people writing for sesame street!

    It’s a great song though 🙂

    I weirdly happened to be listening to the album at the time I was reading this post.

  • Love the table – it was cool having three maiden winners on the podium on Sunday. Re-awakened my faith in F1

    Mika isn’t in the table – 1997 I think?

    Also, Damon – 1993?

    Good work though, thanks

  • If the Feist song is an omen could we be looking at someone else to break there duck before the end of the season?.After looking at your table you got my Statistics taste buds going,after consulting my analogue computer(my trusty but very out of date Encylopedia),out of the 573 drivers who raced up till the end of the 97 season(I did say it was very old!) only 313 have scored 10 or more points,I didnt remove the Indy 500 racers because it looked like hard work,but you can see that roughly half of all F1 drivers will never get the the points tally of a win,let alone a win in there entire careers.So whether its a sign of the difference between the sharp and blunt ends of the grid,or that youve either got it or you aint Iam not to sure.But I like to think its the latter.

You may also like

Follow BlogF1