While it can sometimes feel like Formula 1 doesn’t throw up a surprise, the reality is the series can provide us with the unexpected.
Sometimes, a driver will win an F1 race that he has no right to win, shocking those watching and providing a feel-good story for the sport. They don’t happen often, but when they do, they are extraordinary.
Pierre Gasly – 2020 Italian Grand Prix
Pierre Gasly struck gold with his win for Alpha Tauri at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. Initially, it looked like Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes would dominate. But Kevin Magnussen in the Haas stopping by the pit entry caused a safety car and a closure of the pitlane. Mercedes failed to spot this, and Hamilton pitted with a closed pitlane, earning himself a ten-second stop/go penalty.
After a red flag for a crash with Charles Leclerc, Hamilton served his penalty, putting Gasly into the lead. The Frenchman had to fend off a charging Carlos Sainz in his McLaren, but he became the first French F1 winner since Olivier Panis in Monaco in 1996.
Sergio Perez – 2020 Sahkir Grand Prix
The 2020 Sahkir Grand Prix is another race Mercedes should have dominated. George Russell stood in for Hamilton due to the latter suffering from Covid-19, and for a while, it looked like he would lead home a Mercedes 1-2.
However, calamity unfolded after a late race safety car with Mercedes putting the wrong tires on both vehicles. Then, as Russell fought back to the lead, he had to pit for a puncture. Amidst the chaos, Sergio Perez in the Racing Point fought back from last place to take the lead and his first win in F1. It was a win that earned him a Red Bull drive for 2021.
Esteban Ocon – 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix
A pre-race downpour caused chaos at the Hungaoring in 2021. Valtteri Bottas pinballed into multiple cars, including the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and Perez and the McLaren of Lando Norris. More carnage behind saw Ocon jump up to second. After the ensuing red flag, Ocon took the lead when Mercedes left Hamilton on intermediate tires with the track bone dry.
Ocon remained in front throughout the race, holding off Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin and benefiting from Alpine teammate Fernando Alonso’s stout defense against the recovering Hamilton. Ocon won his first Grand Prix and the first for the Renault works team with the Alpine name.
Pastor Maldonado – 2012 Spanish Grand Prix
After the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton was thrown out of qualifying for the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, the Williams of Pastor Maldonado would start at the front of the field. The fast but erratic Venuezeualan driver had yet to stand on an F1 podium and now had a chance to win his first F1 race.
At the start, he was outdragged by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, and as Alonso pulled away, it looked like Maldonado would have to settle for second place. Yet Williams played the strategy perfectly and undercut Alonso before Maldonado held off a charging Ferrari in the final stint to take his first and only Grand Prix win. It remains the most recent win for the Williams F1 team.
Heikki Kovalinen – 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix
The 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix is a race that Felipe Massa should have won. The Brazilian driver vaulted into the lead at the start in his Ferrari and began pulling away from Hamilton’s chasing McLaren. Massa’s task became much easier after Hamilton suffered a puncture, meaning the Ferrari was now over 20 seconds clear of second-place Heikki Kovalinen in the second McLaren.
But with just three laps to go, the Ferrari’s engine blew up and handed the lead to Kovalinen. The Finn won his first Grand Prix but would be the only one in his entire career.
Daniel Ricciardo – 2021 Italian Grand Prix
The 2021 Italian Grand Prix is Daniel Ricciardo’s most recent race win. The McLaren driver outdragged Verstappen at the start of the race, but it was clear the Red Bull was much faster. Verstappen’s first pitstop was a disaster, and after he and title rival Hamilton collided, Ricciardo was in a very good position.
Teammate Lando Norris boldly passed Charles Leclerc after the safety car restart to make the race a McLaren 1-2, but while he was quicker, the team asked him to maintain position so as not to risk the result. Ricciardo still had enough pace to pull away and set the race’s fastest lap on the final lap. He took his first win since Monaco in 2018 and McLaren’s first since Brazil in 2012.
Robert Kubica – 2008 Canadian Grand Prix
Robert Kubica’s win in Canada in 2008 wasn’t massively unexpected, as Kubica and that year’s BMW were speedy. But the race initially belonged to Hamilton and McLaren. Under a safety car, most of the field made a pitstop, and then Hamilton smashed into the back of rival Kimi Raikkonen at the pitlane exit.
This saw BMW’s Nick Heidfeld take the lead. But Kubica was on a better strategy, and once he had worked his way back up front, he didn’t look back and took his maiden race win. Sadly, thanks to his horrible rally accident in 2011, it would remain the Polish driver’s only Grand Prix victory.
Sebastian Vettel – 2008 Italian Grand Prix
The 2008 F1 season threw up a few surprise victories. The Italian Grand Prix that year was a wet-weather classic, with the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel unexpectedly taking pole position. After qualifying, however, many thought Kovalinen and Kubica would fight the Toro Rosso.
But Vettel defied all expectations to dominate the Grand Prix with a brilliant drive and excellent strategy from the Toro Rosso team. It was Vettel’s first win and Toro Rosso’s first, with Vettel promoted to Red Bull in 2009. The rest is history, with Vettel winning four consecutive world titles from 2010 to 2013.
Fernando Alonso – 2008 Singapore Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso and Renault’s victory at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix remains one of F1’s most controversial. The Spanish driver should have qualified further up the order, but several issues saw him start just 15th. He made little progress early on during the race, but teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed to bring out the safety car after making his pitstop.
Alonso would win the race, but Piquet blew the F1 world apart the following year by revealing that team bosses Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds had ordered Piquet to crash during the race to aid Alonso. Symonds and Biratore were banned from F1 for life, although a court overturned this in 2010, and Alonso, after claiming he did not know the plan, kept his victory.
Max Verstappen – 2016 Spanish Grand Prix
The 2016 Spanish Grand Prix should have been a battle between the Mercedes of Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. However, the pair collided at the Grand Prix’s start, leading to a Red Bull 1-2, led by Ricciardo ahead of new teammate Verstappen. The Dutchman had been promoted mid-season to Red Bull, replacing Daniil Kvyat.
Ricciardo looked like he was on the better tire strategy, along with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel yet Verstappen and the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, which made their two-stop strategy work perfectly. The Dutchman held off the Finn to take a shock, his maiden Grand Prix win in his first Red Bull race at 18.
Sebastian Vettel – 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel had made a shock switch from Red Bull to Ferrari for 2015, but despite a podium in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, it looked like it would be a long season with Mercedes set to dominate. Yet, at the second race in Malaysia, Vettel aced the wet qualifying to take second place on the grid.
An early safety car in the race saw Mercedes pit its drivers, but Ferrari kept Vettel out. The Germans extended the gap over Mercedes as they fought past slower cars. The Ferrari was working well in the heat of Malaysia and looking after its tires, meaning Vettel could make one pitstop less than the Mercedes. The German driver took the win, his first, which was his and the team’s first since 2013.
Lewis Hamilton – 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
While it isn’t as unexpected as some of these races, Lewis Hamilton didn’t expect to win the 2018 race around the Baku street circuit. Vettel had qualified on pole for Ferrari and was dominating before a safety car caused by the two Red Bulls colliding turned the race on its head.
Mercedes had kept Bottas out on his older tires for longer, and the Finn came into the pits and led the race at the restart. Vettel made an overambitious move for the lead, locking up and letting Hamilton, Sergio Perez, and Kimi Raikkonen through. Bottas looked set to take victory, but a puncture on the final lap suddenly handed the lead to Hamilton, who dramatically took his first win of the year.
Giancarlo Fisichella – 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2003 Jordan EJ13 wasn’t a car that should have won a race. Yet that is precisely what it did in the chaotic 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, with Giancarlo Fisichella at the wheel. A clever strategy by the Jordan team saw the Italian slowly climb the field during the race, and its wet weather setup compensated for the car’s lack of power.
Fisichella took the lead just before the race was red-flagged for huge crashes for Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso. The FIA then wrongly gave the win to McLaren and Raikkonen, but the mistake was corrected at the following event as Raikkonen handed the trophy over to Fisichella.
