The top 10 F1 drivers with the longest gap between their first and last wins

Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix means he has now extended his own record of the longest winning career in Formula 1 history, with his latest coming in his twentieth season, while his maiden win arrived all the way back in his rookie campaign in 2007.

No other driver can match such a sustained winning stint, but who else comes close? Phillip Horton has been delving into the archives…

10. Riccardo Patrese (10 years, 5 months, 2 days)

Riccardo Patrese held the record for the most Grands Prix starts for 15 years so it is little surprise that his wins have come over a long spell. However, he had a varied career, with the second and third of his six Grand Prix victories separated by a full seven seasons.

Patrese’s maiden win came for Brabham in Monaco, in 1982, when he triumphed in a race where several contenders (including Patrese himself!) hit strife in the closing laps. The Italian’s last win came with Williams, in Japan, a full decade later.

9. Gerhard Berger (10 years, 9 months, 15 days)

Gerhard Berger’s inclusion on the list comes with another neat little side fact, in that his first and last victories were also the first and last victories for the Benetton team. The breakthrough came in Mexico City, in 1986, when he made a no-stop strategy work in an era when pit stops were not mandatory.

After winning stints with Ferrari and McLaren, Berger returned to Benetton for 1996, and in 1997 missed three Grands Prix following ill health and the death of his father. But the Austrian put in one final hurrah in Germany, striding to victory from pole position.

8. Jack Brabham (10 years, 9 months, 25 days)

Jack Brabham’s first win came at the opening round of 1959, in Monaco, when he triumphed for Cooper to start the first of his three title-winning seasons in style.

Brabham founded his eponymous team in 1962 and, after winning his final title in 1966, remained a front-runner, triumphing for the last time in South Africa at the start of 1970. He retired after that season.

7. Sebastian Vettel (11 years, 8 days)

Sebastian Vettel famously claimed his and Toro Rosso’s maiden victory at a rain-hit weekend in Italy in 2008, converting from pole position at Monza.

After his title-winning spree at Red Bull, further championships remained elusive at Ferrari, despite title challenges in 2017 and 2018.

Vettel took victory in Singapore – a happy hunting ground for the German – in 2019, and it turned out to be his last success, before he retired at the end of 2022.

6. Nelson Piquet (11 years, 2 months, 3 days)

Nelson Piquet’s first win came at Long Beach in 1980, with Brabham, from his maiden pole position.

Having won three world titles further success eluded him after a move from Williams to Lotus, though a switch to Benetton brought three more wins.

The last of those was in Canada in 1991, when he famously inherited top spot after a last lap failure for former nemesis Nigel Mansell.

5. Niki Lauda (11 years, 3 months, 28 days)

Niki Lauda’s first win came at Jarama in 1974, controlling proceedings to lead home Ferrari team mate Clay Regazzoni, and after three world titles, a near-fatal accident, and a break from Formula 1, the last arrived in 1985.

That came in what turned out to be Lauda’s swansong season with McLaren, and he swept to glory around the Dutch dunes at Zandvoort before hanging up his helmet for good at the end of the year.

4. Alain Prost (12 years, 20 days)

Alain Prost’s maiden success came for Renault on home soil at the French Grand Prix at Dijon in 1981, when he was declared the winner of an interrupted race in an era when aggregate timing was used.

After prolific success with McLaren and Ferrari, Prost took a sabbatical in 1992 but returned for one final season at Williams, taking a fourth and final championship crown.

The last of 51 wins came in Germany, and he retired for good at the end of the season.

3. Michael Schumacher (14 years, 1 month, 1 day)

Michael Schumacher’s first win was achieved in Belgium, in 1992, a year after his Grand Prix debut at Spa-Francorchamps.

Following success with Benetton the lion’s share of his wins were achieved for Ferrari, the last of which came at the 16th round of 2006 in China.

He was competitive at the following two races, but an engine failure in Japan and tyre issues in Brazil denied him the perfect send-off.

A return with Mercedes for 2010-2012 had the occasional high point but he was unable to add to his 91 wins.

2. Kimi Raikkonen (15 years, 6 months, 28 days)

Kimi Raikkonen won for the first time in Malaysia in 2003, and he was a front-runner for McLaren and Ferrari across the rest of the decade, claiming the title with the latter in 2007.

After a two-year hiatus from F1 when he went rallying, Raikkonen returned with Lotus-Renault in 2012, and scored a couple more wins.

A return to Ferrari promised much but delivered little, and another win remained elusive, until he finally returned to the top step of the podium in Austin, in 2018, before he spent another three years with Sauber.

1. Lewis Hamilton (19 years, 4 days)

Lewis Hamilton already had the record – courtesy of his triumphs in Britain and Belgium in 2024 – but his emotional first win in red at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix extends his winning spell, having first climbed atop the podium for McLaren in Canada in 2007.

During that time there have been 381 Grands Prix, with Hamilton winning 106 of them: 21 for McLaren, 84 for Mercedes, and now one for Ferrari.