In the fourth round of the F1’s popular Grill the Grid segment, the drivers were asked to arrange 16 Grand Prix winners. The current grid was supposed to put the drivers in the order of fewest to most races taken to win their first. This memory and F1 knowledge game was a tough task. However, Lewis Hamilton’s position in the order made everyone’s lives easier.
Everyone instantly put the Brit’s name on the top of the list. Hamilton has had the most incredible start to a season by a rookie in modern history. The then 22-year-old finished on the podium in each of his first nine races in the sport.
However, it only took him six races to record his first Grand Prix victory in F1. Although, someone did it faster than the seven-time world champion. That would be the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio. It took the five-time champion only two races to record his first win in the premier class.
Lewis Hamilton has 7 wins in Canada. His first was in 2007 and was his first ever win in F1! After multiple safety car restarts, Lewis secured the first of many wins in his career. #F1 #CanadianGP #LewisHamilton #TeamLH pic.twitter.com/kLBvdOrYK7
— James | 105 WINS! (@James_UK7) June 3, 2024
Interestingly, almost the entire grid got it wrong in the Grill the Grid activity. Perhaps a history lesson will serve the current drivers right. Regardless, here are all of the 16 past and present race winners that the drivers had to arrange.
The correct order of Grand Prix winners and the number of races they took for their maiden win
After the Fangio revelation, it’s evident Hamilton was second on the list with six races with Fangio just ahead of him with two. Next is another South American legend of the sport — Ayrton Senna — who took 16 races to win his first. Behind him in fourth is the only other seven-time champion, Michael Schumacher, with the German needing 18 races.
It took his countryman and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel four more races to win his first with his tally at 22. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen took two more races than Vettel to win his first.
Then comes Fernando Alonso at 29 closely followed by Charles Leclerc at 34. After Leclerc, there’s a considerable gap as the next on the list is Pierre Gasly who needed 55 races to win his first and only race.
It took Daniel Ricciardo two more than Gasly to record his first with his tally at 57. Then there is Esteban Ocon who needed 78 to record his first win.
By fate, the next two are Valtteri Bottas and the man who replaced him at Mercedes — George Russell with 81 races. The last three are Jenson Button, Carlos Sainz, and Sergio Perez. They took 113, 150, and 190 races respectively to stand on the top step of the podium.
