F1 Champions Who Also Won the Indianapolis 500

Winning an F1 World Championship is one of the toughest achievements in motorsport, but winning the Indianapolis 500 is a completely different challenge. Throughout history, many of the sport’s greatest drivers have struggled at Indianapolis, where 500 miles of flat-out racing demand speed, precision, and a little luck.

Even drivers like Nigel Mansell, famous for pushing to the limit every time he got behind the wheel, never managed to win the race. So, which F1 champions who also won the Indianapolis 500 earned their place in history? Here are the five drivers who conquered both worlds.

F1 Champions who won at Indy 500

Very few drivers have managed to master both disciplines; throughout history, only a handful of F1 world champions have added victory at the Indianapolis 500 to their careers, proving they could adapt to almost anything placed in front of them.

Jim Clark Changed Indianapolis Forever

When Jim Clark arrived at the Indianapolis in 1965; many American racing fans still believed European cars were too small to compete against the powerful front engined roadsters that had dominated the event for decades, but Jim Clark completely changed that perception.

Driving the revolutionary Lotus 38, designed by Colin Chapman and powered by a Ford V8; the Scotsman produced one of the most dominant performances the race has ever seen.

He led an astonishing 190 of the 200 laps and crossed the finish line almost two minutes ahead of the second place driver while averaging more than 150 mph, a remarkable figure for the era.

His victory represented far more than another race win; it marked the moment Indianapolis entered a new technological age.

The Lotus 38 became the first rear-engined car to win the Indiapolis 500; effectively ending the reign of traditional front-engined machines, within only a few seasons, nearly every competitive Indy car had adopted the same layout, forever changing the sport.

Clark also benefited from one of the smartest tactical moves ever seen at Indianapolis, Ford recruited the legendary Wood Brothers NASCAR pit crew to service the Lotus; their lightning-fast refueling stops, capable of pumping around 50 gallons of fuel in less than twenty seconds, gave Clark valuable time every time he visited pit lane.

Perhaps the most remarkable achievement came later that season; Clark went on to secure his 1965 F1 title, making him the only driver in history to win both Indianapolis 500 and F1 title during the same calendar year.

More than sixty years later, it remains one of motorsport’s greatest seasons.

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Graham Hill Became a Rookie Winner and Completed History

Just one year after Clark’s breakthrough; another F1 champion followed him into Indianapolis folklore.

Graham Hill entered the 1966 Indianapolis 500 with remarkably little oval racing experience; in fact, it was his very first attempt at the event.

Despite being a rookie, he kept his composure during one of the most chaotic races in Indy history; eleven cars crashed on the opening lap, yet Hill survived the early carnage before steadily working his way to the front in his Lola T90-Ford.

Hill won the race; but not everyone agreed with the result, Jim Clark and the Lotus team believed a scoring error had denied them victory, officials carefully reviewed the lap charts before confirming Hill as the official winner by just over forty-one seconds.

Although the controversy continued for years, the result stood, Hill became the first rookie to win the Indianapolis since 1913.

His victory would later become one of the defining moments of an extraordinary career, combined with his Monaco GP successes and his victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972, Hill completed motorsport’s elusive Triple Crown, even today, he remains the only driver ever to officially achieve that unique combination of victories.

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Mario Andretti Finally Earned His Indianapolis Glory

Few names are more closely associated with American motorsport than Mario Andretti, yet his only Indianapolis 500 victory came in dramatic circumstances during 1969.

Earlier that month, Andretti with his experimental Lotus 64 crashed heavily during practice, his primary car was destroyed, forcing him to rely on an older backup Hawk chassis.

The substitute car was hardly perfect, reports suggest, it developed overheating problems throughout the race, but Andretti carefully managed the situation while producing an outstanding drive.

He led 116 laps before finally taking the checkered flag and securing the victory that had long eluded him, and this triumph became the beginning of one of racing’s most famous stories.

He won the Indianapolis 500, no member of the Andretti family has managed to repeat the achievement since.

Sons Michael and Jeff both came close; while grandson Marco also challenged for victory, but Andretti’s only win continues to be discussed every May.

The story didn’t end there, unlike almost any other driver in history, he won the Indianapolis 500, captured the Daytona 500 in NASCAR, and became F1 champion in 1978.

Emerson Fittipaldi Bridged Two Racing Worlds

By the late 1980s, Emerson Fittipaldi, had already established himself as a F1 legend with two World Championships.

Instead of retiring after F1; he chose a new challenge in American open-wheel racing, the decision paid off spectacularly.

His first Indianapolis 500 victory arrived in 1989 after a thrilling late-race battle with Al Unser Jr.

As the pair fought for the lead with only a handful of laps remaining; contract sent Unser into the wall, allowing Fittipaldi to claim his first victory at the Brickyard.

The win was historic for another reason; Fittipaldi became the first driver in motorsport history to earn a race prize exceeding one million dollars from a single event, highlighting the growing prestige and financial rewards of the Indianapolis 500.

Four years later he returned to Victory Lane driving for Team Penske after overtaking fellow F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell during the closing stages.

Jacques Villeneuve Produced One of the Greatest Comebacks Ever Seen

The final F1 champion on this list may have delivered the most dramatic Indianapolis victory of them all.

In 1995; Villeneuve appeared to throw away his chances when he accidentally passed the pace car during a caution period.

Race official responded with a severe two-lap penalty.

For most drivers; that would have ended any realistic hope of winning, Villeneuve refused to give up.

Over the next 150 laps, he drove relentlessly through the field, recovering the lost distance and effectively covering the equivalent of roughly 505 racing miles in what was officially a 500-mile event.

His comeback alone would have been memorable, but the closing laps introduced even more drama.

Scott Goodyear led the race during a late restart but illegally accelerated before the green flag, officials displayed the black flag, instructing him to serve a penalty, when Goodyear ignored the order, race control stopped counting his laps, allowing Villeneuve to inherit the lead and ultimately the victory.

At just 24 years old; Villeneuve became the first Canadian to win the Indianapolis 500, the triumph launched him onto F1’s stage, where he won the F1 title with Williams two years later in 1997, in the final race of the season.

His Indianapolis performance remains one of the greatest recovery drives ever witnessed at the famous speedway.

A Rare Group of Motorsport Legends

Only five F1 champions have stood in Victory Lane after winning the Indianapolis 500, each arrived from a different era, each faced different challenges, and each left behind a unique story, but we hope, we will update the story in a near future if another F1 champions wins it.

FEATURED IMAGE CREDITS: Photo by Paultaylorz7tay7, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons