Credit: Martin Lee / Karting Nord / CC BY-SA 2.0 via FLICKR (Credit links at the end of the content)
The impossible wins in F1 highlight underdog drivers who seized victory out of nowhere. There are surely many more, but here we’ve collected some of the most remarkable and memorable examples from history.
Nowadays, it is rare to see an underdog fight all the way to the front and take victory. Yet it can still happen when chaos strikes on track, like Pierre Gasly’s stunning win at Monza or Esteban Ocon’s breakthrough at the Hungaroring. Still, these moments are far less frequent than in the past.
Impossible Wins in F1 – Unexpected Wins
Even in the rain, modern F1 is different. You rarely see a Ferrari or McLaren driver struggling and battling in the middle of the pack, the competition stays just as fierce as it would in dry conditions.
We believe the reason is that today’s drivers are better prepared, and the cars are highly competitive in both dry and wet conditions. Rain no longer creates the huge gaps it once did. While a Ferrari might challenge Mercedes or get close, outright domination from an underdog, like in the past, is much less likely.
However, today we will explore the impossible wins in F1. There are surely more, but we have selected the most remarkable ones to share with our fans.
1. Olivier Panis – Ligier F1 … Monaco 1996
The Stat: Only 3 cars finished the race; won from 14th on the grid.
Monaco in the rain turned into pure survival, Panis, starting from 14th, was nowhere near the conversation before lights out.
But as crashes and retirements stacked up, everything shifted… Ligier timed the switch to slick tires perfectly, and Panis made it count; even forcing his way past Eddie Irvine.
This was Olivier Panis’s maiden F1 victory, driving for Ligier in the team’s final year before withdrawing from the sport. It remains Ligier’s last win in Formula 1. Panis continued racing for several more seasons but never won again, making this one of the most memorable underdog triumphs in F1 history.
2. Esteban Ocon – Alpine; Hungary 2021
The Stat: First career win after starting 8th; led after a one-car restart.
The race changed in seconds when Valtteri Bottas triggered chaos at Turn 1.
Then came the surreal restart where only Lewis Hamilton remained on the grid with intermediate tires, everyone else went to the pit to change their tires, after the track started to dry.
Ocon took the lead that moment, and it became a test of control.
With Sebastian Vettel right behind him, the four-time world champion applied relentless pressure, staying on Ocon’s tail for the entire race.
What made the race even more remarkable was Lewis Hamilton’s recovery, he was nearly a top favorite to win in the final laps, running over a second faster than race leader Ocon.
The team called Fernando Alonso and instructed him to hold off Lewis Hamilton, ensuring that Ocon could secure the win. Alonso executed perfectly, defending wheel-to-wheel against the Mercedes driver for several laps. It was arguably one of the best defensive drives of the modern era, with Alonso giving everything to protect Ocon’s lead. Fans still go back and watch that breathtaking battle.
3. Giancarlo Fisichella: Jordan F1 Team in Brazil 2003
The Stat: Awarded the win days later after a red-flag timing reversal.
Interlagos was nearly undriveable that day, Michael Schumacher crashed, and many other drivers went off track at corner three during the Brazilian Grand Prix.
With just a few laps remaining, Mark Webber crashed spectacularly on the start-finish straight. Fernando Alonso, approaching at full speed and unaware of the incident, also crashed, which immediately brought out the red flag.
The race was stopped, and confusion ensued. Kimi Räikkönen was initially declared the winner, but the story was far from over. Even Giancarlo Fisichella, before the podium ceremony, was unsure if he had actually won, as he believed he had taken the lead before the red flag.
Days later, the result changed, Fisichella had already taken the lead before the red flag, and the trophy was handed over later by Kimi Raikkonen.
4. Johnny Herbert driving Stewart GP: Europe 1999
The Stat: Won from 14th in a race where multiple leaders retired.
The Nurburgring never settled that day; rain came and went, and every time it did, someone made a mistake.
Several race leaders lost the lead due to crashes or mechanical failures, and even David Coulthard crashed while leading, until Johnny Herbert emerged on top, staying clear of trouble.
When the right tire call came; it changed everything, in a race full of errors, his was one of the few that held together.
5. Sebastian Vettel Monza 2008 Toro Rosso
The Stat: Youngest winner at the time (21 years, 73 days); led 49 laps.
It was the day a legend was born and a weekend nobody expected. All eyes were on Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari drivers battling for the championship, but everything changed during Saturday’s qualifying at Monza.
Sebastian Vettel took a shock pole for Toro Rosso and never looked back.
Lap after lap, he stayed composed while others struggled in the spray; and to win with a Toro Rosso, a race that nobody expected.
The interesting fact is that Toro Rosso won before its parent team, Red Bull Racing. That victory was the moment Red Bull decided to promote Vettel to the first team, and from there, the rest is history, he went on to win four consecutive championships from 2010 to 2013.
6. Damon Hill Jordan F1 first win – Belgium 1998
The Stat: Jordan’s first-ever F1 win after a 13-car first-lap crash.
That was one of the most chaotic starts in F1 history, but the drama did not end there. The crash between Schumacher and Coulthard added to the chaos, Schumacher, who had continued the fight in the pit lane, argued that Coulthard had stayed on the racing line when Schumacher attempted to lap him, a misjudgment that caused the collision and ended Schumacher’s race.
What happened next shocked everyone: both Jordan cars were running at the front, with Damon Hill leading and Ralf Schumacher close behind, occasionally lapping three seconds faster than Hill. Later came the iconic radio message, when Hill told the team to hold positions and not race each other for the win. He explained that if they fought, they could both end up out of the race, costing the Jordan team their first-ever victory, and this was their first real chance to win a Grand Prix.
Eddie Jordan personally instructed Ralf Schumacher to slow down and hold position, ensuring both cars finished and secured the team’s first-ever F1 victory. It was an unbelievable story, Eddie Jordan went from working in a bank to leading an F1 team to a historic one-two finish, a moment that remains legendary in the sport.
7. John Watson driving McLaren – Long Beach 1983
The Stat: Won from 22nd on the grid; the lowest starting position for a winner in F1 history.
We cannot say he was driving an underdog car, McLaren-Ford, but what makes it remarkable is that he recovered from the back, starting last, and won the race—especially with Niki Lauda as his teammate, which makes the achievement nearly impossible!
But when the lights went out; everything changed, their Michaelin tires came alive over race distance, while others began to struggle.
Even Niki Lauda was far back at the time, both cars started cutting through the field; until the impossible began to look real.
By the end of the race, it wasn’t just a comeback; it was domination in disguise…
Watson led Lauda home for a stunning 1-2 finish; completing a charge from the back that F1 has never truly seen again!
8. Pastor Maldonado Williams F1 Team – Spain 2012
The Stat: First and only F1 win; held off Alonso in final laps.
Everyone doubted Maldonado at the time. He was a difficult driver to deal with, too aggressive, and known for being involved in too many crashes throughout his career.
That season was already unusual, with eight different winners in the first eight races. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification handed pole position to Maldonado, but the real challenge was still ahead on Sunday, with Fernando Alonso starting right behind him.
Maldonado managed the race perfectly. The strategy gave him an edge over the Spanish driver, and in the final laps, he held his nerve under intense pressure. It remains the only win of Pastor Maldonado’s career, something nobody expected. It is also the last victory for Williams; more than 14 years later, the team still has not returned to the top step, despite once being a dominant force fighting for championships.
9. Pierre Gasly Alpha Tauri – Italy 2020
The Stat: Won by 0.415 seconds after a red-flag restart.
The race at Monza turned chaotic, it looked fairly normal at first, until the safety car came out and changed everything.
The safety car period was followed by a red flag, and Lewis Hamilton was handed a 10-second penalty. When the race restarted, he had to serve it, dropping him down the order, while Lance Stroll, who had been behind him, lost position to Pierre Gasly.
From there, Gasly led the race, keeping Carlos Sainz behind him all the way to the final laps. Sainz pushed hard and even radioed McLaren saying he wanted the win, but he just could not find a way past.
It was a completely unexpected victory for Gasly, and it remains the only win of the Frenchman’s career.
Similar to Vettel, he took his victory at the Monza Grand Prix while driving for Toro Rosso, a team that was later renamed AlphaTauri for the 2020 season.
10. Jenson Button BAR-Honda win – Hungary 2006
The Stat: First win after 113 races; started 14th.
It was a chaotic race from the start. Fernando Alonso was far behind early on, but he began an unstoppable recovery, even passing Michael Schumacher around the outside, his direct rival for the championship. For a moment, it genuinely looked like Alonso was on his way to victory.
But after years of waiting, it was Jenson Button who finally had his moment. He had fought his way into Formula 1 from the lower categories, even earning his Williams seat in 2000 by outperforming Bruno Junqueira in a direct test shootout.
As one commentator famously said, many believed he would never win. Yet in tricky, mixed conditions at the Hungaroring, Button quietly carved his way through the field while others struggled. Starting from 14th, he capitalized on Alonso’s retirement, and this time, nothing slipped away, Jenson Button claimed his first Formula 1 victory.
11. Fernando Alonso at Renault – Hungary 2003
The Stat: Youngest winner at the time (22 years, 104 days).
He became the youngest race winner in Formula 1 at the time, and for many, it was completely unexpected that Fernando Alonso would be the man to eventually stop Michael Schumacher’s dominance in the sport.
Even after that breakthrough, Kimi Raikkonen still looked like the most likely challenger to Schumacher in the years ahead, but the story would unfold differently.
Alonso first shocked the paddock by taking pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2003 with Renault. What followed was even more remarkable, he controlled the race with confidence and even lapped Michael Schumacher. It truly felt like a turning point, the arrival of something new in Formula 1.
Just two years later, Alonso became the driver to beat. He won his first championship in 2005, ending Ferrari’s era of dominance, and then successfully defended his title in 2006.
FEATURED IMAGE CREDITS: Martin Lee / Karting Nord / CC BY-SA 2.0 via FLICKR
