Canadian Grand Prix

Hamilton made 'iconic' Canada top-three claim – but other F1 podiums may be even BETTER

A total of 11 drivers' championships were on the top step at the Canadian Grand Prix

Jim Kimberley

Tuesday 20 June 2023 12:57

Lewis Hamilton rightly highlighted the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix's podium finishers as 'an iconic top three' after he stood next to fellow world champions Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso to collect his silverware.

In the post-race press conference, the seven-time champion explained: "It's a privilege to be up here fighting these two who've done incredible in their careers. "And this is quite an iconic top three – I don't know if there's been a top three like this ever before. I don't believe there has."

With a combined 11 world drivers' championships between the trio, it's a valid statement from Hamilton, with all three racers considered some of the best talents F1 has seen in its history.

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However, there are many more all-champion rostrums in the sport's long history, so to answer whether there has been a more iconic top three may come down to people's personal preferences.

Enter Sebastian Vettel

For example, Hamilton and Alonso have also shared many podium trips with Sebastian Vettel through the years.

Cast your mind back to the first grand prix at the now-familiar home of American F1 racing, the Circuit of the Americas, and you'll recall a 2012 Hamilton-Vettel-Alonso podium complete with Pirelli cowboy hats.

Should you instead prefer Vettel over Alonso, you can find the most recent Hamilton-Verstappen-Vettel podium in Hungary 2019, although the three shared many more.

Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton alone have 11 world championships between them

Raikkonen's final F1 win at the 2018 USGP saw him flanked by Verstappen and Hamilton, which, to some, might be more iconic should they find the Iceman one of F1's more iconic drivers.

Kimi also featured in another driver's last hoorah when he and race winner Alonso joined Michael Schumacher for the German's final podium trip at the 2012 European GP in Valencia.

Don't forget the legendary names from the past

Removing any bias for recent championship winners and looking further back at rostrums filled with some of the sport's undisputed greats, you'll find the 1993 Spanish GP, the third F1 race held at the Circuit de Catalunya as it was known back then.

Alain Prost led Damon Hill for much of the event ahead of Ayrton Senna, but these weren't to be the ones who reached the podium as Hill suffered an engine failure that allowed Schumacher to inherit the podium position.

The driving stars from the 1980s (from left) Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet

A Prost-Senna-Schumacher podium is arguably as iconic a top three as Canada's Verstappen-Alonso-Hamilton occurrence, but perhaps time will pip 2023's all-star line-up as the one to beat should any or all of the three snatch more titles.

It's worth noting that Schumacher hadn't won a championship at that point in his early career when he stood alongside the two drivers whose records he'd eventually eviscerate.

One year later, a few races before steering his way to his first crown, the German legend took to the podium with a pair of drivers who would later become champions, too – Damon Hill and Mika Hakkinen at the Jerez round of the 1994 championship; a real 'icons of the 90s' top-three finish. The trio were again on the rostrum when Hill claimed his world title at the Japanese Grand Prix in 1996.

Prost and Senna shared a whole bunch of podiums, and on seven occasions they did so with Nigel Mansell, a massive name in motorsport, despite his solitary F1 title.

Michael Schumacher's duels with Alonso in the mid-2000s are a legendary chapter in F1

Yet, as with the Schumacher sharing, the three never stood atop the steps with each driver as a champion.

But maybe Canada 2023 carried a fourth star?

Snapping back to the present, though, and answering Hamilton's unsure statement of "I don't know if there's been a top three like this ever before," regarding the Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso podium.

Well, we can assure the Mercedes racer there has been – the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, featuring, erm, Verstappen, Hamilton, and Alonso...

However, one element did tip the scales for Canada to be the better of these two podiums. Red Bull and legendary designer Adrian Newey, another true hero of F1, joined the racers on the podium to make it a real one-of-a-kind, iconic moment.

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