The top 10 most unwanted records in Formula 1

Formula 1

The top 10 most unwanted records in Formula 1

GPFans counts down the records no team or driver is proud of

GPFans Staff

Thursday 25 February 2021 08:06

5. Most grands prix before first win

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At the Sakhir GP last year, Perez took to the top of the podium for the first time to finally taste success at the 191st attempt, but with it also came this unwanted record.

In his 10th season in the sport and after aware he was leaving Racing Point at the end of the year, Perez capitalised on Mercedes' problems to bag an unlikely win.

The previous record-holder was Mark Webber, who had waited 130 races to taste the victory champagne at the 2009 German Grand Prix.

4. Most grands prix without a podium

Nico Hülkenberg en route to fourth in the 2016 Belgian GP

Nico Hülkenberg's career is one of those that should have yielded so much more than it ultimately did.

Hülkenberg enjoyed a stellar junior career, winning titles with A1GP, Formula 3 Euroseries and GP2, but for whatever reason, he fell just short in F1 across his 181 races with Williams, Force India, Sauber, Renault and Racing Point.

The fact he failed to claim a single podium is an astonishing feat given his talent, and he certainly had his opportunities, only to spurn them all, with his best result a fourth on three occasions.

Could Hülkenberg make another cameo appearance this season, as was the case on two occasions with Racing Point last term, and finally get this monkey off his back?

3. Most grands prix without a point

Luca Badoer failed to score a point in 50 races, including two with Ferrari

Luca Badoer is the driver to fall short in this category, competing in 50 races with Lola, Forti and Minardi, and even Ferrari, but without a point to his name.

The two races for the Scuderia were 10 years after he had last driven in F1, stepping in for the European and Belgian GPs in 2009 from his role as test and reserve driver and following the horrific injury sustained to Felipe Massa in Hungary.

They arguably represented his best opportunities of breaking his duck at a time when the top eight drivers scored points, but he could only manage 17th and 14th.

2. Most grands prix without a win [driver]

Andrea de Cesaris suffers a spectacular engine failure during his ill-fated 1987 season with Brabham

Was Andrea de Cesaris unlucky, a bad driver, a combination of the two? Whatever you think of the Italian, he holds his place in the record books for starting an astonishing 208 races without winning.

De Cesaris drove for Alfa Romeo, McLaren, Ligier, Minardi, Brabham, Rial, Dallara, Jordan, Tyrrell and Sauber, and throughout that time was involved in 147 retirements, including another record of 18 in a row across 1985 and 1986.

His 12 successive DNFs in a single season in 1987 while with Brabham is another record, along with the 14 overall that year across a 16-race campaign. Remarkably, he finished third in Belgium, one of only five podiums to his name.

1. Most grands prix without a win [team]

Damon Hill celebrates his second place on the podium at the 1997 Hungarian GP which it was oh so close to Arrows' first victory

It is arguably one of those records that is also unlikely to be beaten as Arrows started 382 grands prix during their 25 seasons in F1, from 1978 to 2002, and not once did they win a race.

A host of renowned names drove for the Milton Keynes-based team, including Riccardo Patrese, Gerhard Berger, Michele Alboreto, Jos Verstappen and Damon Hill.

Hill secured the last of Arrows' five second-place finishes in the 1997 Hungarian GP, but it was ultimately a heartbreaking result.

The 1996 world champion had led for most of the race, only to suffer a hydraulic failure on the final lap that allowed former Williams team-mate Jacques Villeneuve to pass him late on.