Max Verstappen added one other legendary drive to his CV ultimately weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix when the reigning four-time World Champion rose from the pits to the rostrum. However who else has impressed with standout pit lane showings over time? F1.com picks out a number of examples…
Alain Prost, South Africa 1984 – P2
Early on in what would develop into a detailed combat for the 1984 title between McLaren staff mates Niki Lauda and Alain Prost, the South African Grand Prix yielded the squad’s first 1-2 end of the season by way of a major dose of drama.
After qualifying fifth, Prost’s automobile couldn’t be fired up as a consequence of technical bother and meant he was pressured to begin from the pits within the spare, which might have gone to Lauda had it not been for a delay introduced on by a rival crashing closely within the warm-up (which allowed mechanics to repair the Austrian’s personal engine woes).
When the race ultimately acquired below method, Lauda cycled to the entrance of the pack from P8 on the grid and cruised to victory by greater than a minute, however it was pit lane starter Prost who impressively emerged because the runner-up with a tenacious drive.
Nigel Mansell, France 1989 – P2
Just a few years later, Prost and new McLaren staff mate Ayrton Senna had simply led the way in which into the primary nook of the French Grand Prix when Leyton Home driver Mauricio Gugelmin steamrolled Williams’ Thierry Boutsen and Ferrari pair Gerhard Berger and Nigel Mansell.
Mansell took the restart from the pit lane and set about making up misplaced floor, utilizing Paul Ricard’s lengthy straights and combination of braking zones to select off loads of vehicles, whereas additionally benefitting from numerous retirements – together with for
Senna and staff mate Berger.
Mansell finally took the chequered flag in second place, 44 seconds behind winner Prost, marking a superb technique to bounce again after he had been disqualified from the earlier race in Canada as a consequence of a begin process breach.
Kimi Raikkonen, Australia 2003 – P3
It was a difficult begin to the 2003 season-opening Australian Grand Prix for Kimi Raikkonen, who crashed closely in apply, misplaced precious observe time in consequence, and was subsequently pressured to make use of the spare McLaren automobile in Qualifying, which he ended again in fifteenth place.
Nevertheless, with heavy rain arriving earlier than the race, and the beginning going down in combined situations, McLaren stuffed Raikkonen’s automobile with gasoline and began him from the pit lane, resulting in one of many Finn’s best F1 drives.
Making overtake after overtake, Raikkonen quickly discovered himself main the race, which he might need transformed into the win with out a drive-through penalty for dashing within the pit lane by simply 1 km/h. In the long run, he needed to accept a nonetheless very respectable third.
Michael Schumacher, Monaco 2006 – P5
Michael Schumacher sparked controversy on the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix when he got here to a halt on the Rascasse nook within the closing moments of Qualifying, stopping championship rival Alonso from finishing a closing effort and overhauling him for pole place.
Whereas Schumacher insisted it was a real mistake, many within the paddock questioned the transfer. When the stewards seemed into the matter, the German’s lap occasions have been deleted and he was pressured to begin from the again, which then turned the pit lane.
With that drama behind him, Schumacher targeted on what could be a difficult restoration drive round Monte Carlo’s tight, twisty streets, however the seven-time World Champion this time confirmed his greatest aspect to climb to fifth and salvage a few precious factors.
Markus Winkelhock, Europe 2007 – DNF
Markus Winkelhock solely made one begin as an F1 driver, however he nonetheless managed to depart his mark on the game – the German racer brilliantly going from final to first within the opening minutes of a dramatic, rain-hit 2007 European Grand Prix across the Nurburgring.
Given the specter of a downpour, and having certified nearly a second-and-a-half slower than Spyker staff mate Adrian Sutil, Winkelhock peeled into the pit lane on the finish of the formation lap to bolt on moist tyres, whereas the remainder of the sector lined up on the grid.
It proved to be a masterstroke when the rain arrived and despatched slick-shod vehicles sliding off the observe, with Winkelhock driving via all of it to take the lead earlier than purple flags have been thrown. Whereas he misplaced the lead on the restart and later retired as a consequence of a hydraulics challenge, it was a memorable backmarker show.
Jarno Trulli, Australia 2009 – P3
All-new rules led to a pecking order shake-up in 2009, with Brawn GP rising because the shock bundle following Honda’s withdrawal from F1 and a number of different groups scrapping to be the ‘better of the remaining’ behind them.
Toyota have been a kind of outfits, however Jarno Trulli and staff mate Timo Glock suffered an early setback once they have been excluded from Qualifying on the Australian Grand Prix opener as a consequence of rear wing breaches – turning their P8 and P6 grid slots into pit lane begins.
Each drivers got here again preventing on race day, although, overtaking loads of rivals and benefitting from a number of incidents – which included a late conflict between BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica and Purple Bull’s Sebastian Vettel – to achieve the top-five locations.
Trulli, who had crossed the road third, was initially hit with a penalty for passing Lewis Hamilton below a Security Automotive, just for that call to be reversed when it was deemed the McLaren man had misled the stewards post-race.
Lewis Hamilton, Hungary 2014 – P3
Hamilton was locked in a fierce title combat with Mercedes staff mate Nico Rosberg halfway via the 2014 season, and his efforts have been dealt a blow when his automobile caught fireplace in Qualifying on the Hungaroring earlier than he had an opportunity to put up a lap time.
That meant a pit lane begin for the Briton, who then spun into the Flip 2 limitations on the primary lap with chilly tyres and brakes, damaging his entrance wing and leaving him with an excellent greater injury limitation train for the remainder of the afternoon.
An incident-filled race flipped the script as soon as extra, nevertheless, with Rosberg notably harm by the timing of an early Security Automotive, serving to Hamilton (on an alternate technique) to shut in and slot forward – by way of some staff orders drama and tense wheel-to-wheel moments.
Esteban Ocon, Hungary 2021 – P1
Hungary was the scene of one other chaotic race in 2021, beginning when Valtteri Bottas triggered a multi-car crash at Flip 1 in moist situations, together with extra wheel-banging additional down the order – leaving Race Management with no choice however to purple flag proceedings.
A weird sight adopted on the restart when Hamilton was the one driver to line up on the grid on intermediate tyres, whereas the remaining drivers pitted to suit slicks, amongst them Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who had began eighth and brought benefit of the first-lap incidents.
Ocon discovered himself in P1 when Hamilton boxed for slicks, a lead the Frenchman wouldn’t relinquish because the race developed – regardless of sustained stress from Aston Martin man Vettel (who was later disqualified over a gasoline pattern breach).
Sebastian Vettel, Abu Dhabi 2012 – P3
In direction of the top of a extremely aggressive 2012 season, which noticed seven completely different drivers take victory on the first seven rounds, Vettel put himself accountable for the championship battle with an imperious run of 4 successive wins.
Nevertheless, with simply three rounds to go in Abu Dhabi, the German was dramatically excluded from Qualifying when officers have been unable to take a gasoline pattern from his Purple Bull post-session, forcing him to begin from the pit lane whereas title rival Fernando Alonso lined up sixth.
The motion didn’t cease on race day, with Vettel choosing up entrance wing injury early on however recovering to tug off a collection of overtakes and cost via the sector – the final being a daring transfer on Jenson Button to achieve the rostrum.
Max Verstappen, Brazil 2025 – P3
Verstappen wowed the rain-soaked crowds at Interlagos in 2024 when he by some means turned seventeenth on the grid into victory – the Dutchman crusing previous his rivals in torrential situations and ending nearly 20 seconds away from second place.
Quick ahead 12 months and, after a dreadful Qualifying session that noticed him drop out in Q1 for the primary time for the reason that 2021 season, he was pressured into one other comeback drive, albeit this time with out the ‘assist’ of any moist climate.
With a brand new energy unit behind his Purple Bull, which additionally underwent some set-up modifications, Verstappen placed on one other cost for the ages that turned a pit lane begin right into a scarcely plausible third, even after an early puncture.
