Nobody wants to be out in Q1 on Saturday. Since the knockout qualifying system was first introduced in 2006, there have been seven drivers who have recorded 50 or more Q1 eliminations. We take a look at who has the most Q1 exits in Formula 1!
74 – Kevin Magnussen
Kevin Magnussen took first place on the list of drivers with the most Q1 exits at the 2024 British Grand Prix, when he became the first driver to reach 72 Q1 eliminations.
Magnussen became the sixth driver to reach 50 Q1 exits at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix and became the third to reach 60 Q1 exits at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix.
Of the drivers who have had 50 or more Q1 exits, Magnussen is the driver to have reached Q3 on the most occasions. The current Haas driver has had a wide range of machinery at his disposal over his career, from podium-contending cars, to midfield runners and back-marking machines.
The Dane is one of only two drivers – along with former Haas team-mate Romain Grosjean – who has recorded over 40 Q1 exits, over 40 Q2 eliminations and over 40 Q3 appearances over the course of their career.
71 – Marcus Ericsson
Marcus Ericsson previously held the record for most Q1 exits in Formula 1. The Swedish driver was eliminated in the first part of qualifying on 71 occasions. In a career that spanned 97 races and five seasons, from 2014 to 2018, Ericsson made it out of Q1 26 times.
In his first season in F1, with Caterham, Ericsson never made it out of Q1. He joined Sauber at the start of 2015 and was once again eliminated in Q1 at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. He reached Q3 at the next two races but went on to record another eight Q1 exits that year.
The next two and a half seasons featured more Q1 and Q2 exits, including a run of 25 consecutive Q1 exits between the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix and the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix. In the final 6 races of his F1 career, Ericsson reached Q3 three times.
71 – Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll is one of two current drivers to have had more than 50 Q1 exits in Formula 1. He recorded his 71st Q1 exit at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, equalling Marcus Ericsson for second place in the all
From his 144 appearances ahead of the 2024 season, Stroll was eliminated on 47% of his F1 appearances. Stroll’s longest run of Q1 exits came between the 2018 United States Grand Prix and the 2019 British Grand Prix, when he was out in the first stage of qualifying at 14 successive events.
59 – Timo Glock
From 91 appearances when the knockout qualifying system was in place, Timo Glock recorded 59 Q1 exits and currently sits fourth in the list of most Q1 exits in Formula 1. All but three of those were recorded during his time with the Virgin/Marussia team between 2010 and 2012. In that period, he made it out of Q1 only twice, at the rain-hit qualifying sessions for the 2010 Malaysian and Belgian Grands Prix.
Prior to joining the backmarker team, Glock had been eliminated in Q1 only three times during his time at Toyota. He failed to reach Q2 on three occasions in 2009: at the Monaco, German and Italian Grands Prix.
55 – Adrian Sutil
Adrian Sutil was eliminated in the first stage of qualifying on 55 of his 128 Formula 1 appearances. Making his debut with Spyker in 2007, Sutil failed to reach Q2 on any of his first 40 F1 appearances. He recorded a further four Q1 exits in the second half of the 2009 season, but Q1 eliminations became a rarity for the German in 2010 and 2011.
After a year out in 2012, Sutil returned to F1 for a two year stint in 2013 and 2014. During that period, he added a further six Q1 exits to his tally.
55 – Heikki Kovalainen
Almost half of Heikki Kovalainen’s 112 Formula 1 appearances resulted in Q1 knockouts. The Finn began his career at Renault in 2007, recording two Q1 exits in his maiden season. In the following two seasons with McLaren, Kovalainen was knocked out in Q1 a further two times.
Kovalainen’s Q1 exit rate took a steep increase when he joined Team Lotus for the 2010 campaign. Over the next 58 races, there were only seven occasions on which he was not out in Q1. Kovalainen returned to the cockpit to deputise for Kimi Raikkonen for two races at the end of the 2013 season. He reached Q3 at the 2013 United States Grand Prix and was out in Q2 on his last F1 outing.
55 – Nicholas Latifi
Nicholas Latifi reached 50 Q1 exits in record time. He did so on his 56th qualifying appearance, at the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix. He reached 55 Q1 exits on his final appearance with Williams at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, coincidentally reaching the milestone at the same race as Kevin Magnussen.
There were just six occasions on which the Canadian was not eliminated in Q1 – once in 2020, four times in 2021 and once in 2022. The last time Latifi was not out in Q1 was in wet conditions at the 2022 British Grand Prix, when he reached Q3 for the first and only time in his F1 career.
How many drivers never made it out of Q1?
Since the knockout qualifying system was introduced in 2006, there are 17 drivers who have been eliminated in Q1 on every appearance. The list does not include any drivers on the current grid.
The drivers who never made it out of Q1 are: Alexander Rossi, André Lotterer, Charles Pic, Franck Montagny, Jack Aitken, Karun Chandhok, Luca Badoer, Lucas di Grassi, Markus Winkelhock, Narain Karthikeyan, Nikita Mazepin, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rio Haryanto, Roberto Mehri, Sakon Yamamoto, Will Stevens and Yuji Ide.
Of the drivers who never made it out of Q1, Charles Pic made the most appearances without ever progressing to Q2. He made 39 qualifying appearances in total.
This article was originally published in June 2022 and has since been updated.
