At the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen became the ninth driver to record successive career wins at the same circuit. We take a look at the eight drivers who achieved the feat before him!
BILL VUKOVICH, Indianapolis, 1953 & 1954
Between 1950 and 1960, the Indianapolis 500 was a round of the World Championship. It was not run to Formula 1 regulations, and failed to attract regular Grand Prix stars to attend. From the eleven years which it was run as a round of the Drivers’ Championship, Bill Vukovich was the only back-to-back winner, winning the race in 1953 and 1954. Vukovich would be killed in the 1955 running of the event while chasing a third successive win at the brickyard.
JOSE FROILAN GONZALEZ, Silverstone, 1951 & 1954
José Froilán González was the second driver to record successive World Championship Grand Prix wins at the same circuit, doing so at Silverstone in 1951 and 1954. Those two wins were the only two of the Argentine driver’s F1 career. Both times, González won from the front row of the grid – winning the 1951 British Grand Prix from pole and the 1954 event from second.
MAURICE TRINTIGNANT, Monaco, 1955 & 1958
Like González, Maurice Trintignant recorded only two wins in his Formula 1 career – and both were at the same circuit. Trintignant took both of his victories in Monaco. His first was in 1955, behind the wheel of a Ferrari, and his second was in 1958, when driving for Cooper. The French driver recorded both of his F1 wins with a winning margin of 20.2 seconds. He won both races from quite far back on the grid – for Monaco at least – winning from fifth in 1955 and ninth in 1958.
DAN GURNEY, Rouen, 1962 & 1964
Dan Gurney recorded four race wins in his Formula 1 career – the first two of which were taken at the Rouen-Les-Essarts circuit in France. Gurney took his first win at the 1962 French Grand Prix, having started sixth on the grid. His win here was the only win for Porsche in Formula 1. Gurney switched to the Brabham team in 1963 and though podium finishes came his way, he would not win again until F1’s next visit to Rouen in 1964. Starting second on the grid, the American driver took victory with a margin of 24 seconds over Graham Hill.
JOHN SURTEES, Nurburgring 1963 & 1964
Ferrari’s John Surtees took successive career victories at the Nurburgring in the 1963 and 1964 German Grands Prix. The 1963 German Grand Prix was Surtees’ first win in Formula 1, while the 1964 race was his second victory. In the nine events between the two German races, the 1964 Dutch and British Grands Prix were the only races in which Surtees was classified.
RONNIE PETERSON, Monza 1974 & 1976
Ronnie Peterson took his seventh career victory at the Italian Grand Prix in 1974. The Swede won the race by less than a second, finishing ahead of the season’s eventual World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi. Peterson had a win-less year in 1975, and it would not be until the Monza race in 1976 that he would once again stand on the top step of the podium.
GERHARD BERGER, Hockenheim, 1994 & 1997
Gerhard Berger became the first driver to achieve this unusual feat in almost twenty years at the 1997 German Grand Prix. The Austrian took his ninth Grand Prix win at Hockenheim three years previously with Ferrari. Both times, Berger started the race from pole position.
His 1997 win was particularly impressive, given that it came after an absence of three races. Berger had been forced to miss part of the season through his own illness and the death of his father. The 1997 German Grand Prix would be the last win of Berger’s career. On the same weekend of his final win, he announced that he would retire at the end of the 1997 season.
LEWIS HAMILTON, Bahrain, 2020 & 2021
Lewis Hamilton recorded the final win of his seventh title-winning year at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix. A positive coronavirus test meant that he missed the Sakhir Grand Prix one week later at the same circuit. He returned to the cockpit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he finished third.
After hosting the penultimate two rounds of the 2020 season, the Bahrain Grand Prix was the opening round of the 2021 season. Hamilton won the season-opener after a tense battle with Max Verstappen – meaning that he took both his 95th and 96th career wins at Bahrain International Circuit.
MAX VERSTAPPEN, Red Bull Ring, 2021
Having won the Styrian Grand Prix one week previously, Max Verstappen became the first driver to win at the same circuit twice in a single season in 2021. Verstappen led from start to finish in both the Styrian and Austrian races. The two races at the Red Bull Ring formed the last two rounds in a triple header. With Verstappen also taking victory at the French Grand Prix, he became the first driver to win three Formula 1 races in the space of 15 days!
This article was originally published in March 2021 and has since been updated.