Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the longest finishing streak in Formula 1. Here are the drivers who’ve had the longest finishing streaks in Formula 1 history!
48 races: Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the longest finishing streak in Formula 1. His streak began with his second place finish at the 2018 British Grand Prix. He went on to finish all of the next 47 races, setting a new record with his 34th consecutive finish at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s streak came to an end with his victory at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix. He was forced to miss the next race, the Sakhir Grand Prix, after testing positive for coronavirus. Of races which he actually started, Hamilton’s finishing streak did not come to an end until the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix – the race before he had a race-ending collision with Max Verstappen at Monza.
43 races: Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen became the sixth Formula 1 driver to have finished 30 consecutive races at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix and became only the second to reach 40 consecutive finishes at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s 43-race finishing streak started at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – one race after he recorded a mechanical DNF at the 2022 Australian Grand Prix. His streak ended at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, two years after he last recorded a DNF. He retired from the lead on the third lap of the Albert Park race with a brake failure.
Impressively, Verstappen’s 43-race finishing streak included only eight races which he failed to win – and only four at which he did not finished on the podium. Of the podium finishes during this finishing streak, only third place at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix was a finish outside of the top two.
34 races: Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo had a 34-race finishing streak between the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix and the 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix. Ricciardo’s streak encompassed his final races with Renault and his first races with McLaren. It included his two Renault podiums – at the Nurburgring and Imola – and his McLaren win at the Italian Grand Prix. Ricciardo’s streak ended at the 2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where he retired 50 laps into the race with a loss of power.
33 races: Nick Heidfeld
Nick Heidfeld held the record for the longest finishing streak in F1 for over 11 years. Heidfeld took the record from Michael Schumacher at the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix; Schumacher’s previous record being 24 consecutive finishes between 2001 and 2003. Heidfeld’s streak ultimately ended at what was then an unprecedented 33 races. His new record was not broken until the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.
Racing with BMW Sauber at all 33 races, the streak started at the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix and ended at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix. He retired from the next race, the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix, in a collision with Adrian Sutil.
33 races: Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton makes the top five in this list not once, but twice! In addition to his record breaking run, Hamilton finished every race between the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix and the 2018 French Grand Prix. That streak ended with Mercedes’ double DNF at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix.
Incredibly, between the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix (the race before this streak started) and the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, Hamilton failed to reach the chequered flag at only one race: the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix.
31 races: Carlos Sainz
With second place at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz crossed the finish line for the 30th consecutive race, equalling Kimi Raikkonen for the fifth longest finishing streak in F1. The Ferrari driver finished on every appearance in his maiden season with Ferrari.
Sainz recorded his first retirement with the team at the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, ending a 31-race streak of finishes. His previous retirement came at the 2020 Russian Grand Prix, where he crashed out on the opening lap.
30 races: Kimi Raikkonen
Kimi Raikkonen became the second driver to reach 30 consecutive finishes at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix. That was where his streak would end, as he retired from the next race, the Belgian Grand Prix, with brake issues.
The Finn’s streak began on his return to Formula 1 with Lotus at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix. It included two victories for the Enstone team, with wins at the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the 2013 Australian Grand Prix.
This article was originally published in March 2022 and has since been updated.
