F1
Has a driver from the US ever won a Formula 1 race or an F1 championship?
To date, a total of 58 drivers from the United States have competed in the Formula One World Championship, but how many have become World Drivers’ Championship winners?
You would think that Formula One and the United States would be made for each other, but it is an event that Europe has generally dominated with the exception of South America. The US on the other hand has not enjoyed much success over the past three decades. To date, a total of 58 drivers from the United States have competed in the Formula One World Championship, registering 33 wins and 129 podiums.
North American drivers in F1
Apart from Alexander Rossi in 2015, who was only limited to just five starts in an F1 car, Scott Speed was the most recent F1 driver from the US. In 2005, became the first American driver to take part in a Formula One event since Michael Andretti in 1993. He competed in numerous disciplines, including open-wheel, stock car, and rallycross racing back in 2006-07.
Speed’s career in F1 didn’t last long either, and he failed to score a single point from his 28 starts with Toro Rosso before being released in July 2007.
Prior to Speed, America’s previous entrant was in 1993. Michael Andretti, the son of racing legend Mario, entered Formula 1 with significant fanfare after having won the IndyCar title two years before. But neither did he, or any of the other aforementioned American drivers made it anywhere near the top.
Has an American-born driver ever won a F1 race?
Only two North American drivers have won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship - Phil Hill in 1961 and Mario Andretti in 1978. And only one of them was actually born in the States.
Andretti is considered the most successful Formula One American driver, even though he did not leave his native Italy until the age of 15. He raced in IndyCars from 1964 and then started commuting to Europe to make appearances in Formula One races from 1968. Between his debut with Lotus at the 1968 Italian Grand Prix and the conclusion of the 1974 season, Andretti started 21 of the 84 races, driving for four teams. He had his first win during his first race with Ferrari – the 1971 South African Grand Prix. In 1976, he won four more times, including a win at the Japanese Grand Prix. A year later, the Italian won six races and the drivers’ title with the decisive victory coming at the 1978 Italian Grand Prix. He retired from Formula One in 1981 but returned to Ferrari for the final two races of 1982. Out of 128 F1 race starts Andretti made the podium 19 times, 12 of which were on the top step.
Phil Hill is the only American born Formula One champion. He won with Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix in July 1961, securing the drivers’ title. Unfortunately, his victory wasn’t fully celebrated as it coincided with the worst tragedy in Formula One history, the death of his teammate and close rival Wolfgang von Trips, which also killed 15 spectators. Three years earlier, in 1958, he became the first American to win the 24 hours of Le Mans.
Hopes on Sargeant
No other American has won the F1 championship since Hill and Andretti’s victories.
The United States is currently back on the map though as Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant is the first full-time American driver in Formula 1 since 2007. Sargeant entered the Williams Driver Academy in October 2021. Ahead of this weekend’s Miami GP, he holds 21st position in the F1 drivers’ standings, one of six drivers on zero points.
However, with F1 expanding its TV audience in the States, there’s a lot of excitement around the sport and Sargeant’s presence.