Has a driver from the US ever won a Formula 1 race or an F1 championship?
While 58 drivers from the United States have competed in the Formula One World Championship, only two have become World Drivers’ Championship winners.
The United States of America and Formula One should, theoritcally, be made for each other, but relations between the two have been minimal over the past three decades.
Aside from Alexander Rossi in 2015, who was only limited to five starts in an F1 car, Scott Speed was the most recent F1 driver from the U.S. He competed in numerous disciplines, including open-wheel, stock car, and rallycross racing back in 2006-07.
Speed’s time in F1 didn’t last long either, and he failed to score a single point from his 28 starts with Toro Rosso.
Prior to Speed, America’s previous entrant was in 1993. Michael Andretti, son of Mario, entered Formula 1 with significant fanfare after having won the IndyCar title two years before.
Related: Who was the last F1 driver from the US before Logan Sargeant?
But neither did he, or any of the other aforementioned American drivers made it anywhere near the top.
Has an American ever won a F1 race?
Way before that however, in 1961 and 1978, Phil Hill and Mario Andretti won the drivers’ title, and those were the only two times the United States won the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship.
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.
Hill is the only American born Formula One champion. He won with Ferrari in 1961 at the Italian Grand Prix, 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.
No other American has won the F1 championship since Hill and Andretti’s victories.
U.S.A. is currently back on the map though as Logan Sargeant is the first full-time American driver in Formula 1 since 2007. And with F1 growing its TV audience in the States, there’s a lot of excitement around the sport and Sargeant’s presence.