The longest waits for a first win in F1 history - Perez, Sainz, Webber and more
- Sam Cooper
- 5 July 2022
Featuring current Red Bull and Ferrari drivers, Planet Sport takes a look at the longest barren runs before a first F1 victory.
The old adage goes that good things come to those who wait and, judging by some of the monster numbers on this list, some F1 drivers have had to wait a very long time to stand on the top step of the podium.
Following an absolute classic 2022 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, there is a brand new entry on this record sheet and relegates Jenson Button's 113-race win wait (some going to say he went on to become a World Champion!) to outside the top five. We're sure he is absolutely delighted about that.
Let Planet Sport guide you through the longest waits in Formula 1 history for that all-important, and often elusive, first victory.
Jarno Trulli (119th race) - 2004 Monaco GP
Picture the scene. You are a Formula 1 racing driver and a reporter asks you "If you could only win one race in your career, where would it be?"
The answer? Monaco.
As George Russell is today, Jarno Trulli was known as an extremely good qualifier, able to regularly start higher up than his opponents in superior cars, but even he must have been surprised by his qualifying lap in 2004.
He beat Schumacher, who had qualified on pole in four of the last five Monaco races, by setting the then-quickest lap around the streets of Monte Carlo to start at the front of the grid for Sunday's race.
During the race itself, Trulli must have thought it was his lucky day when both Schumacher and Renault team-mate Alonso crashed out during the race, setting up a late battle between himself and Button.
The tightness of the circuit meant Button had little chance for an overtake and having lost his voice in the week leading up to the race, Trulli was left literally speechless following his first win.
Rubens Barrichello (123rd race) - 2000 German GP
Like Button, Rubens Barrichello's maiden win came from the back half of the grid but for the Brazilian, it was an even tougher task.
Having qualified 18th in his team-mate Schumacher's car due to an oil leak in his own, Barrichello's talent allowed him to rise to 10th before the end of the first lap.
The speed of the Ferrari combined with Barrichello's driving saw him break the top five by the sixth lap but it was a strategy call late on that enabled him to take the race win.
As rain began to fall on to the circuit, the Ferrari team headed by Ross Brawn determined that the outer ring of the track was dry enough for slicks and gambled that Barrichello could lap faster than the cars who had pitted for wet tyres.
The gamble paid off with Barrichello able to overtake both the McLarens for the win and become the first Brazilian since Ayrton Senna in 1993 to achieve victory.
Mark Webber (130th race) - 2009 German GP
15 times. That's the number of times Mark Webber shouted "YES" after he crossed the finish line in 2009.
It was a weekend of firsts for Webber who also secured the first pole position of his career but it all looked to be going up in smoke when he was handed a penalty for colliding with Barrichello at the race start.
But, seven years on from his debut, Webber was a man on a mission. He fought his way back into the lead and once he was there, he didn't look back.
The Red Bull driver would go on to finish 9.252 seconds ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel and became the first Australian to win a race for more than 30 years.
Carlos Sainz (150th race) - 2022 British Grand Prix
Having to wait 20 more races compared to Webber is Formula 1's very own 'Smooth Operator' Carlos Sainz, who finally broke his duck after emerging as the winner of a quite incredible British Grand Prix in 2022.
In a race which featured a huge Lap 1 crash and a thwarted on-track protest, Sainz initially lost control of the race lead having started the afternoon at Silverstone on pole position.
But, a late Safety Car gave Sainz renewed hope of finally ending his own drought, even more so when Ferrari opted not to bring in his team-mate Charles Leclerc for new tyres, effectively ending his chances of winning and getting his fading title challenge back on track.
Whilst Leclerc became locked in a fierce battle for the remaining podium spots with Sergio Perez, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris, Sainz was able to pull away and drive off into the sunset, finally experiencing what it is like to win a Formula 1 race after seven years of waiting.
Sergio Perez (190th race) - 2020 Sakhir GP
If Barrichello's efforts are to be applauded, they pale into significance when compared to that of Sergio Perez.
At the wheel of his Racing Point, he started fifth in the Sakhir Grand Prix but soon found himself at the back of the pack when he was clipped by Charles Leclerc during the first lap.
Leclerc, alongside Verstappen who swerved to avoid the crash but instead found the wall, retired but Perez was able to salvage his car and nurse it back to the pits.
P18 and the idea of a maiden race win looked farcical for the Mexican. But by lap 20 of the 87-lap race, he was up into 10th.
As he continued to make his way up the grid, he was handed a huge slice of fortune in the form of Mercedes fumbling at their pit stop.
Checo will never forget this moment #SakhirGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/RI3R5oTAdN
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 6, 2020
Race leader Russell, who was in to replace the Covid-hit Hamilton, was given a set of his team-mate Valtteri Bottas' tyres and as a result was forced to box again just a lap later.
Bottas himself also endured a pit stop nightmare with the wrong tyre compound being fixed onto his front left.
All of this resulted in Perez becoming the race leader having been dead last 60 laps ago but with 10 laps remaining, it looked as if the charging Russell was going to catch him.
Then it was heartbreak for the Brit. A puncture stripped him of his first points in F1 and what looked like a more than decent chance of a win.
Perez didn't care though. He crossed the line to win for the first time in 190 races and, having been told he was being replaced by Vettel in the following season, it just may have earned him his Red Bull spot.
