Formula 1 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans are about as different as you can get: one is a sprint race with cars entirely designed specifically around a strict set of rules, driven by a single driver in events all over the world. , and the other: a single day where the goal is to last as long as possible and cover as much ground as possible, in vehicles that in some classes are similar to those we see on the street, driven by multiple drivers.
Despite these big differences, there are some Formula 1 drivers who have managed to make the switch, winning both in the top flight and at Le Mans. Read on to find out who they are.
F1 champions who have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Mike Hawthorn / Ivor Bueb, Jaguar Cars, Jaguar D-type
Mike Hawthorn
- F1 races: 45 (1952 – 1958)
- F1 titles: 1 (1958)
- Participations in Le Mans: 5 (1953, 1955 – 1958)
- Wins at Le Mans: 1 (1955)
Mike Hawthorn was the first driver to win both the Formula 1 title and victory at Le Mans, his win at the French circuit being the first of both.
After being disqualified for overfilling the brake system in 1953, Hawthorn returned for 1955 in a Jaguar D-Type .
Hawthorn was locked in a titanic battle with Juan Manuel Fangio ‘s Mercedes in the early stages, with both breaking the lap record 10 times in the first two hours of the race.
While a fantastic race was being prepared, the tragedy came after four hours. Hawthorn, attempting to pit, braked in front of Lance Macklin’s Austin-Healey, which swerved and was hit by Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes-Benz 300SLR . The Mercedes was thrown through the air into the crowd, crashing into a hill and disintegrating. The car’s engine, suspension, radiator and other debris were thrown into the crowd, while other parts caught fire.
Levegh was killed, along with more than 80 spectators, and 180 others were injured. Macklin was uninjured, but after another deadly incident later that year, he would not race again.
There was much debate about Hawthorn’s role in the accident, despite the fact that an official investigation found that he was not responsible for it and that it was a racing incident. He returned to Le Mans three more times, but was unable to finish higher than sixth overall.
His F1 title came in 1958 , a year before he died in a road accident. Although he only took one win to second-placed Stirling Moss’s four, he was able to finish more races than his compatriot: Hawthorn retired in two GPs, while Moss did so in five. This gave Hawthorn, and his Ferrari 246, the crown by a single point.
Olivier Gendebien and Phil Hill, 1st position, on the podium at the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Phil Hill
- F1 races: 49 (1958 – 1964, 1966)
- F1 titles: 1 (1961)
- Participations in Le Mans: 14 (1953, 1955 – 1967)
- Le Mans wins: 3 (1958, 1961, 1962)
Phil Hill won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but he also had a significant number of retirements. Of his 14 starts, he was first three times and did not finish on 11.
His first attempt was with the American Rees T. Makins team, driving the OSCA MT-4, which lasted 80 laps before suffering a transmission problem. Then came eight appearances with Ferrari, the team with which his Le Mans career is most associated. In these eight races he obtained mixed results: although he won the general classification three times, his car only completed two laps in the 1957 race and 22 in the 1960 race.
In his last five attempts he alternated between David Brown/Aston Martin Lagonda, Ford, Shelby-American and Chaparral cars.
Hill’s Formula 1 career also brought him three wins and one title. This was in 1961 – the same year as one of his Le Mans wins – and it was also in a Ferrari, the famous shark-shaped Ferrari 156.
Race winner Jochen Rindt (AUT) / Maston Gregory (USA) Ferrari 250 LM, Le Mans 24 Hours 1965
Jochen Rindt
- F1 races: 60 (1964 – 1970)
- Titles in F1: 1 (1970)
- Participations in Le Mans: 4 (1967 – 1967)
- Wins at Le Mans: 1 (1965)
Jochen Rindt took part in Le Mans four times between 1964 and 1967. Like Hill, it was also win or DNF for the Austrian, the first of which he retired with zero laps on the clock.
His second participation brought him his first and only victory at Le Mans, at the wheel of a Ferrari 250 LM with Masten Gregory as co-driver. They crossed the finish line five laps ahead of the second-place finisher and eight laps ahead of the third-place finisher.
His next two starts also ended in retirement: the first after eight laps due to engine problems in his Ford GT40, and the fourth after 103 laps.
Rindt was also the “King of F2” and proved he could take on and beat the best drivers in the world, although his first F1 victory did not come until 1969.
Rindt holds the ill-fated premiership title and hopefully the only posthumous Formula 1 world champion.
Racing for the Lotus team, Rindt was victorious in five of the nine races he started in 1970, before dying during a practice session for the Italian Grand Prix.
Despite four races remaining (including the Italian GP), Rindt had done enough to clinch the title, eventually beating second-placed Jacky Ickx by five points.
Graham Hill and Henri Pescarolo, 1st position, celebrate on the podium at the 1972 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Graham Hill
- F1 races: 176 (1958 – 1975)
- F1 titles: 2 (1962, 1968)
- Le Mans starts: 10 (1958 – 1966, 1972)
- Wins at Le Mans: 1 (1972)
Graham Hill is the only man to hold the illustrious triple crown of motorsport: wins at the Indianapolis 500, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Formula 1 Monaco GP.
He got the first victory of those necessary for the ambitious title in 1963 in Monaco, a year after becoming F1 world champion with BRM. Mr Monaco , as he came to be known, would go on to achieve a total of five victories in the principality.
Victory in the Indy 500 came three years later, in 1966. Hill was a rookie, avoided the initial chaos in his Mecom Lola and won despite controversy when Jim Clark’s Lotus team deemed their man had really won.
The last jewel in the crown came much later, in 1972. Having entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans nine times, Hill’s best result had been second in 1964 (five laps behind the winner). His 10th and last participation was with Frenchman Henri Pescarolo, at the wheel of a Matra-Simca MS670.
The pair battled through difficult conditions to take victory 11 laps ahead of the second-place finisher, securing the necessary final win and giving Hill the triple crown.
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS050: Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Fernando Alonso, celebrating victory at the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Fernando Alonso
- F1 races: 3,410 (2001, 2003 – 2018, 2021-present)
- F1 titles: 2 (2005, 2006)
- Le Mans starts: 2 (2018, 2019)
- Le Mans wins: 2 (2018, 2019)
Although Fernando Alonso “only” has two F1 titles to his credit, he could certainly have achieved more were it not for some poor car choices and bad luck.
His two titles came in the four and five years of his F1 history, winning them back-to-back with Renault in 2005 and 2006. This led to a frustrating season at McLaren. After that, he finished second in the championship three times, all with Ferrari, and fell just four points away in 2012 from claiming another crown.
He returned to McLaren in 2015 for a spiraling decline at a bad time for Woking. Reliability and power issues dogged his time at McLaren, and that partly led to a few races outside of F1 in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The first of these was in 2017, when he took on the Indy 500 with the support of McLaren (with an eye on becoming only the second driver to win the Triple Crown). While his Indy 500 dream never came true, his Le Mans dream did.
Alonso teamed up with former F1 drivers Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima in 2018 and 2019, the trio driving the Toyota TS050 HYBRID. They took victory both years, by two and three laps, respectively. The Spaniard only needs the Indy 500 to fulfill his desire.
Race winners in F1 who have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Not everyone who wins at Le Mans has been a world champion, but many Formula 1 World Championship race winners have also achieved victories at Le Mans.
The most successful driver in both disciplines is Jacky Ickx, who won eight F1 races and six times at Le Mans. Although he never became F1 world champion, he more than proved his skills in whatever discipline he pursued, scoring victories at the Bathurst 1000 and the Dakar Rally, as well as Le Mans.
|
Pilot |
F1 racing |
F1 victories |
Participations in Le Mans |
Victories at Le Mans |
|
Jose Froilan Gonzalez |
26 (1950–1957, 1960) |
two |
4 (1950-19511 1953-1954) |
1 (1954) |
|
Maurice Trintignant |
81 (1950–1964) |
2 |
15 (1950–1962, 1964–1965) |
1 (1954) |
|
Ludovico Scarfiotti |
10 (1963 – 1968) |
1 |
8 (1960 – 1967) |
1 (1963) |
|
Lorenzo Bandini |
42 (1967 – 1967) |
1 |
5 (1962 – 1966) |
1 (1963) |
|
Bruce McLaren |
100 (1958 – 1970) |
4 |
8 (1959, 1961 – 1967) |
1 (1966) |
|
And Gurney |
86 (1959 – 1968, 1970) |
4 |
10 (1958 – 1967) |
1 (1967) |
|
Pedro Rodriguez |
55 (1963 – 1971) |
2 |
14 (1958 – 1971) |
1 (1968) |
|
Jacky Ickx |
116 (1966 – 1979) |
8 |
15 (1966 – 1967, 1969 – 1970, 1973, 1975 – 1983, 1985) |
6 (1969, 1975 – 1977, 1981 – 1982) |
|
Didier Pironi |
70 (1978 – 1982) |
3 |
4 (1976 – 1978, 1980) |
1 (1978) |
|
Johnny Herbert |
161 (1989 – 2000) |
3 |
8 (1990 – 1992, 2001 – 2004, 2007) |
1 (1991) |
|
Jochen Mass |
105 (1973 – 1980, 1982) |
1 |
11 (1972, 1978, 1981 – 1983, 1985 – 1989, 1991, 1995) |
1 (1989) |
|
Michele Alboreto |
194 (1981–1994) |
5 |
8 (1981–1983, 1996–2000) |
1 (1997) |
F1 drivers who have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Of course, winning in Formula 1 is not an easy feat, and it can depend not only on the car you drive, but on your team, the venue and many other factors. Some drivers never get to the top of the podium in F1, but they do at Le Mans.
Perhaps one of the most notable is Nico Hulkenberg. The German holds the record for the most Formula 1 starts without a podium finish, but in 2015 he drove a Porsche 919 Hybrid to victory at the French circuit, beating then-F1 driver Mark Webber in the process.
|
Pilot |
F1 racing |
Participations in Le Mans |
Victories at Le Mans |
|
Louis Rosier |
38 (1950 – 1956) |
9 (1938, 1949 – 1956) |
1 (1951) |
|
Peter Walker |
4 (1950 – 1951, 1955) |
1 (1951 – 1956) |
1 (1951) |
|
Peter Whitehead |
10 (1950 – 1954) |
8 (1950 – 1955, 1957 – 1958) |
1 (1951) |
|
Hermann Lang |
2 (1953 – 1954) |
1 (1952) |
1 (1952) |
|
Tony Rolt |
3 (1950,1953,1955) |
7 (1949 – 1955) |
1 (1953) |
|
Duncan Hamilton |
5 (1951 – 1953) |
9 (1950 – 1958) |
1 (1953) |
|
Ivor Bueb |
5 (1957 – 1959) |
5 (1955 – 1959) |
2 (1955, 1957) |
|
Ron Flockhart |
13 (1954, 1956 – 1960) |
6 (1955 – 1957, 1959 – 1961) |
2 (1956 – 1957) |
|
Olivier Gendebien |
14 (1955–1966, 1958–1961) |
8 (1955–1962) |
4 (1958, 1960–1962) |
|
Carroll Shelby |
8 (1958 – 1959) |
2 (1954, 1959) |
1 (1959) |
|
Roy Salvadori |
47 (1952 – 1962) |
11 (1953 – 1963) |
1 (1959) |
|
Nino Vaccarella |
4 (1961 – 1962, 1965) |
11 (1961, 1962, 1964 – 1972) |
1 (1964) |
|
Masten Gregory |
38 (1957 – 1963, 1965) |
16 (1955, 1957 – 1966, 1968 – 1972) |
1 (1965) |
|
Chris Amon |
96 (1963 – 1976) |
8 (1967 – 1967, 1969, 1971 – 1973) |
1 (1966) |
|
Lucien Bianchi |
17 (1959 – 1963, 1965, 1968) |
13 (1956 – 1968) |
1 (1968) |
|
Jackie Oliver |
50 (1967 – 1973, 1977) |
3 (1968, 1969, 1971) |
1 (1969) |
|
Richard Attwood |
16 (1964 – 1965, 1967 – 1969) |
9 (1963, 1964, 1966 – 1971, 1984) |
1 (1970) |
|
Helmut Marko |
9 (1971 – 1972) |
3 (1970 – 1972) |
1 (1971) |
|
Gijs van Lennep |
8 (1971, 1973 – 1975) |
7 (1970 – 1976) |
2 (1971, 1976) |
|
Henri Pescarolo |
57 (1968 – 1974, 1976) |
33 (1966 – 1968, 1970 – 1999) |
4 (1972 – 1974, 1984) |
|
Gerard Larrousse |
1 (1974) |
8 (1967 – 1974) |
2 (1973 – 1974) |
|
Derek Bell |
9 (1968 – 1972, 1974) |
26 (1970 – 1983, 1985 – 1996) |
5 (1975, 1981 – 1982, 1986 – 1987) |
|
Vern Schuppan |
9 (1972, 1974-1975, 1977) |
16 (1973-1979, 1981-1989) |
1 (1983) |
|
Paolo Barilla |
9 (1989 – 1990) |
7 (1982 – 1986, 1988 – 1989) |
1 (1985) |
|
Hans-Joachim Stuck |
74 (1974 – 1979) |
18 (1972 – 1973, 1980 – 1983, 1985 – 1991, 1993 – 1998) |
2 (1986 – 1987) |
|
Jan Lammers |
23 (1979 – 1982, 1992) |
24 (1983 – 1984, 1987 – 1990, 1992 – 1993, 1996 – 2008, 2011, 2017 – 2018) |
1 (1988) |
|
Johnny Dumfries |
15 (1986) |
5 (1987 – 1991) |
1 (1988) |
|
Martin Brundle |
158 (1984 – 1989, 1991 – 1996) |
8 (1987 – 1988, 1990, 1997 – 1999, 2001, 2012) |
1 (1990) |
|
Volker Weidler |
10 (1989) |
5 (1987, 1989 – 1992) |
1 (1991) |
|
Bertrand Gachot |
47 (1989 – 1992, 1994 – 1995) |
6 (1990 – 1992, 1994 – 1995, 1997) |
1 (1991) |
|
Derek Warwick |
147 (1981 – 1990, 1993) |
5 (1983, 1986, 1991 – 1992, 1996) |
1 (1992) |
|
Yannick Dalmas |
24 (1987–1990, 1994) |
12 (1991–2002) |
4 (1992, 1994–1995, 1999) |
|
Mark Blundell |
61 (1991, 1993 – 1995) |
7 (1989 – 1990, 1992, 1995, 2001 – 2003) |
1 (1992) |
|
Geoff Brabham |
48 (1995 – 1997) |
3 (1989, 1990, 1993) |
1 (1993) |
|
Mauro Baldi |
36 (1982 – 1985) |
12 (1984 – 1986, 1988 – 1989, 1991 – 1994, 1997 – 2000) |
1 (1994) |
|
JJ Lehto |
62 (1989 – 1994) |
10 (1990 – 1991, 1995 – 1997, 1999, 2002 – 2005) |
2 (1995, 2005) |
|
Alexander Wurz |
69 (1997-2000, 2005, 2007) |
9 (1996, 2008-2015) |
1 (1996) |
|
Stefan Johansson |
79 (1980, 1983 – 1991) |
15 (1983 – 1984, 1990 – 1992, 1997 – 2001, 2003, 2006 – 2008, 2012) |
1 (1997) |
|
Allan McNish |
16 (2002) |
14 (1997-2000, 2004-2013) |
2 (1998, 2008) |
|
Pierluigi Martini |
118 (1984 – 1985, 1988 – 1995) |
5 (1984, 1996 – 1999) |
1 (1999) |
|
Emmanuel Pirro |
37 (1989–1991) |
13 (1981, 1998–2008, 2010) |
5 (2000–2002, 2006, 2007) |
|
David Brabham |
24 (1990, 1994) |
18 (1992 – 1993, 1996 – 2010, 2012) |
1 (2009) |
|
Marc Gene |
36 (1996 – 2000, 2003 – 2004) |
8 (2007 – 2014) |
1 (2009) |
|
Other Lotteries |
1 (2014) |
11 (2009 – 2019) |
3 (2011 – 2012, 2014) |
|
Nico Hulkenberg |
181 (2010, 2012 – 2020, 2021) |
1 (2015) |
1 (2015) |
|
Brendon Hartley |
25 (2017 – 2018) |
9 (2012 – 2017, 2020 – 2022) |
3 (2017, 2020, 2022) |
|
Sebastian Buemi |
55 (2009 – 2011) |
11 (2012 – 2022) |
4 (2018 – 2020, 2022) |
|
Kazuki Nakajima |
36 (2007-2009) |
9 (2012-2020) |
3 (2018-2020) |
|
Kamui Kobayashi |
75 (2009 – 2012, 2014) |
8 (2013, 2016 – 2022) |
1 (2021) |
