Formula 1's Most Dramatic Last Laps
The Most Dramatic Last Laps in Formula 1 History
It’s never won until it’s won…
The dramatic Monaco 1982 race that no-one wanted to win!
Here are some of the most gripping cases of last-lap F1 drama, showcasing why you can’t be sure of the result until the chequered flag has finally fallen.
10. Spain 2001
Mika Hakkinen was heading towards a first win of the season when his McLaren Mercedes engine blew in spectacular fashion, handing the race win to Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher.
Hakkinen memorably hitched a ride back to the garage on the back of team-mate David Coulthard’s car.
2001 turned out to be Hakkinen’s final season, in which he took two victories and announced a sabbatical. This eventually materialised into full retirement.
9. Hungary 1997
Having been dumped by the Williams team, reigning world champion Damon Hill took a shock lead in the uncompetitive Arrows at Hungary.
A famous win - and the first for the Arrows team - was cruelly snatched away when Hill developed a hydraulic issue with two laps to go.
Hill was then overtaken by Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve with just half a lap to go, the Canadian swooping past on the grass in dramatic fashion.
Hill would move to Jordan the following season and take a single win in 1998 before retiring at the end of the millennium.
Arrows would never come close to winning another race, and he folded mid-way through 2002 in deep financial trouble.
8. Canada 1991
Nigel Mansell looked set to take his first win of the season in comfortable fashion in his Williams Renault.
On his last lap, Mansell waved to the crowd. But this friendly gesture turned into an embarrassing nightmare when he allowed the revs to drop too low, cutting out his engine.
Even worse for Mansell was that his old foe Nelson Piquet inherited the win, taking the 23rd and final win of his career.
Fortunately, Mansell would win just two races later, and take the 1992 world championship in the famous Williams FW14-B car.
7. Europe 2005
Kimi Raikkonen was leading from title rival Fernando Alonso when his McLaren developed severe tyre vibrations.
Already trailing Alonso in the championship, McLaren opted to gamble and keep Raikkonen out rather than play it safe and replace the tyre.
As the final lap began, this gamble backfired in spectacular fashion.
Raikkonen’s front suspension failed, the tyre giving way and catapulting the McLaren off into the gravel, almost wiping out the BAR of Jenson Button.
Alonso would go on to win the race and, later in the season, the first of two world titles.
6. Italy 1971
Peter Gethin’s only race win is the closest finish in F1 history, one of the more obscure Fun Formula 1 Facts.
The older versions of Monza were all about slipstreaming, with regular overtakes between groups of drivers running closely together.
Gethin was running 3rd coming into the last corner, but got a better exit off the famous Parabolica, slipping past Francois Cevert and Ronnie Peterson.
Gethin won by 0.01 seconds, with only 0.61 seconds between the top 5 finishers.
5. Japan 2001
A wet qualifying left the grid mixed up, with frontrunners Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen way back in 16th and 17th respectively.
Raikkonen charged his way towards the front, and he was on the tail of leader Giancarlo Fisichella approaching the final lap.
Fisichella made a small error, allowing Raikkonen to make a breathtaking swoop around the outside of turn one and conjure wild scenes in the McLaren garage.
4. Britain 2020
Lewis Hamilton strolled to an easy 7th world title in 2020, but the British GP saw a truly unique ending to an F1 race.
Hamilton led comfortably from Max Verstappen, but he suffered a front-left tyre failure.
With the best part of a lap to go, Hamilton seemed unlikely to make it over the line.
Somehow, Hamilton wrestled the car to the finish on three wheels, just a few seconds ahead of Verstappen.
4. Monaco 1982
Check out our full article on the race that no one wanted to win, in which a rain shower prompted the most chaotic last few laps in F1 history!
3. 2011 Canadian GP
In a rain-hit race that was red-flagged for hours whilst the track was unsuitable to race on, Jenson Button went through the racing mill.
He crashed with team-mate Lewis Hamilton, made contact with Fernando Alonso, had a puncture, had a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, and at one stage ran last, making 5 pit stops in total.
Button, though, was a master in the changeable conditions and surged back through the field.
On the tail of Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull, a remarkable turnaround was completed when the German slid off the track on the very final lap.
2. Interlagos 2008
Check out our full article on the title decider between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa that well and truly went down to the wire!
1. Abu Dhabi 2021
Arguably the most controversial moment in F1 history is definitely its most dramatic finale.
A winner-takes-all battle for the title between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen looked to be heading to the Brit at the last race of the season, but a late safety car brought the drivers together.
A questionable interpretation of the rules by the Race Director left the two drivers facing a one-lap shootout.
Verstappen, on fresher and softer tyres, lunged past Hamilton and swept past the chequered flag to take a first world title.
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