Top ten: Debut races

In a new series, before each Grand Prix weekend starts, Formula Update will be compiling a top ten list, delving into the history books and fishing out some truly memorable moments in Formula 1.

To begin the season, we thought it would be appropriate to look at some of the most memorable debut races in the history of the sport, where drivers defied the odds and caused an upset against the established order at the first time of asking.

#10 – Ricardo Rodriguez
1961 Italian Grand Prix

When Ferrari decided to run five cars for the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, a 19-year-old Mexican by the name of Ricardo Rodriguez was given his debut, making him the youngest ever Grand Prix driver at the time. Out of nowhere Rodriguez qualified second on the grid, with championship contender Wolfgang von Trips the only driver ahead of him. After von Trips’ fatal accident, Rodriguez found himself in the lead of the race, but this would ultimately be short-lived, as a fuel system problem forced the Mexican into retirement on lap 14. While Rodriguez would never win a race in Formula 1, his qualifying performance at Monza that year was definitely a memorable one.

#9 – Mario Andretti
1968 United States Grand Prix

The popular American was already a highly-regarded driver by the time he reached Formula 1, with victories and championship titles stateside in the Champ Car Series. Andretti met Colin Chapman at the 1965 Indianapolis 500, and spoke of his ambition to move into Formula 1. The move soon happened, and Andretti made his debut with the Chapman-run Lotus in 1968. At the first time of asking, he qualified on pole position, beating the time of Jackie Stewart by 0.07s. The race would not go his way, however, with Stewart beating him off the line to lead on the first lap, before a broken nose forced the American to pit, dropping him to 13th. Later on in the race, Andretti retired with a broken clutch. Despite this disappointment, Andretti would go on to take 12 victories and the 1978 World Championship title.

#8 – Michael Schumacher
1991 Belgian Grand Prix

It should be no surprise that the winningest driver in Formula 1 history got off to a quick start, even if he didn’t finish a single lap of his first race. The 1991 Belgian Grand Prix saw a young Michael Schumacher jump in a Jordan as a late substitution for Bertrand Gachot, who was in jail. That’s right. Jail. Eddie Jordan really knew how to pick ‘em! Except, that he did. Schumacher managed to qualify seventh, impressive for his first ever drive in F1, during Jordan’s first year as a F1 team. Even though Schumacher’s clutch gave way right after Eau Rouge on the very first lap of the race, the paddock had already taken notice. Two weeks after much legal wrangling (a common theme in F1 lately) Schumacher was behind the wheel of a Benetton, the team that would take him to his first two championships.

#7 – Lewis Hamilton
2007 Australian Grand Prix

The 2007 Formula 1 season has been remembered for many things. Many, many things. Most of them not very good. In this case, we’ll focus on one bright spot, the debut of Lewis Hamilton. Lewis had not garnered much attention for his debut as he was paired with reigning two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso who had abandoned Renault among concerns that they were contemplating leaving F1, which they eventually did. The MP4-22 was a quick car, probably the quickest in 2007, so it’s not shocking that Lewis was able to bring home a third place finish, behind Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix. But, Lewis was a true F1 rookie, who showed throughout the rest of 2007, that he would one day before a future champion.

#6 – Jacques Villeneuve
1996 Australian Grand Prix

Being the son of Gilles Villenueve is a daunting task. While Gilles never won a F1 championship, he routinely enters the discussion of best F1 drivers ever. Fortunately, Jacques came to F1 with an impressive racing resume. Not only was he the reigning Indy 500 champion, but he was the reigning CART (now known as Indycar) champion, a series at the time littered with former F1 champions such as Nigel Mansell, Mario Andretti, and Emerson Fittipaldi. Even better for Jacques, he joined Williams for his F1 debut, the 1996 Australian Grand Prix, with a car that would be the class of 1996. Jacques took pole, turned the fastest lap, and would have won if it hadn’t been for an oil leak. Jacques would go on to become F1 champion the next season, but even still is regularly overshadowed by the name Gilles.

#5 – Kevin Magnussen
2014 Australian Grand Prix

No one really knew what to expect at the 2014 Australian GP. Pre-season testing had seen the new hybrid power units be so unreliable, the FIA had actually issued statements on what would happen if no cars finished the first race. That’s right, the FIA had seriously considered the possibility of no cars being able to finish the race. As it turned out, 13 cars managed to see the checkered flag, among them was rookie Kevin Magnussen, who finished in third place for McLaren. Magnussen’s drive had been especially impressive considering McLaren had appeared to struggle immensely in pre-season testing, and he had finished ahead of his former champion teammate, Jenson Button. Things got even better for Kevin when he was promoted to second after the race for fuel-flow-rate infraction from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Unfortunately, the remainder of 2014 was all downhill for McLaren and Magnussen, leading to the eventual replacement of the Dane by the incoming Fernando Alonso for 2015.

#4 – Markus Winkelhock
2007 European Grand Prix

Markus Winkelhock, the son of former F1 driver Manfred, holds the unique record of being the only driver ever to have started first and last on their F1 debut. How did this mind-boggling record come about for the German? Through one of the most bizarre opening to a Grand Prix in history. Winkelhock was called into the 2007 European Grand Prix with the Spyker team as a replacement for Christijan Albers, and ultimately qualified last. For the race, the team saw the possibility of rain approaching, and gambled by fitting Winkelhock’s car with wet tyres. As it turns out the gamble was a stroke of genius, as a sudden downpour of biblical proportions drenched the Nurburgring, leaving Winkelhock to pick his way through the field and into the lead. By the end of the fourth lap, the German had a gap of over half a minute to Felipe Massa in second. After the race was red-flagged, Winkelhock found himself controlling the restart from pole position, but ended up retiring from the Grand Prix on lap 15. Despite the euphoria of having led a race, Winkelhock was not retained by the team, meaning the 2007 European Grand Prix was his one and only race.

#3 – Mark Webber
2002 Australian Grand Prix

If you’d seen the movie of Mark Webber’s debut race, the 2002 Australian Grand Prix, you’d write it off as Hollywood nonsense. You have an Australian, in Australia, making his first F1 start for the lowly backmarker Minardi, who daringly sliced his way through the field to a fifth place finish and vital championship points for the underfunded Minardi. Ok, so most of that is true. Mark did indeed finish fifth. He did not slice his way through the field, unless your idea of slicing one’s way through a field of racing cars involves driving by them in wrecked heaps by the side of the track. Of the 21 race starters, nine were officially listed as out of the race by cause of “collision” or “accident”. Two others were disqualified. Three others suffered mechanical failures. That left only eight cars listed as running at the end of the race, with only three being on the lead lap. Nevertheless, Mark brought his Minardi home, got his two points, and even got to stand on the podium with Paul Stoddart, after the top three finishers had cleared the podium.

#2 – Jean Alesi
1989 French Grand Prix

Considered by many to be the greatest underachiever in the history of Formula 1, Jean Alesi’s debut seemingly set the stars in place for a record-breaking career. While his promise never transpired, the popular Frenchman certainly did make an impression with Tyrrell in 1989. After the securing of a new sponsorship deal with Camel, Alesi was drafted in to replace Michele Alboreto, who was backed by Marlboro. Qualifying was nothing to write home about, with Alesi recording the 16th fastest time, as was expected from the underperforming Tyrrell, but the race itself was something else. Following a multi-car pile up on the first corner and a plucky drive from the Frenchman, Alesi found himself as high as second, eventually finishing fourth after his pit stop, only about six seconds off a podium. It seemed Alesi was destined for Formula 1 greatness, but somewhat unfairly he only has one victory to show for it.

#1 – Giancarlo Baghetti
1961 French Grand Prix

Italian driver Giancarlo Baghetti holds the enviable record of being the only driver in Formula 1 history to win on their Grand Prix debut (not counting Nino Farina, who won the first ever World Championship Grand Prix). In 1961, Team FISA acquired a Ferrari 156, which would allow them to compete in the French Grand Prix. Even though his record in the lower formulae was spectacular by any means, Baghetti was chosen to pilot the car. After the works Ferrari’s of Wolfgang von Trips, Richie Ginther and Phil Hill all dropped out of the race, Baghetti was running second behind the Porsche 718 of Dan Gurney. With 100 yards of the race to go, Gurney was still leading, but Baghetti was able to slipstream up behind the Porsche, and steal the victory in a photo finish, with the official gap at a mere 0.1s between the pair. Unfortunately, this would be as good as it ever got for the Italian, but as the only man to ever win their first race, there’s no denying that Giancarlo Baghetti can claim to have the best Formula 1 debut in history.

List compiled by Topher Smith and Daniel Davis