How does Alonso’s winless streak rank in F1 history?

It’s fair to say Kevin Magnussen never had a real shot at victory in Formula 1. The Danish driver spent seven of his nine F1 seasons with the modest Haas team, while his sophomore campaign took place at a struggling Renault outfit as the French brand made a full-on return to the world championship.

Magnussen never led a single time across 9,898 racing laps, but did finish third in his maiden F1 race, the 2014 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, with McLaren – before being promoted to second when Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified. But he was 26.777s away from race winner Nico Rosberg.

Sergio Perez may have ended his career with as many race wins as Jochen Rindt and Gilles Villeneuve thanks to a lengthy, not-so-successful stint at Red Bull, but his maiden victory was a long time coming as he spent most of his career at Force India/Racing Point.

And what a first win it was. Perez was spun out of third place by Charles Leclerc on the first lap, found himself dead last, but amazingly fought his way to first – with a little help from safety cars and Mercedes, which gave Lewis Hamilton stand-in George Russell tyres that belonged to his team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Sergio Perez, Racing Point RP20, 1st position, takes victory to the delight of his team on the pit wall

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Prior to that, Perez’s main feat was achieved with Sauber as he fought Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso for victory in the 2012 Malaysian GP.

Andrea de Cesaris – 208 GPs

Regrettably dubbed “De Crasheris”, Andrea de Cesaris took part in 208 F1 races but retired in 147 of them – including at least 35 instances when he collided with other drivers or lost control and ran off the track.

Driving for no fewer than 10 different teams over 15 seasons, de Cesaris got pole position for the 1982 United States Grand Prix West with Alfa Romeo, but was overtaken by Niki Lauda for the lead, then crashed out.

Andrea de Cesaris, Alfa Romeo 182

Photo by: Sutton Images

He also took the lead of the 1983 Belgian GP from third on the grid, followed by Alain Prost and Patrick Tambay, but suffered a slow pitstop before retiring due to mechanical gremlins.

Other than that, de Cesaris finished on the podium five times, coming closest to victory in that same 1983 season as he finished second at Kyalami and Hockenheim, respectively nine seconds behind Riccardo Patrese and 1m11s away from Rene Arnoux.

He was also a real contender for the win in the 1982 Monaco GP, which ended in the most chaotic of fashions with four different race leaders in the last four laps – which does not include de Cesaris, who ran out of fuel just as he was about to grab a crucial lead on the last tour.

Fernando Alonso – 214 GPs

It might be odd seeing a 32-time grand prix winner on this list and yet ever since his last success in the 2013 Spanish GP with Ferrari that 33rd victory has been elusive. Fernando Alonso has spent the last 12 years in the midfield with the likes of McLaren, Alpine and Aston Martin, landing the occasional podium finish – two with Ferrari in 2014, one at Alpine in 2021 and a whopping eight for Aston in 2023 – but never being a real contender for victory.

Alonso’s best shot at victory since 2013 was the 2014 Hungarian GP, which he led until the antepenultimate lap, fighting Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for victory.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F14T, leads Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W05 Hybrid, and Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB10 Renault

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Since then, Alonso has raced a whopping 9,850 laps in F1 – and led six.

Nico Hulkenberg may have finally got his maiden F1 podium at the 239th time of asking in this year’s British GP, but he still holds the record for the most consecutive grands prix starts without a victory.

Hulkenberg’s winless streak spans his whole career, which he spent at midfield teams, from Williams to Sauber, including Force India, Renault and Haas.

Hulkenberg actually took pole position as a rookie with Williams at the 2010 Brazilian GP, but was passed by both Red Bulls on the opening lap and eventually finished eighth.

Nico Hulkenberg, Force India VJM05 Mercedes, slides into Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-27 Mercedes, whilst attempting to pass for the lead

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

He led F1 races on three occasions, but the only time this was meaningful was the 2012 running of the Interlagos race, as he took the lead from McLaren’s Jenson Button on merit on a damp track. The Force India driver led for 30 laps, until a half-spin handed first position to Button’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Hulkenberg eventually lost control approaching a backmarker and collided with Hamilton, finishing down in fifth.

He never got such a good opportunity again.

The (second) longest post-victory winless streak: Jarno Trulli – 135 GPs

Other than provisionally Alonso, the established race winner that had the most unsuccessful races in a row was Jarno Trulli.

The Italian showed a lot of promise in his debut campaign back in 1997, earning a mid-season call-up to Prost from Minardi, joining Jordan and Renault in following years. He spent almost three seasons with the Enstone-based squad from 2002 to 2004, right before it started dominating F1, but still took a memorable victory in the 2004 Monaco GP.

Race winner Jarno Trulli, Renault F1 Team with Flavio Briatore, Renault Team Principal

Photo by: Sutton Images

However, his results and his relationship with team boss Flavio Briatore deteriorated, and he spent the remainder of his career in the midfield with Toyota, then at backmarker Lotus.

Trulli did give Toyota one pole position and seven podium finishes, but seldom was a real contender for victory. He came closest at the 2005 Bahrain GP, where he took the runner-up spot with a 13-second deficit to Alonso, and the 2009 running of that same race, in which he took third from pole position, just nine seconds away from winner Jenson Button.

The most GPs between two wins: Kimi Raikkonen – 111 GPs

Kimi Raikkonen is the only F1 driver who competed in more than 100 grands prix between two race wins – the 2013 Australian GP and the 2018 United States GP.

Over that period of time, mostly as a Ferrari driver, Raikkonen had no fewer than 30 podium finishes but somehow never ended up on the top step.

Yet, there were quite a few opportunities. As a Lotus F1 team driver, he was just one second away from winner Sebastian Vettel in the 2013 German GP. Joining Ferrari, he was beaten to victory by Lewis Hamilton by 3.4s in the 2015 Bahrain GP, then led the 2017 Monaco GP from pole for 33 laps, until he was overcut by team-mate Vettel.

Race winner Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari

Photo by: Sutton Images

2018 presented the Finn with more chances, but he lost his battles with the Silver Arrows at Hockenheim and Monza, until he finally tasted success again at the Circuit of the Americas.

Raikkonen’s record isn’t safe, as Alonso just needs one victory to claim it.