From Prost’s spare car charge to Verstappen’s Interlagos magic – 10 of the most memorable pit lane drives in F1 history

Max Verstappen added another legendary drive to his CV at last weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix when the reigning four-time World Champion rose from the pits to the podium. But who else has impressed with standout pit lane showings over the years? F1.com picks out a few examples…

Alain Prost, South Africa 1984 – P2

Early on in what would become a close fight for the 1984 title between McLaren team mates Niki Lauda and Alain Prost, the South African Grand Prix yielded the squad’s first 1-2 finish of the season via a significant dose of drama.

After qualifying fifth, Prost’s car could not be fired up due to technical trouble and meant he was forced to start from the pits in the spare, which would have gone to Lauda had it not been for a delay brought on by a rival crashing heavily in the warm-up (which allowed mechanics to fix the Austrian’s own engine woes).

When the race eventually got under way, Lauda cycled to the front of the pack from P8 on the grid and cruised to victory by more than a minute, but it was pit lane starter Prost who impressively emerged as the runner-up with a tenacious drive.

Nigel Mansell, France 1989 – P2

A few years later, Prost and new McLaren team mate Ayrton Senna had just led the way into the first corner of the French Grand Prix when Leyton House driver Mauricio Gugelmin steamrolled Williams’ Thierry Boutsen and Ferrari pair Gerhard Berger and Nigel Mansell.

Mansell took the restart from the pit lane and set about making up lost ground, using Paul Ricard’s long straights and mixture of braking zones to pick off plenty of cars, while also benefitting from various retirements – including for Senna and team mate Berger.

Mansell ultimately took the chequered flag in second position, 44 seconds behind winner Prost, marking a fine way to bounce back after he had been disqualified from the previous race in Canada due to a start procedure breach.

Kimi Raikkonen, Australia 2003 – P3

It was a tricky start to the 2003 season-opening Australian Grand Prix for Kimi Raikkonen, who crashed heavily in practice, lost valuable track time as a result, and was subsequently forced to use the spare McLaren car in Qualifying, which he ended back in 15th position.

However, with heavy rain arriving before the race, and the start taking place in mixed conditions, McLaren filled Raikkonen’s car with fuel and started him from the pit lane, leading to one of the Finn’s finest F1 drives.

Making overtake after overtake, Raikkonen soon found himself leading the race, which he might have converted into the win without a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane by just 1 km/h. In the end, he had to settle for a still very respectable third.

Michael Schumacher, Monaco 2006 – P5

Michael Schumacher sparked controversy at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix when he came to a halt at the Rascasse corner in the final moments of Qualifying, preventing championship rival Alonso from completing a final effort and overhauling him for pole position.

While Schumacher insisted it was a genuine mistake, many in the paddock questioned the move. When the stewards looked into the matter, the German’s lap times were deleted and he was forced to start from the back, which then became the pit lane.

With that drama behind him, Schumacher focused on what would be a challenging recovery drive around Monte Carlo’s tight, twisty streets, but the seven-time World Champion this time showed his best side to climb to fifth and salvage a couple of valuable points.

Markus Winkelhock, Europe 2007 – DNF

Markus Winkelhock only made one start as an F1 driver, but he still managed to leave his mark on the sport – the German racer brilliantly going from last to first in the opening minutes of a dramatic, rain-hit 2007 European Grand Prix around the Nurburgring.

Given the threat of a downpour, and having qualified almost a second-and-a-half slower than Spyker team mate Adrian Sutil, Winkelhock peeled into the pit lane at the end of the formation lap to bolt on wet tyres, while the rest of the field lined up on the grid.

It proved to be a masterstroke when the rain arrived and sent slick-shod cars sliding off the track, with Winkelhock driving through it all to take the lead before red flags were thrown. While he lost the lead at the restart and later retired due to a hydraulics issue, it was a memorable backmarker display.

Jarno Trulli, Australia 2009 – P3

All-new regulations led to a pecking order shake-up in 2009, with Brawn GP emerging as the surprise package following Honda’s withdrawal from F1 and a host of other teams scrapping to be the ‘best of the rest’ behind them.

Toyota were one of those outfits, but Jarno Trulli and team mate Timo Glock suffered an early setback when they were excluded from Qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix opener due to rear wing breaches – turning their P8 and P6 grid slots into pit lane starts.

Both drivers came back fighting on race day, though, overtaking plenty of rivals and benefitting from several incidents – which included a late clash between BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel – to reach the top-five places.

Trulli, who had crossed the line third, was initially hit with a penalty for passing Lewis Hamilton under a Safety Car, only for that decision to be reversed when it was deemed the McLaren man had misled the stewards post-race.

Lewis Hamilton, Hungary 2014 – P3

Hamilton was locked in a fierce title fight with Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg midway through the 2014 season, and his efforts were dealt a blow when his car caught fire in Qualifying at the Hungaroring before he had a chance to post a lap time.

That meant a pit lane start for the Briton, who then spun into the Turn 2 barriers on the first lap with cold tyres and brakes, damaging his front wing and leaving him with an even bigger damage limitation exercise for the rest of the afternoon.

An incident-filled race flipped the script once more, however, with Rosberg particularly hurt by the timing of an early Safety Car, helping Hamilton (on an alternate strategy) to close in and slot ahead – via some team orders drama and tense wheel-to-wheel moments.

Esteban Ocon, Hungary 2021 – P1

Hungary was the scene of another chaotic race in 2021, starting when Valtteri Bottas triggered a multi-car crash at Turn 1 in wet conditions, along with more wheel-banging further down the order – leaving Race Control with no option but to red flag proceedings.

A bizarre sight followed at the restart when Hamilton was the only driver to line up on the grid on intermediate tyres, while the remaining drivers pitted to fit slicks, among them Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who had started eighth and taken advantage of the first-lap incidents.

Ocon found himself in P1 when Hamilton boxed for slicks, a lead the Frenchman would not relinquish as the race developed – despite sustained pressure from Aston Martin man Vettel (who was later disqualified over a fuel sample breach).

Sebastian Vettel, Abu Dhabi 2012 – P3

Towards the end of a highly competitive 2012 season, which saw seven different drivers take victory at the first seven rounds, Vettel put himself in control of the championship battle with an imperious run of four successive wins.

However, with just three rounds to go in Abu Dhabi, the German was dramatically excluded from Qualifying when officials were unable to take a fuel sample from his Red Bull post-session, forcing him to start from the pit lane while title rival Fernando Alonso lined up sixth.

The action did not stop on race day, with Vettel picking up front wing damage early on but recovering to pull off a series of overtakes and charge through the field – the last being a bold move on Jenson Button to reach the podium.

Max Verstappen, Brazil 2025 – P3

Verstappen wowed the rain-soaked crowds at Interlagos in 2024 when he somehow turned 17th on the grid into victory – the Dutchman sailing past his rivals in torrential conditions and finishing almost 20 seconds clear of second place.

Fast forward 12 months and, after a dreadful Qualifying session that saw him drop out in Q1 for the first time since the 2021 season, he was forced into another comeback drive, albeit this time without the ‘help’ of any wet weather.

With a new power unit in the back of his Red Bull, which also underwent some set-up changes, Verstappen put on another charge for the ages that turned a pit lane start into a scarcely believable third, even after an early puncture.