In Barcelona, three Britons—Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, and Lando Norris—stood on the podium: It was the first “all-British” podium in 43 years
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), George Russell (Mercedes), and Lando Norris (McLaren) created a statistical rarity at the Formula 1 race in Barcelona that hadn’t been seen in 43 years: All three drivers on the podium came from the same country—in this case, Great Britain.
In fact, we have to go all the way back to 1983 to see a podium entirely made up of drivers from a single nation: Back then, three Frenchmen—Patrick Tambay, Alain Prost, and René Arnoux—stood on the podium at the race in Imola.
In our photo gallery, we’ll take a look at other instances where a “clean sweep” of the podium has occurred. Spoiler: Germany hasn’t managed that yet.
In total, only three nations have managed to achieve this statistical feat—four, if you factor in a bureaucratic quirk: the Indy 500, which tends to skew Formula 1 statistics from earlier years.
From 1950 to 1960, it officially counted toward the World Championship, but in reality, there were essentially no “real” Formula 1 drivers on the grid. What’s more, the field at that time generally consisted ONLY of Americans. It’s hardly surprising that in all the years the race counted toward the World Championship, only Americans occupied the podium.
If you adjust the statistics to exclude these pure oval races, the exclusive club of three-time winners shrinks drastically—from 29 to 18.
Away from the “pasta pot” of Indianapolis, historically there were three nations in particular that at times dominated Formula 1 so brutally that there was no room on the podium for the rest of the world: Italy, France, and Great Britain.
In the very early years of Formula 1, Italy was the undisputed superpower—at least when the Argentine high-flyer Juan Manuel Fangio gave the others a chance. It is also the Italians who account for another statistical oddity regarding podium finishes, as at the 1950 season finale in Monza, four Italians finished in the top three.
The solution to the mystery: Alberto Ascari suffered engine failure in his own Ferrari. However, under the rules at the time, he was allowed to take over the car of his teammate Dorino Serafini. Ascari drove the car to second place behind Farina. The logical consequence: Ascari and Serafini were both classified in second place and shared the points amicably.
