When a Formula 1 car wins a Grand Prix, the chances are they are in one of the best cars of the season. However, sometimes, an F1 car will win a race that it has no right to do.

A combination of luck, driver skill, and fortunate circumstances can help an average car race to victory, and it has happened in the sport more times than you might think.

2003 Jordan EJ13

Jordan EJ13
Image Credit: Martin Lee – CC BY-SA 2.0/Wiki Commons.

The 2003 Jordan EJ13, a true underdog in the Formula 1 season, scored 13 points. However, ten of those points came from Giancarlo Fisichella’s remarkable 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix win. Against all odds, a wet weather setup, a clever strategy, and brilliant driving from the Italian propelled the Jordan from the back of the pack to the lead, leaving everyone in awe.

Fisichella took the lead just before a red flag after massive accidents for Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso. The FIA wrongly awarded McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen the win before correcting the mistake ahead of the next race in Imola. Fisichella’s car caught fire in the pits after the race in Brazil, which was a metaphor for the rest of the season for the team.

2020 AlphaTauri AT01

Image Credit: Artes Max from Spain – CC BY-SA 2.0/Wiki Commons.

The AT01 was the first car for Red Bull’s junior team under the AlphaTauri name after racing as Toro Rosso for the previous 15 years. The AT01 was a competent midfield F1 car driven by Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat in the Covid-19-affected 2020 season.

Gasly, in particular, shone driving the AT01, racking up consistent points finishes. But its finest moment came in the chaotic 2020 Italian Grand Prix, where Gasly held off a charging McLaren of Carlos Sainz for the win after safety cars, a red flag, and a penalty for dominant leader Lewis Hamilton. The AT01 would score 107 points across all of 2020.

2021 Alpine A521

Image Credit: Lukas Raich – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wiki Commons.

From the 2021 F1 season onwards, Renault rebranded its F1 team to Alpine to promote its performance car division. Behind the wheel of the A521 in 2021 was Fernando Alonso, making his F1 comeback, and Esteban Ocon. The A521 wasn’t the team’s finest car, but consistent point scoring from its drivers enabled Alpine to finish the year fifth with 155 points.

Its finest moment came thanks to Ocon, who won the Hungarian Grand Prix after a chaotic start to the race and wet weather creating a Mercedes strategy nightmare, as Hamilton was the only driver to use intermediates after the red flag. Alonso would take another podium for the A521 with third place in Qatar.

2014 Red Bull RB10

2014 Red Bull RB10
Image Credit: Oracle Red Bull Racing.

While the 2014 Red Bull RB10 did win three races, and the team finished second in the championship, the RB10 was regularly let down thanks to poor reliability. It was the first year of F1’s new turbo-hybrid V6 engines, and Renault, who supplied Red Bull’s engines, was seriously behind the curve, and the car was massively down on straight-line power.

Mercedes would dominate the season, winning 16 of the 19 races that year. Daniel Ricciardo took three wins for Red Bull that year in Canada, Hungary, and Belgium and five podiums. Teammate Sebastian Vettel took just four podiums. The RB10 scored 405 points despite its issues, thanks to a good chassis and aerodynamics.

2009 Ferrari F60

Ferrari F60 2009
Image Credit: Morio – CC BY-SA 3.0/Wiki Commons.

Ferrari was lucky to win a single race in the 2009 Formula 1 season after it missed the double-diffuser trick utilized by Brawn GP and, latterly, Red Bull. The F60 also lacked ideal weight distribution thanks to the weight of the new KERS system, plus its development was late thanks to Ferrari’s intense 2008 title fight with McLaren.

It took drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa four races to score points in the F60, and Raikkonen finally took a win for himself and the car at the Belgian Grand Prix. That was fortunate, thanks to an early safety car wiping out the advantage that Force India’s Fisichella had created for himself at the front.

2008 Toro Rosso STR3

Image Credit: Mypoorbrain – CC BY 2.0/Wiki Commons.

The 2008 Toro Rossoa STR3 was, in reality, a Red Bull RB4 that the junior team ran but with a Ferrari engine instead of a Renault V8. Ironically, the STR3 was faster than the RB4 throughout 2008, and Toro Rosso finished 6th in the final standings, one place ahead of the main team.

Sebastian Vettel put his STR3 on the pole at the soaking-wet Italian Grand Prix that year, but many expected Vettel to fall back in the race. However, the combination of the wet weather, the Ferrari’s power, and Vettel’s driving prowess meant he pulled away and dominated the event, taking a shock first win that set him on the path to stardom over the next five years.

2022 Mercedes W13

2022 Mercedes W13
Image Credit: Lukas Raich – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wiki Commons.

It might not be the worst car on this list, but the 2022 Mercedes W13 had just one win and one pole position all year, and the team fell from first to third in the standings. It was a massive fall from grace after Mercedes won eight consecutive world constructor titles, as the first year of F1’s new ground-effect rules saw Mercedes miss the mark badly.

The W13 constantly bottomed out and bounced as it lost and regained the downforce generated by the floor, a phenomenon known as “porpoising.” The floor was now the main generator of downforce on an F1 car, and the team spent most of the year fixing the W13 rather than upgrading it. They still took 17 podiums but only a solitary pole position and win for George Russell, while Lewis Hamilton failed to win a Grand Prix across a season for the first time in his F1 career.

2009 McLaren MP4-24

2009 McLaren MP4-24 Kovalinen
Image Credit: MorganaF1 – CC BY-SA 3.0/Wiki Commons.

McLaren also had a nightmare in 2009 after fighting Ferrari hard for the 2008 title and winning the driver’s crown with Lewis Hamilton. The 2009 MP4-24 also lacked the double diffuser of rivals Brawn, and up to round 10, the best result for an MP4-24 was fifth, in the hands of Heikki Kovalinen in China.

However, persistence and upgrades saw McLaren dramatically improve the MP4-24, and the team took four pole positions and five podiums with the car. Hamilton won the Hungarian and Singapore Grands Prix and took three podium finishes in the last four races of the year, allowing McLaren to end 2009 in third place.

2008 Renault R28

Image Credit: Brundle – CC BY-SA 2.0 de/Wiki Commons.

Renault fell behind its rivals in 2007 and 2008 after winning the drivers’ and constructors’ titles in 2005 and 2006. The team failed to win a race in 2007, but the 2008 R28 improved its predecessor, and pre-season testing looked good, with Fernando Alonso regularly at the top of the times.

However, as the season unfolded, it became clear the R28 was around the fourth fastest car that year behind McLaren, Ferrari, and BMW-Sauber. Alonso took just three podiums all year, but two were wins in Singapore and Japan, the former of which was controversial due to the “crashgate” scandal. Alonso finished the year with a podium in Brazil for second place.

2011 Ferrari F150 Italia

Ferrari F150 Italia
Image Credit: Dhonsky357 – CC BY 2.0/Wiki Commons.

Ferrari spent several years in the wilderness while Fernando Alonso was on the team, and only his sheer brilliance would rescue them in tricky situations. The 2011 F150 Italia was a tricky car to drive, with Fernando Alonso trying his best but winning just one race all year and taking ten podiums in total. Teammate Felipe Massa’s best finish was a run of fifth-place finishes.

Red Bull dominated in 2011 with their RB7, and McLaren won six races with the MP4-26. To highlight how off the pace the F150 Italia was, Alonso took the lead at the Spanish Grand Prix from fourth place on the grid at the start. He would finish that race in fifth and a lap down to leader and winner Sebastian Vettel.

2005 Ferrari F2005

2005 Ferrari F2005
Image Credit: Ferrari.

The 2005 Ferrari F2005 brought the team’s and Michael Schumacher’s dominance to a crushing end. The car, hampered by the new tire rules that required a set to last a whole race, won just one race all year with eight podium finishes and one pole position.

The sole victory for the car was also lucky, coming at the controversial United States Grand Prix. Ferrari ran Bridgestone tires, with much of the grid running Michellins, but problems in practice after their tires on Ralf Schumacher’s failed and caused a massive crash saw all Michellin’s tired cars pull off into the pits on the formation lap. Six cars took the start, with both Ferraris up front, and they took a controversial 1-2 finish with Schumacher winning.

2004 Williams FW26

Williams FW26
Image Credit: Rick Dikeman – CC BY-SA 3.0/Wiki Commons.

After Williams and Juan-Pablo Montoya fought hard for the 2003 title, the team went into 2004 with high hopes thanks to the unusual, walrus-nosed FW26. Despite their high hopes and the powerful BMW V10, the FW26’s radical design failed to translate into results, with the mid-season particularly barren for Williams.

Williams had the embarrassment of having both cars disqualified from second and fifth-place finishes in Canada for running brakes that infringed the technical regulations. Montoya took two podiums all year, winning the season’s final race in Brazil, but only after a radical change to the car’s design. That victory in Brazil would be Williams’ last win before the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix.

1988 Ferrari F1/87/88C

Ferrari_F1-87
Image Credit: I, Etienne – CC BY-SA 3.0/Wiki Commons.

Ferrari updated its 1987 car for the 1988 season, with the F1/87 becoming the F1/87/88C. However, it was a barren year for the team, with McLaren dominating in their Honda-powered MP4/4. The MP4/4 was a much better car, with a new turbocharged V6 that was more powerful, and the Ferrari also suffered from fuel consumption problems.

Despite the average performance, drivers Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto secured a second-place finish in the team’s championship. After both McLarens failed to finish, Berger also took the car’s only win at that year’s Italian Grand Prix. It was a 1-2 for Ferrari at the first race held after the death of the team’s founder, Enzo Ferrari.

Author: Henry Kelsall

Henry is a freelance writer, with a love for all things motoring whether it be classic sports cars, or Formula 1 racing. He has freelanced for over eight years now, mostly in automotive matters, but he has also dabbled in other forms of writing too. He has a lot of love for Japanese classics and American muscle cars, in particular the Honda NSX and first-generation Ford Mustang. When not writing, Henry is often found at classic car events or watching motorsports at home, but he also has a curious passion for steam trains and aviation.

Similar Posts