Jim Clark - 8 Grand Slams
Widely regarded as one of the quickest drivers in F1 history, there were many weekends when Clark - armed with the latest and greatest Lotus machinery - was simply untouchable. The unassuming Scot completed the first of his record eight Grand Slams (or Grand Chelems as they’re sometimes known) on British soil at Aintree in 1962 and his last at Germany's daunting Nurburgring in 1965. The question is: how many more would he have claimed with better reliability or if he hadn’t been killed in a Formula Two crash at Hockenheim in 1968?
Jim Clark on his way to his eighth and final Grand Slam at the Nurburgring in 1965. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Alberto Ascari - 5 Grand Slams
It goes down as one of the greatest purple patches in F1 history: between the summers of 1952 and ‘53, Alberto Ascari and his invincible Ferrari 500 won 11 of the 13 world championship Grands Prix they entered - five of them in Grand Slam style. What’s more, three of the indomitable Italian’s slams were completed in marathon races that took over three hours to complete.
Alberto Ascari steering his Ferrari 500 to his first Grand Slam, at Rouen in 1952. © LAT Photographic
Michael Schumacher - 5 Grand Slams
When it comes to hat-tricks (win, pole position, fastest lap), the great German is well out in front of the opposition with 22 - 11 more than Jim Clark. But the great German ‘only’ managed to convert that dominance into five Grand Slams, with the first coming, perhaps significantly, at the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix - the first race after Ayrton Senna’s tragic death. He’d repeat the trick two races later in Canada, but it would be a further eight years until he’d get another, this time with Ferrari in Spain. Schumacher’s final two slams came during 2004 - a year in which he dominated the championship, taking 13 wins from 18 races.
Michael Schumacher (Benetton B194 Ford) completes his first Grand Slam at Monaco in 1994. © LAT Photographic
Jackie Stewart - 4 Grand Slams
Another serial winner who, like his great friend Jim Clark, had Grands Prix when no one could get close, Stewart completed four ‘perfect weekends’ in his illustrious career. The Scot’s first slam, at Clemont-Ferrand in France in 1969, was arguably his most dominant - driving his Cosworth-powered Matra, Stewart took pole by nearly two seconds and won by nearly a minute.
Winner Jackie Stewart, with his wife Helen, milks the applause after claiming his first Grand Slam in France in 1969. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Ayrton Senna - 4 Grand Slams
For a driver of such otherworldly talents, it’s perhaps surprising that Senna scored just four Grand Slams, but that speaks as much for the competition the Brazilian faced as anything else - after all, his great rival Alain Prost didn’t complete one in his own incredible career. It’s also worth noting that Senna is one of only two drivers - the other being Nelson Piquet - to have completed a Grand Slam on the same day as taking his first ever Grand Prix victory.
Ayrton Senna (Lotus 97T) dominated the race in appalling conditions to claim his first Grand Prix victory - and a first Grand Slam. Portuguese Grand Prix, Estoril, 21 April 1985. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Nigel Mansell - 4 Grand Slams
Few drivers have enjoyed such a special relationship with a car as Mansell did with Williams’ FW14B, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that three of the British charger’s four Grand Slams came in that most magnificent of machines (with the other coming in its predecessor, the FW14). Mansell, of course, was also known for excelling on home soil, and it was at Silverstone in ’91 and ’92 that he completed his first and last slams.
Race winner Nigel Mansell was saluted by fans after his Grand Slam victory at Silverstone in 1992. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel - 4 Grand Slams
Vettel was famously so keen on racking up statistics during his Red Bull days that he would frequently pump in a fastest lap in the closing stages of a race when he most probably should have just been nursing his car to victory. The approach may have put a few extra grey hairs on Christian Horner’s head, but it also helped the German complete four Grand Slams in three years - two more than any other current driver.
Race winner Sebastian Vettel celebrates his fourth Grand Slam on the podium in Korea in 2013. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Nelson Piquet - 3 Grand Slams
Like Senna, Piquet completed his first Grand Slam with his maiden victory, which in his case came at Long Beach in 1980. The Brazilian’s second came in Argentina a year later, but only after a slow-starting Piquet had passed Alan Jones midway around the first lap - a move that kept him on course to lead every lap.
Nelson Piquet en route to his first Grand Slam at Long Beach in 1980. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Juan Manuel Fangio - 2 Grand Slams
The Argentine maestro won three more world titles than he completed Grand Slams - proof if ever it were needed that domination can be exerted in a variety of ways. Fangio’s first slam came at Monaco in 1950 when the majority of his rivals were eliminated in a first lap crash at Tabac, caused when a strong wind blew seawater onto the track. His second and final one came with an imperious performance at the Nurburgring in 1956 - scene of his career-defining drive a year later.
Juan Manuel Fangio (Alfa Romeo 158) avoided the opening lap chaos to claim a Grand Slam at Monaco in 1950. © LAT Photographic
Jack Brabham - 2 Grand Slams
Like Fangio, Brabham’s pair of Grand Slams came six years apart. The first was amid awful circumstances in Belgium in 1960, on a weekend in which two drivers - Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey - were killed and two others - Stirling Moss and Mike Taylor - were seriously injured. Black Jack’s second came in happier times at a soggy Brands Hatch in 1966, and remains the only Grand Slam recorded by a driver in a self-built car.
Jack Brabham scored a second career Grand Slam at Brands Hatch in 1966. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Mika Hakkinen - 2 Grand Slams
Three Finn’s have won the world drivers’ title, but only one - Mika Hakkinen - has the distinction of having claimed a Grand Prix Grand Slam. Both of the Flying Finn’s perfect weekend’s came in his first championship-winning season in 1998 - the first in Brazil and the second at Monaco.
Mika Hakkinen celebrates clinching victory - and his second Grand Slam - at Monaco in 1998. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Lewis Hamilton - 2 Grand Slams
Until 2014 Lewis Hamilton was in that rare group of drivers (including Alain Prost, Keke Rosberg, Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen) who had won a world title but never recorded a Grand Slam. He’s since bagged two - the first at Malaysia in 2014 and the second in utterly dominant circumstances in Italy in 2015. Not only did Hamilton record the Grand Slam at Monza, he was also fastest in every practice session.
Lewis Hamilton crosses the line to take his second career Grand Slam in Italy in 2015. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Mike Hawthorn - 1 Grand Slam
The British racer with a penchant for competing in a bow tie claimed his solitary Grand Slam in France on the way to the 1958 drivers’ title, but again it came amid tragic circumstances, with Ferrari team mate Luigi Musso losing his life in the same race.
Mike Hawthorn's only career Grand Slam came amid tragic circumstances in France in 1958. © LAT Photographic
Stirling Moss - 1 Grand Slam
The nature of Stirling Moss’s only Grand Slam - in Portugal in 1959 - was so emphatic that you wonder why he didn’t do it more than once: on pole by two seconds, fastest lap by nearly the same margin and a full lap ahead of second place at the chequered flag. Moss famously never won the world title. It’s a matter of record that everyone on this list with two or more Grand Slams has…
Stirling Moss quenches his thirst after claiming a Grand Slam victory at Monsanto in Portugal in 1959. © LAT Photographic
Jo Siffert - 1 Grand Slam
Devilishly fast in sportscars, as well as behind the wheel of an F1 car, Seppi - as he was affectionately known - took his only Grand Slam at Austria's Osterreichring in 1971 after brilliantly beating the dominant Tyrrell-Ford of Jackie Stewart to pole position in qualifying.
Jo Siffert (BRM P160) racing to Grand Slam success at the Osterreichring in August 1971. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Jacky Ickx - 1 Grand Slam
Back in 1967 Ickx had caused a stir when he qualified third fastest at the Nurburgring driving a less powerful Formula Two machine. So it seems appropriate that the Belgian's only career Grand Slam came at the same German circuit, in 1972 at the wheel of a Ferrari.
Jacky Ickx joined the Grand Slam club at the Nurburgring in 1972. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Clay Regazzoni - 1 Grand Slam
On his day, the hard-charging Regga was as quick as they came - and never more so than at Long Beach in 1976 where the Swiss racer took the first ever F1 pole at the circuit before beating team mate Niki Lauda to victory by 42s to complete his only Grand Slam.
Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari 312T) dominated the first running of the Long Beach Grand Prix in 1976, taking pole position, winning the race, leading every lap and setting the fastest race lap. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Niki Lauda - 1 Grand Slam
Like Regazzoni, Lauda scored his only Grand Slam in 1976 in what turned out to be the most tumultuous season of his career. But before the fiery Nurburgring crash, the last rites and the incredible comeback, there was Zolder and a dominant Lauda-led Ferrari one-two.
Niki Lauda (centre) led Clay Regazzoni (left) home in a Ferrari 1-2 for his only Grand Slam at Zolder in 1976. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Jacques Laffite - 1 Grand Slam
To the surprise of many, Ligier marked themselves out as the team to beat at the beginning of 1979, with Jacques Laffite collecting pole position, fastest lap and race victory at the season opener in Argentina. Two weeks later the Frenchman went one better, leading every lap in Brazil to claim a remarkable hat-trick/Grand Slam back to back.
After a hat-trick in Argentina, Ligier's Jacques Laffite scored a Grand Slam in Brazil in 1979. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Gilles Villeneuve - 1 Grand Slam
Having collected his maiden Grand Prix win on home soil at the tail-end of 1978, the superfast French-Canadian secured his only Grand Slam exactly six months later, converting a first pole position into victory at Long Beach in 1979.
Like Regazzoni, Gilles Villeneuve claimed the only Grand Slam of his career at Long Beach. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Gerhard Berger - 1 Grand Slam
The effervescent Austrian hit a rich vein of form at the end of the 1987 campaign, leading all but one lap from pole position on his way to victory in Japan, before following that up with a Grand Slam two weeks later in Australia.
An exhausted Gerhard Berger celebrates a Grand Slam victory in Australia in 1987. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Damon Hill - 1 Grand Slam
The Hungaroring played host to some of the greatest moments in Damon Hill’s career, including his first F1 victory (in 1993), his miraculous near-win with Arrows (in 1997) and his only Grand Slam (in 1995).
Damon Hill leads Michael Schumacher on the way to victory at Hungary in 1995. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Fernando Alonso - 1 Grand Slam
Like Hill, Alonso’s sole Grand Slam came at a track with which he will always be synonymous - Singapore. But unlike his victory in 2008, there was no whiff of controversy in 2010 when he ignited the title race with a pulsating, pressure-absorbing win from pole.
.jpg.img.640.medium.jpg/1535960985891.jpg)
