Every Italian driver to win an F1 Grand Prix: Where Kimi Antonelli ranks on the all-time list
Every Italian Formula 1 race winner.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli is rewriting the record books as he joins an exclusive club of Italian F1 race winners.
From Giuseppe Farina and Alberto Ascari to Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli, only a handful of Italian drivers have ever stood on the top step of a grand prix podium.
How many Italian Formula 1 race winners are there?
There are 16 Italian Formula 1 race winners in history, led by Alberto Ascari with 13 victories.
Who is the most successful Italian F1 driver?
Alberto Ascari remains Italy’s most successful Formula 1 driver thanks to his 13 wins and two world championships with Ferrari.
Every Italian driver to win an F1 race
Alberto Ascari – 13 wins
The two-time world champion dominated Formula 1 in 1952 and 1953, winning the title in both seasons. He won every championship race he entered for more than a year during that spell, becoming Ferrari’s first world champion. His career was cut short by a testing crash in Monza in 1955.
Riccardo Patrese – 6 wins
A 16-year Formula 1 career brought victories with both Brabham and Williams, separated by almost a decade.
As teammate to world champion Nelson Piquet at the Bernie Ecclestone-owned Brabham team in the early ‘80s he won twice, including in Monaco in 1982.
Then, racing alongside Nigel Mansell at Williams, he had his greatest success, logging four wins from 1990-1992.
He retired at the end of 1993 as the sport’s most experienced driver at the time with 256 race starts.
Nino Farina – 5 wins
The first world drivers’ champion in 1950, Giuseppe ‘Nino’ Farina was a pre-war grand prix winner who was, at the time of his world championship, in his mid-40s.
Three of his five wins came in his title-winning year, with his final victory coming at the 1953 German Grand Prix at the wheel of a Ferrari 500.
Michele Alboreto – 5 wins
Two wins for Tyrrell in 1982 and 1983 respectively saw Michele Alboreto land at Ferrari for the following season.
His first Ferrari victory came just three races into his stint with the Scuderia, with two more wins following in 1985 as he finished runner-up in the championship.
Kimi Antonelli – 4 wins
Arriving in Formula 1 as a highly rated junior, Antonelli claimed his first win just two races into his second season.
The strong start immediately placed him among the most successful Italian F1 drivers and intensified expectations around his long-term potential with Mercedes.
Why Italy has produced fewer F1 winners than expected
While Italy is synonymous with motorsport and Formula 1, it’s more for its racing rosso than its drivers.
Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati have all won world championships, with Enzo Ferrari creating a dynasty that now stands as F1’s oldest team.
Along with that comes huge expectation, with the passionate Italian tifosi demanding greatness from both team and driver alike.
As the sport has internationalised, and the junior pathways opened up for young drivers, competition for the sport’s best seats is ferocious.
Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella found themselves in championship-winning cars during their careers, but always as the understudy. Alboreto arrived as Ferrari began to lose its edge during the 1980s.
It’s a tough game at the top of Formula 1, arguably now more than ever, and is perhaps why Antonelli has come through the Mercedes pathway.
Can Kimi Antonelli become Italy’s greatest Formula 1 driver?
Matching Alberto Ascari’s 13 victories would make for a stellar career, that’s without taking into account his two world championships.
However, with more races and having begun his F1 career while still a teenager, time is on Antonelli’s side when it comes to matching, or perhaps surpassing, Ascari.
His bright start is a promising sign, though the early careers of Riccardo Patrese, Michele Alboreto and Giancarlo Fisichella also hinted at future title success before ultimately falling short.
With Mercedes, Antonelli is at least with one of the sport’s leading teams, one with a history of winning world championships.
That mix of Antonelli’s youth and talent coupled with a team that knows what it takes offers the youngster a good chance of enjoying a remarkable F1 career.
Will it be good enough to be labelled Italy’s greatest F1 driver? Only time will tell.
Full list of Italian Formula 1 race winners
Alberto Ascari – 13 (1950-1955)
Luigi Fagioli – 1 (1950-1951)
Nino Farina – 5 (1950-1956)
Piero Taruffi – 1 (1950-1956)
Luigi Musso – 1 (1953-1958)
Giancarlo Baghetti – 1 (1961-1967)
Lorenzo Bandini – 1 (1961-1967)
Ludovico Scarfiotti – 1 (1963-1968)
Vittorio Brambilla – 1 (1974-1980)
Riccardo Patrese – 6 (1977-1993)
Elio de Angelis – 2 (1979-1986)
Michele Alboreto – 5 (1981-1994)
Alessandro Nannini – 1 (1986-1990)
Giancarlo Fisichella – 3 (1996-2009)
Jarno Trulli – 1 (1997-2011)
Kimi Antonelli – 4 (2025-present)
Italian Formula 1 world champions
Nino Farina – 1950
Alberto Ascari – 1952, 1953
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