Famous Five... Grand Prix Winners In Britain

After edging closer to points leader Nico Rosberg thanks to victory in a controversial Austrian GP last weekend, Lewis Hamilton comes to his home race with momentum and the formbook on his side; the Mercedes driver has won the past two races at Silverstone, to add to his wet-weather masterclass there for McLaren back in 2008.

As a three-time winner of a World Championship Grand Prix in Britain, where does the 31-year-old rank on the all-time list? A fourth win on Sunday, incidentally, would put him in a class of his own, as our list below shows.

Jim Clark – five wins

Such was the level of Scot Jim Clark’s dominance during the mid-1960s, he won his home race five times – each time from pole position –including four on the trot, at three different venues and in three different Lotus models.  

1962 British GP, Aintree – Lotus 25. Grid: 1^st

1963 British GP, Silverstone – Lotus 25. Grid: 1^st

1964 British GP, Brands Hatch – Lotus 25. Grid: 1^st

1965 British GP, Silverstone – Lotus 33. Grid: 1^st

1967 British GP, Silverstone – Lotus 49. Grid: 1^st

Alain Prost – five wins

‘Le Professeur’ took all five of his British GP wins at Silverstone – and for four different teams. Not always the fastest around the circuit’s flat-out sweeps, he nevertheless used that legendary cunning, guile and tactical acumen to devastating effect to be in the right place at the right time, pouncing when others made mistakes or hit trouble.

1983 British GP, Silverstone – Renault RE40. Grid: 3^rd

1985 British GP, Silverstone – McLaren-TAG MP4/2B. Grid: 3^rd

1989 British GP, Silverstone – McLaren-Honda MP4-5. Grid: 2^nd

1990 British GP, Silverstone – Ferrari F1-90-2. Grid: 5^th

1993 British GP, Silverstone – Williams-Renault FW15C. Grid: 1^st

Nigel Mansell – five wins

‘Our Nige’, who reckoned racing at home was worth a second a lap, is the odd one out in this company because his first win on home soil came not in the British Grand Prix but the European GP, at Brands Hatch in 1985. He then won again at Brands in 1986 and Silverstone in ’87 – both times vanquishing Williams team-mate Nelson Piquet. His fourth and fifth wins, in the height of ‘Mansell Mania’ came back-to-back at Silverstone in 1991 and ’92, again for Williams.

1985 European GP, Brands Hatch – Williams-Honda FW10. Grid: 3^rd

1986 British GP, Silverstone – Williams-Honda FW11. Grid: 2^nd

1987 British GP, Silverstone – Williams-Honda FW11B. Grid: 2^nd

1991 British GP, Silverstone – Williams-Renault FW14. Grid: 1^st

1992 British GP, Silverstone – Williams-Renault FW14B. Grid: 1^st

Sir Jack Brabham – three wins

Australian hero Jack Brabham had it pretty much his own way in his adopted country until Jim Clark and Lotus arrived. Brabham won the race three times – twice for Cooper and once in his self-built Brabham – and all from pole position and at three different venues.

1959 British GP, Aintree – Cooper-Climax T51. Grid: 1^st

1960 British GP, Silverstone – Cooper-Climax T53. Grid: 1^st

1966 British GP, Brands Hatch – Brabham-Repco BT19. Grid: 1^st

Michael Schumacher – three wins

As was his wont in the late-1990s and first half of the 2000s, Michael Schumacher was a winning machine, racking up scores of wins for Ferrari. His three British GP wins all came for the Scuderia, the first in 1998 in controversial circumstances when he took the chequered flag in the pitlane while serving a stop-go penalty for passing another car under a yellow flag. Two more wins followed, in 2002 and 2004.

1998 British GP, Silverstone – Ferrari F300. Grid: 2^nd

2002 British GP, Silverstone – Ferrari F2002. Grid: 3^rd

2004 British GP, Silverstone – Ferrari F2004. Grid: 4^th