Which F1 driver has the most race starts? Hamilton, Raikkonen and more

Lewis Hamilton will become the sixth driver to reach the 300 F1 races milestone when he starts the 2022 French GP. Fernando Alonso is the only active driver to have more than 300 starts to his name, though Sebastian Vettel is on course to join the exclusive club if he continues in 2023.

Due to the threat of death or serious injury, combined with smaller world championship calendars, F1 careers used to be shorter, though drivers did also contest non-championship events not included in these numbers.

Double world champion Graham Hill held the record for more than a decade, before Jacques Laffite matched his tally of 176 at the 1986 British GP. Sadly, Laffite was involved in a startline crash at Brands Hatch that ended his F1 career.

Riccardo Patrese subsequently moved the record to 256, but there are now eight drivers who have surpassed that number. Here are those eight.

Starts: 349
Years: 2001-09, 2012-21
Wins: 21
Poles: 18
Fastest laps: 46
Titles: 1 (2007)

After an incredibly short junior single-seater career, Raikkonen graduated to F1 with Sauber at the age of 21 in 2001. He impressed enough to be snapped up by McLaren for 2002 and stayed at the Woking-based squad for five seasons.

His first win came in the 2003 Malaysian GP and Raikkonen racked up nine F1 victories at McLaren. He came close to winning the 2005 title but was thwarted by unreliability and moved to Ferrari after a disappointing 2006 campaign.

PLUS: McLaren’s fastest failure

Raikkonen won on his Ferrari debut in the 2007 Australian GP and snatched the drivers’ crown at the finale following a dramatic fight with McLaren drivers Hamilton and Alonso.

Thereafter Felipe Massa started to get the upper hand at Ferrari, but Raikkonen stepped up after the Brazilian’s accident in qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian GP. He won the Belgian GP before being released from his contract at the end of the season.

Raikkonen tried rallying and NASCAR before returning to F1 with Lotus. He won the 2012 Abu Dhabi GP on his way to third in the standings and won the following year’s Australian GP.

He rejoined Ferrari for 2014, but largely had to play second fiddle, first to Alonso and then Vettel. Raikkonen took his 21st and final F1 victory in the 2018 United States GP before closing out his career with three seasons at Sauber-run Alfa Romeo.

Top 10: Kimi Raikkonen’s F1 races ranked

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