The marriage between Lewis Hamilton and Scuderia Ferrari HP is the biggest news of the year. While we wait to see him back on the top step of the podium—where he has already stood 105 times, the all-time record in Formula 1—let’s take a look at how long the 10 most iconic Ferrari drivers of the last 50 years had to wait before celebrating their first victory with the Prancing Horse.
On the occasion of Brembo's 50th anniversary in motorsport—having made its Formula 1 debut in 1975 by supplying brake discs for Scuderia Ferrari—we have limited our analysis to drivers who have used Brembo braking systems, excluding legends such as Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, John Surtees, and Jacky Ickx.
The seven-time world champion is chasing his first Grand Prix victory with the Maranello team, but among his predecessors, some had to wait a long time, while others managed to win on debut.
These are their stories
Since joining Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton’s fans have been eagerly anticipating his first victory behind the wheel of a Prancing Horse. The start of the season hasn’t been the smoothest, even though the seven-time world champion clinched the Sprint win in China—however, that doesn’t count as a Grand Prix victory in the official stats.
While waiting to see him back on the top step of the podium—where he has already stood 105 times, a record in Formula 1—let’s take a look at how long it took the 10 most iconic Ferrari drivers of the last 50 years to celebrate their first win with the Scuderia.
To mark Brembo’s 50th anniversary in motorsport—having made its Formula 1 debut in 1975 as a brake disc supplier for Scuderia Ferrari—we have limited our analysis to drivers who raced with Brembo braking systems, excluding legends like Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, John Surtees, and Jacky Ickx.
Gilles Villeneuve joined Ferrari at the end of 1977, despite having competed in only one Formula 1 race. Enzo Ferrari saw great potential in him. Villeneuve failed to finish his first two races but was retained due to his undeniable speed. By his sixth Grand Prix, at Long Beach in 1978, he secured a front-row start with the 312T3.
His first podium came at his 14th race in Austria, where he finished third, but his maiden victory arrived at the season finale in Canada, his home race, where he won by 13 seconds over Jody Scheckter. That was his 18th race with Ferrari and Brembo brakes.
In 2019, Charles Leclerc became the second-youngest driver to race for Ferrari in Formula 1. On his debut in Australia, he finished fifth in both qualifying and the race. In the next round in Bahrain, he took pole position, outpacing his more experienced teammate Sebastian Vettel by 294 milliseconds.
The SF90, driven by Leclerc throughout the season, featured Brembo’s six-piston aluminum calipers and carbon discs with 1,480 ventilation holes in the high-cooling version. However, Charles had to wait until his 13th race, in Belgium, to clinch victory after also securing pole position.
Michael Schumacher arrived at Maranello in 1996 as a two-time reigning world champion. However, Ferrari at the time was not yet competitive against its rivals. Despite this, Schumacher reached the podium in just his second race, in Brazil, and took pole position at Imola in his fifth outing.
His first win with Ferrari came at the seventh race, in Spain, in wet conditions. Schumacher’s mastery in the rain was on full display as he expertly handled his F310 on a slippery track. That car featured Brembo calipers and discs with a short and highly responsive pedal travel, tailored to his preferences.
After narrowly missing out on titles with Tyrrell and Wolf, Jody Scheckter seized the opportunity of a lifetime in 1979 with Ferrari. At his third race with the 312T4, he secured second place on home soil. His first win for Ferrari came at Spa-Francorchamps despite qualifying only seventh.
A strategic drive, capitalizing on rivals’ mistakes and failures, saw him take the lead on lap 54 by overtaking Jacques Laffite. That Ferrari was so dominant, equipped with Brembo brake discs, that not only did Scheckter win the championship, but his teammate also finished as runner-up.
Niki Lauda was recommended to Enzo Ferrari by Clay Regazzoni, with whom he had raced at BRM. Lauda’s Ferrari debut was a gamble, but he immediately delivered by finishing second in Argentina, ahead of Regazzoni. At the third round in South Africa, Lauda took pole, but a fuel injection issue denied him a result.
He made amends at Jarama, where he took pole, won the race, and set the fastest lap—his first victory in just his fourth race with Ferrari. At that time, Ferrari had yet to adopt Brembo brakes, which were introduced in 1975.
Following his split with McLaren, Alain Prost joined Ferrari in 1990, bringing the number 1 plate. The team developed an excellent car, the 641, featuring improvements to cooling and the gearbox. The Brembo monobloc caliper, already in use for two years, was the pinnacle of braking technology.
Prost used it to his advantage, delivering a crushing defeat to his former teammate by overtaking him on lap 41 to win the Brazilian Grand Prix—only his second race with Ferrari.
Sebastian Vettel equaled Prost by winning in his second race with Ferrari. To break the tie, we compared the number of laps led in their maiden wins: Prost led 31, while Vettel led 46. Vettel joined Ferrari in 2015 and even visited Brembo’s headquarters before the Monza GP.
His SF15-T used Brembo’s CER 300 carbon discs with 1,200 ventilation holes and CCR700 ventilated brake pads inside aluminum-lithium monobloc calipers. He finished third in Australia before claiming victory in Malaysia with a nine-second margin.
Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari debut in 2010 was a dream start in Bahrain, sparking immense excitement among the Tifosi. Alonso won the race, finishing ahead of Felipe Massa. Despite starting alongside pole-sitter Vettel, Alonso quickly moved ahead and took the lead when Vettel’s car suffered an issue.
His F10 featured a modified Brembo braking system to adapt to the ban on refueling, ensuring consistent performance with varying fuel loads.
Nigel Mansell also won on debut with Ferrari in 1989 at the Brazilian Grand Prix, driving the legendary number 27 car. His 640 featured a newly introduced semi-automatic gearbox, which raised reliability concerns.
However, Brembo’s monobloc calipers, introduced in 1988, were a trusted component. Mansell climbed from sixth to second within a few laps and took the lead by lap 16, only relinquishing it for tire changes before winning by eight seconds.
Kimi Raikkonen not only won his debut race with Ferrari at the 2007 Australian GP, but he also secured pole position, outpacing Alonso by four-tenths, and set the fastest lap, a full second quicker than any rival.
His F2007 was heavier due to stricter crash test regulations but featured Brembo’s aluminum-lithium monobloc calipers and carbon discs with 100 ventilation holes. That season, Raikkonen went on to win the World Championship.