Winning 4 of the first 5 GPs

A question posed elsewhere - when did a driver last win four out of five at the start of the
season?

1952  A Ascari      Ferrari             [1]  (P Taruffi - 1st)
1954 JM Fangio Maserati/Mercedes-Benz [1] (JF Gonzalez - 4th)
1963 J Clark Lotus (G Hill - 1st)
1965 J Clark Lotus (G Hill - 2nd)
1969 J Stewart Matra (G Hill - 3rd)
1991 A Senna McLaren (N Piquet - 5th)
1992 N Mansell Williams [2]
1994 M Schumacher Benetton (D Hill - 5th)
1996 D Hill Williams (J Villeneuve - 4th)
2002 M Schumacher Ferrari (R Schumacher - 2nd)
2004 M Schumacher Ferrari [2]
2009  J Button      Brawn                    (S Vettel - 3rd)
1. Excludes the Indianapolis 500
2. Won first five

Who was the champion driver in every one of those?
 
As a follow-up, here is a list of drivers who led the WDC after five events by at least
14 points - Button's current lead over team-mate Barrichello.

1953  A Ascari led M Hawthorn by 14 points
1955 JM Fangio led S Moss by 14 points
1963 J Clark led R Ginther by 22 points
1966 J Brabham led G Hill by 16 points
1969 J Stewart led G Hill by 20 points
1971 J Stewart led J Ickx by 14 points
1976 N Lauda led J Hunt by 24 points
1988 A Prost led A Senna by 15 points
1991 A Senna led N Piquet by 24 points
1992 N Mansell led R Patrese by 26 points
1994 M Schumacher led D Hill by 29 points
1996 D Hill led J Villeneuve by 21 points
2000 M Schumacher led M Häkkinen by 14 points
2002 M Schumacher led JP Montoya by 21 points
2004 M Schumacher led R Barrichello by 18 points
2005 F Alonso led J Trulli by 18 points
2009 J Button leads R Barrichello by 14 points
Only in 1976 and 1988 has that lead failed to ensure a championship.
 
and I think we know what happened in 1976...

Excellent stats Brian, thanks.
 
I believe in 1988 Prost scored more points than Senna, with Senna benefiting from the best 11 scores system. So in all situations but 1976 they've scored more points which (as of 2009) is what counts.

And anyway, in 1976 Lauda lost the title by 1 point despite missing 2 GPs, so that shows the power of a lead like that.
 
Back
Top Bottom