Taking the chequered flag is what every F1 driver dreams about when they are given the opportunity to race in the sport, and over the years some have mastered the art more than others.

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Back in 1950, Italian Nino Farina was the first ever official F1 winner, coming home across the line in his Alfa Romeo at the British Grand Prix – a race where he also qualified on pole and set the fastest lap.

Max Verstappen won the last race of the 2022 season at Abu Dhabi and is the most recent winner while George Russell in his Mercedes was the latest first-time winner, climbing onto the top step of the podium in the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

113 different drivers have won races in F1 over the past 73 years. RadioTimes.com brings you the top five drivers who have tasted victory more than most.

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5. Ayrton Senna – 41 races

The Brazilian driver was F1’s poster boy for much of the 1980s and 1990s and was adored by the public for his aggression and determination behind the wheel, as well as his tendency to speak his mind.

The world knew Senna was a special talent when he won his first-ever race in the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, driving for Lotus.

Senna finished third in the 1987 championship and that persuaded McLaren to take him on board for 1988, thus starting his infamous rivalry with team mate Alain Prost.

He won eight of the 16 races that season, including a run of six in seven races to establish a dominant position in the championship race.

He famously mastered the tight and twisty Monaco street circuit, winning five consecutive races there between 1989 and 1993.

The 1993 Australian Grand Prix proved to be his final win in the sport before his premature death at Imola in 1994.

4. Alain Prost – 51 wins

Prost won four titles in his glittering career and his race wins spanned over 12 years.

His first win came on home soil, when he won the 1981 French Grand Prix at the Dijon circuit in a Renault.

Prost’s remarkable consistency saw him win at least a race a season every year from 1981 to 1990.

He had a great record of starting the season strongly, winning six opening round races throughout his career.

Perhaps his greatest win came in the 1986 Australian Grand Prix when a puncture looked like ending his title chances in the final race of a three-way battle between himself, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet.

He subsequently drove the wheels off his McLaren to take the race win and earn back-to-back titles.

Prost took a sabbatical in 1992 and returned in 1993 for Williams, dominating the season before retirement, becoming the first driver to reach a half-century of wins.

3. Sebastian Vettel – 53 wins

Vettel became the youngest driver to win a race when crossing the line first in the Italian Grand Prix of 2008, driving the unfancied Toro Rosso car.

Wet conditions played into his hands nicely and he came home to win by a 12-second margin over Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren.

It wasn’t long before he was promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull and 2010 was the year he came of age by winning his first title.

A memorable four-horse race for the title concluded in the final race of the season when Vettel was the unlikely winner, coming home to win the race and overhaul Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.

The next three seasons saw Vettel dominate proceedings, particularly in 2013 as he won nine in a row to end the year.

He moved to Ferrari in 2015 and while he couldn’t inspire the Scuderia to a first title since 2007, he enjoyed 14 race wins in red.

2. Michael Schumacher – 91 wins

Schumacher’s maiden win in F1 came in the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix driving for Benetton and two years later, he was a regular on the top step of the podium.

The German won 17 races across the 1994 and 1995 seasons as he won both world titles.

Four title-less year still yielded over a dozen wins before Schumacher dominated the sport for a five-year period between 2000 and 2004.

2004 was statistically his most successful year – he won 13 of 18 races, which is the highest percentage of Grand Prix wins in a season apart from Alberto Ascari’s 1952 campaign, where there were only eight races in total.

His final race win came in his 22nd different Grand Prix, reigning supreme in the Chinese Grand Prix.

1. Lewis Hamilton – 103 wins

Hamilton became the first Grand Prix centurion in 2021 and it will take something truly special to dethrone him.

The 2007 Canadian Grand Prix saw him win for the first time following five podium finishes to begin his F1 career. Hamilton won from pole position and subsequently won three more races that season.

The Brit then won five more races in 2008 en route to a first title, including his home race at Silverstone, finishing over a minute clear of Nick Heidfeld’s Williams in terrible rainy conditions.

Hamilton matched Schumacher on seven world titles with another virtuoso win in the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, again in rainy conditions, mastering the slippery surface.

His 100th win came in the Russian Grand Prix of 2021 and he currently sits on 103.

2022 was his first winless year in 15 years of F1 racing but he is still active and hungry as ever, so don’t back against him adding more in 2023.

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