{"id":849198,"date":"2026-08-07T08:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T08:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/849198\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T08:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T08:42:18","slug":"clark-senna-antonelli-how-the-grand-chelem-age-record-evolved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/849198\/","title":{"rendered":"Clark, Senna, Antonelli \u2013 How the grand chelem age record evolved"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                        Juan Manuel Fangio \u2013 38y, 10m, 27d<\/p>\n<p>1950 Monaco GP<\/p>\n<p>The first-ever grand chelem \u2013 leading the whole race from pole position and setting the fastest lap on your way to victory \u2013 occurred in just the second race of the Formula 1 world championship.<\/p>\n<p>Future five-time title winner Juan Manuel Fangio was fastest by 2.6s in qualifying. The 38-year-old Argentine made it past Tabac corner right before a wave from the harbour soaked the track, which wiped out most of the field, including the other four drivers who started from the top five.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was very lucky,\u201d Fangio told Autosport, denying suggestions that he might have a \u2018sixth sense\u2019. \u201cThere had been a similar incident in 1936 and I happened to see a photograph of it at the Automobile Club the day before the race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs I came out of the chicane, I was aware that there was something different with the crowd. I was leading, but they were not watching me. They were looking down the road. Instead of seeing their faces, I was seeing the backs of their heads. Something at Tabac was more interesting than the leader.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then I remembered that photograph and braked as hard as I could. It was very close.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fangio went on to lap all of his rivals. This wasn\u2019t his most fantastic drive by any means, but it still made history.<\/p>\n<p>Alberto\u00a0Ascari \u2013 33y, 11m, 23d<\/p>\n<p>1952 French GP, Rouen-les-Essarts<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/alberto-ascari-ferrari-500.jpg\" alt=\"Alberto Ascari, Ferrari 500\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Alberto Ascari, Ferrari 500<\/p>\n<p class=\"photographer\">Photo by: LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>No other grand chelem was achieved until Alberto Ascari and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/team\/ferrari\/36466\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Ferrari<\/a> dominated the 1952 and 1953 seasons, run to Formula 2 regulations, with their supremacy yielding five grand slams in just 14 races.<\/p>\n<p>The first one of those was the inaugural Rouen-based French Grand Prix, in 1952. Ascari lapped the 5.1km track in 2m14.8s, outpacing Ferrari team-mates Giuseppe Farina and Piero Taruffi by 1.4s and 2.3s respectively.<\/p>\n<p>Ascari completed the 388km race with no pitstops, and even a rain shower couldn\u2019t thwart his dominance. He took the chequered flag 1m10.7s ahead of Farina, with Taruffi a lap down and everyone else further adrift.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Hawthorn \u2013 29y, 2m, 26d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>1958 French GP, Reims<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mike-hawthorn-ferrari-dino-246.jpg\" alt=\"Mike Hawthorn, Ferrari Dino 246\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Mike Hawthorn, Ferrari Dino 246<\/p>\n<p class=\"photographer\">Photo by: LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The next driver to join the grand chelem ranks was Mike Hawthorn \u2013 the first one to do so in his 20s.<\/p>\n<p>The longtime Ferrari racer had been a consistent top-three achiever over the previous years \u2013 he became F1\u2019s youngest-ever podium finisher at just 23 in the 1952 British Grand Prix with a privately-entered Cooper. But the 1958 French GP marked just his third \u2013 and last \u2013 victory.<\/p>\n<p>The only driver to have scored points in every race so far that season, Hawthorn was led by two-time winner Stirling Moss in the standings, but he took pole position at Reims, leading Ferrari team-mate and rival Luigi Musso by seven tenths, with Moss two seconds adrift in sixth.<\/p>\n<p>Musso chased Hawthorn early on but went off the track on lap 10. Three weeks on from surviving a hefty crash at Spa-Francorchamps, the 33-year-old Italian was thrown out of his somersaulting Ferrari and died a few hours later.<\/p>\n<p>Hawthorn went on to win unchallenged, 24.6s ahead of Moss, in what turned out to be his final F1 victory. He was narrowly crowned the world champion, courtesy of Moss\u2019s fair-play, as the latter stood up for Hawthorn when he was facing disqualification from the Portuguese GP.<\/p>\n<p>Hawthorn announced his retirement after winning the title and suffered a fatal road accident just three months later. He was 29 years old.<\/p>\n<p>Jim Clark \u2013 26y, 4m, 17d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>1962 British GP, Aintree<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/jim-clark-lotus-25-climax.jpg\" alt=\"Jim Clark, Lotus 25 Climax\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Jim Clark, Lotus 25 Climax<\/p>\n<p class=\"photographer\">Photo by: Autocar \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Back in 1962, Team Lotus introduced its highly successful Lotus 25 \u2013 a 14-time grand prix winner \u2013 and Jim Clark proved he could get the most of it.<\/p>\n<p>Aged just 26, Clark became a\u00a0bona fide\u00a0title contender that year, but mechanical problems took him out of contention in three of the first four rounds, while he took his maiden win at Spa-Francorchamps \u2013 from 12th on the grid, so a grand chelem wasn\u2019t on the cards.<\/p>\n<p>At Aintree however, Clark claimed his third career pole of what would be a record 33, outpacing John Surtees by 0.6s, and led his compatriot\u2019s Bowmaker-entered Lola throughout the race. He slowly but comfortably pulled away and won by 49.2s.<\/p>\n<p>Clark may have clinched just two world titles, as unreliability cost him dear in \u201962, \u201964 and \u201967, but he achieved eight grands chelems \u2013 still a record to this day \u2013 before his untimely death in an F2 race at Hockenheim in April 1968.<\/p>\n<p>Ayrton Senna \u2013 25y, 1m\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>1985 Portuguese GP, Estoril<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ayrton-senna-lotus-97t-renault.jpg\" alt=\"Ayrton Senna, Lotus 97T Renault\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Ayrton Senna, Lotus 97T Renault<\/p>\n<p class=\"photographer\">Photo by: LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>No fewer than 10 drivers scored grands chelems over the next 23 years, but only Ayrton Senna\u2019s emergence provided an opportunity to beat the \u2018youngest\u2019 record.<\/p>\n<p>Senna joined Lotus for what was just his sophomore F1 season after an impressive rookie campaign with Toleman. At Jacarepagua, he qualified fourth and ran third until an electrical failure occurred, and his Estoril performance was genuinely impressive.<\/p>\n<p>The 25-year-old Brazilian took a dominant pole position in dry conditions, his first of a record 65, 0.413s faster than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/team\/mclaren\/36473\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">McLaren<\/a>\u2019s Alain Prost. Rain wreaked havoc in the race, with only nine of the 26 runners classified under the chequered flag.<\/p>\n<p>Senna was 2.65s clear of team-mate Elio de Angelis after lap one, 12.9s ahead on lap 10, and kept pulling away to triumph 63 seconds ahead of Ferrari\u2019s Michele Alboreto. The celebration he shared with Lotus team manager Peter Warr is etched into F1 folklore.<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ayrton-senna-lotus-97t-renault-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"photographer\">Photo by: Motorsport Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe car was sliding everywhere \u2013 it was very hard to keep [it] under control,\u201d Senna commented afterwards. \u201cYou often saw cars sliding about all over the place purely through lack of grip and too much power. The only problem [I had] with the car was the brakes, but under these conditions you expect that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce you were close to someone, you could not see anything. People think I made no mistakes, but that\u2019s not true \u2013 I\u2019ve no idea how many times I went off! Once I had all four wheels on the grass, totally out of control, and the car came back on the circuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone said \u2018Fantastic car control\u2019 but it was just luck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And when, years later, it was suggested that his 1993 Donington masterclass was his greatest drive, Senna disagreed: \u201cNo way! I had traction control.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOK, I didn\u2019t make any real mistakes [at Donington], but the car was so much more easier to drive. It was a good win, sure, but compared with Estoril \u201985 it was nothing, really!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sebastian Vettel \u2013 24y, 3m, 27d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>2011 Indian GP, Buddh<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/sebastian-vettel-red-bull-raci.jpg\" alt=\"Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing RB7 Renault\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing RB7 Renault<\/p>\n<p class=\"photographer\">Photo by: Andrew Ferraro \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Unlike every other driver on this list, Sebastian Vettel was already a world champion when he clinched his maiden grand chelem.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Bull prodigy had come close several times, including the 2009 British GP \u2013 where he temporarily lost the lead to team-mate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/driver\/mark-webber\/829924\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Mark Webber<\/a> as he pitted three laps earlier \u2013 and the 2011 European GP, where he changed tyres one lap before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/driver\/felipe-massa\/829149\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Felipe Massa<\/a> and therefore conceded first place ever so briefly.<\/p>\n<p>There was also the 2009 Japanese GP, which he led from pole to victory \u2013 but Webber snatched the fastest lap away by 0.003s.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Vettel finally put it all together on F1\u2019s inaugural visit to India. He topped qualifying by a healthy 0.296s over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/driver\/lewis-hamilton\/829181\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Lewis Hamilton<\/a>, outpaced Webber by 0.271s for the fastest lap, and pulled away from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/driver\/jenson-button\/829144\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Jenson Button<\/a> by 4.8s in the first 10 laps, roughly maintaining that gap on his way to an 8.4s victory.<\/p>\n<p>But Red Bull wasn\u2019t thrilled with Vettel\u2019s fastest-lap heroics. As to whether his driver had asked for permission to complete the grand chelem, team boss Christian Horner said: \u201cOf course not because he knows we don&#8217;t like it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had done our best to manage it, we had turned all the engine modes down, KERS off, and short of putting a cow on the circuit there was not a lot else we could do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end of the day we have complete trust in him. I am sure he still had the margin in there, and the main aim for him is to win the race. He knows there are no points for fastest laps, but he likes those little statistics to complete a perfect weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That day, Vettel also broke Nigel Mansell\u2019s record for most laps led in a season \u2013 739 by the end of the 2011 season to the British icon\u2019s 694 in 1992, though Mansell\u2019s hit rate was higher and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/driver\/max-verstappen\/829269\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Max Verstappen<\/a> obliterated that one in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Max Verstappen \u2013 23y, 9m, 4d<\/p>\n<p>2021 Austrian GP, Red Bull Ring<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786092137_359_max-verstappen-red-bull-racing.jpg\" alt=\"Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing<\/p>\n<p class=\"photographer\">Photo by: Jure Makovec \/ SOPA Images \/ LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>It can be somewhat quaint that Verstappen became F1\u2019s youngest grand chelem scorer at the 128th time of asking \u2013 as many races as the combined Fangio, Ascari and Hawthorn have competed in \u2013 but that\u2019s just a reflection of the fact he made his grand prix debut at 17 and never really had the fastest car before 2021.<\/p>\n<p>In all fairness, Verstappen did deserve the grand chelem at Abu Dhabi \u201920; he led the whole race from pole, but a late pitstop by Renault\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/driver\/daniel-ricciardo\/829602\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Daniel Ricciardo<\/a> \u2013 at a time when the fastest lap was worth one point \u2013 denied him that accolade.<\/p>\n<p>When F1 arrived on Red Bull\u2019s turf in 2021, Verstappen was comfortably leading the drivers\u2019 championship, with Hamilton 32 points adrift.<\/p>\n<p>The Dutchman beat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/driver\/lando-norris\/840487\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Lando Norris<\/a>\u2019 surprising McLaren to pole by 0.048s with a lap he labelled as \u201cpretty bad\u201d; in the race, he easily forged ahead once an early safety car was out of the way. He won by 18 seconds from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/team\/mercedes\/36495\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Mercedes<\/a>\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/driver\/valtteri-bottas\/829609\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Valtteri Bottas<\/a>, setting the fastest lap by a whopping 1.562s over his closest rivals, courtesy of the latest pitstop of all. But even before that, he was quickest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIncredible, to be honest,\u201d Verstappen commented. \u201cThe car was on rails. I mean on every tyre set that we put on, it was really enjoyable to drive. Pretty insane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m a bit amazed myself how today went. I didn&#8217;t expect it to be like this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kimi Antonelli \u2013 19y, 9m, 3d<\/p>\n<p>2026 Monaco GP<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786092137_348_andrea-kimi-antonelli-mercedes.jpg\" alt=\"Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes<\/p>\n<p class=\"photographer\">Photo by: Alastair Staley \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Mercedes wonderkid Kimi Antonelli has improved the grand chelem record to under 20 years of age \u2013 a benchmark that is unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p>After a tough rookie campaign in F1, Antonelli has enjoyed more dominant machinery in 2026 and has himself been a much more complete package as a driver.<\/p>\n<p>The 19-year-old Italian came ever so close to a grand chelem in China this year, as he took his first pole by 0.222s and the fastest lap by 0.125s over team-mate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autosport.com\/driver\/george-russell\/840489\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">George Russell<\/a>, but Lewis Hamilton\u2019s fast-starting Ferrari deprived him of the lead on lap one.<\/p>\n<p>In Monaco however, Antonelli outpaced Verstappen by 0.043s for pole \u2013 a \u201cmagic lap\u201d, the sophomore said \u2013 and led a chaotic race from start to finish. He pulled a gap of 29 seconds to Hamilton and then survived a late red flag and standing start to prevail in the eight-lap dash as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was surprised by the pace, but today I just felt really one with the car and I was just able to set a good rhythm with high intensity and the car was responding really well,\u201d Antonelli commented. \u201cSo yeah, definitely I was surprised, but it was just one of those days where everything clicks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>About the red flag, he added: \u201cBig time I was frustrated, because Lewis was starting next to me this time and knowing how good they start, I was like, \u2018Oh man.\u2019 But luckily, the start went OK. Also, he had a lot of wheel spin, so that also made my life a little bit easier into Turn 1. But yeah, it was not easy to refocus after the red flag.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The youngest-ever polesitter, fastest-lap scorer, race and championship leader, hat-trick and grand chelem achiever is now on target to become F1\u2019s youngest world champion in 2026 \u2013 potentially beating Vettel\u2019s record (23y, 4m, 11d) by more than three years.<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786092138_451_andrea-kimi-antonelli-mercedes.jpg\" alt=\"Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes<\/p>\n<p class=\"photographer\">Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>            We want to hear from you!<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-auto\">Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"#\" class=\"ms-link text-link font-bold\">Take our survey<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-1 text-body\">&#8211; The Autosport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Juan Manuel Fangio \u2013 38y, 10m, 27d 1950 Monaco GP The first-ever grand chelem \u2013 leading the whole&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[136139,3032,295464,54988,49,48,7076,578,576,577,144366,12625,1885,1881,295465,3766,3835,82],"class_list":["post-849198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-alberto-ascari","tag-andrea-kimi-antonelli","tag-antonelli-u2013-how-the-grand-chelem-age-record-evolved","tag-ayrton-senna","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-clark","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-jim-clark","tag-juan-manuel-fangio","tag-max-verstappen","tag-mercedes","tag-mike-hawthorn","tag-sebastian-vettel","tag-senna","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}