Top 5: Indy 500 wins by nation

1. USA (78 wins, 55 drivers)

Between the first post-WWI running and the end of the 1980s, ‘foreigners’ only conquered the Indy 500 three times. While British companies such as Lotus, Cosworth, McLaren and March broke the home-grown stranglehold, the Brickyard remained largely parochial, especially for racing drivers. But from the 1990s, Indy became truly international. Half the winners from that decade were from overseas, even after the protectionist Indy Racing League era kicked in from 1996, and out of the 25 races run so far in the current millennium, only six have been won by Americans: Buddy Rice (remember him?), in 2004, Sam Hornish Jr in 2006, Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014, Alexander Rossi in 2016 and for the past two years hat-trick hopeful Josef Newgarden.

2. Great Britain (8 wins, 5 drivers)

Of the five Brits to have won at Indy, two were called Dario (“Beautiful British name,” as Al Murray’s Pub Landlord would say). Dario Resta, was Italian-born but moved to England as a child. He won at Indy in 1916. In 2007 Dario Franchitti emulated his namesake but more notably his hero Jim Clark in 1965 (and Graham Hill, or was it Clark again after an apparent scoring error in 1966?) by claiming the first of his three 500s. The other British winner was the late Dan Wheldon, who drank the milk twice, in 2005 and 2011.

3. Brazil (8 wins, 4 drivers)

All the Brazilian wins have followed since the first of Emerson Fittipaldi’s brace in 1989. The late Gil de Ferran, took his victory in 2003 and Tony Kanaan added his 10 years after that. It’s Hélio Castroneves who has bumped Brazil up the order thanks to his record-equalling four 500 wins (2001, ’02, ’09 and ’21). The man whose surname was split as Castro Neves when he raced in the UK during his Formula 3 years could become the first to wear a winners’ ring on every finger of one hand, if he can pull off something special this May 25. The evergreen 49-year-old lines up for Meyer Shank Racing, the team with which he joined AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears as a four-time Indy winner four years ago.

4. France (3 wins, 3 drivers)

In 1914, the French matched Americans on victories. Jules Goux won the third running in 1913 and René Thomas the fourth. More than a century later Simon Pagenaud, above, completed the French triumvirate when he won in ’19. Surely Sébastien Bourdais would have added to the tally if his IndyCar peak hadn’t landed during the CART/IRL split. He won four consecutive Champ Car titles from 2004, but only once during that period did he appear at Indy. There are no French drivers on the grid in ’25.

5. Sweden (2 wins, 2 drivers)

Marcus Ericsson will be pitching to add to his 2022 victory this year. Sweden’s first winner was Kenny Bräck, above, who drove for AJ Foyt in 1999. Mild-mannered, he formed an unlikely bond with fiery ‘Super Tex’. The first time they met was over breakfast in Las Vegas. “He had steak and pancakes and I had yoghurt,” Bräck told Motor Sport. “He looked across and grunted, ‘You eat that stuff? I tried it once. Didn’t like it.’” But from there Bräck won the 1998 IRL title for Foyt and the 500 the following year.