Alonso hits 400 GPs: Which F1 drivers have the most race entries?

This weekend marks Fernando Alonso’s 400th grand prix, reinforcing his position as the F1 driver with the most race entries.

The Spaniard has actually started slightly fewer races, 396, but wants to mark his fourth century of grands prix this weekend, believing he deserves the credit for preparing for those GPs he ultimately missed, even if he didn’t start them for a variety of reasons.

Entering his first F1 race for Minardi at the 2001 Australian GP, the Spaniard’s career has spanned several eras, from screaming V10s, to growling V6 hybrids and the latest ground effect era.

The longevity of his career is emphasised by the fact that he hasn’t won a race in over 10 years, but is still seen as one of the championship’s best drivers.

While he hasn’t won as much as he might have perhaps liked, the brilliant Spaniard remains one of grand prix racing’s most successful racers.

But which other veterans are up there with Alonso for being the most experienced F1 drivers ever? We run through the top ten.

1. Fernando Alonso: 400 race entries

Fernando Alonso first made his F1 debut in 2001, driving for the reborn Minardi team.

The Italian minnow had been saved by Australian entrepreneur Paul Stoddart, but the young Spaniard was its talisman on track.

Those impressive performances led him to Renault, where he won his first F1 race in 2003 before claiming back-to-back titles in 2005 (becoming the youngest ever champion at 24 years and 59 days) and 2006.

Alonso’s career has since been defined by trying to get back to those former glories across stints at McLaren (twice), Ferrari, Renault (again) and now Aston Martin, spanning 23 years.

The Spaniard’s entry tally is all the more remarkable in that he took a two-year sabbatical between 2019-2020, when he won Le Mans twice with Toyota and claimed a stage at the Dakar rally-raid with the Japanese brand too.

Alonso moved to Aston Martin for 2023, scoring podiums in his first season with the team. Results have dipped since then – largely due to its loss of direction in car development – but the Spaniard remains as committed as ever, reaching 400 race entries at the 2024 Mexican GP.

2. Kimi Räikkönen: 353 race entries

Kimi Räikkönen had competed in just 23 car races when he was signed up by Sauber for the 2001 season.

Aged 21, the young Finn scored on his debut with a sixth place finish at the Australian GP, and was snapped up by McLaren for 2002.

Across the next five seasons Räikkönen would score race wins and twice challenge for the world title, losing out firstly to Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher in 2003 and the second time to Renault’s Fernando Alonso in 2005.

The Finn finally prevailed in 2007 after a switch to Ferrari, winning the title in dramatic fashion by one point from the McLarens of Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

Räikkönen left Ferrari and F1 for two years, trying his hand at rallying and NASCAR. He returned with Lotus for 2012, winning races there before switching to Ferrari. He would claim one more victory at the 2018 US GP before seeing out his career with three years at Sauber, where he’d first begun.

3. Lewis Hamilton: 352 race entries

Lewis Hamilton began his F1 career in 2007 as one of the best-prepared rookies of all time, after being picked up by McLaren as a karting junior.

He is now the most successful F1 driver of all time with seven world championships and 105 wins to his name.

The Brit has been an almost-constant factor up-front during his time in grand prix racing, challenging for the title in his first year, when a fierce battle developed with Fernando Alonso.

Although both eventually lost out to Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen, Hamilton would claim his first championship in 2008, claiming Alonso’s record of being youngest champion, having been crowned at 23 years and 300 days.

A fall in McLaren form would ultimately lead Hamilton to Mercedes, where he would win six titles in seven seasons from 2014 to 2020.

His current team has struggled to adapt to the new ground effect rules in 2022, and although Hamilton has scored two more race victories this year, he’ll move to Ferrari for 2025.

4. Rubens Barrichello: 326 race entries

Like Alonso, Barrichello’s career spanned several eras. The Brazilian first entered F1 in 1993 with Jordan, racing the nimble machines of the early ’90s.

The Brazilian looked promising in his first season, but it was in 1994 when he stunned F1 by taking pole at a wet Spa-Francorchamps.

Barrichello would score a podium at TI Aida too as he finished sixth in the championship, one of grand prix racing’s bright young stars.

The Sao Paulo native would spend three seasons at Stewart GP from 1997-’99 before joining Ferrari to partner Michael Schumacher in 2000.

From then until 2005 he would score nine wins and finish runner-up in the championship twice.

Barrichello then moved to Honda in 2006, but then team began a downward spiral. When Honda pulled out at the end of 2008, Brawn retained Barrichello and Jenson Button, and went on a charge, the latter winning six of the first seven races.

After struggling at the start of the season, Barrichello the chalked up race victories for himself in Valencia and Monza, putting on a late title charge before conceding to Button.

The Brazilian would switch to Williams for 2010, retiring two years later.

5. Jenson Button: 309 race entries

Similar to Kimi Räikkönen, Jenson Button was a surprise choice when Williams picked the young, inexperienced driver to partner Ralf Schumacher for 2000.

The 20-year-old Brit would finish in the points in just his second race at Brazil, scoring points on five more occasions to finish eighth in the championship.

Despite his impressive performances, Button would be replaced by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2001, leading the Frome native to a disappointing two-year tenure at Benetton/Renault.

A move to BAR for 2003 would reinvigorate his career though, and Button was Ferrari’s strongest competitor throughout 2004.

A first race win would come at Hungary ’06 when the team had morphed into Honda. Button’s career then took a dive with his cars’ appalling form in ‘07 and ’08, before the Japanese marque announced it was pulling out of F1.

Team principal Ross Brawn bought the team at the eleventh hour, and its 2009 car proved to be a revelation, Button winning the F1 title with six race victories.

A subsequent move to McLaren would bear out more GP wins but no more championships, with Button retiring at the end of 2016.

6. Michael Schumacher: 308 race entries

Michael Schumacher was a last-minute entry when the young German was parachuted into Jordan for the 1991 Belgian GP, the team needing to replace its driver Bertrand Gachot who had been jailed for assaulting a taxi driver.

The Kerpen native made a name for himself in Spa immediately by out-qualifying his vastly experienced team-mate Andrea de Cesaris in seventh, and he was snatched from under Jordan’s nose by Benetton for the very next race.

Schumacher and Benetton would be GP winners by 1992, with the German taking back-to-back drivers’ titles in 1994 and 1995 after battling with Williams’ Damon Hill.

He then moved to the ailing Ferrari team in 1996, and the long-term rebuilding project finally bore fruit in 2000, when Schumacher helped the famous Italian squad take its first F1 drivers’ title in 21 years.

That winning combination would win every drivers’ and constructors’ championship between 2000 and 2004, with Schumacher retiring at the end of 2006.

He made a three-year comeback with Mercedes in 2010, but struggled to rediscover former glories, taking one pole and one pole position before retiring for good at the end of 2012.

7. Sebastian Vettel: 300 race entries

Wünderkind Sebastian Vettel was the first Red Bull junior to truly justify its young driver programme, the 21-year-old scoring points on his debut in 2007 when subbing for the injured Robert Kubica at the 2007 US GP.

When the Toro Rosso team let go of the American Scott Speed, Vettel would round out that season by scoring a fourth at China, again showing clear speed and potential.

One year later and Vettel was a race winner, putting in a superlative performance at the wet 2008 Italian GP, taking victory after starting on pole.

It was the first win for either Red Bull team, and the German was promoted to the senior squad for 2009.

Vettel would challenge Jenson Button and Brawn for the F1 crown, but 2010 was the year for Red Bull.

From there the German and his team would snare four consecutive driver/constructor doubles, before Vettel moved on to Ferrari.

More race wins at the Scuderia would be forthcoming, but no more world titles. Vettel rounded off his F1 career with two years at Aston Martin before retiring at the end of 2022.

8. Sergio Perez: 280 race entries

Sergio Perez has made an extended career for himself as one of F1’s best tyre whisperers, often making them last longer than anyone else.

This ability helped him to become a midfield F1 stalwart, largely with the Force India team, as they regularly punched above their weight.

The Mexican forged that reputation from his very first race (with Sauber), stopping just once at the 2011 Australian GP to finish seventh – the only driver on the grid to do so.

In 2012 he pulled off a similar feat in the wet at Malaysia to almost beat Fernando Alonso to the win, earning him a move to McLaren for 2013.

Results at Woking were disappointing though, and the Mexican took a step down the grid to Force India.

Across eight seasons with the Silverstone team Perez would never finish outside the top ten in the championship, and was rewarded for years of service by going from last to first to win a chaotic Sakhir GP in 2020.

Although dropped by the sqaud at the end of that year as it evolved into Aston Martin from Racing Point, his reputation as a safe pair of hands earned a move to Red Bull for 2021, where he has since taken five more race wins.

9. Felipe Massa: 272 race entries

Felipe Massa arrived in F1 in 2002 as Kimi Räikkönen’s Sauber replacement, and was touted as a driver with similar levels of talent.

The young Brazilian, despite clearly possessing a turn of speed, struggled to turn this into regular race results, and was dropped at the end of the year.

His career was rescued by Ferrari, testing for the Scuderia in 2003, the manufacturer then encouraging Sauber to take Massa back for 2004.

Two more solid seasons with the Swiss team earned him a move to Ferrari as No2 to Michael Schumacher for 2006, when he snared a pair of race victories in Turkey and Brazil.

Massa would grow in strength as the years went by, taking three wins in 2007 while team-mate Kimi Räikkönen became champion, before challenging for the title himself in 2008.

That battle with Lewis Hamilton went down to the wire at a stormy Brazil race, Hamilton ultimately clinching the title after a last-lap pass on Timo Glock. Massa would win that home GP though, his last ever in F1.

He would still race for many more seasons. The Brazilian suffered a serious eye injury the next year at Hungary when a spring came loose from compatriot Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn and went through Massa’s visor, ending his 2009 campaign early.

The Ferrari driver would come back in 2010, but very much in a support role for Fernando Alonso.

Massa switched to Williams for 2014, and proved himself to be the solid veteran the team needed, scoring podiums in Italy, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

The team would gradually slip down the order across the next few years, Massa retiring from F1 after 16 seasons in 2017.

10. Daniel Ricciardo: 258 race entries

Daniel Ricciardo leaving F1 for a second time after poor form in 2024, seemingly prematurely, belies the fact that he’s one of the world championship’s most experienced drivers.

The Red Bull junior first raced with HRT midway through 2011, and was promoted to the Toro Rosso team the next year.

Two years with the second-string squad yielded a decent points haul, but few could have predicted the way the Australian immediately made his mark when selected to partner Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull for 2014.

While the German struggled in the new hybrid turbo era, Ricciardo flourished by taking three race wins.

Across the next few seasons the Australian would win more races for Red Bull as a regular front-runner, before leaving for Renault in 2019.

The Enstone stint failed to convince Ricciardo the team was ready to challenge for race wins in the near future, and he joined McLaren in 2021.

Unfortunately, the Australian driver was uncompetitive, struggling to match young team-mate Lando Norris, and he was let go at the end of 2022.

Returning with Red Bull’s junior squad midway through 2023, the hope was Ricciardo would rediscover his old form, but this failed to materialise on a regular basis.

He was stepped down by Red Bull after the 2024 Singapore GP, replaced by Liam Lawson.