Nobody has won on all six continents: the four drivers who can be first when F1 returns to Africa

With the Rwanda race, Formula 1 will once again visit all six inhabited continents. That reopens a count that has been frozen for decades: in 1,166 races, no driver has won on all six. 16 have won on five, 13 of them are missing only Africa, and 4 are still on the grid: Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris and Russell.

Only two seasons ever visited all six

The calendar has a lot to do with nobody having done it. Europe and North America have been there since 1950, South America since 1953 and Africa since 1958. Asia did not arrive until 1976, with Japan, and Oceania until 1985, with Adelaide.

And they never lined up. Japan dropped off the calendar after 1977 and did not return until 1987, so the year Australia finally got its race there was no Asian round. By the time Japan came back, South Africa was already out because of apartheid. The six pieces only fitted together in 1992 and 1993, the two years of the short return to Kyalami that we covered in F1's 24 races in Africa. Two seasons in 77 years.

The ones who had Africa in front of them and did not win

Of the 13 drivers missing only Africa, 5 actually raced there: Piquet, Senna, Hill, Häkkinen and Schumacher.

Senna came closest. He raced 4 times at Kyalami, finished third in 1992 and second in 1993, behind Prost, in the last race held on the continent. Piquet tried 6 times and his best result was third in 1983, the afternoon he backed off because that was enough to make him champion. The following year he started from pole and retired.

Schumacher caught the very end: fourth in 1992 and out in 1993, while fighting Senna for second. He went on to win on the other five continents and never had another African race on the calendar. Hill raced there once, on his Williams debut in 1993, and retired. Häkkinen also once, in 1992, in a Lotus that finished ninth.

The three who won in Africa and were left one short elsewhere

3 drivers with five continents do have Africa: Andretti, Prost and Mansell.

Prost and Mansell were missing Asia, which in their day meant Japan. Prost finished second at Suzuka in 1988 and 1993, and in between had his two collisions with Senna there in 1989 and 1990. Mansell never even reached the podium: in 1987 he was injured in practice and did not start, in 1992 he retired from pole, and his best result is a fourth place in 1994.

Andretti is a different case. He won in Africa, in Asia, in Europe and in both Americas, and he did not win in Oceania because he could not: the first race in Australia was in 1985, three years after his final season. He won on every continent he raced on. Moss, Stewart and Hulme had done the same with the four available in their time, and so has everyone with five who made his debut after 1993, from Räikkönen to Russell.

The four who can be first

The figures are wins on each continent. Hamilton has had the five since 2016 and has waited longest, but he also has the least time left. The Rwanda race has no date and 2030 is the earliest being mentioned: he turns 45 that year. The last driver to win a Grand Prix aged 45 or over was Fangio, in 1957, at 46. Since 1960 the oldest winner is Jack Brabham, at 43, and he did it at Kyalami of all places, in 1970.

Verstappen completed the five in 2023, when he finally won in Australia, still his only victory in Oceania. Norris did it in 2025 and Russell this very year, by winning in Melbourne. Both have a single win in South America and another in Oceania: winning once in each place was enough.

The ones coming up behind

Another 4 active drivers have four continents: Sainz, Leclerc, Alonso and Bottas. All four are missing the same thing besides Africa: a win in South America, which means Brazil. The most striking case is Alonso, who has raced 22 times at Interlagos, stood on the podium 9 times, sealed both his titles there and has never won.

Sainz is the opposite case: he has 4 wins, each on a different continent. He won at Silverstone in 2022, in Singapore in 2023, and in Melbourne and Mexico City in 2024. He has not repeated on any of them.

Antonelli and Piastri are on three. Both are missing South America and Oceania, and for Piastri that means he has not yet won at home.

The podium on all six does exist

What nobody has done by winning has been done on the podium. 4 drivers have one on all six continents: Prost, Senna, Piquet and Patrese. Three of them raced in 1992 or 1993. Piquet, who retired earlier, put it together over the years: his African podium dates from 1983 and he did not win in Japan until 1990.

This is the full list of drivers who have won on five, with their wins on each continent:

For someone to complete the six, the race has to arrive, he has to still be racing and he needs a car that can win it. In the meantime, the Garage lets you put drivers from different eras in the same team and see what they would have done with a calendar they never had.