Lewis Hamilton has officially become the 41st driver in the illustrious history of Scuderia Ferrari to capture a world championship Formula 1 Grand Prix. The 41-year-old British icon secured this landmark maiden triumph behind the wheel of a Maranello single-seater in his 31st race weekend representing the prancing horse. Now that he has broken the ice, an even more ambitious chapter unfolds for the seven-time world champion.
Mercedes initially set a devastating baseline at the start of the season, enjoying a dominant run of form spearheaded by George Russell and, in particular, rookie sensation Kimi Antonelli. Because of this early delta, the upcoming back-to-back sequence represents a critical operational window for Ferrari. Securing major results over the next two rounds would send a powerful message regarding a potential comeback in the world championship standings.
Of the 40 drivers who preceded Lewis Hamilton as race winners for Ferrari, the overwhelming majority naturally went on to secure at least a second victory. However, an incredibly small percentage managed to pull off an immediate follow-up act—specifically, winning the very next grand prix directly after their maiden triumph with the Scuderia. This fascinating historical anomaly takes center stage ahead of Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. Interestingly, the current 2026 season has already witnessed a similar feat from Antonelli, who masterfully strung together consecutive wins immediately following his breakthrough success.
The four legendary drivers who achieved the immediate double
Throughout the decades of the Scuderia’s rich racing heritage, only four competitors have ever managed to execute this instant back-to-back feat. The most recent driver to do so is Lewis Hamilton’s current teammate, Charles Leclerc, who famously conquered Spa-Francorchamps in 2019 before taking an emotional victory at Monza just one week later.
To find the next name on this list, one must look back to 1987 and Gerhard Berger, who ended that campaign with a brilliant double victory across the Japanese and Australian Grands Prix. Further back in the archive, Jody Scheckter triumphed at the 1979 Belgian Grand Prix before immediately dominating on the streets of Monte Carlo. The very first pioneer of this achievement was Alberto Ascari, who captured the 1951 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and immediately backed it up with a home victory at the Italian Grand Prix.
Remarkably, many of Ferrari’s greatest icons failed to achieve this immediate follow-up success, including legends like Juan Manuel Fangio, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, and Michael Schumacher. In several instances, this statistical omission was simply a product of the mechanical limitations of the machinery at their disposal. Of the elite quartet who did succeed, only half went on to secure a world championship title in red during their careers: Ascari in 1952 and Scheckter during that memorable 1979 campaign.
The competitive outlook for the Austrian Grand Prix
Consequently, the Austrian Grand Prix shapes up as a crucial technical and psychological testing ground. Should Lewis Hamilton stand atop the podium at the Red Bull Ring, he will become only the fifth driver in Ferrari history to secure an immediate back-to-back victory following his maiden win for the team. A positive outcome would ignite fascinating scenarios for a late-season title charge, although there are no guarantees in modern Formula 1, and everything will ultimately hinge on outright trackside performance.
Lewis Hamilton therefore arrives at the Austrian Grand Prix with a unique opportunity to rewrite the history books, as a second consecutive victory would induct the British champion into an elite group of Ferrari legends and inject immense momentum into the 2026 title fight.
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