Top 3 F1 drivers that suffered from the "Home GP curse"

Many drivers in F1 history have been successful at their home grands prix. Lewis Hamilton has won the British GP 8 times, Michael Schumacher won the German GP 4 times in his career, while Sebastian Vettel too picked up a win at his home GP. Not every driver, however, is fortunate enough to do that, having been afflicted by the "Home Grand Prix Curse".

This curse is a real thing and it works both ways! For some drivers, it has been a boon. Take the instance of Nigel Mansell, for example, who used to say that the British GP gave him a second per lap advantage over his competition. Not so much for others, as they have floundered despite running some of the best machinery in the history of the sport.

In this piece, we will take a look at some of the drivers that had rotten luck when it came to the home races.

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3 F1 drivers struck by the "Home GP Curse"

#3 Charles Leclerc

Races: 4

DNFs:3

Best Result: 4th

Charles Leclerc is one of the latest, and probably one of the biggest, entrants on this list. It's hard to believe in curses, but what happens with Leclerc at Monaco is almost unreal. The Ferrari driver is in a league of his own at his home track, but despite him driving the wheels off of his car, he has just one finish in four races.

The curse goes beyond F1 as even in his sole F2 appearance, Leclerc had to retire from the Monaco GP feature race while he was leading comfortably. Since then, the Monegasque has retired in 2018 while driving for Sauber, in 2019 with Ferrari after a collision, and in 2021 he could not even start the race after securing pole position.

In the 2022 F1 season, it got even worse as the Ferrari driver was leading the race comfortably but due to a strategy goof-up by Ferrari, he ended up finishing in P4. One has to think that the curse will get lifted one day or the other, but who knows what's in store for the Ferrari driver in the future.

#2 Mark Webber

Races: 12

DNFs: 4

Best Result: 4th

Mark Webber coincidentally announced himself to the F1 world in his home race itself with a P5 in a Minardi. That, however, was the only occasion Webber was able to evade the curse as in the following races in 11 more attempts, the Australian was unable to feature on the podium even once.

This is despite Webber driving one of the best cars in F1 history, the Red Bull, at the track from 2009 to 2013. Sometimes it was unfortunate, like the clash with Lewis Hamilton in 2010 and sometimes it was just the lack of pace. The Australian was never able to hook it all up together and even score a single podium in his home race.

#1 Jenson Button

Races: 17

DNFs: 5

Best Result: 4

Jenson Button drove some sensational races in his home race during his career, but he never reached the podium to embrace the British crowd. Button made his first appearance in front of the British fans with a stunning P5 finish for Williams in 2001. Even in the years that followed, the Briton got very close to scoring that elusive podium. For instance, in 2003 or 2014, Button drove out of his skin in those races but could never make it happen.

There were also races like the F1 British GP 2009 where Button, driving the all-conquering Brawn, could not conjure a podium. It is surprising considering that Button had won 5 of the first 6 races of the season in the same car. So strong was the curse that the British driver ended his career with 17 British GPs under his belt but not even a single podium.