When the lead becomes a heartbreak: eight times the winner was snatched away
It is the cruelest way to go. There is nothing quite like the sight of a driver leading a Grand Prix, only for the machine beneath them to quit. George Russell is the latest to feel this sting after his battery failed on Lap 30 in Canada. It allowed his Mercedes team mate Kimi Antonelli to take victory, leaving Russell to ponder what might have been.
History is littered with these brutal moments. Mika Hakkinen was mere seconds from winning the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix when his McLaren suffered a hydraulic failure on the final lap. Years later, Kimi Raikkonen saw his own suspension shatter on the last lap of the 2005 European Grand Prix while trying to nurse a flat-spotted tyre. The heartbreak remains the same, whether it is a technical gremlin or a mechanical collapse.
Even the legends aren't spared. Ayrton Senna's Honda engine gave up just three laps from the end of the 1989 Canadian Grand Prix, and Alain Prost saw his 1993 Italian Grand Prix victory evaporate with a Renault engine failure five laps from the flag. Then there was Nigel Mansell in 1991, whose Williams simply stopped on the final lap in Montreal, and Lewis Hamilton, whose 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix ended in smoke with only 15 laps left to run.
Sometimes, the pressure is simply too much. Sebastian Vettel’s 2018 home race in Germany ended in the barriers on Lap 52 after a mistake in the rain, while Charles Leclerc’s 2022 Spanish Grand Prix ended with a sudden loss of power. It is a reminder that no matter how commanding the lead, the race is never truly over until the car crosses the line.
