F1 INSIGHT
By Graham Duxbury @ TheRealDux
Racing from the back of the grid
Graham Duxbury is a former professional racing driver, celebrated SA champion and acclaimed motorsport administrator and commentator. A South African Hall of Fame Inductee, he made history in 1984 by winning the famous Daytona 24-hour sports car race in the USA in an all-South African team. Today, he heads Duxbury Networking, a leading IT company.
Formula One places a significant emphasis on qualifying speed, giving the fastest driver pole position for a Grand Prix. Starting at the front of the grid gives a driver clean air, track position and the best possible opportunity to control the race.
Starting further back, meanwhile, normally means spending Sunday staring at rivals’ gearboxes, searching for overtaking opportunities and hoping that a Safety Car intervention due to somebody else’ s misfortune which might improve your prospects.
But every now and then, F1 produces something special- a driver who turns a disastrous grid position into one of the greatest victories of his career.
Kimi Antonelli’ s remarkable victory at this year’ s Italian GP at Monza from 19th on the grid provided the latest reminder that, despite all the complexity of modern F1, there is still something uniquely compelling about watching a truly exceptional driver carve his way through the field.
It was a drive that demanded speed, patience, judgement and – above all- the instinct of a racer.
By winning from the back of the grid Antonelli joined a very exclusive club.
A founder member of this club is John Watson. At Long Beach in 1983, the McLaren driver started in a scarcely believable 22nd position for the United States GP West.
Astonishingly, Watson sliced through the field on the demanding Californian street circuit, taking advantage of his McLaren’ s transformation in race conditions. By the finish, Watson had won. His 22nd-to-first
John Watson’ s win at Long Beach in 1983 remains the record for the lowest starting position from which a GP has been won. Photo credit: s2-ge. glbimg. com
victory remains the record for the lowest starting position from which a World Championship GP has been won.
Remarkably, it was not Watson’ s first great race from the back. Just a year earlier, he had won the Detroit GP after starting 17th. Clearly, there was something about adversity that brought out the best in the Northern Irishman.
Another unforgettable charge came from Rubens Barrichello at Hockenheim in 2000. Starting 18th on the grid after a disappointing qualifying session, the Brazilian fought his way into contention during a chaotic German GP
The race had everything- overtaking, collisions, a track invasion, a Safety Car intervention and then rain. Barrichello found himself leading when the wet weather arrived and made the decision to stay out on slick tyres while rivals headed for the pits.
It was a gamble, but it worked. Barrichello crossed the line to claim his first F1 victory after seven years in the sport.
Then there was Kimi Räikkönen at Suzuka in 2005.
A rain-affected qualifying session left the McLaren driver stranded in 17th position on the grid, but on race day the Finn was in great form. He steadily worked his way through the field and, as the closing laps approached, hunted down Giancarlo Fisichella’ s Renault passing on the last lap to take victory in one of F1’ s most memorable moments.
It was a drive that demonstrated why Räikkönen is still regarded one of the most naturally gifted drivers of his era.
Max Verstappen added his own chapter to this remarkable tradition at São Paulo in 2024. Starting the Brazilian GP at Interlagos in 17th position after a difficult qualifying and the unfortunate imposition of a grid penalty, he faced treacherously wet conditions at the start.
For most drivers, the combination of rain, poor visibility and a midfield starting position would have represented damage limitation.
For Verstappen, it became an opportunity. His progress through the field was rapid. He found grip where others struggled, judged the changing conditions superbly and eventually took the lead before winning by almost 20 seconds.
He produced what many regard as one of the defining drives of his career. It was a performance that effectively sealed another World Drivers’ Championship title for Max.
What links Watson, Barrichello, Räikkönen, Verstappen and now Antonelli is far more than exceptional machinery. Racing from the back demands a different set of skills.
It requires aggression without recklessness, patience without passivity and the ability to recognise an opportunity in a fraction of a second. Above all, it demands confidence- the certainty that every car ahead is simply another obstacle waiting to be overcome.
Pole position may still be the ideal place from which to win a GP, but sometimes F1 is at its most spectacular when exceptionally talented racers start at the back of the field.
WORDS IN ACTION 26 OCTOBER 2026