Every Formula 1 Driver Who Tried to Push His Car to the Finish Line

• Race: 1954 Italian Grand Prix, 1955 Monaco Grand Prix
• Car: Maserati 250F, Mercedes-Benz W196

Stirling Moss is often remembered as one of the finest F1 drivers to never win a Formula 1 Championship — in large part because he dedicated much of his career to driving uncompetitive British cars well beyond their capabilities. But he was also a fiercely determined racer, and if he needed to push a car across the finish, well, he would. And he did, twice.

The first came at the 1954 Italian Grand Prix. Moss’ competitive car ultimately seized after some engine trouble, and he was forced to push the car a few feet across the line after Juan Manuel Fangio took the checkered flag. He was, by that time, nine laps down and was classified 10th.

Then, at the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix, Moss was almost a lap ahead of the competition when his engine blew on lap 80; he parked close to the finish line and once again waited until the ultimate winner — in this case, Maurice Trintignant — took the flag, according to Formula 1: The Knowledge. Moss then pushed his car across the line. Despite being 19 laps down, he still finished in ninth place.

• Race: 1956 British Grand Prix
• Car: Lancia-Ferrari D50

Back in the day, if one driver got a little tired, another driver could sub in for him. That’s what happened at the 1956 British Grand Prix, when Eugenio Castellotti handed his car off to Alfonso de Portago after a spin. Marshals black flagged the car because it was sporting some pretty obvious damage, but officials allowed him to park the car near the finish line and push it across the line after the checkered flag. The de Portago/Castellotti machine finished 10th.

• Race: 1957 Monaco Grand Prix, 1959 United States Grand Prix
• Car: Cooper T43-Climax, Cooper T51-Climax

Jack Brabham had some pretty iconic pushes across the finish. The first came at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix, where he was running third just before the end of the race only to fracture an oil pump bracket. He got out to push the car across the line, finishing in sixth place, five laps behind the leader.

Brabham’s adventure at the 1959 U.S. Grand Prix, though, was quite fascinating. The Championship had yet to be decided, and three drivers still had a shot at winning: Brabham, Moss, and Tony Brooks. It looked like Brabham’s race was over when he ran out of fuel on the very last lap of the Sebring race — but the undeterred Australian simply shoved his Cooper across the line. He finished fourth, good enough for the Championship.

• Race: 1957 French Grand Prix
• Car: Maserati 250F

The inimitable Jean Behra drove his car just to the finish line while covered in oil from a broken radiator at the 1957 French Grand Prix. He pushed his car across the finish as the race ended; he should have finished fifth, but race organizers decided that because Behra slowly coasted to a stop near the finish, his final lap time was unacceptably long and would be discounted. As a result, he was classified sixth.

• Race: 1957 British Grand Prix, 1959 Monaco Grand Prix
• Car: Cooper T43-Climax, Cooper T45-Maserati

Ol’ Stirling Moss scored a delightful home victory at the 1957 British Grand Prix, but things weren’t quite so nice for Roy Salvadori, whose gearbox failed near the end of the race. He waited for Moss to take the checkered flag before pushing himself across the line to be classified fifth.

Then, in the 1959 Monaco Grand Prix, a broken transmission required another push over the line, where he was classified sixth — the final car to “finish the race.”

• Race: 1958 French Grand Prix
• Car: Ferrari Dino 246

The 1958 French Grand Prix was a stellar one in a lot of ways. It was Fangio’s final race before retirement. Maurice Trintignant was burned during practice, and Luigi Musso was killed. It was also Mike Hawthorn’s single win of the season, which was good enough to secure him the 1959 Championship.

Hawthorn’s good friend Peter Collins suffered his own smidge of bad luck when he ran out of fuel at the Thillois Hairpin. He managed to push the car all the way to the finish — incredibly, he was still on the same lap as the winner.

• Race: 1959 German Grand Prix
• Car: BRM P25

Franco-American racer Harry Schell pushed his car across the line at the bizarre AVUS track in Germany for the 1959 German Grand Prix — a weekend were Jean Behra was killed on the track’s wild banking during a supporting sportscar race. Hans Hermann, too, was involved in a terrifying crash but was ultimately alive.

In the Grand Prix, Schell completed 49 of 60 laps and had to push his car across the line after his clutch failed. He was classified seventh, just out of the points.

• Race: 1959 United States Grand Prix
• Car: Ferrari Dino 246

Jack Brabham wasn’t the only driver to push his car across the line at the 1959 U.S. Grand Prix. The other was Wolfgang von Trips, who coasted to the finish line and then pushed the car across after a hole in his engine saw him lose his oil. Similar to Jean Behra mentioned above, von Trips’ final lap was disallowed due to it taking an unacceptably long time to complete, so he was ultimately classified in sixth place at Sebring.

• Race: 1960 Monaco Grand Prix
• Car: Ferrari Dino 246MP

American Richie Ginther had one struggle after another at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix. The demanding race had taken its toll on his Ferrari’s gearbox, so he was forced to stop on the side of the road. However, as the race neared the finish, Ginther realized that enough other cars had retired that, if he could push his car across the finish line, he could be classified as a finisher. He did just that, scooping up one point for his sixth-place classification.

• Race: 1960 Monaco Grand Prix
• Car: Lotus 18-Climax

Yep, this is another pushed-to-the-end finish at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix. Innes Ireland’s Lotus stopped at Casino Square, and this madman pushed the damn thing all the way to the finish just so he could be classified in ninth place.

• Race: 1960 United States Grand Prix
• Car: Lotus 18-Climax

The 1960 U.S. Grand Prix took place at Riverside in California, which means plenty of Americans turned out to contest the event. Jim Hall, who would later go on to co-found Chaparral Cars with Hap Sharp, privately entered a Lotus that suffered gearbox issues three laps from the finish. He pushed his broken car quite a ways to be classified seventh at the end of the race.

• Race: 1961 German Grand Prix
• Car: Cooper T53-Climax

Bernard Collomb is one of F1's forgotten drivers, but today we’re remembering his heroic drive at the 1961 German Grand Prix. Three laps from the end — or, on lap 12 of 15, thanks to the Nürburgring’s prodigious size — Collomb’s Cooper engine failed. Unfortunately for him, new regulations for the 1961 season meant Collomb was disqualified for pushing his car.

• Race: 1974 Swedish Grand Prix
• Car: March 741-Ford Cosworth

Thanks to those new regulations, it was quite a long time before another F1 driver tried pushing their car across the line. Vittorio Brambilla’s March ran out of oil and coasted to a stop just near the finish line at the 1974 Swedish Grand Prix. Brambilla tried to use momentum to coax the car over the line, but he failed, opting to try to push it instead. He was classified 10th after he would have finished sixth.

• Race: 1994 Dallas Grand Prix
• Car: Lotus 95T-Renault

Here it is: the entry in this slideshow I know you’ve all been waiting for. The godforsaken 1984 Dallas Grand Prix was a toasty one thanks to its July race date, and the horrifying track conditions made the event miserable for everyone.

Nigel Mansell’s gearbox failed just at the end of the race, and the British driver mustered every ounce of remaining strength to try pushing his Lotus to the finish — but to no avail. Mansell collapsed from heat exhaustion next to the car and had to be taken to the medical center for treatment. He never quite made it to the finish, so all that effort earned him one measly point for being classified sixth.

• Race: 1985 San Marino Grand Prix
• Car: Arrows A8-BMW

The 1985 San Marino Grand Prix is one of those wholeheartedly chaotic races that will always live in infamy. The last five laps saw three different drivers take the lead... none of whom actually won the race. That distinction went to Elio de Angelis.

Multiple cars ran out of fuel during this GP, and Thierry Boutsen was one of them. His Lotus’ tank dried up as he accelerated out of the final corner, and Boutsen tried desperately to make it to the finish on momentum alone — but it wasn’t to be. He had to jump out of the car and push his vehicle across the finish. After Alain Prost was disqualified, Boutsen inherited second place.

• Race: 1986 German Grand Prix
• Car: McLaren MP4/2C-TAG Porsche

The year after the San Marino chaos saw Alain Prost trying to push his car across the line at the 1986 German Grand Prix. A lack of fuel was yet again the culprit, with Prost running out on the final corner just like Boutsen. He tried desperately to push his car the last few hundred meters to the finish line but gave up when he realized it wasn’t going to happen. He was ultimately classified sixth.

Top finishers Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell had enough fuel for an extra lap after the checkered flag.

• Race: 1991 Mexico Grand Prix
• Car: Jordan 191-Ford Cosworth

And here it is, the very last time an F1 driver attempted to push a car across the finish line. This time, it was Andrea de Cesaris, whose throttle potentiometer cut out entirely, leaving him stranded just before the finish like at the 1991 Mexico Grand Prix. De Cesaris was given a marshal’s blessing to push the car across the line, saving him from disqualification — but he wasn’t credited as finishing the final lap. Nevertheless, he took home fourth place.