There have been three Formula One drivers who raced as Russians, two of whom have scored podium positions in Grands Prix. Daniil Kvyat 2016 Malaysia FP3

Former drivers

When

Vitaly Petrov Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrov ( rus, Вита́лий Алекса́ндрович Петро́в, p=vʲɪˈtalʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈtrof; born 8 September 1984) is a Russian racing driver who drove in Formula One for Renault F1 ...

made his Grand Prix debut for

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

at the

2010 Bahrain Grand Prix The 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally the 2010 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 14 March 2010 at the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the seventh Bahrain Grand Prix and the opening ...

he became the first driver from Russia or the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to compete in Formula One. His debut season yielded 13th place in the championship and a best result of 5th in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

– however he gained notoriety for blocking

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and M ...

in Abu Dhabi and costing Alonso a chance at the title win. His 2011 season with the newly re-branded Lotus-Renault team began strongly with 3rd place at the season-opener in Australia but the car failed to maintain consistent competitiveness and he ended the season 10th in the standings. For 2012 he was dropped by Lotus and picked up by

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equa ...

. With an inferior car he failed to score a point all season, but did finish a strong 11th in his final race in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He was not retained for the 2013 season. Sirotkin Williams FW41 Testing Barcelona

Sergey Sirotkin Sergey Olegovich Sirotkin ( rus, Серге́й Оле́гович Сиро́ткин, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɐˈlʲeɡəvʲɪtɕ sʲɪˈrotkʲɪn; born 27 August 1995) is a Russian former professional racing driver who competed in Formula One in ...

made his debut for Williams at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix. He would score a solitary point at the

2018 Italian Grand Prix The 2018 Italian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d'Italia 2018) was a Formula One motor race held on 2 September 2018 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy. The race was the fourteenth round of the 2018 Form ...

in the uncompetitive

Williams FW41 The Williams FW41 is a Formula One racing car designed by Paddy Lowe and Dirk de Beer for the Williams team, to compete in the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. The car made its competitive debut at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix, and ...

. He was replaced by

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing and rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test d ...

for .

Daniil Kvyat Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat ( rus, Дании́л Вячесла́вович Квят, p=dənʲɪˈil vʲɪtɕɪˈslavəvʲɪtɕ ˈkvʲat; born 26 April 1994) is a Russian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2014– ...

became the second Russian to compete in Formula One when he debuted with

Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso (; literal translation of "Red Bull Racing Team"), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One racing team. It was one of two Formula One teams owned by Austrian beverage company Red ...

at the

2014 Australian Grand Prix The 2014 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2014 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 16 March 2014 in Melbourne. The race was contested over 58 laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit ...

. He finished his first race in 9th place – an equal best result for the season matched in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. He finished 15th in the championship. He was hired by

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...

for the 2015 season, finishing 7th in the championship with a career-best 2nd in

. Despite finishing 3rd in China the following year, after his home race he was demoted back to Toro Rosso and was subsequently replaced by

Max Verstappen Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Belgian-Dutch Auto racing, racing driver and the 2021 Formula One World Championship, 2021 and 2022 Formula One World Championship, 2022 Formula One World Champion. He Formula One drivers ...

. After having scored only 5 points in the 2017 season by the 2017 United States Grand Prix, he was dropped from Toro Rosso and replaced with

Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly (; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver, currently competing in Formula One under the French flag, racing for Scuderia AlphaTauri. He is the 2016 GP2 Series champion, and the runner-up in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 S ...

. He raced again for Toro Rosso in the season and scored a podium for Toro Rosso at the

2019 German Grand Prix The 2019 German Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Grosser Preis von Deutschland 2019) was a Formula One motor race which was held on 28 July 2019 at the Hockenheimring in Germany. The race was the 11th round of the 2019 For ...

, held at the Hockenheimring, after a strong strategy in changing conditions and a move on Lance Stroll in the closing stages to secure 3rd place, scoring the third podium of his career. He was retained by Toro Rosso as the team changed its name to AlphaTauri for .

Timeline

* Note:

Nikita Mazepin Nikita Dmitryevich Mazepin ( rus, Ники́та Дми́триевич Мазе́пин, p=nʲɪˈkʲitə ˈdmʲɪtrʲɪjɪvʲɪtɕ mɐˈzʲepʲɪn; born 2 March 1999) is a Russian professional racing driver who competes in rally raid. A for ...

raced as a neutral competitor representing the

Russian Automobile Federation The Russian Automobile Federation (RAF) (russian: Российская автомобильная федерация) is an FIA-affiliated association of motorists based in Russia founded in 1991. History On 11 December 1992, the FIA General Ass ...

due to sporting regulations in effect through 2021.

References

{{Formula One nationalities * *