From Missing Drivers to Missing Anthems: The 5 Strangest F1 Podium Celebrations
Few occations are as sacred as the Formula 1 podium ceremony. It’s the moment when the adrenaline begins to settle, and drivers - helmets off, faces flushed, and emotions high - stand before the world to celebrate triumph, commiserate loss, or simply exhale after 90 minutes of white-knuckle racing. Emotions, whether joy, relief, or heartbreak, are laid bare under champagne showers and national anthems. But while most ceremonies nowadays are polished and formulaic, a few have gone gloriously off-script: missing drivers, odd musical choices, or rows over silverware. Let’s dive into five of the most bizarre, hilarious, or downright confusing podium celebrations in F1 history.
Elio De Angelis celebrates his fifth place on the podium (Monaco, 1982)
Remembered as one of the most chaotic Grands Prix ever held, the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix somehow finished with a four-man podium ceremony - one of whom didn’t actually finish in the top three.
When rain began to fall in the final laps of the race, it turned an already treacherous circuit into something resembling an ice rink. On lap 74 (of 77 in total), Alain Prost, leading the race, crashed exiting the Chicane du Port. Riccardo Patrese inherited the lead - only to spin out a lap later. Didier Pironi then took over, but a misfiring forced him to abandon the race in the tunnel. Andrea de Cesaris might have won, but he ran out of fuel before he got to overtake Pironi.
Next in line, Derek Daly, had already lost both his wings and severely damaged his gearbox in an accident earlier in the race: it finally seized up in the second-to-last lap, and he too retired. Meanwhile, Patrese had managed to restart his stalled car by rolling downhill and bump-starting, and miraculously made it across the line first to claim his maiden victory. In the commotion, no one was entirely sure who had finished where.
BBC commentator and 1976 world champion James Hunt famously said of the race “Well, we’ve got this ridiculous situation where we're all sitting by the start-finish line waiting for a winner to come past, and we don't seem to be getting one!”
Caught up in the confusion, Elio de Angelis was mistakenly ushered up to the podium - despite having finished fifth. Smiling next to Prince Rainier and Princess Grace, he joined the celebrations before being corrected mid-ceremony.
Alain Prost drops his cup into an Italian crowd and Ron Dennis was less than amused (Italy, 1989)
For some, trophies have little emotional significance - but for McLaren team manager Ron Dennis they were sacred team property.
Tensions between Prost and Dennis had been simmering all season, after Prost announced his upcoming move to Ferrari earlier that season. Prost’s podium stunt was received with more than slight disapproval.
Winning his fourth and final win of the season at the Italian Grand Prix, Prost’s victory was met with an extatic group of Tifosi standing beneath the podium. According to F1, former McLaren team co-ordinator Jo Ramirez recalled “They were calling out, 'Coppa, Coppa'. Alain thought ‘this is my public from next year’, so he came over and just let the cup go. As soon as it hit the crowd it was ripped into a million pieces - one took one handle, someone took the base, someone took the middle bit...”
Ron Dennis, visibly livid at the loss of McLaren’s silverware, hurled the constructor’s trophy to Prost’s feet and stomped off the podium. Since then, McLaren policy demands drivers hand over trophies for display immediately upon reception.
A drunken fan plays “Happy Birthday” on the trumpet for Alan Jones’s maiden victory (Austria, 1977)
In one of F1’s more silly podium moments, Australian driver Alan Jones claimed his maiden Grand Prix win at the 1977 Austrian GP. As he climbed the podium expecting a triumphant anthem, the organisers - apparently lacked a recording of the Australian anthem, not having expected Alan Jones to win.
“The organisers obviously didn’t expect it to happen because they didn’t have the Australian national anthem”, Jones told formula1.com. “[Instead] a drunk played ‘Happy Birthday’ on a trumpet – of which there were plenty in Austria…”
At the time, local organisers handled much of the podium setup. Anthem mistakes happened occasionally when teams didn’t prep properly. Today, the FIA tightly manages the ceremony, ensuring correct anthems, flags, and timing, with every detail reviewed in advance.
The no-show duo: Hunt & Reutemann exit stage left (Japan, 1977)
Most drivers would relish a trip to the podium. But at the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix both James Hunt and Carlos Reutemann opted out.
The race is now more remembered for the effects of the torrential rain and fog that hit the track, causing many drivers to worry about driver safety. Of course it is memorable for the dramatic crash between Gilles Villeneuve’s Ferrari and Ronnie Peterson’s Tyrrell six-wheeler, resulting in the death of a cameraman and a marshall. But one of the most bizarre moments of the race weekend became its podium ceremony.
Hunt, having won the race, was fed up with F1 politics and the conditions - and simply left the circuit to catch his plane. Reutemann shortly followed. This left third-place finisher Patrick Depailler to mount the podium alone to celebrate, as officials scrambled to make the ceremony appear dignified.
Incidents like this led to the FIA tightening requirements around podium attendance, and F1 rules were quickly changed to make podium ceremony attendance mandatory.
Pastor Maldonado gets the lift of his life (Spain, 2012)
Pastor Maldonado’s win at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix was already a shock. Williams hadn’t won in nearly a decade, and few expected the Venezuelan driver, nicknamed “Crashtor” Maldonado, to be the one to end that drought. But the real surprise came after the race, when, during the podium celebration, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen physically lifted Maldonado off the ground in a spontaneous act of celebration.
The image was unforgettable: two former world champions hoisting the stunned race-winner aloft as if to crown a new king.
Podium celebrations might feel scripted and organised now, but every now and then the chaos still breaks through. Whether it’s a misplaced anthem, a driver missing the ceremony, or a spontaneous lift from your rivals, these moments remind us that even in Formula 1 - despite its relentless professionalism - there is room for chaos.
The podium may be not be the most essential part of a Grand Prix, but it’s often the most human. Where emotions, error, ego, joy, and absurdity collide in one moment of relishing glory.