Revealed: The top 10 drivers with the most F1 points without winning a race

F1 stats: Drivers with the most points without a race win

10: Paul di Resta – 121 points

Victory for Oscar Piastri at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix dropped his name off this list, and instead brought back former Force India driver Paul di Resta to the top 10.

Having already been successful in DTM, Di Resta tested for McLaren before signing for Force India as third driver in 2010, before being promoted to a race seat a year later with Team Silverstone and scoring points on a relatively consistent basis throughout his time there.

A podium eluded him until his time with the team ended in 2013, with two career-high finishes of P4 coming in the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix and 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix, with a one-off appearance in the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix coming alongside a successful endurance career that continues to this day.

9: Adrian Sutil – 124 points

Adrian Sutil’s career was arguably overshadowed by off-track events, but there’s no shame in the German’s appearance on this list.

Sutil amassed 124 points in seven seasons, kicking off with a 2007 rookie season at Spyker that convinced Force India to retain him following the team’s rebrand. Gritting his teeth through a miserable 2008, Sutil helped Vijay Mallya’s setup rise from distant also-rans to midfield contenders.

After a stunning front-row qualifying performance was followed up with a career-high P4 finish at Monza in 2009, the 2010 and 2011 seasons gave Sutil consistency as Force India pushed up the pack, but the avid supercar collector’s career slumped afterwards.

Charged with attacking former Lotus owner Eric Lux with a champagne bottle in a Shanghai nightclub in 2011, he was later fined and handed a suspended prison sentence, missing out on a drive for 2012 before returning to Force India a year later, moving to Sauber for 2014 before losing his seat.

8: Kamui Kobayashi – 125 points

Japan’s late-braking overtaking master only contested four full Formula 1 seasons, though the glittering endurance career he has enjoyed since suggests he deserved more.

Kamui Kobayashi enjoyed his best years in a Sauber, finishing 12th in the Drivers’ Championship across three consecutive seasons. Never in serious race-winning contention, the Japanese driver’s career highlight came at his home Grand Prix.

He qualified fourth at Suzuka in 2012, resisting intense pressure from one-time World Champion Jenson Button to finish third and earn an emotional trip to the podium.

7: Kevin Magnussen – 191 points

Following a season on the sidelines Magnussen wasted no time on his F1 comeback, taking home 10 valuable points for Haas in the Bahrain curtain-raiser. He only added 15 more in the subsequent 21 races but a spectacular pole position in Brazil overshadowed any disappointment.

After taking a stunning P2 finish for McLaren on his F1 debut in 2014, the Dane is still waiting for his second podium and if Haas continue their rate of improvement throughout 2024, it will be fascinating to see where Magnussen’s limit lies.

6: Daniil Kvyat – 202 points

Across six Formula 1 seasons and two Red Bull-backed teams, Daniil Kvyat couldn’t do quite enough to convince Christian Horner and Toro Rosso’s Franz Tost.

Kvyat was promoted to the senior Red Bull team in 2015 and actually outscored Daniel Ricciardo after a tough season – coming closest to victory in Hungary with second place.

But the so-called “Torpedo” developed a crash-prone reputation and with teenager Max Verstappen pushing for promotion, the politics of Red Bull bit Kvyat.

The Austrian team leveraged the Russian driver’s controversial tangle with Sebastian Vettel at the Russian Grand Prix to promote Verstappen just four rounds in 2016, sending Kvyat back to Toro Rosso.

5: Alex Albon – 232 points

With his reputation rebuilt after his F1 return, Alex Albon has time and talent on his side. But unlike others on this list, the Thai-British driver has already piloted race-winning machinery.

In 2019, midway through his rookie season, Albon was suddenly told to challenge Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen for wins. In the wake of Pierre Gasly’s disastrous Red Bull stint, Albon was promoted from Toro Rosso for the final nine championship rounds.

But just like Gasly, Albon struggled in Verstappen’s shadow. Two podiums, without ever threatening to win a Grand Prix, wasn’t enough for Red Bull in 2020.

Following a one-year hiatus, Albon signed with Williams for 2022 and outperformed his machinery on multiple occasions… but his next move could be crucial.

4: Nick Heidfeld – 259 points

Nick Heidfeld’s 13 Formula 1 podiums was more than any other driver who never tasted Grand Prix glory, before Lando Norris matched that tally at the end of 2023.

His closest brush with victory came at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, when team-mate Robert Kubica took advantage of strategy to take his maiden race victory, with the German sealing a breakthrough one-two for BMW Sauber.

Perhaps Heidfeld’s biggest near-misses came off-track. The German out-performed both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in equal machinery at Sauber, albeit while the pair were rookies, but while those two earned Ferrari seats and amassed 32 race wins between them, the sport’s powerhouse teams never came calling for Heidfeld.

3: Lance Stroll – 292 points

Canada’s Lance Stroll can count podiums and a pole position among his Formula 1 achievements, but now he wants a victory to finally silence his doubters.

The 2020 Turkish Grand Prix might have been his best shot at quitting this list, building a 10-second lead from pole position before being reeled in and tumbling down the order after his second pit stop.

2: Romain Grosjean – 391 points

French driver Romain Grosjean’s F1 career ended in a death-defying Haas fireball at Bahrain in 2020, though his terrifying accident and backmarking season with the American team did not paint a true picture of his talent in Formula 1.

Grosjean podiumed 10 times across an 11-year F1 career, and came closest to victory at the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix – where his Lotus team’s one-stop strategy paid off as he passed Fernando Alonso to take second, just 2.5 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton.

1: Nico Hulkenberg – 552 points

Without a win, Nico Hulkenberg is also the most experienced F1 star to never achieve a podium, despite some brilliant midfield drives.

Hulkenberg has never held the keys to a race-winning machine. But every time a golden opportunity does come around, bad luck and self-sabotage scuppered him.

His shock pole at the 2010 Brazilian GP was a big near-miss, as was his self-inflicted crash while in the top six in Baku in 2017, while the German’s last heartbreak came in 2019 at his home race: Hockenheim.

Expertly navigating a chaotic race in slippery conditions, Hulkenberg was running second behind Max Verstappen when disaster struck. The German understeered off the track at Turn 17 and slid to an excruciating halt in the gravel.