Written by Tarun Suresh, Edited by Julia Bissessar
When it comes to motorsports, perhaps no achievement is greater than the Triple Crown. The general, more widely accepted version of the Triple Crown is winning the Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
When it comes to motorsports, perhaps no achievement is greater than the Triple Crown. The general, more widely accepted version of the Triple Crown is winning the Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Some define the Triple Crown by swapping the Monaco Grand Prix for the F1 Drivers’ Championship, but regardless, winning each of those races alone is enough to put one’s name in the history books.
However, winning all three of them is enough to make one a motorsport legend. And only one driver has been able to win the Triple Crown in either version in all of motorsport history.
Motorsport legend Graham Hill won the Monaco Grand Prix in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969, widely regarded as ‘Mr. Monaco’ for his success around the streets of Monte Carlo, the Indy 500 in 1966 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972. He also won the F1 Drivers’ Championship twice, once in 1962 and once in 1968.
Since then, many drivers have tried their hand, but none have succeeded. Well, two have, if you count winning a category at Le Mans but missing out on the overall win.
Close, but no cigar
Mario Andretti won the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans in the WSC category, but only finished second overall. He won the 1969 Indy 500 and the 1978 F1 Drivers’ Championship.
Juan Pablo Montoya won the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 Pro-Am category, but he finished only 10th in the LMP2 class and 15th overall. He won the 2003 Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy 500 in 2000 and 2015, respectively.
At the end of the day, there is no deciding authority on whether Andretti or Montoya completed the Triple Crown.
Everyone can have their opinions but the general consensus is that only an overall victory should be counted towards the Triple Crown. Even then, what these two drivers have achieved and how close they have gotten is no simple feat.
Only eleven other drivers have completed two legs of the Triple Crown, including both the Monaco GP and winning the World Drivers’ Championship.
Other drivers to have won two out of the three legs required to complete the Triple Crown are Maurice Trintignant, Mike Hawthorn, three-time Le Mans winner Phil Hill, who is unrelated to Graham Hill.
Also on this list are first four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt, Bruce McLaren, F1 double world champion and Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, Jacques Villeneuve, and two-time F1 WDC, Monaco GP and Le Mans winner Fernando Alonso.
Alonso is the only active driver to have won two out of the three legs of the Triple Crown. He came close in 2017, but an engine failure took him out of contention for the Indy 500 which he was leading.
“The Triple Crown is something that I have been saying for a couple of years now. To be the best driver in the world, there are two opportunities, win eight championships in F1 or the second is to master different series and different cars,” Alonso remarked, when asked about the Triple Crown.
Alonso previously said that he would rather focus on the Dakar Rally where he is one of the highest-finishing rookies, so it seems unlikely that anyone will complete the Triple Crown anytime soon.
A look to the future
With each of the races having only a handful of competitive seats available, it is hard for any driver except a few exceptionally good (or rich) ones who can get a seat for all three races during their career.
F1 has been preferring younger drivers as of late so someone later in their career who has won the Indy 500 and Le Mans might find it difficult to get a seat as well.
The three races are each from different disciplines of racing, and their cars grow more dissimilar every year. It would take a driver with an exceptional level of adaptability towards whatever car they drive to succeed in any two disciplines, let alone all three.
Just because of how difficult it is to get a seat in all three categories and how different the cars are, completing the Triple Crown, especially in the current times, is harder than ever.
For a driver to complete the Triple Crown right now, they most probably will have to start with F1, win the Monaco Grand Prix, and then move on to the other disciplines.
One driver who has shown interest in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (and endurance racing as a whole) and has won the Monaco GP early in his career is Max Verstappen.
But he has completely ruled out participating in the Indy 500 and completing the Triple Crown, stating “That (the Triple Crown) I won’t achieve, no.”
The only other active driver who could realistically complete the Triple Crown in the near future is the 2024 Monaco GP winner Charles Leclerc, but he isn’t too keen on the Indy 500 either, but he has not ruled it out completely.
“I'm really interested in doing Le Mans one day. Indianapolis is not something that I've been particularly looking at. However, maybe one day,” the Monégasque said after his win at Monza.
One dark horse of a candidate is the 2022 Monaco GP winner Sergio Perez. After his exit from Formula One, he has been rumoured to join Ferrari in the WEC in 2025.
While all three teams running the Ferrari hypercar have their seats filled for the year to come, it is not very uncommon to see a driver get replaced even if they have a contract for the following year, something which Perez himself has been a victim of twice.
While he has been way out of form as of late, an in-form Perez can win the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indy 500. Focusing on IndyCar can also have him working pretty close to home.
However, nothing has been set in stone for the Mexican driver and it is still extremely unlikely that he completes the Triple Crown. Right now, his winning of the two remaining legs is just an amusing situation to ponder.
The Triple Crown is an exceedingly rare achievement. The difficulty of the feat is demonstrated by the fact that, in the 95 years that all three races have been held, just one driver has finished it and that only thirteen have finished two legs.
As of writing, it is highly unlikely any active driver will join Graham Hill in completing the most prestigious achievement in motorsport.
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