What is the Triple Crown in motorsport and who achieved the feat?

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This is where the Triple Crown of motorsport comes in, as it can only be awarded to a driver who has achieved success in different racing disciplines.

So, what is the Triple Crown and who claimed this feat?

What is the Triple Crown of Motorsport?

The Triple Crown consists of three races, each showcasing a driver’s skills in a different racing discipline. It includes the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix. These are generally considered the three most prestigious races in motorsport and are usually held each year from late May to early June, although the Triple Crown is an unofficial title, meaning no trophies are awarded.

The Indy 500 is the oldest of the three races, having first covered the 500 miles of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1911, 12 years before the first 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Monaco GP is the most recent of the three races, as the principality first hosted its now famous race in 1929 when William Grove-Williams won in his Bugatti.

The Triple Crown is a notoriously difficult feat to achieve, in part due to the races being part of different racing series and disciplines. The Indy 500 is part of the IndyCar season, Le Mans is a round of the World Endurance Championship (and before that the World Sports Car Championship among others), while Monaco is a mainstay of the F1 calendar .

But this has not always been the case. The Indy 500 first entered the F1 calendar in the 1950s, but participation was limited as many non-American drivers and manufacturers chose not to travel to the United States as the race was governed by regulations different.

This is why, to this day, Graham Hill is the only racing driver in history to have captured the much-revered Triple Crown. Hill took his first of five victories at the 1963 Monaco GP and won the 1966 Indy 500 in his first attempt.

Le Mans proved more difficult for Hill to master. He participated in the endurance race every year from 1958 to 1966 and his best result during this period was a second place in 1964. He retired from the race six other times.

It wasn’t until 1972, in his final attempt, that Hill emerged victorious. Hill joined the Matra sports car team at a time when his F1 career was drawing to a close, alongside Henri Pescarolo. The duo won the race by an impressive 11 laps over the team’s sister car.

From a racing team perspective, McLaren is the only one to have accomplished the Triple Crown. Starting with the Indy 500, where the British team won the 1972, 1974 and 1976 editions, the team took the first of its 15 victories at the Monaco GP in 1984. The team took its only victory at the Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya won for the team in its racing debut.

Current Drivers Who Could Win Motorsport’s Triple Crown

Fernando Alonso has made no secret of his quest for the illustrious triple crown, as the 2006 and 2007 Monaco GP winner focused on other motor racing categories in the late 2010s.

It started in 2017 when the then McLaren driver skipped the Monaco GP to compete in the Indy 500. Despite a good performance in the early stages where Alonso ran no lower than 12th, it ended ended in disappointment as his Honda engine exploded with 21 laps to go. Alonso then focused on Le Mans, competing in the 2018-19 WEC campaign for Toyota, with which he won the championship alongside co-drivers Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima to claim two-thirds of the Triple Crown.

Juan Pablo Montoya is the only other current driver to have completed two-thirds of the Triple Crown – and he’s arguably closer to Alonso. Montoya won the 2000 and 2015 editions of the Indy 500, as well as the 2003 Monaco GP. Although Montoya won at the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was in the LMP2 Pro-Am category – the hypercar is the premier category – meaning he did not achieve total victory and therefore does not count towards the triple crown.

Among the current generation of racing, several drivers have won a third of the Triple Crown. This includes MoneyGram Haas F1 Team driver Nico Hulkenberg, who dominated the 2015 edition of Le Mans, alongside teammates Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber.

There are of course many current F1 drivers who have won the Monaco GP. Of those still active (Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez), Ricciardo perhaps has the best chance of attempting the remarkable Triple Crown. While others have downplayed any interest in racing in the United States, Ricciardo is fond of American car culture and is well known to have been courted by IndyCar teams when his F1 future looked uncertain in 2022. He also almost participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. in 2015, before his then-Red Bull team blocked the opportunity.

Drivers will have completed two-thirds of motorsport’s Triple Crown

Other versions of the triple crown of motorsport

As the Triple Crown is an unofficial title, its definition is the subject of heated debate. For example, Jacques Villeneuve believes that this should include the F1 world championship rather than Monaco – a definition created by Hill himself.

If it were to pass, Hill would remain the only three-time crown winner to date, while Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, Jim Clark, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Villeneuve would all have completed two-thirds of the title.

There is also a Triple Crown dedicated to endurance racing. The Triple Crown of Endurance is awarded to those who win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring during their careers. Nine drivers currently hold this special triple crown, and it would be 10 if not for the famous photo finish at the 1966 Le Mans race where Ken Miles lost his victory to Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon.

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