31 March 2025

For racing drivers, winning a top-level event is a sign that you’ve made it, while winning a championship means your name will definitely go down in history. But there is also an unofficial ‘title’, that of the Triple Crown.

It’s so difficult that only one racing driver has ever completed the challenge, and the list of those who have come close reads like a Who’s Who of the racing world, so talent alone will not get you there. We take a look at possibly the toughest challenge in motorsport.

What is the motorsport Triple Crown?

Although the Formula One World Champion is widely regarded as the best driver on the planet, single-seater, open-wheel racing requires a very specific set of skills. So, what if there were a way to determine who was the best driver across multiple disciplines?

That’s the idea behind looking at those drivers who have challenged for the, entirely unofficial, Triple Crown. There is no actual title or trophy available, but since only one driver has completed it, that’s not too surprising.

In short, for a driver to win the Triple Crown, they need to triumph in the three glittering prizes of the motorsport calendar – track-based races that is; we’ll not go into the whys and wherefores of rallying, no matter how good rally drivers are.

These are the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Each is notoriously difficult to complete, let alone win, and to win all three is nigh on impossible. And we’re talking about all three over the course of a career, not just a season… that’s never happened. With careers so specialised now too, seeing drivers committed to single-forms of racing, it’s unlikely to ever happen in a calendar year now, as opposed to decades ago where racers travelled all over for race seats.

Who’s won motorsport’s Triple Crown, and who’s come close?

The sole Triple Crown champion to date is Graham Hill. ‘Mr Monaco’ won the principality’s Grand Prix five times, the first of which coming in 1963, and he triumphed in the 1966 Indy 500, at the first attempt. There are plenty of differences between F1 and Indy, but the transferrable skills are plenty, so it’s often Le Mans where drivers come unstuck, with the endurance element, closed-wheel racing cars, and a track with multiple classes of car on it at the same time.

Hill won Le Mans in 1972 however, his last attempt at the legendary race. Driving a Matra alongside Henri Pescarolo, the victory ended up a dominant one, with an 11-lap margin over the sister car.

As is always the case with motorsport, there are two considerations when it comes to titles – the driver and the constructor. In terms of the Triple Crown, it is always the driver that is talked of, but one manufacturer has completed the trio of wins too – McLaren. The British constructor has won three Indy 500s – in 1972, 1974, and 1976 – fifteen victories at Monaco, and completed the Triple Crown in 1995 with its historic triumph with the McLaren F1 GTR.

Other than that, there are only a handful of drivers to have come close. Of which, only Fernando Alonso is still in with a decent shot. He is a two-time Le Mans winner, in 2018 and 2019 with Toyota, and has won the Monaco Grand Prix in 2007 with McLaren and 2008 with Renault. He has competed in the Indy 500, but the best finish to date is 21st in 2020. Alonso has made no secret of his aim to complete the set however, so few would bet against further attempts as winning the US race.

Another recent driver to attempt the set was Juan Pable Montoya, who managed Indy 500 wins in 2000 and 2015, and won at Monaco in 2003, his best finish in Le Mans was 7th in 2018.

The only other drivers to have completed two thirds of the Triple Crown are:

• Jochen Rindt (Le Mans & Monaco GP)
• Bruce McLaren (Le Mans & Monaco GP)
• A.J. Foyt (Indy 500 & Le Mans)
• Maurice Trintignant (Le Mans & Monaco GP)
• Tazio Nuvolari (Le Mans & Monaco GP)
  
  
  

Defining the Triple Crown

As an unofficial title, the definition is sometimes disputed, though the above is widely-regarded to be as official as it gets. Some however think that the F1 element should be the World Driver’s Championship. While Le Mans and Indy 500 are single race events, it’s easy to see how it has been decided that Monaco – F1’s glittering jewel – should become part of the set.

Interestingly, even if it were the championship that counted, it would still only be Hill to have completed the Triple Crown. It would change the ‘also rans’ though, with Mario Andretti, Jim Clark, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, and Jacques Villeneuve joining the two-thirds list; and of course Alonso would remain on it.

There is also an endurance-based Triple Crown that can be considered, which includes 24h Le Mans, 24h at Daytona, and the Sebring 12h, with nine drivers in total holding this title, including Jacky Ickx, Phil Hill, A.J. Foyt, and Andy Wallace. It would have been 11, with Ken Miles denied the outright victory because of team orders at Le Mans in 1966, though there are two drivers – Hurley Haywood and Al Holbert – who have won each race twice or more. No driver has ever won all three in the same year, the closest being Miles.