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Formula One has changed quite a bit since the inaugural season in 1950. The words consistency and reliability are almost synonymous to the modern Formula One machines for we seldom see vehicles suffering from multiple retirements on a consistent basis.
However, things weren't always this good and a good bunch of cars faced issues in the yesteryears, which was predominant for teams that were either new to the sport or lacked enough experience to crack the Formula One puzzle.
These unreliable vehicles, at times, forced its drivers to register multiple retirements in a short duration of time, which led them to accumulate some unfortunate records of securing successive retirements in Formula One.
Let us look closer at the five drivers who hold the unfortunate record of the most consecutive retirements.
#5 Riccardo Patrese - 11
Riccardo Patrese takes the fifth spot on our list with eleven consecutive retirements. Interestingly, the Italian driver managed to consecutively retire eleven times twice in his career.
His first run came between 1982 and 1983. Patrese retired during the early stages of the Italian Grand Prix due to problems with his clutch, which was the penultimate race of the season. Mechanical troubles continued, and he couldn't register a finish even at the last race of the season, taking total retirements to 10 that season. Still driving the Brabham, the Italian couldn't finish the first nine races of that season. Finishing third at the Hockenheimring finally ended his unwanted streak.
His second run came during the 1984 Formula One season. The Italian was now with Alfa Romeo, but that didn't change his fortunes. Patrese eleven successive retirements occurred between the Belgian Grand Prix and the Dutch Grand Prix.
#4 Jaques Villeneuve - 11
Like Patrese, Jacques Villeneuve has eleven consecutive retirements to his name. The Canadian driver's misfortunes showed up during the 1999 Formula One season.
Driving for the BAR team for the first time, the former World Champion endured a horrible start to the season at Australia's Albert Park, where he was forced to retire due to a mechanical problem. His misfortunes continued for the next ten races until the race at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. Two of those retirements were seen during the very first lap of the race itself.
The Canadian finished fifteenth at the 1999 Belgian Grand Prix after starting the race from the eleventh spot. With two more retirements before the final race of the season, Villeneuve holds another unfortunate statistic of twelve retirements during the 1999 Formula One season. He put zero points on the drivers' championship table that year.
#3 Alex Caffi - 12
Alex Caffi's first full Formula One season was a disaster for he never managed to see the chequered flag. His was classified only once that season, which happened at the 1987 San Marino Grand Prix.
The Italian retired from the first Grand Prix at Brazil and continued his poor run until the Spanish Grand Prix. His embarrassing run ended at Spain for he failed to qualify for that Grand Prix.
His twelve successive retirements were largely due to the unreliable vehicle that he had driven that year. Caffi suffered three engine failures and two electrical failures during his unfortunate run.
With fourteen retirements in the entire season, Alex Caffi completed less than 50% of the assigned laps that season. This resulted in him finishing the season with zero points on the championship table.
#2 Ivan Capelli - 14
Ivan Capelli takes the second spot on the list with fourteen consecutive retirements. The Italian driver's embarrassing run came during the 1990 and the 1991 Formula One seasons.
Apart from securing a podium at the 1990 French Grand Prix, that year hasn't been a memorable one to Ivan Capelli. Driving for Leyton House Racing, the Italian's retirement at Monza that year due to an engine failure set the wheels of his unfortunate record in motion. Ivan Capelli couldn't finish any other race of the 1990 season.
1991 was worse for the Italian driver for he couldn't manage to secure a finish until the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished sixth, one lap behind the race leader. Again, an unreliable car was largely to blame for his record as nine of those fourteen retirements came due to problems with the power delivery system.
#1 Andrea De Cesaris - 18
Andrea De Cesaris tops the list with a massive 18 consecutive retirements. This feat occurred between 1987 and 1988, spanning across two Formula One seasons.
The Italian's first retirement of his difficult run came at the 1987 Monaco Grand Prix, which occurred right after De Cesaris secured a podium at the Belgian Grand Prix. Since then, he couldn't even see the chequered flag in a single race that season, taking it to thirteen consecutive retirements. That tally took his total DNFs during the 1987 season to 15. Interestingly, his podium at Spa Francorchamps secured him his only points that season.
Changing the team for the next season didn't help either as Andrea De Cesaris retired from the opening round due to engine trouble. Problems with the car continued for the next four races before he finally finished a race at Detroit in the fourth place, putting to an end his embarrassing Formula One record.
Furthermore, Andrea De Cesaris, at one point during the 1982 season, also held the record of twelve successive retirements in Formula One.
