Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
There were also some surprise winners in the very beginning of the 3-litre era, in 1966/67. For example Jim Clark's win at Watkins Glen in '66, with a Lotus-BRM H16 - surely the worst engine that ever won a race in Formula 1 (BRM had a very good 1.5 litre V8 engine, so when the formula changed from 1.5 to 3.0 litres for 1966, they took two of those trusty 1.5 litre V8's, made flat-8's out of them, and clamped them together, forming a huge "H16" unit - needless to say this was only a good idea on paper...). Or consider Pedro Rodriguez' win in the opening round of the 1967 season at Kyalami, in a Cooper featuring a very out-of-date Maserati V12 engine, dating back to the mid-50's. Or John Surtees' win with the huge, noicy and terribly overweight Honda RA300 at Monza the same year.
Don't know if already told, but to me, there's only an answer: Jordan on Brazilian GP in 2003, driver Gianfranco Fisichella. So bad a victory noone noticed
Richie Ginther for Honda in Mexico '65
Michele Alboretto USGP for Tyrrell in '83
"Rules are for the interpretation of wise men, and the obedience of fools." -Colin Chapman-
"Trying is the first step towards failure." -Homer Simpson-
ferrari from 1996 was a disaster comparing to F2012. i think alonso had a more luck than making a historic victory. same situation was like panis won in monaco, herbert with stewart-ford in silverstone, frentzen (jordan) in monza... they all were bad cars but none of the drivers is a champion so their victories are not historic.
but the worst car that beat the other better teams and drivers in recent time was damon hill in hungary 1997. in a dry race with every driver on a track he was a lot quicker than anybody else until the closing laps of the race... too sad for him. that win will look like a winning a championchip.
I think you could make a strong case for the Lotus 18 in which Stirling Moss won Monaco in 1961. This car shouldn't have been in the first 6.
It was, I believe, over a year old, its chassis was found to be cracked on the starting grid and its 4 cylinder Climax FPF produced around 20% less power than the works Ferraris.