Formula 1's top 10 wet-weather wins

There's something irresistible about a great grand prix victory in the most testing of conditions. Some of the most famous triumphs in the history of the world championship have come in the rain, during which driver skill and car control are thrust to the fore.

There's a chance that we'll see some bad weather during this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, perhaps setting the stage for a victory to rival some of the 10 chosen below.

There's a simple criteria. Only victories are considered (so heroic podiums are discounted) and mastery of the conditions has to be one of the major factors in each driver's win.

10. Jean-Pierre Beltoise - 1972 Monaco Grand Prix

The Frenchman won only world championship grand prix during his career, but the fact that it came on the twisty Monaco track in wet conditions belied the fact that he had limited movement in both his left arm and left leg as a legacy of a crash at Reims some years earlier.

Driving for BRM, he lined up fourth on the grid, but jumped into the lead at the start, surviving a lurid slide at the exit of Ste Devote. From there, he never looked back, weathering a half-spin during the race to lead home Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx by just under 40 seconds.

Save for the Belgian, nobody else finished on the lead lap as Beltoise utterly mastered the conditions and enjoyed the day of days in his career.

Hamilton won at home by over a minute in his championship-winning year © LAT

9. Lewis Hamilton - 2008 British Grand Prix

Having missed out on pole position, Hamilton started the race behind his McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen. He inched ahead at the start, only for the Finn to repass him after a wheel-rubbing move exiting Copse. Kovalainen led early on, but once Hamilton passed him at Stowe on lap five, he was in the clear.

By lap 10, he had pulled out a lead of 10s over Kovalainen and almost 7s over Kimi Raikkonen, who had passed the second McLaren to run second. Raikkonen was fast in the first stint and started to reel in Hamilton, but Ferrari opted to leave him on worn intermediate rubber at his first pitstop. When the new deluge came, Hamilton blasted away.

When the track was at its wettest, Hamilton was consistently the quickest driver on the track and won by over a minute from BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld.

Not one of Moss' most famous wins for Rob Walker, but one of the best © LAT

8. Stirling Moss - 1961 German Grand Prix

By definition, if you win a grand prix on the Nurburgring Nordschleife, it's a great drive. Even more so in wet conditions and that's exactly what Stirling Moss had to deal with in 1961.

Driving a Rob Walker-entered Lotus, Moss ran second on the first lap, but took the lead when Jack Brabham crashed. After a dice for the lead with Phil Hill, Moss began to pull away, but knew the battle wasn't over.

While the race started in damp conditions, it was drying and Dunlop had advised the Briton not to run rain tyres because of tricky circumstances. But Moss was able to make his rear tyres last long enough to still be in good condition when the rain returned late on.

This allowed him to extend his lead to an eventual winning margin of 22s over Ferrari driver Wolfgang von Trips.

Senna's maiden F1 win came in awful conditions at Estoril © LAT

7. Ayrton Senna - 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix

It was appropriate that Ayrton Senna's first grand prix victory came in the wet, a crushingly dominant drive from the front of the field for Lotus.

Senna himself rated this victory above his famous Donington win eight years later because of the lack of driver aids helping him on his way. Perhaps he has a case as this imperious performance also came from a driver in just his second season at the top level.

Only Ferrari driver Michele Alboreto was able to finish the race, held in sodden conditions, on the lead lap as Senna gave everyone a masterclass on his way to finishing over a minute clear.

Vettel did the unthinkable and won at Monza in a Toro Rosso © LAT

6. Sebastian Vettel - 2008 Italian Grand Prix

Often overlooked by those who claim that Vettel has yet to prove that he can win in anything other than the best car, the German's first grand prix win came after an impeccable drive in very difficult conditions.

Then just 21, Vettel took advantage of the wet conditions during qualifying to become the youngest driver to claim a pole position for a world championship race. He shaded Kovalainen's McLaren by just 0.076s to start from pole position and most expected him not to be able to stay there. Like many others, Kovalainen reckoned that he was favourite to win and was astonished by Vettel's performance.

The German pulled away and, aside from a brief cut across the first chicane, turned in a perfect performance that belied his inexperience. Many watching realised that this win would be the first of many.

Senna's first lap was key to his Donington victory in '93 © LAT

5. Ayrton Senna - 1993 European Grand Prix

The Brazilian's victory on a sodden Easter Sunday at Donington Park has gone down as one of his greatest, coming off the back of what some have dubbed the greatest lap in the sport's history to climb into the lead.

Fifth into the first corner, he promptly dispatched Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Damon Hill and Alain Prost to lead at the end of the first lap and never looked back.

While others struggled, with the Williams drivers stopping a combined total of 13 times, Senna was imperious and lapped everyone except for Hill - who was 1m23s behind at the chequered flag.

Monaco 1983 ranks as Rosberg's best GP win © LAT

4. Keke Rosberg - 1983 Monaco Grand Prix

The reigning world champion gambled on starting the race on slicks on a wet track. From fifth on the grid, he catapulted into second place behind Prost off the line, putting his Williams at some dramatic angles on a slippery track and passing him for the lead before the start of lap two.

It was his spectacular form in the early laps that earned him victory, which came by just over 18s from Brabham driver Nelson Piquet.

His victory was not merely the result of his tyre choice. Rosberg's team-mate Jacques Laffite also started on slicks and, although he climbed to second, he was almost 30s behind the Finn after seven laps. Rosberg's early tours were that good!

Clark was often untouchable at Spa, but no more so than in '63 © LAT

3. Jim Clark, 1963 Belgian Grand Prix

Gearbox problems during practice left Jim Clark down in eighth place on the grid at Spa, but when the race started in damp conditions the Lotus driver made up for it by jumping into the lead almost immediately.

Clark immediately started to stretch his legs over the pack, albeit with BRM driver Graham Hill in tow. When the conditions turned from damp to outright wet after a storm hit, Clark continued to consolidate his advantage. With Hill soon out after hitting gearbox troubles, the Scot rammed home his advantage and came home well ahead of runner-up Bruce McLaren's Cooper-Climax.

Oh, and the winning margin? Four minutes and 54 seconds...

Schumacher took his first Ferrari win at Barcelona in 1996 © LAT

2. Michael Schumacher - 1996 Spanish Grand Prix

The Ferrari F310 was, frankly, something of a shed at this stage of the 1996 season. Schumacher had managed three podiums, no wins and three retirements in his first six races for Ferrari and nobody gave him much of a chance heading to Spain. When he qualified third, a second off Damon Hill's Williams-Renault, few changed their mind.

But that was before rain intervened. Heavy rain overnight soaked the track and the weather didn't ease on race day, meaning that the sport's first safety car start was considered, but ultimately decided against.

This was Schumacher's opportunity, despite the fact that the F310 was hardly the most nimble machine out there. A terrible getaway meant that he had to work for it, finishing the first lap down in sixth while Jacques Villeneuve led for Williams. But while others struggled or went off, including Eddie Irvine in the second Ferrari, Schumacher flew.

It took him until lap 12 to take the lead from Villeneuve, but from there he checked out, eventually finishing 45s clear of Benetton driver Jean Alesi.

Stewart's win has become the stuff of legend © LAT

1. Jackie Stewart - 1968 German Grand Prix

Jackie Stewart was no fan of the Nurburgring from a safety point of view and was far from keen for the race to take place, but once he put his helmet on and got into his car, he was fearless on his way to victory at the 1968 German Grand Prix.

Driving a Ken Tyrrell-run Matra-Cosworth, Stewart had qualified sixth but quite reasonably decided that the safest place to be would be at the front. The race started in a brief lull in the rain, but this didn't hold and Stewart, as planned, worked his way to the front during the first lap.

And there he stayed for over two hours, winning by over four minutes from Lotus driver Graham Hill. At the most daunting of tracks, Stewart, who was driving with a wrist that still hadn't fully recovered after his F2 shunt at Jarama four months earlier, was simply unstoppable despite the knowledge that one slip in the wrong place and it could have been all over for him.