10 things that have happened in F1 before we got GTA 6

Grand Theft Auto 5 was released on September 17th, 2013. After just over 13 years, GTA 6 will finally drop next week. 

With that in mind, RacingNews365 has taken a look back at all the things to happen in the F1 world since the last instalment - a time where Sebastian Vettel was in the middle of his then record-breaking nine successive wins, Drive to Survive was something you did when someone was chasing you, and Kimi Antonelli had just celebrated his seventh birthday.

Here are 10 things that happened in F1 before we got GTA 6...

McLaren's rise from the nadir

McLaren went from title contenders to rock bottom, then back to winning titles with the 2024 and 2025 constructors' and 2025 drivers' titles for Norris

After Lewis Hamilton left at the end of 2012, hopes were high at McLaren that Jenson Button would be able to lead the team to the title with an all-new 2013 car.

However, the MP4-28 was badly flawed, and McLaren went through the entire season without a podium, with the rot beginning to set in. 

The nadir came between 2015 and 2017 in the Honda years, as poor performances on-track meant a variety of sponsors all jumped ship, leaving the team on its knees, with a boardroom struggle seeing Ron Dennis ousted in 2017. 

Enter Zak Brown. 

Under Brown's leadership, McLaren has been rebuilt from also-rans to reigning double constructors' titles, with the 2024 success being the first since 1998, and Lando Norris's 2025 title the first of any kind since Hamilton's 2008 crown. 

The Mercedes era begins

In 2013, Mercedes was in its fourth season back as a works team, and Hamilton's win in Hungary was just the team's fourth in that time, with no championship success.

Fast forward to today, Mercedes has won 120 more races, is third all-time for most wins, and has claimed a record-breaking eight successive constructors' titles between 2014 and 2021, with seven drivers' titles in that time.

Following a lean spell in ground-effects, it roared back in 2026, with Kimi Antonelli storming to the drivers' crown as it finally regained its constructors' title. At the time of GTA 5's release, Antonelli had just turned seven...

Ferrari's wait goes on

Since September 2013, Ferrari has gone through five team bosses, seven drivers and won nothing. 

Stefano Domenicali, Marco Mattiaci, Maurizio Arrivabene, and Mattia Binotto have all fallen on their swords, with Fred Vasseur currently tasked with returning the team to title-winning ways, which last happened with the 2008 constructors'.

Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, and Hamilton have raced full-time for the team since 2013 - with the team recording 28 wins in 13 years.

The closest Ferrari came to a title since was the 2024 constructors', when it fell 14 points short of beating McLaren to the crown. 

Half of Alonso's career has passed without a win

Fernando Alonso scored his 32nd career win at the 2013 Spanish GP, which was the 201st race start of his career.

The 2026 São Paulo GP was his 445th start, meaning more than half of his career has passed without the Spanish racer tasting F1 success.

Between 2014 and 2021, he didn't score a podium, although he did not race in 2019 or 2020. After an early-season resurgence with Aston Martin in 2023, he hasn't had another podium since Brazil that year, and given the current plight of Aston Martin, win #33 feels a long way off.

F1's six regulation changes - with another coming

Since 2013, six different eras of F1 cars have been raced.

• V8 engines - 2013 
• Turbo hybrids adopted - 2014
• Bigger and more radical aerodynamics - 2017
• Major changes to the front wing designs - 2019
• Ground effects - 2022
• Current rules package - 2026 

Another change is on the way with the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem confirming that a change back to V8 engines will happen, likely in 2030.

F1's stratospheric

Back in 2013, F1 was firmly in the vice grip of Bernie Ecclestone, who shunned most forms of social media.

In 2015, things were so bad that talk of three-car teams was even floated, but thankfully, rejected.

In 2017, Liberty Media bought F1 from CVC Capital Partners, and Ecclestone was ousted as CEO, with a new era of social media and openness ushered in. 

The best marketing trick was Drive to Survive on Netflix, which opened F1 to new audiences, with social media interactions and the value of teams skyrocketing, with every squad now firmly on a healthy financial footing.

Hamilton's rise

Lewis Hamilton went from a one-time champion with 22 wins to a seven-time champion with 106 wins.

In September 2013, Hamilton was a one-time champion with 22 grand prix wins. 

In November 2026, Hamilton is a seven-time champion with 106 grand prix wins. 

He is the most successful driver of all time, having rewritten most of the record books during his 12-year stay with Mercedes, which came to an end in 2024 when he defected to join Ferrari. 

And Verstappen

Max Verstappen went from karting to a four-time champion with 74 wins.

In 2013, Max Verstappen was in karting and had never driven in a car race.

His debut in single-seaters came in 2014, before becoming the youngest F1 driver of all time at the 2015 Australian GP at just 17 years old. 

Fast forward to 2026, he is a four-time world champion, with 75 wins to his name, only behind Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.

In 2023, he won a staggering 19 of 22 races - a record which is likely to stand the test of time.

Nico Hulkenberg!

Nico Hulkenberg got overlooked by all the top teams, changed teams five times, got dropped, came back as a COVID sub, missed a race during that sub spell, returned full-time in 2023 and finally got a podium at the 239th attempt.

Curiously, Nico Hulkenberg was overlooked for a top seat in 2013 and 2014, and moved from Sauber back to Force India for 2014.

He then left for Renault in 2017, got dropped at the end of 2019, before becoming a COVID supersub for Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll in 2020 - but even missed the British GP when subbing for Perez due to an engine problem.

He then subbed for Sebastian Vettel in 2022, before returning full-time in 2023, taking Mick Schumacher's seat at Haas. 

For 2025, he changed teams yet again, back to Sauber, in preparation for Audi's takeover for 2026.

At that year's British GP, at the 239th attempt, he finally scored a podium, taking third in a stunning drive on a typically wet Silverstone afternoon.

Button's grid penalty

Jenson Button raced, retired, came back, got a grid penalty he still hasn't served, and then retired again. Monaco 2017, subbing for Alonso, who was at the Indy 500. 

Button was firmly a McLaren man in 2013, still capable of producing results his equipment probably wasn't deserving of, but at the end of 2016, having just reached 300 races, he called time on his career after the Abu Dhabi race.

Or so he thought.

With Alonso racing at the 2017 Indy 500 which clashed with Monaco, Button was drafted in for a one-off appearance, and promptly earned himself a grid penalty for his next race after sending Pascal Wehrlein onto his side at Portier.

Nine years later, Button has still to serve that grid penalty...