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BEST F1 DRIVERS
It's important to emphasize that I left aside any form of "pachequismo," sympathy or antipathy, when classifying the drivers on this page. I took into account exclusively the PERFORMANCE criterion, keeping in mind the quality of the cars, the opponents and the teammates that each driver had in his career.
GOOD AND VERY GOOD PILOTS:
Mike Hawthorn: a good driver, who competed for the title with the 1958 Stirling Moss and was champion with a little help from his teammate (Phill Hill) who let him pass on the last lap of the last race of the year (GP Morocco 58), and this maneuver took the title from Moss. Hawthorn retired from F1 at the end of 1958 and died in a car accident in January 1959.
Champion 1958.
Phill Hill: this North American driver was Ferrari's third driver, but after the retirement of Mike Hawthorn and the death of three drivers from the Italian team (Luiggi Musso and Peter Collins in 1958, and Jean Behra in 1959), he was appointed as the starting driver. In 1961 he was competing for the title with Wolfgang Von Trips and was behind in the championship, but the German died in an accident in Monza and Phil Hill, without his main opponent, ended up taking the trophy. Phill Hill won only 3 races in his career, he is the greatest example of an average to good driver, who was in the right place, at the right time to be champion.
Champion 1961.
Wolfgang Von Trips: was the best German driver in F1, before the emergence of Michael Schumacher. Von Trips was a good driver, he drove for Ferrari and was leading the 1961 championship from Phill Hill. At the end of the year, the German needed just one victory in two races to be champion, but he had an accident with Jim Clark at the beginning of the 1961 Italian GP and died. The title eventually went to his Phil Hill teammate. The most incredible thing about this story is that even if he won and became champion, he would die after the race, as his plane crashed and all the occupants died.
CURIOUS FACT: He owned the Kerpen karting track, and a few years after his death this karting track would be managed by Rolf Schumacher, who in turn would have two sons called Michael and Ralf Schumacher, who would train in Kerpen and end up in F1. Von Trips died at the 1961 Italian GP, but even if he didn't die in that race, his flight after the race crashed and all the passengers died, meaning the fate of the Schumacher family was sealed anyway.
Vice champion 1961
Bruce McLaren: This good New Zealander deserves to be on the list of the best in F1 for his legacy. Bruce McLaren learned all about cars from Jack Brabham in the years they raced together on the Cooper team. He then teamed up with Teddy Mayer to assemble his own team, which officially debuted in F1 in 1965. At the 1968 Belgian GP, he won his first victory with the car he built himself (as Jack Brabham and Dan Gurney had achieved years before). . Their cars also ran in the Can-Am (Canadian and American category) with Denny Hulme who was a two-time champion in that category in 68 and 70. Unfortunately Bruce McLaren died testing his Can-Am car in 1970 at Goodwood, and did not see the legacy that left for F1: the McLaren team.
Vice Champion 1960.
Jack Ickx: one sentence fits the Belgian driver perfectly: “Everything you've done outside of F1 is worth nothing if you don't do well in F1”. Ickx was a genius in long-distance racing, he won the 24 hours of Le Mans 8 times, he won the 24 hours of Daytona, the 24 hours of Spa, the 1000 km of Nurburgring, Spa and Monza and was considered a very good driver in the rain.
But in F1 the level is different. Jack had good races in F1, but he never had a really spectacular season, he was runner-up in 69 and 70, but well below the champions of those years. What drew the most attention in his career is that he did not have his contract renewed at Ferrari (73), nor at Lotus (75) nor at Williams (76). In '79 he returned to F1 replacing Depailler at Ligier, took more than 1s in all of Jacques Laffite's practices (7x0), and again, he was dismissed. Without a doubt, by F1 standards he was a good driver, but perhaps his talent was overrated because of his results outside of F1.
Vice champion 1969 and 1970.
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Clay Regazzoni: this good Swiss driver competed for the title with Emerson Fittipaldi in 74, but let's face it, Ferrari was better than McLaren that year. If in 1974 he was walking less than Lauda, after 1975 things got worse and he was "in the dust" of the Austrian. In 1976, when Lauda was out for several races, Regazzoni again failed to beat the Austrian, then he was fired from Ferrari. In 1980 he suffered an accident and became paraplegic. Regazzoni was a good driver, but many drivers of his day complain that he was extremely disloyal in his maneuvers.
Runner-up 1974.
Jacques Laffite: a very good driver who ran most of his career in the Ligier team, and had several very good performances, winning several races, and making several podiums. In '79 he led the championship, but Ligier's performance declined and he was in 4th place. In the 1980s, he had trouble adapting to turbocharged engines. He had an accident when he was about to break Graham Hill's racing record, and he dropped out of F1.
4th place 1979, 1980 and 1981.
John Watson: a very good driver, fast, regular and made little mistake. He beat Niki Lauda in two years at McLaren (1982 and 1983), only that qualifies him to enter that list. He even disputed the 1982 title with Keke Rosberg at the end of the year. He has the F1 record of winning a race starting from the worst possible position on the 22nd grid at the US GP 1983. He was the “king of recovery racing”, started 17th, 18th and 22nd and got there ahead at the end of the races. He was replaced by Prost at McLaren. He deserved a better chance in F1.
3rd place in 1982.
Didier Pironi: the French driver was not very fast in training, so much so that he lost many times to Villeneuve. But in races he was fast, he rode with the Canadian and even defeated him in disobedience on the orders of the team at GP San Marino 82. He was leading the 1982 championship loosely and would have been the champion of that year, had it not been for the accident in training from Germany / 82, in which he broke his legs.
Runner-up in 1982.
Riccardo Patrese: world kart champion in '74, he was a fast driver, he made good performances for the little Arrows, but when he had a car to be champion he was unsuccessful and was a supporting player (1983, 1991 and 1992), even in '92 in "Williams de another world" was runner-up with almost half the points of his teammate (Mansell).
Runner-up in 1992.
Elio de Angelis: a very good, fast and great car hit driver. In the years he ran with Mansell in Lotus, he defeated the Englishman in 3 of the 4 seasons, just that already shows the talent of the Italian. In 1985, even though he preferred better equipment, he began to be systematically beaten by Senna and was mentally destroyed, creating a lot of conspiracy theories against him. For that reason he left the team and unfortunately died in the Brabham tests at Paul Ricard in 1986.
3rd place in 1983.
Michelle Alboreto: a good driver, fast in races, very consistent, very regular in races and made few mistakes. He won two races for the little Tyrrell and that attracted attention and he ended up going to Ferrari. His weak point was not being very fast in training, and this point caused him to lose to Berger in 87 and 88 (Berger 28 x 4 Alboreto), and be released from Ferrari in 88.
Runner-up in 1985.
Martin Brundle: another good driver, technical, good in the rain, who made few mistakes. His weak point was not being fast in training (like Alboreto and Ickx), and that hurt his runs, he even confessed that. For those who doubt, he lost to Schumacher in training by 16x0, but in races he gave the German work, it was Brundle 7 x 9 Schumy. And in this sport to be successful, the driver needs to start in front as many races as possible. Few know, but he was one of the teammates that gave Schumacher the most work (even more than Barrichello and Massa).
CURIOSITY: Brundle was the only driver not to win a race in F1, who was ahead of Senna and Schumacher in the same race. It was at the 1992 British GP.
6th place in 1992.
Stefan Bellof: another brilliant driver to drive and control the Porsches and he did very well in the 2 years he raced in F1, but he did not completely dominate his companion Martin Brundle in Tyrrell, even losing in several training sessions for the Englishman (Bellof 12 x 9 Brundle). At the Monaco GP 84 they say he was riding at Senna's pace, but we must not forget that Tyrrell was disqualified for being underweight. Regardless, it was a promise for F1. He died in Spa in a touch with Jack Ickx at Eau Rouge in 1985.
16th place in 1985.
Gerhard Berger: another very good, fast driver, especially on the “high” tracks that he rode very well, won the Benetton median race, but when he had a car to be champion he was supporting (1990, 1991). There was a lack of consistency in races, in 1990 he always started among the first, but he was overtaken by Prost most of the time. He was lucky to sign good contracts for McLaren and Ferrari. His best result in F1 was in 1994, being 3rd in the championship, just when he didn't have a champion car, but without Senna, Prost and Piquet on the tracks, it was easier to be 3rd in the championship.
3rd place in 1994.
Jean Alesi: A very fast driver, good in the rain, he had excellent races for Tyrrell, Ferrari, Benetton, and Sauber, but he had a "brutal" driving style and frequently broke down his cars. He broke down or had problems in eight races where he could have won (Mexico '91, Belgium '91, Portugal '93, Germany '94, Belgium '95, Italy '95, Monaco '96, Italy '97), and he was also unlucky not to have a championship-winning car. He only had one F1 victory, at the Canadian GP in '95, which is unfair considering his talent. According to some who worked with him, he was very skilled as a driver, but not a good car tuner.
4th place in 1996.
Roberto Moreno: was a little recognized driver in F1. Champion F Ford 1600 English 80, Tasmanian Cup Winner F Atlantic 82, Macau GP winner F Atlantic 83 and F3000 Champion 88 (4 wins), these are his titles outside of F1. He was a fast driver and an excellent car driver, given that he worked with small teams and non-competitive cars (AGS, Coloni, EuroBrum, Andrea Moda, Payton Coyne). He achieved 6th place with AGS in the Australian GP 87 and came in 3rd place in the Michigan 500 with Payton Coyne, both small teams. Then he competed for the F Cart title in 2000 until the last race of the year (the champion was Gil de Ferran, the runner-up was Adrian Fernandez and he came in 3rd place) and he also raced in 2001, in those two years he won two races (Cleveland and Vancouver). He deserves a better chance in F1 to show his talent.
10th place in 1991.
Damon Hill: he was an average driver, who was hired to be a test driver for Williams 91 and was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. From 96 onwards he evolved as a driver, had great seasons (96, 97 and 98) and became world champion in 96. Although he was not a bad driver, many technically consider him one of the weakest champions in the history of F1. Some sources say he gave good information about the car, particularly Adrian Newey liked Hill as a driver.
Champion 1996.
Rubens Barrichello: a super charismatic driver, very technical, good at rain, great car hitter and fast. He performed beautifully with small teams like Jordan and Stewart. But at Ferrari and Honda / Brawn he was unfortunately in the shadow of Schumacher and Button. He was not fortunate enough to be on the right team with the right teammate. His negative point was on the tracks that depend more on arms (Spa and Suzuka), he was way behind Schumacher in training (with the exception of 2003) and the lack of luck he had in the Brazilian GP, where he only managed a single podium in 2004, despite all the seasons he raced in F1.
Runner-up in 2002 and 2004.
Eddie Irvine: a fast driver, but sometimes a nut driver causing serious accidents in F1. He drew attention in F1 in his debut at GP Japan 93 when with a miserable Jordan he was “pushing” Damon Hill in the powerful Williams in the rain, and then he overtook Senna, who was taking a lap of the Irishman. Irvine defeated Rubinho in training when they both ran from Jordan (93, 94 and 95). He went to Ferrari and was always in the shadow of Schumacher. In 1999 Schumacher broke his legs, and Ferrari just needed to pay more attention to the Irishman, for him to dispute the title as Mika Hakkinen. I could have been the champion of 1999, if Ferrari had not "stepped on the ball" with him. The only negative point is that the Irishman did not know how to hit cars (said by Rubinho).
Runner-up in 1999.
David Coulthard: average driver at the beginning of his career (94), but then he evolved and became a good driver, he had great races, he won 13, but we cannot forget that he always had good cars in his F1 career (Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, all Adrian Newey cars). He lost to five teammates (Hill, Hakkinen, Kimi, Doorbons and Webber), only won two (Klien and Liuzzi). This retrospective shows that Coulthard was a good driver, but far from being an outstanding driver.
Runner-up in 2001.
Jacques Villeneuve: F Cart champion in 95, winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 95 and F1 champion in 97. He arrived in F1 in 96, surprising and doing good races, and competing for the title with his partner Damon Hill. But we cannot forget that the Williams car was much better than the other cars of the season, and this may have overestimated his talent, as after he left the English team his results were disappointing. He lost to his last 4 teammates (Button in BAR, Massa in Sauber, Alonso in Renault and Heidfeld in BMW). Williams sources say he wasn't a good car judge, but despite that he was a good driver.
Champion 1997.
Jarno Trulli: World kart champion in 91. He was a talented and very fast driver on a lap launched in practice. In practice he beat all his teammates (with the exception of Alonso). He won just one race in F1 (GP Monaco 2004) and deserved a better chance in F1. Along with Alesi was another wronged driver.
6th place in 2004.
Giancarlo Fisichella: Galvão's old phrase applies very well to Fisicho: “one thing is to do well in a small team, another thing is to do well in a top team, where there is no right to make mistakes.” The Italian was a very promising driver at the beginning of his career, he drove well in all the cars he owned, he was chosen by the selfF1 drivers as the best driver after Schumacher, but disappointed when he had a car to dispute the title (2005 and 2006) and lost badly to Alonso at Renault.But regardless of that, for what it showed in the 90s, anda good pilot.
4th place in 2006.
Mark Webber:a driver who scored points on his debut for Minardi, caught the attention of F1, and had good races throughout his career, but when he had a car to be champion in RBR (2009 to 2013) he failed. He gave Vettel trouble in 2009 and 2010, then he was in the dust of Alemão. Like all these cars, he wasn't even runner-up, which is a negative point in his career. Even though he was very fast in training (Leão de Treinos), in racing he was just a good driver.
3rd place in 2010, 2011 and 2013.
Felipe Massa: a very good driver and very fast if you have a driving (rear) style car. Felipe gave Schumacher trouble in 2006 and Alonso in 2010 and 2013 and competed for the title with Hamilton in 2008, being just 1 point behind the champion. He won the Brazilian GP twice in 2006 and 2008, but he didn't win in 2007 because he had to give up the victory to Kimi Raikkonen. Driving in the rain was not his strong point, despite having won the 2008 Brazilian GP with rain at the end. As a negative point, it had difficulties in "front" cars.
Runner-up in 2008.
Cristiano da Matta: another good driver who deserved a better chance in F1, he was champion of the Brazilian F3 1994, Indy Lights 1998 and F Cart in 2002. In his debut year he was ahead if his teammate (Olivier Panis) who was a well-regarded driver in F1, that alone is proof that he was good. But he fought with the Toyota bosses and left F1.
13th place in 2003.
Valtteri Bottas: very fast driver on a launched lap, he made several poles in his career and defeated all his teammates, with the exception of Hamilton. In race pace, the Finn is fast but fails to be as consistent. This pilot style is very reminiscent of the Berger style of the 80's and 90's.
Vice champion 2019 and 2020
Sergio Perez: this good Mexican driver has two outstanding characteristics: he knows how to save tires very well and he is very good on street tracks. He caught the attention of the Red Bull team due to his good performances in the Racing Point team, and took Albon's place in the Austrian team in 2021. His weak point is not being very fast in training, which makes him start behind in most races. of your teammate and this is determining in a top team. Unfortunately in 2024 he had a terrible season, making mistakes that he didn't make in other seasons, he only made 4 podiums, didn't win any races and was fired from Red Bull.
Vice champion in 2023
Daniel Ricciardo: a fast, bold driver with a low level of errors, who defeated four-time champion Vettel within the Red Bull team in 2014 and had a promising future. But unfortunately, his driving style, did not adapt to McLaren 2021 and 2022, Alpha Tauri 2023 and RB Honda 2024, he was defeated by his teammates Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda and retired from F1.
3rd place in 2014 and 2016.
Carlos Sainz Jr: very good Spanish driver, son of Rally champion Carlos Sainz, is a driver who is undervalued, but is very useful within the team. Some people from the teams he raced in say he gives great information about the car to the engineers, and with this information you can improve the car. This characteristic, of being a good car driver (Barrichello also had it), is very rare nowadays and very useful in his teams.
5th place in 2021, 2022 and 2024
EXCELLENT PILOTS:
Giuseppe Farina: he was the first F1 champion and the only driver who defeated Fangio within the team in a season, he was lucky that Fangio had more breaks, but regardless, we can consider the Italian an excellent driver. Too bad that in 1952 he went into decline, due to his advanced age and became a supporting player in F1 racing for Ferrari.
Champion 1950.
Jack Brabham: He wasn't an extremely fast driver, but his “body of work” deserves to be among the best. He was the only champion in a car built by himself. These days it would be absolutely unfeasible for a driver to be involved as team boss and race at the same time. Jack Brabham, alongside Piquet and Stewart, are the greatest car developers in history, at a time when the driver was a fundamental part of car improvement. The plus point is that he never made his second “doormat” drivers, so much so that he was defeated in 9 seasons by his teammates (Moss, McLaren, Gurney, Clark, Hulme, Rindt and Ickx).
Champion 1959, 1960 and 1966.
Graham Hill:English was a fast, consistent and very regular rider. Winner of Monaco 5 times, at a time when the races lasted 3 hours and there was no bottle of water, that's for the few. Too bad that after he was champion in 68, he went into decline and didn't have good seasons anymore, even being passed over within Lotus in favor of Jochen Rindt. Graham Hill is the only driver to hold the triple crown of motorsports with victories in Monaco, the Indy 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Champion 1962 and 1968, and winner of teh 1966 Indy 500 and Le Mans 1972.
NOTE: For A. J. Foyt, Montoya, and Alonso to win the triple crown, they would need to win Monaco, Le Mans, and the Indy 500, respectively.
John Surtees: he was the only champion on motorcycles and cars. In the motorcycles, he was four-time champion in the 500 cc (56, 58, 59, 60) and three-time champion in the 350 cc (58, 59, 60). It seems easy, but it is not because they are two totally different sports. He was a fast and very regular pilot and had a lot of knowledge of mechanics.
Champion 1964.
Denny Hulme: he was champion in 1967 without having taken a single pole position (like Lauda in 84), but we must not forget that the New Zealander raced with an outdated Brabham carchassis and engine against Jack Brabham and defeated the team owner. This proves who Hulme was. In addition, he was twice champion in Can-Am (68/70) defeating Bruce McLaren, the owner of the team, who also raced in Can-Am and F1.
Champion 1967.
Jochen Rindt: he was a driver with excellent control over the car and even though he didn't have a clean style, they say he had a “back on the curb” style, he was very fast and skilled. They say that off the track he was reckless, as he ran on the streets as if he were on the tracks. He raced alongside Graham Hill in 1969 at Lotus and simply took no notice of his teammate. In 1970 he was champion with the help of Emerson Fittipaldi, he was the only post-mortem champion in the history of F1.
Champion in 1970.
Mario Andretti:a very versatile driver, champion in F1 and F Indy. He is the only driver to win in F1, the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 hours of Le Mans. He was champion in F1 in 1978 with Peterson as his partner in Lotus, but with Equipment priority against the Swede. He was the only driver to win races in 4 straight decades (60s, 70s, 80s and 90s). Last victory in the 24 hours of Le Mans 95.
Champion 1978.
Ronnie Peterson:he was a very fast and talented driver, who knew how to use “controlled drift” (Tyrrell) and also knew how to drive smoothly. He gave Emerson Fittipaldi a hard time in 73 and Mario Andretti in 78, even though he didn't have equipment priority in 78. It's a shame that he died in an accident at the 1978 Italian GP, because he certainly had the talent to be champion, Fittipaldi and Andretti confirm that.
Runner-up 1971 and 1978.
James Hunt: the Englishman was a very fast driver, despite not being considered a good hitter, nor having a technical driving style. He was champion in '76, after Lauda gave up racing in the 1976 Japan GP. After he was champion, he was never the same driver and went into decline. There's Hunt's story of orgy with 33 stewardesses before the 1976 Japan GP, but it's certainly an "urban legend". As a curiosity, until now Hunt and Verstappen are the only world champions who have never had a fellow world champion, or who would become world champion, within their teams.
Champion 1976.
José Carlos Pace: whoever saw this Brazilian run, says he was an excellent driver, very fast and talented, he worked miracles with bad cars. His career in the grassroots categories was meteoric: in the period from 69 to 70, he ranked 27 times in the top 5 on the grid in 35 races and set 7 track records on the 10 English tracks. That's why it caught the attention of team leaders. In 75 and 76 it gave Reutemann heat, getting ahead of him in the championship in 76. Little do you know, he was one of the first (if not the first) driver to test carbon brakes in F1 in 1976 (with Gordon Murray).
6th place in 1975.
Jody Scheckter: the South African was a very fast driver, and even though he was considered a “troglodyte” in terms of driving, he was champion at Ferrari in 1979, having a very regular season and competing against Villeneuve. After he became champion he became discouraged, he was never the same and abandoned F1.
Champion 1979.
Patrick Depailler: he was a very fast driver, he ran from 74 to 76 with Scheckter and 77 Peterson. He has always been close to these two drivers in training, just that proves that Depailler was talented. In 1976 with a Tyrrell he was 4th in front of Regazzoni with a Ferrari. In 79 he ran with Jacques Laffite of Ligier, leading the championship and could dispute the title, if it weren't for a hang glider accident in which he broke his legs. He died in 1980 in the Alfa Romeo tests.
4th place in 1976.
Carlos Reutemann: a very fast and regular driver, who had the record of 15 consecutive scored races at a time when cars broke down a lot. When he had a Williams capable of being champion, he took Alan Jones and Nelson Piquet ahead and lost to both of them. And precisely in 1982 when he decided to retire (some sources say it was pressure from the English media because of the Falklands War), his teammate: Keke Rosberg was the world champion. If he didn't retire, he would have a chance to compete for another title. But no one has a crystal ball in this sport. Another injustice, he deserved to be world champion.
Runner-up 1981.
Alan Jones: a very fast and consistent driver, he was champion in 1980, in an unfair maneuver on top of Nelson Piquet in the GP Canada / 80, and in 1981 he did not want to help Reutemann in the championship, because he was fighting with the Argentine, he was in 3rd in the championship. Then he was back in F1, but he was at the end of his career
Champion 1980.
Keke Rosberg: he was an excellent driver, very skilled, but he never had a car that could win. Keke was champion in 82, due to the accidents of Villeneuve and Pironi, and very regularly he ended up with the title. Rosberg was the only teammate who defeated Emerson Fittipaldi. The 5 victories do not represent the true talent of this Finn. As a negative point, he was not a good car hitter.
Champion 1982.
Gilles Villeneuve: He walked with a broken nose, a car with 3 wheels, he was a showman. A super bold pilot, very fast and combative, he walked on the limit and sometimes passed, he had the characteristics that typhus liked. As a negative point, it had a level of errors considered high at the time.
Runner-up in 1979.
Nigel Mansell: he was a very fast, bold and combative pilot. At the beginning of his career he lost to Elio de Angelis and Keke Rosberg, but after 1986 he “blew up” for F1. He just didn't win any more titles, because he raced at a time with several outstanding drivers, and for that reason he lost 3 titles to those drivers (86 to Prost, 87 to Piquet and 91 to Senna). He went to F CART and was champion in his debut year against Emerson Fittipaldi. He won the F1 title in 92 and the F Cart title in 93, something unprecedented in history. The only negative points were not knowing how to set up the car and making a lot of driving errors.
1992 Champion and F Cart Champion in 1993.
Mika Hakkinen: a very fast driver, but a bit unstable, capable of mixing brilliant performances with lackluster ones. The Finn surprised everyone when he was faster than Senna in the 1993 Portuguese GP practice for McLaren, but in the following races (Japan and Australia) he simply couldn't keep up with the Brazilian's pace. The Finn suffered a serious accident in the Australia 95 practice, which left him in a coma and with after-effects, which he hid for years. But it's a good thing he returned to the track, because he would be Schumacher's greatest rival in 1998 and 1999. His negative points: he was weak in the rain, had difficulty with front-wheel cars and sometimes overdid it with alcohol.
Champion 1998 and 1999.
Jenson Button: another driver devalued on the motorsport websites, but he was fast, extremely consistent and regular in races. He had a clean style and knew how to keep his tires like no one else. He defeated Trulli, Villeneuve, Sato and Barrichello within their teams and even defeated Hamilton at McLaren in 2011. It has to be very good to defeat Hamilton. Rubinho raced with him at Honda and Brawn and said to anyone who wants to hear that “the Englishman was an excellent driver”. He learned a lot in terms of getting cars from Rubinho.
2009 Champion.
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Kimi Raikkonen: after Senna's death, Raikkonen and Montoya were the first driverssgiving trouble to Schumacher with an inferior car, Kimi almost took the title from the German in 2003, that alone shows the importance of ICEMAN for F1. Even though he was a closed person and of few words, he was always very consistent and regular in races, with a very low level of errors., unlike Hill, Villeneuve and Hakkinen, Schumacher's former opponents.His peak was in 2003 and 2005, in which he rode very well with McLaren and could have been champion had it not been for the breakdowns in those two years.
Champion 2007.
Juan Pablo Montoya: F 3000 and F Cart champion, he was fast, combative and daring, and gave Schumacher some trouble in 2003. He was a mixture of Nigel Mansell and Gilles Villeneuve, and had a high error rate, but he was undoubtedly talented. He could have been champion in 2003 if he hadn't had breaks in two races, which he led easily (Austria and Japan). He and Graham Hill hold the triple crown in F1 (Monaco, Indy 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans).
Third place in 2003 and the Indy 500 in 2000 and 2015.
Nico Rosberg: a very underrated driver on motorsport websites, but nobody beats Schumacher for 3 years in a row (2010, 2011 and 2012) and Hamilton (2016) if he is not an excellent driver. There are media reports saying that in 2016 he was the one who led the Mercedes team in setting up the car (at this point he was quite different from his father) and he certainly looked for hits that didn't suit Hamilton's style in 2016. Using intelligence and regularity , was champion that year. There is no fool in this sport.
Champion 2016.
Sebastian Vettel: a very fast and consistent driver, when he has the car in his driving style, but he is a driver with a considerably high level of errors. He was a four-time champion in Adrian Newey's cars, and perhaps that overstated his talent. But he lost to his teammates in 3 seasons: to Ricciardo (2014) and Leclerc (2019 and 2020). Then we saw how much a good car makes a difference and overvalues the driver. They say he has a little difficulty with rear cars, but is excellent with front cars. As a curiosity, in all his victories, he started in the top 3 on the grid, he never won from behind.
Champion 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Charles Leclerc: highlighted at Sauber, became a Ferrari driver and defeated four-time champion Vettel as the first driver of the Maranello team, defeating the German in two years (2019 and 2020). Nobody does that unless they are an excellent driver. You have everything to be a world champion if you have a competitive car, but you need to minimize your number of mistakes if you want to be a champion.
Vice champion in 2022.
Lando Norris: This very fast English driver was champion of F Renault, F3 and runner-up in F2. Norris has a clean touch, knows how to be fast and save tires at the same time, drives with a low level of errors, competed for the title with Max Verstappen in 2024, but unfortunately was not lucky enough to defeat the Dutch driver.
Runner-up in 2024.
George Russell: This extremely talented English driver is the teammate who gave the most work of all Lewis Hamilton's teammates. He is very fast in training, races, on any type of track, in dry or rainy conditions, he knows how to compete for braking against his opponents and doesn't take his foot off when necessary. If you have a champion car in your hands, you have everything you need to be a multi-champion. Only time will tell if this impression is true or not.
4th place in 2022
GENIUS:
Max Verstappen: for what he did in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, the Dutchman already deserves to be in the group of outstanding drivers. He's a very fast, consistent driver, good in the rain, makes few mistakes and is super bold. The way he defeated Gasly, Albon and Perez (three good drivers) and the 2021 title disputed against Hamilton in a car in technical balance with Mercedes, prove that the Dutchman deserves to be in that group, despite making some controversial maneuvers on the tracks and be criticized for it. To date, Verstappen and Hunt are the only world champions who have never had a fellow world champion, or who would become a world champion, within their teams.
Champion in 2021, 2022 and 2023
Alan Prost: is considered one of the best pilots of all time,great car hitter (John Barnard confirmed this invarious interviews, such as the one in Jornal O Globo 04/25/1993 pg 54), is the only one to have five fellow world champions (or future champions) in his teams and DEFEAT ALL OF THEM (Lauda in 85, Rosberg in 86, Senna in 89, Mansell in 90 and Hill in 93), that's the absolute proof that the Frenchman was outstanding. Other than that, he was the only teammate to defeat Ayrton Senna in F1. The Frenchman was cautious in training, but super fast, cerebral, calculating and strategic in racing. He was rarely involved in accidents and rarely took risks racing in the rain. His negative point was his ability to manipulate the media and especially Jean Marrie Balestre, with lies to achieve his goals.
Champion 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1993.
Michael Schumacher: is one of the greatest drivers and natural talents of all time. In the period from 1994 to 2004, even though he was not champion in 4 years of this dominance, he was the driver to beat in F1. A driver who adapted to F1 at the time of refueling like no one else, in which the driver had to drive at qualifying pace the entire race and the 77 Fastest Laps prove this. He was smart to notice the decline of the Benetton team when he transferred to Ferrari, and restructured the technical staff of the Italian team. He was lucky to have less talented competition in his time, but comparisons with Piquet in 91 and Senna in 92, 93 and 94 show that Schumacher was a great driver, with the talent to be a multi-champion. It is worth regretting some unsportsmanlike attitudes in F1 and his return to F1 (2010 to 2012), which can be said to be very disappointing, compared to what he did at the height of his career.
Champion 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.
Lewis Hamilton: he is one of the best drivers of all time. Talented, good at training, good at running, good at rain and with a lot of natural talent. He is the current record holder for F1 titles, victories and pole positions, but of course the cars he had in his hands helped him a lot (apart from 2022 and 2023). In 2016 he relaxed and lost the title to his teammate Nico Rosberg due to overconfidence, but as he matured he understood the importance of working on the car and learned to control his momentum to be more regular. During this time he also learned how to save tires, which was essential to winning the 2018 title. As a positive point, he never VETOED any teammate (as Lauda, Piquet, Senna, Mansell, Prost and Schumacher did) which shows that he has no afraid to face anyone.
Champion 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Nelson Piquet: he is considered by many to be the most complete driver of all time, due to his enormous ability to develop his cars. He was a great tuner of cars, he even played the role of mechanic and driver in the F Super V Brazil 74 and 75 and in the British F3 77, an extremely rare occurrence in the history of motorsport. In addition to being a very fast driver, he was a strategist, very clever in hiding the adjustments made by his teammates and in finding some advantage in his car and in the regulations so that he could take advantage and win the races.
Champion 1981, 1983 and 1987.
Jackie Stewart: was one of the most complete drivers of all time, he was a mechanic in his family's workshop, he was given an opportunity to race in Sports Cars and won in his first race in 1961. English F Ford champion in 1964 with 11 wins in 12 races. In F1 he was champion for small teams (Matra and Tyrrell) and in 1971 was the creator of slick tire tests in F1, at a time when nobody thought about it, the Scotsman was ahead of the drivers of his time. At GP Belgium 67, he came in 2nd place, with only one hand behind the wheel, the other holding the broken shift lever. He was champion in 69 and 71 with a “foot in the back” without opponents on the slopes. The 1973 title was tough, competing against the greats Emerson Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson.
Champion 1969, 1971 and 1973
Niki Lauda: Another fast driver and car hitter. Lauda had a good car in 1974, but he lost the title because he made mistakes and had several crashes. After 1975 he "exploded" to F1 and was champion with ease. In 76 he had a serious accident, which made him lose speed and be challenged inside Ferrari, but he was champion brilliantly in 77. Then he was champion in 84 by 0.5 point against Alain Prost, even without making a single pole in the season . He had a “head” championship and coming from behind in every race of the season, fantastic.
Champion 1975, 1977 and 1984.
CURIOSITY: Lauda was champion in 1984, without even taking a pole position.
Emerson Fittipaldi : of the great champions of modern F1 (post 1968) is one of the drivers with the lowest level of retirements due to errors. He was quick and rarely exposed to an accident. He was a good hitter of cars and in the 70's, when being a hitter was fundamental. He was super cautious in training, so he made few poles, but he was super fast in races (a style inherited by Prost). He was a great opponent of Jackie Stewart in 72 and 73. And he won in 74 with a McLaren inferior to the Ferrari of Regazzoni and Lauda. He could be champion in '76 if he stayed at McLaren, but he transferred to Copersucar. He was F Cart champion in 1989 and runner-up in 1993 and 1994 against Nigel Mansell and Al Unser Jr who were the champions. Won the Indianapolis 500 in 1989 and 1993.
Champion 1972 and 1974.
CURIOSITY: Emerson didn't do any fastest lap in the years he was champion in F1 (72 and 74), showing that he was a fast driver who knew how to save the car and didn't walk on the limit to reach the end of the races.
Fernando Alonso: the Spaniard was world kart champion in 1998, and was the first driver (after Senna) to defeat Schumacher with a car at the same level. Schumacher himself said at the time: “Fernando Alonso played a role in my retirement.” A very fast rider, extremely consistent and knows how to handle pressure like few others. Defeated all teammates apart from Hamilton. To be regretted about his difficult personality, and his not quite correct attitudes like that of Hungary 2007, when he deliberately held Hamilton in the pits. That's why he is hated to this day on motorsport websites, but none of that prevents him from joining this list.
Champion in 2005 and 2006 and winner of Le Mans in 2018 and 2019.
Stirling Moss: He was one of the best drivers of the 1950s. He won 212 of the 529 races he competed in (40%) from 1948 to 1962, he drove 84 different types of cars and competed in 62 races in one year. He was the only teammate who drove ahead of Fangio: it was in the 1955 British GP. Even without being champion, he was a super talented driver who did well in everything he drove, be it touring or formula. He was four times runner-up in F1 (55, 56, 57 and 58) and lost 2 titles due to pure bad luck (1959 and 1960). In 1956 he would have been champion if Fangio hadn't changed cars 3 times during the races, in 1958 if he hadn't testified in favor of Hawthorn and in 1959 if he hadn't broken down in the last race of the season. From 1955 to 1961, he was always in the TOP 3 of F1, showing that he deserved at least 2 titles in F1. It is clear proof that absolute numbers are not always fair.
Vice champion 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958.
Alberto Ascari: He was one of the 3 best F1 drivers in the 1950s. He was a fast, very talented driver, he easily defeated all his teammates, including Farina who was the world champion in 1950, but we have to take into account that at Ferrari he was the 1st Ferrari driver and had priority within Ferrari. The Italian was the first driver to win 9 races in a row (a record that would be equaled by Vettel in 2013 and beaten by Verstappen in 2023 with 10) and the first driver to win 2 titles in F1. Unfortunately, he died in a test at Monza in 1955.
Champion 1952 and 1953.
Dan Gurney: another driver, very little known and wronged in F1, but comparisons show that he was an outstanding driver and very versatile, he won races in F1, Indy, Tourism and Nascar. He raced with Jack Brabham 3 years on the same team and defeated the Australian in 3 years (63, 64 and 65). He defeated the Australian in starts, finishes and points. That alone proves how super talented he was, but he was unlucky to have a champion car on his hands. He was very unlucky to leave Brabham in 1965 at the very moment when that team was going to build a championship-winning car, and having a good car has always made a big difference in F1. Jim Clark's father said on the day of his son's funeral that the only driver Clark really feared in F1 was Dan Gurney. Jack Brabham also saw Gurney as a driver with world champion potential. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwBrXUOj63A&t=547s - Canal Catálogo das Coisas)
NOTE: Dan Gurney was the creator of the "Gurney Flap" on the rear spoiler.
4th place in 1965. 2nd place in the 1968 and 1969 Indy 500.
SUPER GENIUS (PHENOMENA)
These three pilots, in the opinion of the site's author, are above even the geniuses mentioned above:
Juan Manuel Fangio: the Argentinian arrived in Europe in 1949 and defeated the best drivers in Europe such as Nuvolari, Fagiolli, Farina, Ascari, Villoresi, Taruffi and Chiron. Tazio Nuvolari himself said that Fangio would be the best driver of the 50s. Fangio won almost 50% of the races he competed in and was only beaten under normal conditions (without breaking or pit order) once by Stirling Moss in the 1955 British GP The Argentine was the only F1 driver champion for all 4 teams he raced (Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Ferrari and Maserati). e 3 different brands of tires (Pirelli, Continental and Englebert). He holds almost all the percentage records for titles, wins, poles, podiums, points and fastest lap. The Argentine was fast, regular, consistent and had great knowledge of mechanics.
Fangio was champion for all the teams he raced in, he didn't get dirty, he didn't need to throw the car at any driver and he didn't even need to call engineers from the other team to be champion. Let's be clear, in 1956 even if Peter Collins didn't give him the car, the Argentine would be champion of that season. In addition to being a GENIUS, he was an exemplary pilot.
Champion 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957.
Ayrton Senna: despite his difficult personality and temperament (he recognized that he needed to improve in this aspect), Senna was the driver with the greatest natural talent and technical ability in F1, despite some childish mistakes he made in his career. In the first F3 test in 1982, he beat the pole time of the team's official driver (James Weaver). In the first F1 test in 1983 at Williams he was faster than the official driver (Keke Rosberg). In the race of champions in a Mercedes 190E he beat all the medalists on the grid, without ever having raced in a touring car before. In the test with Penske in 1992 he was faster than Emerson Fittipaldi, all of these feats were astonishing. Senna was the fastest driver in F1 on a flying lap, being on average 0.6s faster than Prost and 0.7s faster than Berger (two very fast drivers) and 1.1s faster than Elio De Angelis. Senna had fantastic performances even with cars that were not the best of his seasons, leading the championships in 86, 87 and 93 (he only did not lead in 85 because he ran out of fuel in San Marino 85). The Brazilian is considered the fastest driver on street circuits and in driving in the rain.
Those who worked with Senna say that he was a good car tuner, to the point of being a perfectionist in this regard. Another interesting aspect is that in all the cars he drove, even with little technology (Toleman 84, Lotus 85/86) or with a lot of technology (McLaren 93), he had excellent performances. The Brazilian certainly had everything to be Schumacher's great rival in the 90s and surpass Fangio's five titles, but his death at the height of his career prevented us from seeing how far his career would go.
Champion 1988, 1990 and 1991.
Jim Clark: Many who saw Jim Clark and Senna drive see some similarities in the genius of the two drivers. Peter Warr, Jo Ramirez, Stirling Moss, Christopher Hilton, Alex Hawkridge, Gerard Crombac and Francisco Santos have already reported something about this. The Scotsman had a natural talent above the great drivers of his time, he was able to compete for titles without having the best car, as happened in 62, 64 and 67 and the second championship does not represent his true talent. The first lap at GP Nurburgring 62, when he passed 17 drivers, is considered an F1 masterpiece. In 1964 he raced in F1 and the BTCC Touring Championship at the same time, and became champion of that championship with Lotus Cortina. He drove any type of car well and in 1965 he won everything he competed in: champion in F1, winner in the Indianapolis 500, in the French F2, in the Tasmanian Cup and in the Race of Champions, no one is known who has done this to this day. Like Senna, he died at his peak, but he had everything it took to achieve Fangio's five titles. As a curiosity, Jim Clark never won an F1 race on a street circuit, despite having taken 4 pole positions in Monaco and came in 2nd place only once in F1 (Germany 63). Of the races he completed he won 50%. He was the only F1 champion driver and Indy 500 winner in the same year in 1965.
Fun fact: Clark and Senna died in 68 and 94, probably due to mechanical failure in their cars' steering system.
Champion 1963 and 1965 and Winner of the Indy 500 in 1965.
