Since the conception of the championship in 1950, there have been 34 different drivers who have won the F1 world championship. Anyone who has merely started a Formula 1 race is rightly considered to be one of the greatest drivers in the world. However, these champions are on another level altogether. While the speed of the car will always be a factor in determining results, the elite few who attain the sports greatest prize are still considered to be the best of the best.
For decades, the argument has raged over who is the best F1 driver of all time taking into account each different era. From Giuseppe Farina in 1950, through to Max Verstappen in 2024, the sport has showcased some remarkable talents that have transcended expectations. As we mark the 75th anniversary of the sport, we thought it was about time we had a go at putting this argument to bed by deciding who really are the greatest F1 drivers in history. Let's start off with the driver we feel is the goat of F1.
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Lewis Hamilton & Max Verstappen chase down Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari
1. Max Verstappen
In theory, every generation should be superior to its predecessor and it's hard to argue against that with the reigning World Champion who we feel is the Goat of F1. While his triumphs in the dominant Red Bull cars of 2022 and 2023 were impressive, it has been his ability to manhandle the flawed cars of the past few seasons which has really set him apart.
In many ways, Verstappen is the result of a successful science experiment. His dad is a former podium finishing F1 driver and his mum is a championship winning go-karter. Before he could walk, Verstappen was being dropped into go-karts ensuring that racing came almost as naturally to him as walking.
It's little surprise therefore that he became the youngest ever F1 driver in 2015 when he made his debut for Toro Rosso at the tender age of 17. Fast forward 12 months and he was already being promoted to the senior Red Bull team, winning his first race for the team at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The domination of Mercedes in the latter half of the 2010's ensured that he was never in a position to challenge for the championship. However, once Red Bull had a package capable of matching Mercedes he was able to maximise it right away winning his first championship in 2021. He then obliterated the field over the subsequent two seasons as the Mercedes challenge began to fade.
Experts often say that wet weather is the ultimate test of a driver's ability and Verstappen has excelled in such conditions repeatedly. This was particularly in evidence during the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix where he won from 17th on the grid, setting 17 fastest laps in total and lapping over a second per lap faster than anyone else. This was a pivotal moment in him securing the 2024 World Championship, overcoming the more competitive McLaren of title rival Lando Norris.
2. Lewis Hamilton
Verstappen's first title in 2021 was claimed after one of the most bitter battles in F1 history as he went up against statistically the most successful F1 driver in the sports history in the form of Lewis Hamilton. With a total of 7 drivers championships, 105 wins and 104 pole positions, there can be no doubting Hamilton's credentials.
From the moment he drove around the outside of his reigning champion McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso at the first corner of his very first race, Hamilton has been considered a superstar. He very nearly won the title during that first year, only losing out in the final race having been hobbled by a bizarre electrical glitch. However, he made up for that the following year, claiming the 2008 title by a single point after a last lap, last corner overtake.
A move to Mercedes for 2013 was a pivotal moment in his career, with the German squad developing by far the best engine package for the new hybrid regulations in 2014. This gave him the equipment he needed to blitz the field more often than not over the next six seasons. During this time, Hamilton progressed into a global superstar who transcended the sport. His attitude changed too, going from being a sometimes belligerent figure when things didn't go well to being the ultimate professional who left no stone unturned in his pursuit of perfection rather than relying solely on his God given talents.
Having recently celebrated his 40th birthday, Hamilton has fewer seasons ahead than he has behind and the current rules set has not suited his driving style. Nevertheless, only those with a short memory will risk countering the argument that Hamilton is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time.
3. Michael Schumacher
The only other driver to have matched Hamilton's total of 7 championships is Michael Schumacher. When he entered the sport in 1991, Schumacher immediately caught the eye with his amazing speed, particularly during the races. This owed not only to his outright talent, but also due to the fact that he set new standards for physical fitness which allowed him to push the limits of his car throughout the race rather than suffering the fatigue that many drivers would be afflicted by during the latter stage of a race.
Another area where Schumacher excelled was in his team-working abilities. He put together a close knit team of engineers and aerodynamicists at Benetton during the early 1990s which rocked the sport, resulting in the clothes brand owned team claiming back to back titles in 1994 and 1995. When Ferrari came calling, Schumacher took his squad within him to Italy in pursuit of Ferrari's first title since 1979. This ambition was realised in 2000, after which Schumacher's chosen few helped to usher in an era of domination, the likes of which had never been seen before in the sports history, winning five consecutive championships.
After retiring in 2006, Schumacher returned to F1 in 2010 with Mercedes. Despite high expectations, Schumacher scored just one podium over the next three years. This was perhaps due to the effects of age, but also influenced by a serious motorcycle accident during his brief retirement which damaged some of the nerves in his neck, affecting some of his feel for the car. Nevertheless, Schumacher's first stint in the sport had already marked him out as one of the best F1 drivers of all time.
4. Ayrton Senna
If we were putting together a list of the fastest F1 drivers of all time, Ayrton Senna would be right at the top. This speed was particularly in evidence during qualifying, with Senna claiming a total of 65 poles from 161 grand prix's, a 44.62% strike rate.
Perhaps the finest of these came at the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix where he lapped the circuit 1.4 seconds faster than his team-mate and nearest rival Alain Prost; another driver to have made it onto our list of the GOATs of F1. Senna spoke about transcending consciousness during this lap, being able to visibly view the car from above. Regardless of your beliefs, it's difficult to otherwise explain how Senna could have been so superior on that day.
His natural abilities also shone in the wet, with the Brazilian's rise from 5th to 1st on the first lap of the 1993 European Grand Prix going down in history and being another example of a time where the Brazilian inexplicably operated at a much higher level than anyone else.
There was often a tortoise and hare comparison made between Senna and his nemesis Prost, with Senna always striving to be as fast as possible at all times. It is this trait which was his only weakness, leading to him crashing out of that aforementioned Monaco Grand Prix whilst leading by over 50 seconds.
5. Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio was 39 at the time of the sports conception; arguably past the peak of most drivers. That makes his 5 drivers championships over the next 7 seasons against much younger competitors all the more remarkable.
At a time where danger was a constant factor, Fangio displayed not only incredible bravery but also ferocious speed with a driving style characterised by absolute consistency. He would take risks only when he needed to, with one instance of this being the 1957 German Grand Prix where he broke the lap record 10 times in his pursuit of the faster Ferrari car's ahead after a botched pit stop by his Maserati team left him over 50 seconds behind with just 14 laps remaining. It is generally considered to have been one of the greatest performances in the sports history and helped him secure his 4th of 5 World Championships. Fangio remained statistically the most successful F1 driver of all time right up until 2002 and remains to this day a revered figure in the world of motor racing.
6. Jim Clark
Britain has been a proven breeding ground for brilliant racing drivers, with the list of 34 F1 champions consisting of 10 drivers from the UK nations. The first of these to win multiple titles was Jim Clark who was synonymous with the Lotus team during the 1960s.
A quiet farmer hailing from Scotland, Clark grew up driving agricultural equipment and quickly developed a knack for car control which he used to good effect on various rally's in his local area. It was during one of these races on Boxing Day 1958 that he competed against Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus who immediately recognised Clark's talent. Just two years later he was in F1 and took his first world championship in 1963, finishing ahead of far more experienced and storied racers. Another title came in 1965, the year in which Clark also won the prestigious Indy 500 race.
Lotus cars were widely acknowledged to be the fastest of the era, but this speed came at the cost of unreliability. This led to Clark narrowly missing out on other titles in 1962 and 1967. Nevertheless, he was still able to demonstrate his superiority in qualifying, achieving 33 pole positions from 73 races, a strike rate of 45.2% which puts him ahead even of Ayrton Senna.
7. Alain Prost
The only Frenchman to ever win the world championship made quite a habit of it, winning four titles between the years of 1985 and 1993. At a time when car reliability and fuel saving were major considerations, Prost's ability to look after his cars and only drive as fast as was necessary to win often gave him an advantage.
That isn't to say that he wasn't fast, as his 33 poles from 199 starts attest. However, with pole position strike rate of just 16.32%, this puts him significantly behind his greatest rival Ayrton Senna.
It wasn't just on the track that Prost did what was necessary to win, often excelling at internal politics within the teams he raced for with a view to gaining an advantage over his team-mates. This resulted in unsustainable tension with Senna at McLaren, Rene Arnoux at Renault and almost drove Nigel Mansell into retirement when the pair were together at Ferrari.
8. Jackie Stewart
Another Scottish racing driver who was the natural successor to Clark was Jackie Stewart who won 3 World Championships in 1969, 1971 and 1973. All of these titles came with the Tyrrell team, with Stewart setting the standard for team-working abilities prior to the arrival of Schumacher.
Stewart's work ethic was famous, as was his smooth driving style which often disguised the speed at which he was driving. This served him well at a time where car unreliability was a major factor. This is reflected in the fact that he achieved 27 grand prix wins but just 17 pole positions from 99 starts.
He was naturally charismatic too, which helped Tyrrell attract key commercial partners and inspired those working within the team to put in extra effort. It isn't a coincidence that the team failed to win another championship after the Scots retirement in 1973 as the reigning world champion. He repeated the trick when he launched his own team in 1997, with the squad winning its first race in just its third year in the sport and going on to become the foundations for the often dominant Red Bull team.
9. Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso is now the most experienced driver in F1 history having started 410 races over a 24 year period, making it the longest F1 career in history. However, he has failed to win a race since 2013 and his two championship triumphs came even further back in 2005 and 2006. This is hardly the kind of statistic that you would associate with one of the greatest drivers in F1 history.
This disguises the fact that Alonso has spent most of the intervening years driving uncompetitive machinery with the Spanish driver seeming to have a knack of being in the right team at the wrong time. In reality, Alonso is notorious for his speed during the races with his never say die attitude and ability to strategically read a race from the cockpit. This genuinely marks him out as being worthy of a top 3 position on this list.
However, Alonso's opportunities to drive championship winning cars have been limited ever since his 2007 season at McLaren where he was teamed with a then rookie Lewis Hamilton. They finished the year equal on points after a year of intense squabbling during which Alonso is alleged to have threatened to shop the team for possessing Ferrari car designs unless they gave him number one status. This led to the team being disqualified from the world championship and being handed a $70 million fine. The resulting reputational damage has led to the era's most competitive teams, Mercedes and Red Bull, opting to maintain a wide berth.
10. Niki Lauda
Anyone who has seen the 2013 film Rush will know that Niki Lauda made what is arguably the greatest comeback in sporting history when he returned to racing just six weeks after almost burning to death in a terrifying accident in the wet at the 1976 German Grand Prix. So bad were his injuries that the Austrian had been given the last rights and was generally seen as being unlikely to survive let alone return to the cockpit.
However, he had won 5 of the first 9 races of the year and had a championship to win. Ferrari's decision to hire Carlos Reutenman as his replacement provided further motivation to return and claim his second consecutive title. However, the torrential conditions at the season ending Japanese Grand Prix led to Lauda withdrawing, handing the championship to Hunt. Despite this, Lauda had still proven himself to still be competitive and went on to dominate the 1977 season, wrapping up the championship with two races remaining. At this point he refused to drive for Ferrari in the final races having never forgiven Enzo Ferrari for the Reuteman betrayed as he lay on his deathbed.
Lauda made another famous comeback in 1982 with McLaren having initially retired from the sport in 1979. He helped build the team up to be a championship winning force, dominating the season in 1984 to win his third and final championship from team-mate Alain Prost by just half a point.
You can witness three of the ten greatest F1 drivers in history live and in person if you book an F1 holiday with Elegant Resorts. This includes the chance to potentially witness a new champion being crowned at the season ending 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.