The best F1 driver in history is a discussion that has, and will proceed to, rage as long as Recipe 1 exists, yet we take a gander at who the best drivers are measurably.
Hold on to your hats for this one, because we’re going to get right into the debate about who the ten best Formula 1 drivers have ever been.
The stopwatch never lies, but this list was made by looking at each driver’s entire legacy, not just their key statistics, but also their impact on the track and on motorsport as a whole.
Here are the Top 5 Formula 1 Drivers Of All Time:
5. Jim Clark
2 World Titles (1963 and 1965), 25 Race Wins
An incredibly interesting ‘one group’ man, the Scottish rancher was a generational ability that was taken too early.
Clark’s partnership with Colin Chapman, who designed the Lotus cars that helped him win two world championships, has made him famous.
He won the Indy 500 and finished third at Le Mans, just missing out on motorsports’ “Triple Crown,” making him a highly versatile driver. He competed in Touring Car, NASCAR, and other sports car races.
Clark, who was 32 years old at the time, was killed in a Formula 2 race in 1968. Without the tragedy, he probably would have won more titles.
4. Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher has won seven world titles, including those in 1994, 1995, 2000, and 2004. He has also won 91 races. Schumacher is a tireless worker who has a tremendous natural talent. In the 2000s, he rose to the top of motorsports because of his success with Ferrari.
Before that, Schumacher made a one-time appearance with Jordan in 1991, where he impressed so much that the Benetton team offered him a seat in the next race.
In the middle of the 2000s, a Schumacher victory seemed inevitable, and many fans left the sport. This was bad for the sport’s image, but despite that, his dominance is admirable. Schumacher resigned in his prime in 2006, yet got back in the game with Mercedes in 2010.
Schumacher was a shadow of the driver who had become the most successful driver of all time, whether it was due to his age or the three years he had been out of competition.
In 2006, while leading in qualifying at Monaco, he made a deliberate error on his final lap, preventing any other drivers from improving their lap times and securing pole position.
3. Lewis Hamilton
7 World Titles (2008, 2014-2015,2017-2020), 103 Race Wins
The main dark driver to at any point race in F1, Hamilton has outperformed Schumacher as the most measurably fruitful driver in the games history.
He has lit up the track in races across every season since bursting onto the scene in 2007 with McLaren and missing out on the world title by one point.
Although he has had the most dominant car for at least four of his world titles, Hamilton has repeatedly demonstrated that he is capable of performances that very few people could even contemplate.
He has also established a charitable foundation to promote underrepresented groups and published a report on the lack of diversity in all motorsport roles. Even though he is 37 years old, there is no indication that he is finished just yet; therefore, perhaps Hamilton still has time to make a case to be even higher up the list through action both on and off the track.
2. Juan Manuel Fangio
5 World Titles (1951, 1954-1957), 24 Race Wins
The way that Fangio’s number of world titles stayed a record for north of 45 years says a truckload regarding his heritage.
In five of his seven full racing seasons, the Argentinian finished second, winning the title. He also won the championship for four different manufacturers—Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Maserati—a feat that no other driver has accomplished.
His most well-known race is the one he won in 1957. Running more than 45 seconds behind the pioneers after a sluggish refueling break, Fangio broke the Nurburgring’s lap record in nine out of the accompanying ten laps and started to lead the pack on the absolute last lap.
1. Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna won 41 races and won three world championships in 1988, 1990, and 1991. Nearly 30 years after his tragic death, Senna is widely regarded as the most talented driver to ever compete in Formula 1.
Through his boundless talent, aggressive style, unwavering passion, and determination to win regardless of the cost, the mysterious Brazilian won the hearts of a nation.
Although many drivers have been referred to as rain-masters, Senna is without a doubt the best wet-weather driver in F1. In his rookie season, he made his breakthrough drive at Monaco, wrestling his uncompetitive Toleman to second place in torrential conditions.