F1 Drivers Championship

The Formula One World Championship is a motor racing series which takes place each year, having been created in 1950.

Each Grand Prix, drivers are given points based on their race finishing positions, currently this is 25 points for a victory, 18 points for second place, 16 points for third place, reducing incrementally to tenth position which receives 1 point. At the end of the season the driver with the most points in the Drivers’ Championship is named the Formula One World Champion.

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton and Germany’s Michael Schumacher jointly hold the record for most Drivers Championships with seven titles each.

Formula 1 is the most glamorous and prestigious motorsport in the world and the Drivers’ Championship is the main prize the competitors are aiming for. Here we explain how it works, a little about the history of the title and take a look at which drivers have been the most successful over the years.

Formula 1 Drivers Champions

Season	Driver	Constructor	Points
2023	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	575
2022	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	454
2021	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda	395.5
2020	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	347
2019	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	413
2018	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	408
2017	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	363
2016	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	385
2015	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	381
2014	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	384
2013	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	397
2012	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	281
2011	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	392
2010	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	256
2009	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	95
2008	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	98
2007	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	110
2006	Fernando Alonso	Renault	134
2005	Fernando Alonso	Renault	133
2004	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	148
2003	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	93
2002	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	144
2001	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	123
2000	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	108
1999	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	76
1998	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	100
1997	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	81
1996	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	97
1995	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Renault	102
1994	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	92
1993	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	99
1992	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	108
1991	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	96
1990	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	78
1989	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda	76
1988	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	90
1987	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	73
1986	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	72
1985	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	73
1984	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	72
1983	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	59
1982	Keke Rosberg	Williams-Ford	44
1981	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	50
1980	Alan Jones	Williams-Ford	67
1979	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	51
1978	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	64
1977	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	72
1976	James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	69
1975	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	64.5
1974	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	55
1973	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	71
1972	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	61
1971	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	62
1970	Jochen Rindt	Lotus-Ford	45
1969	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Ford	63
1968	Graham Hill	Lotus-Ford	48
1967	Denny Hulme	Brabham-Repco	51
1966	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	42
1965	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	54
1964	John Surtees	Ferrari	40
1963	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	54
1962	Graham Hill	BRM	42
1961	Phil Hill	Ferrari	34
1960	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	43
1959	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	31
1958	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	42
1957	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	40
1956	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	30
1955	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	40
1954	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	42
1954	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	42
1953	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	34.5
1952	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	36
1951	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	31
1950	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	30

First Ever F1 World Champion

The first ever Grand Prix was held in the early years of the 20th century and there was a European Drivers’ Championship for much of the 1930s. In addition, the first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix was held in Turin, Italy, in 1946. However, the first formalised world championship in the sport did not occur until 1950.

Italian driver Giuseppe Farina was crowned the first world champion after a season that included six Grands Prix in Europe and the Indianapolis 500 in the USA. The name of the championship and its structure have changed many times over the years but the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship in a form we would recognise today really all began with Farina’s title.

F1 is the pinnacle of what is technically single-seater, open-wheel (meaning the wheels sit “outside” the body of the car) racing. It is governed by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), a body formed in 1904 that also looks after the World Rally Championship and a number of other prominent motorsports.

Technically known as the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, there are two key titles on the line. One for drivers, which is our focus here, and another for the teams, the Constructors’ Championship, which we look at in a separate article.

F1 Points System

To top the Driver Standings, an F1 pilot, as they are sometimes referred to, must simply accrue the most points over the course of the season. In 1950 the first world champion registered 30 points, in 1985 Alain Prost was victorious with 73 and 38 years after that, in 2023, Max Verstappen amassed 575 points!

These huge differences are explained by the fact that the number of races in a season has changed a great deal and also by the fact that the points system within each race has changed. In 1950 there were just seven races (though only six really), with eight points awarded for winning, then six, four, three and two, for second to fifth respectively and a point available for the fastest lap. In addition, only a driver’s best four finishes counted, with variations on this system persisting until 1990, when it was decreed that all races would count.

As of the 2024 Formula 1 season, there are 24 races, beginning in Bahrain in March, spanning Asia, Australia, the USA, Europe and South America (Brazil), before ending back in the Middle East with the finale in Abu Dhabi in December. The race winner earns 25 points, going down to 18 for second place, 15 for third, then 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and a single point for 10th place. In addition, there is a point awarded to the driver recording the fastest lap, though they must also finish in the top 10 to be eligible for that bonus.

There are various rules for points in incomplete races, as well as the fact that a driver needs only complete 90% of the race in order to be eligible for points. All the points from each of the races are added up and whoever scores the most over the course of the F1 season will top the Driver Standings and thus be declared the winner of the Drivers’ Championship and F1 World Champion.

F1’s Greatest Drivers

As in any sport, the debate rages in Formula 1 about who is the greatest driver of all time. Comparing sports stars from different generations is always fiendishly difficult and this is certainly the case in F1. The technology in modern cars would be unrecognisable to stars of the past and critics of the sport say that the car is far more important than the driver in the modern era.

In addition, huge advances in safety have dramatically cut the number of deaths and serious injuries we see, so modern drivers do not need to possess quite the same levels of bravery (or perhaps madness) as their counterparts from the past did. Thankfully driver deaths are very rare now, whereas in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s they were regular occurrences.

That said, the Drivers’ Championship and individual race wins give us a really obvious starting point for any assessment of F1’s best drivers of all time. The chart below shows the most successful drivers the sport has seen, though it should be remembered that, as we have said, the number of races each season has increased over the years.

We should point out that even though five other drivers have also won three Drivers’ Championships, the incomparable Senna earns a special mention for the aesthetic brilliance and sheer aggression of his driving. As with any stats, looking solely at the number of titles won can only ever paint part of the picture. We can also look at the total number of races won as shown below.

Whilst Hamilton leads the way (at least jointly) on all metrics, it should be noted that his 103 wins and pole positions have come from 332 races. That is a 31% strike rate, whereas Senna secured pole in more than 40% of his races and Fangio in almost 56%, the latter winning over 46% too.

Moreover, whilst Hamilton may well lead the way, some might point out that he was lucky enough to have an incredible car to drive for many of those wins, one that was far superior to that of his rivals. Nelson Piquet, a compatriot and contemporary of Senna, like the more famous driver, also won three drivers’ world championships. However, two of those came when he was driving in a team that did not win the Constructors’ Championship. In contrast, only one of Hamilton’s seven came when it could reasonably be argued that he perhaps did not have the best car.

There are claims and counterclaims, and stats that “prove” one thing, whilst other figures can be used to support something else. Leaving such debates to one side, nobody can question that any driver to have won a world title is truly a great and certainly all of the multiple Drivers’ Championship victors we have discussed are genuine legends of Formula 1.