Michael Schumacher is an extremely successful ex-Formula One driver that's regarded as one of the all-time greats. In the mid '90s and early aughts when the German driver was at his prime, Schumacher was locking down F1 titles with a cool half-dozen races left in the season. He also played a pivotal role in helping get things turned around at Ferrari, who, before Schumacher — who signed with the Prancing Horse marque in 1996 – hadn't won a title since 1979. Jim Clark is undeniably one of the greatest and most dominant champions in F1 history, securing two titles in 1963 and 1965 and just missing out on the '62 World Championship due to an oil leak in the final race of the season.
Famous for his formidable speed and partnership with Colin Chapman, Clark spent his entire F1 career driving for the Lotus team. Many fans and supporters alike believe the Scot would've added to his Championships if it wasn't for his fatal accident at an F2 race in Hockenheim in 1968. Clark still currently holds the record for the most career 'Grand Slams'.
Lewis Hamilton, in full Lewis Carl Hamilton, , British race-car driver who was one of the most successful Formula One Grand Prix racing drivers of all time. He owns the F1 record for career race victories and is tied with Michael Schumacher for the most drivers' championships . In 2008 he became the first Black driver to win the F1 world drivers' championship.
Alain Marie Pascal Prost is another legendary French driver with a storybook motorsport career. With just over 50 grand prix wins, Prost held the record for the most GP wins starting in '87, with the record standing for more than a decade. Further solidifying his status as a true legend on the track was his being honored with a "World Sports Award of the Century" in the motorsport class.
Prost also famously had an intense rivalry with fellow legendary F1 pilot, Ayrton Senna. The coolest character on the grid has always been Räikkönen's title, but he did also win the 2007 world drivers' championship by a single point over Hamilton and Alonso in one of the closest seasons of racing in Formula 1's history. Although he hasn't tasted title success since, he remains an F1 driver with Alfa Romeo and with a career stretching across 335 races – the most of any Formula 1 driver. Kimi has won 21 grands prix in his career, the last coming in the 2019 Italian Grand Prix during his final season at Ferrari.
The racing drivers who participate in the Formula one races, also known as F1 races are called F1 drivers. F1, officially referred to as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is a single seat auto racing governed by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile . The 'formula' refers to a set of rules that must be followed by all the participants. F1 drivers participate in a series of races called the Grands Prix that are held all over the world on public roads or race circuits built specifically for this purpose. The F1 races constitute the highest class of auto racing and the F1 cars race at speeds of up to 350 km/h.
These cars are the fastest multi-turn circuit-racing cars in the world. Drivers with several years of experience in other competitive racing events and the highest level of driving skills are the ones who ultimately get selected for F1 championships. F1 drivers also need to be risk-takers as the risk of automobile malfunction or accidents is ever present. This section provides you information about the life and works of various famous F1 drivers from all over the world. He attended the last race of his career in the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix and finished in 14th place. He won 91 races in total in his successful career which includes most of the major championships with the fastest laps and highest pole positions along with 72 Grand Prix victories.
At the height of the Swinging Sixties a small freckle-faced Californian appeared on the F1 scene sporting an unfashionable crew-cut hairstyle and distinctive toothy grin. Ginther soon hit the headlines with a thrilling battle against eventual winner Stirling Moss in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix. In his F1 career Ginther raced 54 times, with an impressive 14 podium finishes. He came third overall in the 1962 world championship season and in 1965 won the Mexican Grand Prix for Honda, the team's first victory. After a minor accident in 1967, Ginther abruptly retired from racing – to tour America in a motorhome instead. In June 1971, during his last race, he organized an American team to drive a Porsche 911 but the other two drivers, Elliot Forbes-Robinson and Alain Johnson, didn't finish the circuit.
An aviation enthusiast and entrepreneur and world-famous F1 driver, Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda had a successful, albeit tumultuous motorsport career. The only driver ever to win the Formula One championship behind the wheel of both a McLaren and a Ferrari, Lauda won a total of three F1 titles, the first of which he achieved in 1975. Following Lauda's racing career, he's served as a consultant and/or owner on a number of high-profile race teams and operations.
As of the 2021 season, out of the 770 drivers who started a Grand Prix, there have been 34 F1 World Drivers' Champions. The first F1 World Drivers' Champion was Giuseppe Farina in the 1950 championship and the current title holder is Max Verstappen in the 2021 season. The title has been won by drivers from the United Kingdom 20 times between 10 drivers, more than any other nation, followed by Brazil, Finland and Germany with three drivers each. The Scuderia Ferrari team have the highest number of drivers' titles per squad with 15 between 9 competitors, followed by McLaren with 12 titles between 7 drivers. The Drivers' Championship has been won in the final race of the season 30 times in the 72 seasons it has been awarded.
Schumacher holds the record of earning the championship with most Grands Prix left to run in a season with six when he won the 2002 title at that year's French Grand Prix. Speed raced for the Italian Toro Rosso F1 team in 2006 and 2007, but numerous crashes, breakdowns and altercations blighted his promising career. When his results didn't match his surname he was replaced halfway through the season by future multiple world champion Sebastian Vettel. Californian Speed had the last laugh, joining the Andretti Global Rallycross team and becoming rallycross world champion in 2015 and 2016. He started his career driving karts and participated in several national league championships in USA, promoted by Red Bull and dedicated to young American drivers, in which collected numerous victories.
Therefore, he gained the opportunity to realise and demonstrate his true potential despite his adventure with Toro Rosso. Ayrton Senna is considered by many to be one of, if not the greatest driver to have ever graced the sport. Like many elite drivers, Senna's motorsport career began with karting, before rising through the rank of the automotive world to become a bonafide legend. One of the most iconic racing names ever, Senna sadly saw an unexpected end to his fruitful F1 career when at the 1994 San Marino GP, the Brazilian suffered a high-speed crash that ultimately claimed his life at the age of just 34. Affectionately-known as "El Matador," Carlos Sainz Cenamor is a living rally legend. He took home his first WRC title for Toyota in 1990, before repeating the feat again in 1992.
And though he only won two WRC championship titles — which is still an objectively amazing achievement —Sainz finished a handful of seasons in third or second place, sometimes just shy of the title. More recently Sainz has competed in the world-famous Dakar Rally, where he's also earned a trio of coveted Dakar wins. The first-non-Nordic driver ever to win Finland's 1000 Lakes Rally, Sainz' other career achievements include victories at the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and the Race of Champions. He's also the father of current McLaren Formula One driver, Carlos Sainz Jr.
He made a 46 years unbeaten record by winning the most World Championship of Drivers starting from 1951 and then 4 consecutive times from 1954 to 1957. With 24 wins, 29 highest pole positions, 35 podiums, 245 career points, and 23 fastest laps, he decorated his career with the greatest possible success. Schumacher's career in cars started a relatively long time ago for a young F1 driver, dating back to the 2015 German Formula 4 championship. He recorded a win in his first year in that series, then finished runner-up to 2021 Australian Super 5000 champion Joey Mawson in 2016.
That, coupled with another runner-up finish in the Italian Formula 4 series, led him to European Formula 3 for the final two seasons of that championship before it merged with what was then GP3 to become what we now know as Formula 3. NASCAR Hamm of Famer Richard Lee Petty is an American NASCAR (and Winston Cup pre-NASCAR) driver with an extensive career that spanned from 1958 through 1992. Richard is the son of Lee Petty, a three-time NASCAR champion and winner of the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959. Petty is tied with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson for the most NASCAR Cup Championship wins with a total of seven — though Petty was the first to complete the feat.
Seldom seen without a cowboy hat or auto racing helmet, Petty also holds the record for the most race wins in his respective series, with the North Carolina-born driver taking the top spot on the podium an enormous 200 times. Widely regarded as the best rally driver of all time, Sébastien Loeb is a French rally pilot that possesses inordinate amount of skill and raw talent. Before retiring at the end of 2012, Loeb won the World Rally Championship every year starting in 2004, making him the most successful WRC pilot ever.
He also holds WRC records for most podiums, most stage wins, and most event wins, also making him the winningest WRC driver ever to get behind the wheel. Loeb's career as an athlete actually began as a gymnast, but he later took up racing. Schumacher won five consecutive drivers' titles from 2000 to 2004, including an unprecedented sixth and seventh title. In 2002, Schumacher won the title with a record six races remaining and finished on the podium in every race. In 2004, Schumacher won twelve out of the first thirteen races and went on to win a record 13 times as he won his final title.
Schumacher retired from Formula One in 2006, after finishing runner-up to Renault's Fernando Alonso. He produced the fastest qualifying time at the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix, and achieved his only podium on his return at the 2012 European Grand Prix, where he finished third. In October 2012, Schumacher announced he would retire for a second time at the end of the season. In subsequent seasons with McLaren, Hamilton continued to be one of the top drivers on the F1 circuit, winning two races in 2009, three in 2010, three in 2011, and four in 2012. In September 2012 Hamilton decided to leave McLaren to join the Mercedes-Benz F1 team.
Ferrari holds most of the major F1 records and started more world championships than any other racing team ever did. Ferrari drivers secured places on the podium 772 times in world championships, and at any time, a Ferrari driver was in the top three in 584 races during the team's reign. Here, you will find the Formula 1 records for most championships race wins, pole positions, race entries for both teams and individuals. If you want to know more about the youngest drivers to win championships, races, points and podiums, read our article here.
People have been racing ever since the gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine was popularized. However, Formula 1 is considered to have started after FIA standardized the rules and organized a drivers championship, and it can be said that FIA was the inventor of Formula 1. To this day, the FIA is the worldwide regulating body of Formula 1, among other racing sports.
FIA is the one responsible for determining Formula 1's rules, interpret them, apply sanctions and resolve disputes; as well as issuing the super licenses needed by drivers to take part in races. It can be said that FIA also reinvents Formula 1, as changes in the design of the cars and their engines are common, as well as changes in the point system, circuits included in a season, and safety measures. Lauda may not have the most titles, wins or poles, but the Austrian cannot be left of such a list. He was the leading driver of 1974 Ferrari team and won his first world title in 1975. In 1976, however, his progress was interrupted by a crash at the infamous Nürburgring. Nikki suffered horrible burns to his body, head, throat and lungs.
To prove his worth, he returned in 1977 to win his second title before retiring in 1979. 24-year-old Max Verstappen, who drives for Red Bull Racing Honda team, has won 19 grand prix but never been crowned as the champion. His best seasons have been the 2019 and 2020 championships when he finished third. He would aim to erase his dubious record of winning most races without the world champion title at Abu Dhabi.
Widely considered one of the greatest drivers in Formula One history, Sebastian Vettel holds a number of records, including most podium finishes and most consecutive race wins. Sebastian has a unique habit of naming his cars as he feels it is important to share a close relationship with the cars that he drives. Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton hold the record for the most World Drivers' Championships, both having won the title on seven occasions. Schumacher also holds the record for the most consecutive drivers' titles with five between the 2000 and the 2004 seasons.
Who Is The Most Successful Formula 1 Driver Of All Time Nigel Mansell holds the record of competing in the highest number of seasons before winning the World Championship, entering F1 in 1980 and achieving the title in 1992, a span of 13 seasons. Nico Rosberg has the highest number of Grand Prix starts before winning his first title, a period of 206 Grands Prix between the 2006 Bahrain and the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grands Prix. Sebastian Vettel is the youngest winner of the World Drivers' Championship; he was 23 years and 134 days old when he won the 2010 championship.
Fangio is the oldest winner of the World Drivers' Championship; he was 46 years and 41 days old when he won the 1957 title. From his outstanding win in 1985 to the emotional victory in 1992, Nigel Mansell managed to garner a total of 32 wins during his run. With his net worth estimated at $90M, Nigel Mansell did indeed have a successful racing career.
Hamilton started his career in 2007 and finished on the podium for the McLaren-Mercedes team on his first outing at the season-opening race in Australia. Several races later and he would win his first race at the Canadian Grand Prix - the first in what would become a record-breaking run. Hamilton is also the first driver in the sport's history to have won a race in every season he competed in, taking at least one victory.
Senna is perhaps considered by some the second best driver after Schumacher. Senna won the Formula 1 drivers' championship titles in 1988, 1990 and 1991. The Brazilian was known for his spectacular driving and propensity to take risks. Ayrton had the reputation of being one of the best drivers who managed to master the car in the most adverse weather conditions and for this skill, he was given the nickname "Rain Man". Senna suffered a fatal accident during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix robbing the sport of a multiple world champion in the prime of his career.
Hamilton progressed to car racing, and in 2003 he captured the British Formula Renault race series championship by winning 10 of the 15 races he entered. The following year he competed in the Formula Three Euroseries championship. He won the championship in 2005, and in 2006 he joined a team competing in GP2 —a race series designed to help drivers prepare for F1—and won the GP2 title in his one season in the series. They were the only team in the list that started out 8 years before any team else. They have also won more races than any other, had more 1-2 finishes, more podiums, more pole positions, more fastest laps and won more points than any other team in F1 history.
Clark set 33 pole positions and won 25 of the 72 GP starts he made, and can claim numerous records to this day – in 1963, for example, he led 71 per cent of all laps raced that season. As well as his versatility, Clark was revered for his incredible silkiness behind the wheel, and his extraordinary mechanical sympathy. "Jim Clark was everything I aspired to be, as a racing driver and as a man," his great friend Sir Jackie Stewart said. He's actually done it all and more, rewriting almost every record in the sport, holding the wins record for 19 years and record for most World Championships for 14 years. The only driver in history to top two decades, topping the 90's at 58 points to Häkkinen's 45, going on to dominate the first half of the 2000s topping the decade once again with an impressive 57 to Räikkönen's 47.
Growing up I wasn't the biggest fan of Michael, he was always winning and I supported the silver team, it was only once I grew up did I understand just how brilliant he was. Fast, strategic, reliable and adaptable he was undeniably in another league to anyone else on the grid and no matter what you think of him on track, off track he was the perfect gentleman. It was actually Ferrari and Schumacher's success that helped me appreciate the job Mercedes and Hamilton are doing currently.
