Top 10 Best Formula 1 Drivers of All Time

Formula 1 has been home to some of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen. These drivers aren't just fast. They're tactical, relentless, and possess the kind of skill and determination that set them apart on the track. From the early days of F1 to today's high-tech racing world, countless drivers have made their mark, each with their own unique style and achievements. But the question remains: Who truly deserves to be called the best?

This list gives you the chance to weigh in on the debate. You'll find names here that have won countless titles, pushed the limits of their cars, and delivered legendary moments that fans still talk about. There are drivers from different eras, each bringing something special to the sport. Some dominated the track with raw speed, while others were masters of strategy, finesse, or fearless risk-taking.

The Top Ten

Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver born on March 21, 1960. He won three Formula One World Championships with McLaren in 1988, 1990, and 1991 and is widely considered one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time. Senna died on May 1, 1994, following a crash while leading the San... read more

The three-time World Champion achieved what he did through pure skill.
Many of us remember the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, where he and Bellof produced an extraordinary result in a mediocre car. When he joined McLaren, he became world champion three times in four years before other teams took over.
Unfortunately, a fourth title was not meant to be due to the tragedy of 1994. Still, we will never forget him as one of the best drivers the world has ever seen, if not the best.

Brilliant, ruthless, determined, fast, and charismatic. These are just some of the superlatives that sum up the greatest driver Formula 1 has ever seen.
Ayrton ushered in a more professional approach to fitness and absolute dedication to the sport. He had to win and be the best. As Jo Ramirez said in the documentary "Right to Win," "For him, it was nothing but winning - to him, coming second was to be the first of the losers."
Senna also possessed the supreme ability to utilize every part of the track and find speed from absolutely nowhere. He was unquestionably the best driver ever in wet weather conditions. One only has to remember Donnington in 1993, where Ayrton went from fifth to first before the end of the first lap!
Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher is a retired German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1991 to 2012. He won seven World Drivers' Championships, including two with Benetton in 1994 and 1995 and five consecutively with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004. Although he made his Formula One debut with Jordan Grand Prix... read more

While Schumi was not always known as a "clean" driver, he consistently dominated with his car, even if it was not the best on the grid.
It was only a few incidents and the strong competition from Mika Hakkinen that kept him from winning the title between 1996 and 1999. He truly peaked in 2000, winning five titles in a row while Ferrari developed into the most dominant team.
Ferrari became so good that the FIA introduced regulations specifically aimed at reducing Schumacher and Ferrari's advantage. This led to his initial retirement at the end of 2006. Although his return with Mercedes was disappointing, it does not diminish how impressive his career was before retiring.
Juan Manuel Fangio

The first person to dominate Formula 1, he won four titles in a row before partially retiring, which allowed Hawthorn to win in 1958.
Fangio won a majority of the titles he competed in for a reason. When it comes to being the fourth-best driver in the history of Formula 1, I think it is fitting that the five-time champion is ranked in that position.

Fangio was the Schumacher of his time. He won the world championship with four different teams and made great teammates such as Stirling Moss and Giuseppe Farina look average. His most impressive drive was in Germany in 1957, where he had a bad pit stop and was a full minute behind the leader. He then broke the track record multiple times in a row to take the lead and win the race.
Lewis Hamilton

Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, born on January 7, 1985, in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He has won seven World Drivers' Championship titles, sharing the all-time record with Michael Schumacher. Hamilton claimed his first... read more

Hamilton is a great driver, but the issue is that he performs best only in top-tier cars.
Even then, he was beaten by Nico Rosberg in equal machinery during one of Rosberg's best years. When McLaren did not have the best car, Hamilton did not seem to try as hard to compete for a title. This is in contrast to Fernando Alonso, who arguably had worse equipment but still fought hard.
However, when he had a good car, Hamilton drove with near perfection. His pace is clearly his greatest strength. Still, when he has to deal with challenges from other drivers, he is not always at his best. Look at races where he ran wide or received major penalties that cost him the win, such as the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Jim Clark

Jim Clark was probably the greatest natural talent ever seen in any form of motor racing. Just as importantly, he was a gentleman racer who didn't have to block other drivers to stay in front. Relatively shy outside the car, he had a natural affinity with the machinery and was less hard on the equipment than virtually anyone else. His smoothness belied his quickness. He did everything behind the wheel with such grace that he was simply in a class by himself.
He could adapt to an ill-handling machine in short order and get the most from it, and he could drive and win in anything. Simply the best ever. I'd pick either Fangio or Senna second, and the other third. Schumacher couldn't compare with Clark.
Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso is a Spanish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion, having won titles in 2005 and 2006. As of 2025, he competes for Aston Martin in Formula One. Known for his technical feedback and fierce competitiveness, Alonso has enjoyed one of the longest and most decorated careers... read more

Up there with Ayrton Senna in terms of talent and race-craft, probably not as fast as Senna on a single lap, but I would say he is the most complete race driver ever. He knows how to handle pressure and how to get the most out of the shopping trolleys they build him of late, and he is utterly relentless!
Similarly to Ayrton Senna, he has spent most, if not all, of his career without sitting in the best car. In a nutshell: Give him the second-best package on the grid, and he'll win you the championship.

The best driver in history. He has not only shown it in F1, but also in WEC and IndyCar, where he steps into a car and is quick from the start. He might lose a tenth in qualifying to the likes of Hamilton or Vettel, but he reads a race like no other, has incredible consistency, and in wheel-to-wheel racing his competitor is always one step behind. Even with McLaren-Honda, he could put up a fight against much faster cars.
He is a born talent. A legend. You can't measure that in the number of world titles or even victories. It's something you just need to have an eye for.
Alain Prost

Alain Marie Pascal Prost is a French retired racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Michael Schumacher surpassed his total of 51 victories at the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix. Prost is considered one of the greatest... read more

Prost should have had at least 5 world championships, if not 6 or 7. In 1982, he was the fastest, but bad reliability from the Renault caused him to only win one race and retire many times. In 1984, he had more car reliability problems and lost out to Lauda by half a point (the smallest margin ever).
1988 was the year that he and Senna met on equal terms, driving identical cars, and Prost got more points. However, Senna won the title due to a quirk of an experimental ruling system that year.

Best F1 driver ever. No doubt. Only Senna is equivalent. Prost had one of the most extraordinary careers in F1, being a 4-time world champion in a time when there were always 4 top drivers (including Senna). How can he be so low in this ranking? Schumacher in 2nd? He did not have any competition in his days.
Niki Lauda

Niki Lauda is one of the most famous names in F1 for a reason. In 1975, he became Ferrari's first champion in 11 years. The following year, 1976, he almost died and missed only a few races, yet he nearly won the championship against James Hunt, another great driver. In 1977, he won the championship not because he was the fastest, but because he was the smartest.
Not being the fastest but being the smartest was Lauda's strength. He didn't bother to fight for first place if the risk was too high. He happily settled for second because it still meant a lot of points. He'd rather finish second three times than win twice and score zero in the third race. This tactic helped him win in 1977 and 1984. He avoided unnecessary risks and focused on scoring as many points as possible. Consistency was key.
In 1984, he was teammates with the legendary Alain Prost and beat him by half a point. How? Because Lauda was smarter and settled for second when necessary instead of taking risks and crashing out.
He became Prost's mentor, and Prost learned a lot from him. Eventually, Prost's nickname became "The Professor."
Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel is a retired German racing driver and a four-time Formula One World Champion. He won the championship consecutively in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 while racing for Red Bull Racing. Over his career, he also drove for Toro Rosso, Ferrari, and Aston Martin, retiring from Formula One in 2022... read more

Vettel is the Senna in the wet of this generation. He will be the only driver to ever top Schumacher. He is leading Ferrari to another period of glory days. The only reason Lewis Hamfist has won the last two championships is that Mercedes did such a great job with the car. Any time Lewis gets under pressure, he cracks and drives off track. He's a good driver, but he can only win if there is no actual competition or problems for him.
Vettel is the best driver after Alonso, who would be at least a five-time world champion if he didn't keep flocking to a new team right when his old one was getting it together. If he and Vettel were with Ferrari in 2016, Mercedes would be done for.
Jackie Stewart

Wonderful driver, and he was going to retire at the final race in the US.
But alas, the tragedy of Cevert's death in practice changed that. So the chap who mentioned he would have raced further if not for Cevert's death is incorrect.
Nevertheless, I agree with all the comments about his greatness, etc.

I saw him race several times. Certainly, he was in a class by himself. He had 99 starts with 27 wins. He might have raced longer if not for the death of his teammate and friend Francois Cevert. I was at Watkins Glen to see Jackie's 100th start, but after Cevert's tragedy, Tyrrell pulled the team out of respect.
Jackie was a champion of safety. With his persistence, many F1 drivers have had safer experiences, thanks to him. A true champion!

The Newcomers

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Charles Leclerc

Leclerc won the 2022 Bahrain GP, the opening race of the season. It looks like he will be the Drivers' Champion after the hat trick in race 1 (Bahrain: Pole, Win, Fastest Lap). He is the championship leader.

Best of the rest in his first year of F1 and beat Sebastian Vettel in his first year at Ferrari. Best driver ever.

Amazing driver, and looks don't hurt...
?
Carlos Sainz Jr.

Has been great this season for McLaren. Would love to see him in a top team.

The Contenders

Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi‑Matias Räikkönen (born October 17, 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman," is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2001 to 2021. He won the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship during his first season with Scuderia Ferrari. Räikkönen achieved a total of 21 Grand Prix wins, which is... read more

Quite frankly, Kimi is the fastest driver in the world, said Sir Stirling Moss! And he is absolutely right! On pure skill and race craft, he is second to none, and that is why he is regarded as the greatest natural talent to have ever driven an F1 car.
It is also true that Kimi has a great feel for the car, which is both his ally and nemesis. If he isn't confident in the car, it will affect his performance, but when he is confident in his car, there is no one who could match him!
Kimi should have at least been a three-time world champion if his McLaren was a tad more reliable. He was the guy who took the fight to Michael when Ferrari-Schumi was just running away with championships!
If he had an ounce of the luck Michael, Vettel, or Hamilton had, his stats would have been something magnificent. And of all the top drivers, he is the only one to not have the fastest car of the season for more than a year in his whole career. Kimi had the fastest car only in 2005, and we all know what a monster he was that year, who could only be put down by car failure.
Mika Häkkinen

I simply fail to understand why the "Flying Finn" is so low on the page. He should be in the top ten at the very least! Granted, he hasn't won as many championships as Hamilton, but he beat Michael Schumacher to the world championship twice. Let's be honest, Schumi was among the very best out there.
At one point in time, Hakkinen was the quickest on the track, and when things went wrong for him, he never complained much. He could push the car to its absolute limit. Mika is the embodiment of a great racer.

Calm, focused - Michael Schumacher's arch-rival, whom Schumi himself respected a lot. The numbers may not be that great, but if you go by sheer talent, dedication, and ability, I think he should be in the top ten. He wasn't blessed with a great car, and reliability issues plagued his career. Watch his overtaking at Spa in 2000.
Gilles Villeneuve

Joseph Gilles Henri Villeneuve (18 January 1950 - 8 May 1982) was a Canadian racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1977 to 1982.
Villeneuve finished as the runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1979 with Scuderia Ferrari. Over the course of his Formula One career... read more

Never won a championship but had the talent to do so. No other driver ever had the passion to win as much as he did. That guy took no prisoners on his quest to win races. He never raced for points, only for wins.
If he won a race, that was all good. If his car ended up in a smoking heap of crap, that was all good too. Nobody, nobody could ever match that guy on guts and sheer driving ability. Enzo Ferrari saw that fire and hired him.
I spoke with him at the Long Beach Grand Prix in 1979, a couple of days before he won that race. I've never met anybody with such intense focus and a calm demeanor as he had. It's our loss that he was taken away too soon.

Right up there with the very best in sheer talent, plus incredible nerve and determination. Given better equipment, he could have won far more.
Jack Brabham

He is great. People at his time would call him one of the best, and he still is. He's just overshadowed by the current era drivers who are fantastic.

He pushed his car 500 yards to win in 1959 and then became the only driver in history to win the championship racing in his own team in a car built by himself. Now, nobody would even try to push a car one yard, let alone 500, and build their own team like he did.

A legend who rose from the land down under, a country with no previous F1 experience at the time, and hit the big time in a car he built himself, going on to become a triple world champion.
Stirling Moss

Known as the greatest driver never to win a championship for a reason.
For one, he finished runner-up four times in a row. For another, he had to deal with Juan Manuel Fangio and later lost the title in a way that could be considered voluntary.

The best driver that never won a championship. He finished second in the championship four times and for a few years was regarded as the best driver on the grid despite not being a champion.

Repeated podium positions in the championship. He should be higher than 16th.
James Hunt

James Simon Wallis Hunt was a British racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship in 1976. After retiring from racing in 1979, Hunt became a media commentator and a columnist for The Independent. His legendary rivalry with Niki Lauda was famously immortalized in the acclaimed 2013 biographical... read more

James Hunt is one of the most talented drivers. He replaced Emerson Fittipaldi, and the team said he was faster than Fittipaldi! He also won a championship against Niki Lauda despite having a slower car. However, Hunt was inconsistent and didn't stay long in F1. He also made a lot of mistakes.

True grit and determination. Too much raw talent to contain, sheer class, entertainment, and one of the stars that has made F1 so popular today. Today's stars have a lot to be thankful to James for.

Party king, but once he took his title, he was never the same driver.
Max Verstappen

Max Emilian Verstappen (born 30 September 1997) is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won consecutively from 2021 to 2024 with Red Bull, and has won 71... read more

The current world champion has handled his car perfectly. He came into F1 at a ridiculously young age and quickly earned promotion to Red Bull.
He then won his first race with Red Bull. In the following years, he outscored Ricciardo, even if it was a bit close. After Ricciardo surprisingly left Red Bull, Verstappen no longer had competition within the team and dominated Gasly and Albon. He earned the title of best of the rest behind the Mercedes cars.
Later, Red Bull built a title-contending car, and Max immediately became world champion and defended his title twice. In 2024, Verstappen, in what was then the third-best car, managed to hold off Norris in the incredibly fast McLaren to win the championship.
Unfortunately, the current lack of speed in his car makes it seem unlikely that Verstappen will win another title at Red Bull. Still, his career has been great, and his current ranking feels much too low.
Nelson Piquet

Piquet is not in the talk for who's the best, which is surprising. His first two titles with Brabham were not in the best car, and his teammates were nowhere compared to him! He later became the teammate of Nigel Mansell, and they were at eye level. In 1987, Piquet beat Mansell the same way Lauda beat Prost: with consistency.
He also did a great overtake against Senna around the outside while drifting (Hungary 1986). You don't count out Piquet!

Obviously, many voters are too young. He was the best F1 driver of the 80s and easily in the top 5 of all time. He could win with any engine and wheel. No other champion has done what he did. Despite having fewer fastest qualifiers than Senna, he has raced more fastest laps in a race.
Nigel Mansell

The most aggressive driver of all time. Always moving forward, always in attack mode. Usually faster than the equipment could handle. He either won or broke. If he raced today, with fewer retirements, he would destroy the field.

Best in class in a period of greats which included Senna, Prost, and Piquet. He beat them all for outright pace and tactics but could not, for driver or car reasons, achieve as much success with reliability.

Insanely quick but equally unlucky with reliability, which arguably cost him the 1986 and 1987 titles. This could easily have seen him become one of the best drivers of all time.
Alberto Ascari

Unbelievably low. At least top 10.
Nico Rosberg

One of the best drivers. Even though he has won only a single championship, he deserves to be in the top 10. But he should have taken his career a bit more seriously since he retired very soon. I am sure that he would have won a few more championships if he was still active.

The best driver to have never won a championship. He lost the 2015 championship due to bad luck and some of his own doing. He can beat Hamilton to a championship if he just puts a few more things together.

Out of all my heroes in F1, Nico Rosberg beats everyone for his ability, bravery, and velocity. He's my personal favorite, even though my favorite team is Ferrari. Go Nico! Go Nico! Yeah!
Damon Hill

Robbed of two titles by a German driver and an Italian team boss, fact!
If Schumacher was supposed to be so good, then in a fair season, Hill was better. Hungary in the Arrows just proved how good he really was.
Maybe he lacked the arrogance to think it's okay to cheat to win, which Senna and Schumi had. If that's a good thing.

The best driver after Senna! He was terribly robbed of the title in 1994! For me, this guy is at least a twice world champion and a great gentleman! And yes - faster than Schumacher the knocker!
Jenson Button

Great man. Not the quickest over a lap, but his race pace and general intelligence usually make him finish higher up. He has had to fight for his career, at Benetton/Renault and Honda, yet came out on top. His personality is brilliant. He should be in the top 10 and, at the very least, higher than Hamilton.

A champion and gent! He has beaten all his world champion teammates in the same car and beaten young hotshots in the same car too! That speaks for itself! If Button had the right car more often, he would be a multiple champion without doubt!
Robert Kubica

He could've won his first title at BMW Sauber at the time, but then they chose Kubica over Vettel. Lucky boy. BMW and Kubica were leading the championship until the team decided to develop the car for the next year.
Kubica regretted talking to Red Bull, whereas Vettel got his 4 titles there. He signed a contract with Ferrari, but probably wouldn't have won much more than Alonso. Then came that near-fatal accident.
After all the effort to come back and challenge Hamilton and Vettel, and now newbies Verstappen, Leclerc, and Russell, I hope he eventually gets his title.

Robert was unlucky with car seats. But in an average BMW, he was leading for half the season. He beats Lewis easily in the same car.
His unlucky career overshadows this amazing talent!
Bruce McLaren

Bruce Leslie McLaren was a New Zealand racing driver, automotive designer, engineer, and motorsport executive. He won four Formula One Grands Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966. In 1963, he founded Bruce McLaren Motor Racing, which later evolved into the globally successful McLaren Formula One... read more

To come from where he did and to leave a legacy that still exists on the F1 racetrack is quite incredible.