By Carl Springer
One thing is guaranteed in Formula One and that is that nothing is guaranteed. One minute you can be right at the top and the next you can be slogging it out in a midfield battle. Not many have retained their world title crown for multiple years in a row. However, once in a while a driver comes along and makes this near impossible task look easy. There’s only one word for this: domination. So, let’s take a look at Formula One’s most dominant drivers ever.
Lewis Hamilton 2014-2020
When talking about domination in the sport it only feels right, we start with the most successful driver to grace the pinnacle of motorsport, that man being Lewis Hamilton. The Brit holds a whole host of records including most wins, pole positions, podiums, career points, fastest laps and joint most world championships with seven. Six of those championship successes came over a seven-year period between 2014 and 2020 where he seemed untouchable. During this period, Hamilton took 73 wins in 127 races, an unprecedented win percentage of 57.4%. In addition to this he had 26 finishes of either second or third place meaning a podium percentage of 78%. The now 40-year-old also took 67 pole positions over these seven years a pole percentage of 52.8%. The only time Hamilton was second best in this period was in 2016 when he lost out to Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by just five points however, during that season Hamilton had two DNFs to Rosberg’s one and car issues in many qualifying sessions. Only poor reliability stopped us from seeing him win seven world drivers titles in a row.
Michael Schumacher 2000-2004
Hamilton wasn’t the first driver to reach the historic feat of seven career drivers titles. Sixteen years earlier Michael Schumacher claimed his seventh crown in 2004 to cap off an utterly dominant period for him and Ferrari. The German known as “Schumi” won five world drivers titles in a row between 2000 and 2004 something never seen in Formula One history at the time. Schumacher competed in 85 races over these five seasons winning 48 races at a win percentage of 56.5%. Qualifying was a similar story with the now 57-year-old taking pole position 40 times at a pole percentage of 47.1%. In the 37 races he didn’t win over these five years he took to the podium in 18 of them leading to a podium percentage of 77.6%. The Ferrari-Schumacher era was the first time the sport had seen such a dominant team-driver partnership.
Juan Manuel Fangio 1954-1957
When Schumacher won the title in 2004, he broke the record for the most world drivers’ titles won in a row, a record that had stood for 47 years. The man who held it was Juan Manuel Fangio. Regarded by many as Formula One’s first legend, Fangio won five of the first eight FIA Formula One World Drivers Championships with four of those successes coming consecutively between 1954 and 1957. During this time Fangio competed in 28 races taking top spot in 17 of them a win percentage of 60.7%. The Argentinian took to the podium a further six times in these four years resulting in a podium percentage of 82.1%. What makes Fangio’s domination even more impressive is the fact these four titles were won with three different teams showing just how great he truly was to stay at the top with three different pieces of machinery.
Max Verstappen 2021-2024
Before Max Verstappen entered Formula One in 2015 The Netherlands had never had a race winner in Formula One and had only amassed a mere 27 points and two podiums between 15 drivers. However, that was all about to change. Verstappen came into Formula One as the youngest driver in the history of the sport, with the Red Bull family, a record he still holds to this day. He showed he had the potential to dominate and that came to fruition between 2021 and 2024. The now 27-year-old took four world championships in a row during this time competing in 90 races and winning 53 of them at a win percentage of 58.9%. He tasted champagne in a further 17 of these races giving the dutchman a podium percentage of 77.8% over this period. In 2023 he amassed the most wins by any driver in a singular season winning a staggering 19 out of 22 in a season of domination never seen before. Ten of those race wins came consecutively another record to add to his long list.
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