Today, we cross the halfway mark in our series, going from 15 to 11.
This is probably the hardest part to write in this series because, ultimately, a lot of these drivers are excellent. But they are just below the top 10 of all time, who I think are close enough to where there can be an argument for them in any order.
To get through this, the question has to be asked. Is there a case somebody can make for a driver to be the greatest of all time? I don’t think any of the five today have one, even among their most enduring fans. Whereas everybody in the top 10 probably does.
| The Top 25 Formula 1 Drivers of All Time | by Michael Finley | Bonus (Honorable Mentions) |
| Part 1 (25 to 21) | Part 2 (20 to 16) | Part 3 (15 to 11) |
| Part 4 (10 to 7) | Part 5 (6 to 4) | Part 6 (3 to 1) |
15. Jack Brabham
Brabham is unique from everybody on this list, as he remains the lone owner-driver to win the championship, which he did in 1966 to go along with two championships he won with Cooper in 1959 and 1960.
Part of why Brabham is down this low despite winning three championships is that he had a very long stretch between championships where he didn’t even win a race. He also was generally not considered the best among his peers, considering he raced against Sterling Moss (below him on the list) and Jim Clark (above him).
He also stayed on far too long. After winning the championship at age 40 in 1966, he lost to his own teammate Denny Hulme in 1967, then lost to Jochen Rindt in the teammate battle in 1968.
What set Brabham apart from other drivers was his skill at setting a car up. In 1960, a big factor in winning the championship was Cooper allowing him to have a big say in developing the T53.
Along with his win in 1966, that makes his placement on this list hard because it’s a ranking of drivers, without much thought on how they could also design cars. Brabham is about where he should be here if we’re only looking at him as a driver, which we are.
14. Alberto Ascari
Ascari was the only Italian to win the championship for Ferrari, and his very brief career record lives up to that hype.
Ascari only started 32 Grands Prix, but won 13 races and had seven hat tricks (pole, win and fastest lap) and five grand slams (pole, win, all laps led and fastest lap). Just to compare, Brabham won 14 races in almost four times as many starts, with three hat tricks and two grand slams.
Ascari was almost cartoonishly dominant. So why is he in 14th? A few factors. First and foremost, he has such a low amount of Grands Prix to judge his career on. And it’s not his fault, as he perished in a crash in 1955 but, like Rindt before him, it’s hard to put him higher based on what-if.
Ascari was able to convert nine of his poles into race wins. But he never came up from lower than third on the grid to win a race.
Finally, Ascari is most noted for his rivalry with Juan Manuel Fangio, the first major F1 rivalry and easily the most dominant. Once you dive into the head-to-head stats, however, it becomes clear that Fangio had Ascari’s number more often than not.
In the three seasons both made a spirited challenge for the championship, Ascari only beat Fangio once on points. Fangio beat Ascari 15-10 in all races both were head-to-head in, 6-4 when both drivers had classified results.
Ascari’s greatest strength is his career percentages. Fangio still outclasses him even there, winning 47% of his races to Ascari’s 41%. Podium finishes were 69% to 53%, and poles were 57% to 44%.
There’s a decent chance Fangio would not have won five championships had Ascari lived. But it’s definitely not definite with how the two square up.
13. Graham Hill
The only winner of motorsports’ Triple Crown, Hill also won two F1 championships and finished runner-up in three straight years.
Known as “Mr. Monaco” for his five wins alone at Monaco, Hill had in many ways the same issue in his era that other drivers such as Brabham have faced: he wasn’t perceived to be as good as his peers.
In particular, Clark constantly beat Hill as both were teammates, and Hill won the championship in 1968 in part because Clark passed away during the season. Jackie Stewart is better than Hill. Even Rindt beat him in 1969 before the big wreck at Watkins Glen that derailed Hill’s career.
That’s not to say Hill was without merits, but with this list sticking to F1, it’s not enough to break through to the top dozen.
12. Nelson Piquet
Piquet is probably best known today as being a pariah, having directed slurs to Lewis Hamilton over the years that resulted in his banning from the F1 paddock.
It’s not just a Hamilton thing either. Piquet has always been a bit rude. He’s called Ayrton Senna “gay” multiple times over the years and has disparaged other drivers throughout the years.
On-track, however, there were years where Piquet could not be denied.
Piquet is the only driver to win the championship multiple times without driving for the constructors’ champions, at least until Max Verstappen likely does it for a second time this season.
But he lost to Ricciardo Patrese in the teammate battle in 1982, Nigel Mansell in 1986 and was so embarrassed by rookie Michael Schumacher in 1991 that he retired from F1.
Piquet has a lot working for him but a lot is working against him, keeping him out of the top 11.
11. Sebastian Vettel
Maybe the first surprise on the list. Fellow Vettel fanboys, put down your torches and pitchforks for just a second and hear what I, one of your own, have to say.
When Vettel was there, he was there. From 2008 to 2015, he was there much more than he wasn’t.
In some ways, 2008 isn’t mentioned enough. Vettel not only won at an extremely wet Monza, but he also had nine points-paying finishes on the year, while his teammate Sebastien Bourdais had just two.
But Vettel also brings plenty of negatives. He was clearly not the best driver in 2012, that honor goes to Fernando Alonso. In 2010, Alonso probably would have won the championship outright if he hadn’t been stuck behind Vitaly Petrov in the final race.
Not winning at least one championship against Hamilton in the late 2010s is also a black mark on his resume. There were years where he probably should have, but wasn’t able to, and those chances just killed him mentally. To the point where Charles Leclerc came in and bodied him out of Ferrari, then he spent two years running only a little bit ahead of Lance Stroll at Aston Martin. Before Alonso came by there and in two seasons has completely obliterated Stroll.
Vettel being out of the top 10 just shows how powerful the top 10 really is. Just to name some of the drivers coming up, is he really above Niki Lauda? How about Alonso, Stewart or Senna? To me, he’s the very top of the tier right below them.
About the author
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.
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