Now that the countdown has gotten to the top 10, it’s time to take a moment to clear up some loose ends.
It should be fairly obvious as to who is in the top 10 rankings, considering there are exactly 10 multi-time world champions that have not been ranked. The only question is where they will be placed.
Before getting to that, it should be mentioned that there are some clear honorable mentions to this ranking. With over 750 F1 drivers not being ranked, there have been at least a few who either just missed out or were not included in my top 25 ranking for whatever reason. Here are those drivers.
| 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) |
Mario Andretti
As the most recent American-born champion, it may seem crazy not to have him listed in the top 25. But by the rules of the list, it’s clear why he isn’t there.
The ranking only considers F1 Grand Prix in which championship points were awarded.
Thus, Andretti’s accomplishments in American single-seater series such as Champ Car, USAC, and CART are completely ignored. And because Andretti did so much racing in all sorts of series, he really only had seven full F1 seasons.
Outside of the 1971 South African Grand Prix, all of Andretti’s F1 wins came from the last race of 1976 to the end of 1978.
It’s fascinating to look back at this time in F1 now that we are three years into the current regulations, which brought ground effects back to the cars after forty years. The Lotus 78, Andretti’s framed black and gold Johnny Player Special, was the first car to have ground effects in F1.
The Lotus 79 came mid-season in 1978, and Andretti drove the wheels off the thing to a championship. In 11 races, the 79 won six, with three being 1-2s, with Andretti leading teammate Ronnie Peterson.
A case can be made that Andretti should be higher than Damon Hill, who is ranked 25th. But Hill also potentially could have won another championship if it had not been for some Michael Schumacher shenanigans.
Andretti never came close to another championship after those two seasons in the late 1970s. Still, had this been a ranking that included extracurricular activity, Andretti would undoubtedly be on this ranking. At the same time, both Graham Hill and Emerson Fittipaldi would have also been ranked higher than where they are.
Giuseppe Farina
Because this ranking only uses world championship Grand Prix, Farina’s wins before the championship was created in 1950 do not count.
If they had, he’s probably somewhere in the teens. Farina won the inaugural championship in 1950 at the age of 43. Basically, imagine if we ignored all of F1 history prior to this season and then judged Fernando Alonso’s place in this new history 75 years from now.
Farina won the 1948 Monaco Grand Prix, the 1946 Italian Grand Prix, and the 1946 and 1948 Nations Grand Prix, and had three second-place finishes in the Millie Miglia before the war.
He really can’t be ranked, but he absolutely should be mentioned. He was able to beat his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio for the championship in 1950 but was then beaten by El Masters in 1951. A move to Ferrari in 1952 led to him being dominated by Alberto Ascari, and he was clearly the lesser of the three great champions of the early 1950s by that point.
The other former champions
Eight other drivers, along with Andretti and Farina, did not make the final cut. All are worthy of mention, even if they did not make the final ranking.
Some had far too short careers without much success besides a flukey championship (Mike Hawthorne, Phil Hill). Some had tremendous speed but didn’t really use it well outside of their championship year (James Hunt, Keke Rosburg).
Denny Hulme was able to beat Jack Brabham, Jim Clark, and Jackie Stewart in a surprise 1967 championship campaign. But the rest of his career was a bit middling. I don’t think he should be over Damon Hill in a ranking.
If there had been a 26th driver, it likely would have been Jody Scheckter. The knock against him is that he competed in a weaker field, as the only current or future champion in a competitive car in his season was Alan Jones.
1979 and 1980 were a time of transition, as the old stars of the 1970s, like Hunt, Fittipaldi, and Niki Lauda, were on their way out. The newer stars coming in for the 1980s, such as Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost, were just getting warmed up.
Still, Scheckter gets the edge over Jones because he had to beat Gilles Villeneuve head-to-head for the championship. No disrespect for Carlos Reutemann, Jones’ teammate in 1980 for his championship, but Villeneuve is one of the best never to win the championship.
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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Andretti was not born in America.
‘Hulme went Can Am racing and did pretty well, it paid better than F1.
Thanks so much for catching that.