Michael Schumacher (top left) andLewis Hamilton (top right) have each won the championship a record seven times during their careers, while four-time consecutive championSebastian Vettel (bottom left) holds the record for being the youngest World Drivers' Champion, having won the2010 Formula One World Championship at 23 years and 134 days old.Lando Norris (bottom right) is the current World Drivers' Champion, having won the2025 title.
Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class ofopen-wheeledauto racing defined by theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body.[1] The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and cars must conform.[2] TheFormula One World Championship season consists of a series of races, known asGrands Prix, held usually on purpose-builtcircuits, and in a few cases onclosed city streets.[3] The World Drivers' Championship is presented by the FIA to the most successful Formula One driver over the course of the season through apoints system based on individual Grand Prix results.[4] The World Championship is won by a driver when it is no longer mathematically possible for another competitor to overtake their points total regardless of the outcome of the remaining races,[5] although it is not officially awarded until theFIA Prize Giving Ceremony (held in various cities in different years) following the conclusion of the season.[6][7]
Michael Schumacher andLewis Hamilton hold the record for the most World Drivers' championships, both having won the title on seven occasions.Juan Manuel Fangio is third with five titles.[8][9] Schumacher also holds the record for the most consecutive World Drivers' titles with five between the2000 and the2004 seasons.[10]Nigel Mansell holds the record of competing in the highest number of seasons before winning the World Drivers' Championship, entering Formula One in1980 and achieving the title in1992, a span of 13 seasons.[11]Nico Rosberg has the highest number of Grand Prix starts before winning his first title, a period of 206 Grands Prix between the2006 Bahrain and the2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.[12][13]Sebastian Vettel is the youngest winner of the World Drivers' Championship; he was 23 years and 134 days old when he won the2010 championship.[14]Juan Manuel Fangio is the oldest winner of the World Drivers' Championship; he was 46 years and 41 days old when he won the1957 title.[15]
As of the2025 season, out of the 781 drivers who have started a Formula One Grand Prix,[16] the 76 titles awarded have been won by a total of 35 different drivers.[8][17][9] The first Formula One World Drivers' Champion wasGiuseppe Farina in the1950 championship and the current title holder isLando Norris in the2025 season.[8][9] The title has been won by drivers from the United Kingdom 21 times between 11 drivers, more than any other nation, followed by Brazil, Finland and Germany with three drivers each. The title has been won by drivers fromScuderia Ferrari 15 times between 9 drivers, more than any other team, followed byMcLaren with 13 titles between 8 drivers.[8] The Drivers' Championship has been won in the final race of the season 31 times in the 76 seasons it has been awarded.[18] Schumacher holds the record of earning the championship with most rounds left to run in a season with six, when Schumacher won the2002 title at that year'sFrench Grand Prix.[19] Due to thepoints system, on two occasions (John Surtees in the1964 season andAyrton Senna in the1988 season) a world champion scored fewer points overall than a driver who finished second in the championship.[20]Max Verstappen holds the record for winning the title with the biggest points gap to second in the championship,Sergio Pérez, with 290 points in 2023,[21] whileNiki Lauda won the1984 title with the closest points gap to second in the championship,Alain Prost, with 0.5 points.[22]
^Rindt's championship was confirmed two rounds after he had been killed in an accident during qualifying for theItalian Grand Prix.[26]
^abSchumacher scored 78 points during the1997 season, 3 points behind Villeneuve, but was disqualified from the championship for deliberately colliding with Villeneuve in the final race of the season, theEuropean Grand Prix.[51] This left Villeneuve with a 39-point margin overFrentzen with 42 points.[26]
By driver
Michael Schumacher has won the World Drivers' Championship a record seven times – twice with Benetton and five times with Ferrari.Lewis Hamilton equaled Schumacher's record in 2020, winning one withMcLaren and six withMercedes.Juan Manuel Fangio won the World Drivers' Championship five times with Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Mercedes and Ferrari. He held the record from 1955 until 2003.Alain Prost has four titles, three for McLaren and one for Williams. He also just missed winning the title for Renault (finished second, by two points) and for Ferrari (finished second, by seven points).Sebastian Vettel has four titles to his name, all of which he won consecutively withRed Bull Racing.Max Verstappen won four consecutive World Drivers' Championships in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 with Red Bull Racing.
Drivers inbold have competed in the 2025 World Championship.
Drivers by number of World Drivers' Championships won[8]
Where drivers have won more than one World Drivers' Championship, only their first win is noted here. Drivers inbold have competed in the 2025 World Championship.
Where drivers have won more than one World Drivers' Championship, only their last win is noted here. Drivers inbold have competed in the 2025 World Championship.
Consecutive Drivers' championships
A total of 11 drivers have achieved consecutive wins in the World Drivers' Championship. Of those, only Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton have won two sets of consecutive Formula One Drivers' championships.[8]
Drivers inbold have competed in the 2025 World Championship.
^Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Farina are not on the list, because they were champions before the first Constructors' Championship was awarded in 1958.[8]
By chassis constructor
Constructors inbold will compete in the 2026 World Championship.
Constructors by number of World Drivers' Championships won[8]
^abcdeFangio competed in the 1954Argentine andBelgian Grands Prix withMaserati, then completed the season withMercedes. This shared championship is counted for each of these constructors.[26]
By engine manufacturer
Engine manufacturers inbold will compete in the 2026 World Championship.
Engine manufacturers by World Drivers' Championship wins[8]
^abcdeFangio competed in the 1954Argentine andBelgian Grands Prix withMaserati, then completed the season withMercedes. This shared championship is counted for each of these engine manufacturers.[26]
Numbers in parentheses indicate championships won as the sole tyre supplier.
^Goodyear was the sole tyre supplier for the 1987, 1988 and 1992-1996 seasons.[69]
^Pirelli has been the sole tyre supplier since the 2011 season.[70]
^abFangio competed in the 1954Argentine andBelgian Grands Prix onPirelli tyres, then completed the season onContinental. This shared championship is counted for each of these manufacturers.[26]
^abcdefgJones, Bruce (2015).The Story of Formula One: 65 Years of Life in the Fast Lane. London, England: Carlton Books. pp. 29, 33, 37, 119, 343.ISBN978-1-78177-270-6.
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