Top 10 Formula 1 Drivers

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher has won more Formula 1 World Championship titles than any other driver in history and dominated the sport for most of the decade after he won his first title in 1994.

He is known primarily for consistently winning motor races but he has also managed to established a reputation as an utterly ruthless competitor, which has seen him flirt with and occasionally abandon the rules of the sport. Not exactly the greatest ambassador for Formula 1 but probably it's greatest champion to date.

Ayrton Senna

Another legendary driver who lost his life in a racing accident is Brazil's greatest contribution to the sport Ayrton Senna. The man from Sao Paulo had been competing in Formula 1 for ten years when he met his end at the San Marino Grand Prix and in that time he had won three Championships, 41 Grand Prix, managed 80 podium finishes and won millions of adoring fans worldwide. His loss was keenly felt by the entire sporting community but he is nonetheless remembered as one of the very best drivers of all time.

Alain Prost

The Professor took the world of motor sport by storm when he burst on to the scene in the late 1970s. He took home just about every prize that was available for him to win in the intermediary echelons of French racing and he had a massive impact when he made it to the biggest stage of all. Eventually winning the World Championship on four occasions in the 80s and 90s, he was admired for his studious approach to the sport and his ability to time his race strategies to perfection.

Jackie Stewart

Another triple World Championship winner and another Scotsman, Jackie Stewart has made a massive contribution to the sport of Formula 1 over the past several decades both on and off the track.

He won the title every other year between 1979 and 1983 and is recognised as being one of the most stringent advocates of improvements to safety measures and regulations within the sport. He went on to own a Formula 1 team and to offer his considerable expertise to viewers worldwide while working as commentator in various countries.

Lewis Hamilton

Already an MBE and World Championship winner, Lewis Hamilton appears to have the raw talent and the determination to rewrite the history of Formula 1. How many titles he manages to rack up will depend in no small part on whose car he gets to drive but he is such a competitor that it is hard to imagine him not winning Grand Prix or at least getting himself on the podium for many years to come. A legend in the making.

Juan Manuel Fangio

A more popular and in some ways more impressive character than Michael Schumacher is the Argentine motor racing legend Juan Manuel Fangio. He was already 39 when the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship took place in 1950 but he was still able to win the title on no fewer than five occasions and with four different teams before finally retiring in 1958, by which time he was almost 50 year sold. He remains one of the most revered figures in the sport's history and many of peers rate him as the very best.

Niki Lauda

Fernando Alonso

Nigel Mansell

Worcestershire's own Nigel Mansell was battling it out with the likes of Senna, Schumacher and Prost every weekend when I first fell in love with Formula 1. The exotic locations and incredibly competitive racing made for compelling stuff and on reflection it was something of a golden period for the sport. Mansell more than held his own in remarkably illustrious company and managed to win the Championship crown in 1992. It was the undoubted highlight in a career that also saw him grab 32 pole positions and just under 60 podium finishes.