F1 World Champions: Every driver to have taken title glory since 1950

F1 World Champions sit at the top of the sport’s history, with only three dozen drivers having ever put their name on the Drivers’ Championship trophy.

Some have built dynasties along the way while others have caught lightning in a bottle to put their best ever season together, with Formula 1’s history dating back to 1950.

F1 World Champions: Every Drivers’ Champion by year

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Who is the current F1 World Champion?

Kimi Antonelli clinched his first Drivers’ Championship in only his second season in Formula 1, formally taking on the mantle from Lando Norris at the end of 2026.

He became the youngest driver ever to win the title in the process, securing the championship at just 20 years and 68 days old as he crossed the line third at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Antonelli flew out of the blocks by taking his first pole and win in Formula 1 at the Chinese Grand Prix, but in a unique feat took his first five race victories in succession, building up a healthy lead in the standings.

With nine wins overall by the time he won the title, he mathematically secured his crown with four races to spare, as he also became the first Italian title-winner in the sport for 73 years.

Who are the most successful F1 World Champions?

Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher stand clear above the rest as seven-time champions of the sport, with Juan Manuel Fangio still regarded among the all-time greats.

Fangio’s record of five titles stood for 46 years until Schumacher levelled it at the peak of his Ferrari powers, while other talents such as Fernando Alonso, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark all stood tall among the best of their respective generations.

Huge runs of success after Schumacher’s titles came from the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, either side of another previously-unseen run of dominance from Hamilton in the mid and late-2010s.

Among the most popular one-time champions of Formula 1 are the likes of Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and John Surtees, whose motorsport exploits stretched across categories. Surtees, in particular, is the only driver to have won World Championships at Grand Prix level in both cars and motorcycles.

Three-time champion Graham Hill also holds a unique place in motorsport history, as the only holder of the unofficial ‘Triple Crown’ of winning a Monaco Grand Prix (Hill’s continued success there was such that he was even dubbed ‘Mr Monaco’), the Indianapolis 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Two father-son duos have won World Championships apiece, with both Graham and Damon Hill winning Drivers’ crowns, as well as Keke and Nico Rosberg.

Other history-makers include the likes of three-time champion Jack Brabham, who remains the only driver in Formula 1 history to have won a championship while driving a car bearing his name, having co-founded the Brabham team in 1960.

For every driver on this list, though, they have each put together at least one campaign which has had them anointed as being top of the world in their craft.

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