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Formula One: Who is the greatest driver of all-time?

By Asher Fair

SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 25: Michael Schumacher of Germany and Mercedes GP leads from Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and McLaren before crashing out during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 25, 2011 in Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 25: Michael Schumacher of Germany and Mercedes GP leads from Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and McLaren before crashing out during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 25, 2011 in Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /
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MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 29: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – OCTOBER 29: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /

Lewis Hamilton

We’ll get Lewis Hamilton out of the way first since I already touched on him in the first slide of this article. At 32 years old, he is the most recent Formula One champion and is now a four-time champion in 11 seasons, with three of those titles having been won by him since the 2014 season. He has driven in 206 career races.

This season, he tied and then passed Michael Schumacher for the #1 spot on the all-time poles list with his 68th and 69th career pole positions in Belgium and Italy, respectively. He now sits alone atop the list with 72 career pole positions, and that number will more than likely continue to climb.

Hamilton sits 2nd on the all-time wins list behind only Schumacher with 62 victories, and that total will also likely continue to climb, perhaps even close to Schumacher’s record mark of 91 wins. With nine wins so far this season, he is one win away from his fourth consecutive season of double-digit victories, something no other driver has even done two seasons in a row in the history of the sport.

By winning his fourth career Formula One championship, Hamilton now trails only Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio on the all-time titles list. Schumacher holds the record with seven championships, while Fangio won five over the course of his career.

With Hamilton having won three of the last four titles, his championship total of four could continue to climb, and it may at least approach if not tie or even pass Schumacher’s record total. You could definitely make the case for him as the greatest Formula One driver of all-time.

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