Formula 1: Who will be the next new champion?

Lewis Hamilton has won the last three and five of the last six Formula 1 world championships, and he has shown no signs of slowing down. Who will be the next new champion?

Just three drivers were crowned Formula 1 world champion at any point in the 2010s decade. One of those drivers, Lewis Hamilton, has won each of the last three championships, and he has won five of the last six.

Since the V6 turbo hybrid era began back in the 2014 season, the only driver other than the six-time champion to win a world title is Nico Rosberg. Rosberg won the 2016 championship as Hamilton’s teammate, beating him by just five points in a battle that came down to the season finale — the most recent championship battle that came down to the season finale.

Rosberg is one of only two first-time champions of the decade after the second half of the 2000s decade in itself featured four. The other is four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, who won his first title in the 2010 season and then went on to win the next three en route to becoming the four-time champion he is today.

More from Formula One

• Formula 1: Top Red Bull threat identified for 2024
• Formula 1: Why the Max Verstappen retirement obsession?
• Formula 1: Williams ‘mistake’ hints Logan Sargeant’s future
• Formula 1 awaiting key confirmation for 2024 season
• Formula 1: The ‘championship’ Max Verstappen only leads by 3 points

Hamilton is now poised to tie Michael Schumacher’s all-time titles record with his seventh world championship in the 2020 season.

He has a contract to continue driving for Mercedes, which haven’t failed to win a driver championship or a constructor championship during the V6 turbo hybrid era, next year, and he has shown no signs of slowing down. He has clinched his most recent three titles in the antepenultimate race of the each season, and he was in total command of this year’s championship battle from even earlier in the season than he had been for the last two.

But believe it or not, eventually there will come a day when somebody other than Lewis Hamilton is crowned champion, and there will come a day when a driver secures his first championship.

Who will the next new champion be?

Naturally, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen are the favorites. They currently sit in second, third and fourth place in the driver standings behind Hamilton, and they are the only drivers aside of the 34-year-old Briton to win multiple races this year.

Bottas drives for Mercedes and has proven on multiple occasions that he has what it takes to beat Hamilton. He has secured more pole position than Formula 1’s all-time pole position recordholder this year, and he has come on strong as of late after a hot start to the year. If he can string together more than one or two wins in a three or four-race span and become more consistent, he can end up becoming a thorn in his teammate’s side.

With Verstappen and Leclerc, the upside is immeasurable. Both are just 22 years old, and they have combined for nine wins and eight pole positions already, with Verstappen taking seven victories and one pole position and Leclerc taking two victories and seven pole positions.

Verstappen had five victories at an age when no other driver in Formula 1 history had ever even won one race. But to truly contend for championship, he will need Red Bull Racing to improve their car to the point where it can compete with Mercedes and Ferrari on a more regular basis.

Leclerc, meanwhile, is out here doing things for Ferrari that haven’t been done since Schumacher drove for the team; all of his career wins and pole positions have come in just his first season driving for the team.

Ferrari have had the pace to match Mercedes in each of the last three seasons, but they simply haven’t been able to capitalize on their opportunities like the Silver Arrows have. A bit more experience for Leclerc and consistency for the team could result in him becoming world champion in the near future.

But you also have to consider other young drivers, namely George Russell and Lando Norris, and perhaps veteran driver Daniel Ricciardo.

Russell has been tabbed the heir apparent to Hamilton for several years now. Now in his first season driving for Williams, he hasn’t had the opportunity to drive a competitive car, but he has gotten the most out of his car on a regular basis, leading to him regularly outpacing teammate Robert Kubica.

The last time a driver ended up in Formula 1 after winning the GP3 Series championship two years prior and the Formula 2 championship the year prior was in 2018. That driver was Leclerc, who drove for Alfa Romeo Sauber and was then promoted to Ferrari.

Russell won’t be at Mercedes next year, but he could receive a promotion before long. Even though Williams have stated that he is under contract with them through the 2021 season, it is believed that as a Mercedes junior driver, he could end up with Mercedes in 2021 if either Hamilton or Bottas (or both) depart from the team.

Norris, meanwhile, may be at a disadvantage in that he is driving for McLaren and has a multi-year deal to do so, reportedly throughout the 2022 season. While McLaren’s 2019 season has been somewhat of a resurgence given where they have been in recent years, they are still quite a bit off from the top three teams.

Maybe that will change in the 2021 season with their new Mercedes engine deal set to go into effect, coupled with the sport’s new rules and regulations that are set to be introduced that year.

As for Ricciardo, he has been linked to a Mercedes or Ferrari ride in the past, and with him set to enter a contract season at Renault next year, there are talks of a potential move over to one of those two teams ahead of the 2021 season. If that happens, don’t count him out of the running. Renault have even stated that they may look to pair Esteban Ocon with a younger driver in 2021.

Who will the next new Formula 1 world champion be, and when will that driver be crowned champion? There are several great drivers out there who have that opportunity, but whoever that is and whenever he pulls it off, he will likely have to go through Lewis Hamilton to ascend to the top of the sport — unless, of course, Hamilton retires first.