Stirling Moss reclaims an unfortunate Formula 1 record
By Asher Fair
With Max Verstappen winning the 2021 Formula 1 world championship, Stirling Moss has reclaimed an unfortunate all-time record.
Max Verstappen entered the 2021 Formula 1 season with 10 career victories, including at least one in each of the last five years and at least two in each of the last four.
His best finishes in the driver standings in his first six Formula 1 seasons were third place finishes in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
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This meant that he was already the sixth winningest driver among those who had not won a world championship.
With his seventh win of the 2021 season in early September in his home race at Circuit Zandvoort, the 24-year-old Dutchman, Verstappen became the winningest non-champion of all-time.
He passed the following drivers throughout the year to secure that mark.
- Gerhard Berger – 10 wins
- Ronnie Peterson – 10 wins
- Rubens Barrichello – 11 wins
- Felipe Massa – 11 wins
- Carlos Reutemann – 12 wins
- David Coulthard – 13 wins
- Stirling Moss – 16 wins
Verstappen entered last Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit with nine wins in 2021 and 19 throughout his career, and he was tied with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton atop the driver standings with 369.5 points.
Effectively in a must-win situation to win his first career world championship, Verstappen delivered, leading only the 58th and final lap around the 16-turn, 3.281-mile (5.280-kilometer) road course on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates after a controversial restart with one lap remaining.
On brand-new soft tires, he passed Hamilton, who was on 43-lap-old hard tires, in turn five, and he held off two separate challenges from Hamilton throughout the remainder of the lap.
As a result, Verstappen no longer holds the unwanted title of being the winningest driver not to win a world championship.
That distinction has gone back to Stirling Moss.
Will somebody else ever take it away from Moss?
Only two active drivers without championships to their names have won more than two races: Valtteri Bottas (10) and Daniel Ricciardo (8).
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Other active winners include Charles Leclerc (2), Sergio Perez (2), Pierre Gasly (1) and Esteban Ocon (1).