List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions facts for kids

Michael Schumacher has won the World Drivers' Championship a record seven times.

The Formula One World Drivers' Championship (WDC) is the most successful Formula One race car driver of the year. The award is given by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) to the driver who scores the most points during a season.

The WDC was first awarded in 1950, to Giuseppe "Nino" Farina. The first driver to win more than one Championship was Alberto Ascari, in 1952 and 1953. The latest driver awarded the championship is called the reigning or defending champion. As of the end of the 2015 Formula One season, the reining champion is Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

The FIA does not officially award the Championship until the end of the season. Sometimes one driver will be far ahead of the other drivers in points. Even if the leading driver scores no more points, none of the other drivers could pass his point total. When this happens, the driver is said to have clinched the Championship.

Champions
Records
Related pages
Images for kids
See also

Champions

By season

Season	Driver	Team	Poles	Wins	Podiums	Fastest Laps	Points	Clinched	Difference (points)
1950	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	2	3	3	3	30	Italy–Race 7 of 7	3
1951	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	4	3	5	5	31	Spain–Race 8 of 8	6
1952	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	5	6	6	6	36	Germany–Race 6 of 8	12
1953	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	6	5	5	4	34.5	Switzerland–Race 8 of 9	6.5
1954	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati, Mercedes	5	6	7	3	42	Switzerland–Race 7 of 9	16.9
1955	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	3	4	5	3	40	Britain–Race 6 of 7	16.5
1956	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	6	3	5	4	30	Italy–Race 8 of 8	3
1957	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	4	4	6	2	40	Germany–Race 6 of 8	15
1958	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	4	1	7	5	42	Morocco–Race 11 of 11	1
1959	Jack Brabham	Cooper^*	1	2	5	1	31	United States–Race 9 of 9	4
1960	Jack Brabham	Cooper^*	3	5	5	3	43	Portugal–Race 8 of 10	9
1961	Phil Hill	Ferrari^*	5	2	6	2	34	Italy–Race 7 of 8	1
1962	Graham Hill	BRM^*	1	4	6	3	42	South Africa–Race 9 of 9	12
1963	Jim Clark	Lotus^*	7	7	9	6	54	Italy–Race 7 of 10	21
1964	John Surtees	Ferrari^*	2	2	6	2	40	Mexico–Race 10 of 10	1
1965	Jim Clark	Lotus^*	6	6	6	6	54	Germany–Race 7 of 10	14
1966	Jack Brabham	Brabham^*	3	4	5	1	42	Italy–Race 7 of 9	14
1967	Denny Hulme	Brabham^*	0	2	8	2	51	Mexico–Race 11 of 11	5
1968	Graham Hill	Lotus^*	2	3	6	0	48	Mexico–Race 12 of 12	12
1969	Jackie Stewart	Matra^*	2	6	7	5	63	Italy–Race 8 of 11	26
1970	Jochen Rindt	Lotus^*	3	5	5	1	45	United States–Race 12 of 13	5
1971	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell^*	6	6	7	3	62	Australia–Race 8 of 11	29
1972	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus^*	3	5	8	0	61	Italy–Race 10 of 12	16
1973	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	3	5	8	1	71	Italy–Race 13 of 15	16
1974	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren^*	2	3	7	0	55	United States–Race 15 of 15	3
1975	Niki Lauda	Ferrari^*	9	5	8	2	64.5	Italy–Race 13 of 14	19.5
1976	James Hunt	McLaren	8	6	8	2	69	Japan–Race 16 of 16	1
1977	Niki Lauda	Ferrari^*	2	3	10	3	72	United States–Race 15 of 17	17
1978	Mario Andretti	Lotus^*	8	6	7	3	64	Italy–Race 14 of 16	13
1979	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari^*	1	3	6	0	51	Italy–Race 13 of 15	4
1980	Alan Jones	Williams^*	3	5	10	5	67	Canada–Race 13 of 14	13
1981	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	4	3	7	1	50	Las Vegas–Race 15 of 15	1
1982	Keke Rosberg	Williams	1	1	6	0	44	Las Vegas–Race 16 of 16	5
1983	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	1	3	8	4	59	South Africa–Race 15 of 15	2
1984	Niki Lauda	McLaren^*	0	5	9	5	72	Portugal–Race 16 of 16	0.5
1985	Alain Prost	McLaren^*	2	5	11	5	73	South Africa–Race 14 of 15	20
1986	Alain Prost	McLaren	1	4	11	2	72	Austria–Race 16 of 16	2
1987	Nelson Piquet	Williams^*	4	3	11	4	73	Japan–Race 15 of 16	12
1988	Ayrton Senna	McLaren^*	13	8	11	3	90	Japan–Race 15 of 16	3
1989	Alain Prost	McLaren^*	2	4	11	5	76	Japan–Race 15 of 16	16
1990	Ayrton Senna	McLaren^*	10	6	11	2	78	Japan–Race 15 of 16	7
1991	Ayrton Senna	McLaren^*	8	7	12	2	96	Japan–Race 15 of 16	24
1992	Nigel Mansell	Williams^*	14	9	12	8	108	Hungary–Race 11 of 16	52
1993	Alain Prost	Williams^*	13	7	12	6	99	Portugal–Race 14 of 16	26
1994	Michael Schumacher	Benetton	6	8	10	8	92	Austria–Race 16 of 16	1
1995	Michael Schumacher	Benetton^*	4	9	11	8	102	Pacific–Race 15 of 17	33
1996	Damon Hill	Williams^*	9	8	10	5	97	Japan–Race 16 of 16	19
1997	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams^*	10	7	8	3	81	Europe–Race 17 of 17	39
1998	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren^*	9	8	11	6	100	Japan–Race 16 of 16	14
1999	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren	11	5	10	6	76	Japan–Race 16 of 16	2
2000	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari^*	9	9	12	2	108	Japan–Race 16 of 17	19
2001	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari^*	11	9	14	3	123	Hungary–Race 13 of 17	58
2002	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari^*	7	11	17	7	144	France–Race 11 of 17	67
2003	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari^*	5	6	8	5	93	Japan–Race 16 of 16	2
2004	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari^*	8	13	15	10	148	Belgium–Race 14 of 18	34
2005	Fernando Alonso	Renault^*	6	7	15	2	133	Brazil–Race 17 of 19	21
2006	Fernando Alonso	Renault^*	6	7	14	5	134	Brazil–Race 18 of 18	13
2007	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari^*	3	6	12	6	110	Brazil–Race 17 of 17	1
2008	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	7	5	10	1	98	Brazil–Race 18 of 18	1
2009	Jenson Button	Brawn^*	4	6	9	2	95	Brazil–Race 16 of 17	11
2010	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull^*	10	5	10	3	256	Abu Dhabi–Race 19 of 19	4
2011	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull^*	15	11	17	3	392	Japan–Race 15 of 19	122
2012	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull^*	6	5	10	6	281	USA–Race 19 of 19	3
2013	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull^*	9	13	16	7	397	India–Race 16 of 19	155
2014	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes^*	7	11	16	7	384	Abu Dhabi–Race 19 of 19	67
2015	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes^*						USA–Race 16 of 19

Active drivers are in bold.

^* - Indicates the team also won the Constructors' Championship (awarded since 1958).

Fangio shared the win of the 1951 French Grand Prix with Luigi Fagioli.
Fangio competed in the 1954 Argentine and Belgian Grands Prix with Maserati, then completed the season with Mercedes.
Fangio shared the win of the 1956 Argentine Grand Prix with Luigi Musso.
Fangio shared 2nd position in the 1956 Monaco and Italian Grands Prix with Peter Collins.
Hill won the Championship at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, where teammate Wolfgang von Trips died after an accident.
Surtees became the first person to win World Championships on motorcycles and cars, having won seven motorcycle titles earlier.
Rindt died in the practice for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix, making him Formula One's first (and only) World Drivers' Champion that won the title after death.
Mario Andretti became Champion after teammate Ronnie Peterson died following an operation caused by a crash in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix.
Ayrton Senna won the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, but was disqualified for cutting the chicane after receiving a push-start from track-side marshalls. McLaren appealed the decision but lost, handing Prost the title.
Damon Hill is the son of Graham Hill, who won the Drivers' Championship in 1962 and 1968, making them the first father-son pair to both win Drivers' Championships.
Michael Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 Championship from second, on 78 points.
In the second place Lewis Hamilton's and Fernando Alonso's points were equal.

By driver

Driver	Total	Seasons
Michael Schumacher	7	1994-1995, 2000-2004
Juan Manuel Fangio	5	1951, 1954-1957
Alain Prost Sebastian Vettel	4	1985-1986, 1989, 1993 2010-2011-2012-2013
Jack Brabham	3	1959-1960, 1966
Jackie Stewart		1969, 1971, 1973
Niki Lauda		1975, 1977, 1984
Nelson Piquet		1981, 1983, 1987
Ayrton Senna		1988, 1990-1991
Lewis Hamilton		2008, 2014-2015
Alberto Ascari	2	1952-1953
Jim Clark		1963, 1965
Graham Hill		1962, 1968
Emerson Fittipaldi		1972, 1974
Mika Häkkinen		1998-1999
Fernando Alonso		2005-2006
Nino Farina	1	1950
Mike Hawthorn		1958
Phil Hill		1961
John Surtees		1964
Denny Hulme		1967
Jochen Rindt		1970
James Hunt		1976
Mario Andretti		1978
Jody Scheckter		1979
Alan Jones		1980
Keke Rosberg		1982
Nigel Mansell		1992
Damon Hill		1996
Jacques Villeneuve		1997
Kimi Räikkönen		2007
Jenson Button		2009

Drivers still active in Formula One are in bold.

By country

Country	Drivers	Total
United Kingdom	10	16
Brazil	3	8
Germany	2	11
Argentina	1	5
France	1	4
Australia	2	4
Austria	2	4
Finland	3	4
Italy	2	3
United States	2	2
Spain	1	2
Canada	1	1
New Zealand	1	1
South Africa	1	1

By constructor

Constructor	Total
Ferrari	15
McLaren	12
Williams	7
Lotus	6
Brabham	4
Red Bull	3
Cooper	2
Renault
Benetton
Mercedes GP
Alfa Romeo
Tyrrell
Maserati
BRM	1
Matra
Brawn

Constructors still active in Formula One are in bold.

Records

Youngest Drivers' Champion

	Driver	Age	Season
1	Sebastian Vettel	23 years, 133 days	2010
2	Lewis Hamilton	23 years, 301 days	2008
3	Fernando Alonso	24 years, 58 days	2005
4	Emerson Fittipaldi	25 years, 273 days	1972
5	Michael Schumacher	25 years, 314 days	1994
6	Niki Lauda	26 years, 197 days	1975
7	Jacques Villeneuve	26 years, 200 days	1997
8	Jim Clark	27 years, 188 days	1963
9	Kimi Räikkönen	28 years, 4 days	2007
10	Jochen Rindt ^*	28 years, 140 days	1970

Active drivers are in bold.
^* Jochen Rindt's 1970 title was awarded after his death.

Oldest Drivers' Champion

	Driver	Age	Season
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	46 years, 41 days	1957
2	Giuseppe Farina	43 years, 308 days	1950
3	Jack Brabham	40 years, 155 days	1966
4	Graham Hill	39 years, 262 days	1968
5	Nigel Mansell	39 years, 8 days	1992
6	Alain Prost	38 years, 214 days	1993
7	Mario Andretti	38 years, 193 days	1978
8	Damon Hill	36 years, 26 days	1996
9	Niki Lauda	35 years, 242 days	1984
10	Michael Schumacher	35 years, 239 days	2004

Active drivers are in bold.

Most Drivers' Championships won in a row

	Driver	Total	Seasons
1	Michael Schumacher	5	2000–2004
2	Juan Manuel Fangio	4	1954–1957
2	Sebastian Vettel	4	2010–2013
3	Alberto Ascari	2	1952–1953
	Jack Brabham		1959–1960
	Alain Prost		1985–1986
	Ayrton Senna		1990–1991
	Michael Schumacher		1994–1995
	Mika Häkkinen		1998–1999
	Fernando Alonso		2005–2006
	Lewis Hamilton		2014–2015

Active drivers are in bold.

Images for kids

Lewis Hamilton equaled Schumacher's record in 2020, winning one with McLaren and six with Mercedes.
Juan Manuel Fangio won the World Drivers' Championship five times with Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Mercedes and Ferrari. He held the record from 1955 until 2003.
Alain Prost has four titles, three for McLaren and one for Williams. He also came close to winning the title for Renault and for Ferrari.