With the 2024 Formula One season getting underway, let’s revisit the winningest seasons by individual drivers in F1 history.
Over the past two seasons, Formula One fans have been treated to an unprecedented run. Max Verstappen has won 34 races over that span, including a remarkable 19-win season in 2023.
Max Verstappen, 19 wins (2023)
Last year, Verstappen delivered the most dominant season in Formula One history, winning 19 races. For context, only 17 drivers in the sport’s 78-year history have won 19 races in their entire career. Verstappen won 86.4% of the races in 2023 — an F1 record.
He scored 575 of the 620 available points last year (another F1 record). The gap between Verstappen and the runner-up, Sergio Perez, was an astonishing 290 points.
At one point, Verstappen won an F1-record 10 consecutive races. Verstappen is currently on a tier of his own, and all eyes will be on the 26-year-old to see how he follows up his record-shattering season.
Max Verstappen, 15 wins (2022)
Many of the records Verstappen broke in 2023 were his own, as his 2022 campaign was also full of incredible performances.
Verstappen won 15 races in 2022, including nine of the last 11. His 454 points broke the F1 record, which was previously held by Lewis Hamilton (who scored 413 points in 2019). Verstappen’s 68.2% win percentage was impressive, but nothing compared to what would come the following year.
Sebastian Vettel, 13 wins, (2013)
Before Verstappen, Vettel held the record for most wins in a single season, including nine consecutive victories to end the year.
Vettel won 68.4% of his races that season. He ultimately scored 397 points — 155 more than the runner-up Fernando Alonso. Vettel led Formula One in points from 2010 to 2013.
2013 proved to be the best season of Vettel’s career. The following year, he didn’t win a race and finished fifth in points.
Michael Schumacher, 13 wins (2004)
During the 2004 season, Schumacher won 13 of a possible 18 races, giving him an impressive 72.2 win percentage. He started the year hot, winning 12 of the first 13 races of the season.
He clinched the championship with more than a third of the season remaining. He finished the year with 148 points — 34 more than runner-up Rubens Barrichello.
When Schumaker retired in 2012, he held the F1 record for championships and grand prix wins.
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