Before the Las Vegas GP, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was a three-time world champion; after the race, he became a four-time world champion. With that, he achieved a rare status in Formula 1 history. The Dutchman now has four world titles to his name where he joined some of the rarest Formula 1 drivers and officially became a Legend. Only very few drivers have four or more world titles in F1 history and become legends of the sport. Let us check the elite group of drivers.
The Elite F1 drivers
5. Alain Prost
#OnThisDay Alain Prost won his second World Championship title. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/IMuVXFaviq
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 26, 2021
The French man won his first-ever world title in 1985 with McLaren after his debut in the 1981 season. He is the first-ever French world champion in Formula 1 history. He claimed back-to-back titles with a 1986 win until he met Ayrton Senna who stopped his Championship run. The rivals were also teammates in 1988 and in that season. After being dominated by Senna in back-to-back seasons Prost won his third title in 1989 and his final championship in the 1993 F1 season.
4. Sebastian Vettel
Max Verstappen matches Sebastian Vettel as he is crowned the World Champion for the 4TH TIME !!! THE ONLY REDBULL DRIVER TO MATCH SEBASTIAN VETTEL !!!! pic.twitter.com/VXAk6tMC8j
— zaa | MAX 4TH WDC 🧡🏆 (@thef1villain) November 24, 2024
Before Max verstappen, there was a man in the Red Bull team who became a Four-time world champion in back-to-back seasons. The Name is Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen has just repeated the history that happened to Red Bull from the 2010-2013 seasons.
Driving for the junior team Torro Rosso team, Sebastian Vettel gave the mini-Italian team a victory that will forever be etched in Formula 1 history. Vettel won in the ‘Temple of Speed’ Monza for the first time in his career and gave the junior Red Bull team their first-ever victory in Formula 1 even before their seniors.
He was immediately transferred to the main Red Bull team the following season and Red Bull went for a championship fight. After missing out on the championship to Jenson Button and Brawn GP in the 2009 season Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull were very determined to win the 2010 season.
They faced challenges from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso from Ferrari. But Vettel overcame every challenge and won the Austrian team their first-ever Formula 1 title in 2010 followed by giving them four consecutive titles. Max just repeated what Sebastian Vettel did between 2010 and 2013.
3. Juan Manuel Fangio
Formula 1 World Champion
— Culture F1 (@culture_f1) April 9, 2023
in the 50’s :
JuanManuel Fangio, 1956🏆✨
🇦🇷
7/9#f1 #worldchampion pic.twitter.com/yX0DSMWqQ4
The first ever Formula 1 legend was Fangio who is also the first ever five-time world champion. The Argentinian driver made his debut in the inaugural Formula 1 season and won his first-ever world title after 1 year in 1951. In 1952 during the Monza race, he had a big accident and suffered a broken neck. He then returned to Formula 1 in the 1953 season but finished second in the championship.
He joined the Mercedes team in 1954 and won the F1 championship for them which was also the first-ever title for the Silver Arrows before Lewis Hamilton in 2014. He again won the 1955 season with Mercedes then moved to ferrari and won the 1956 championship. His last championship win came with Maserati in the 1957 season. Fangio’s 5 world title record was only broken by Michael Schumacher in 2003 when he won his 6th world title for Ferrari.
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2. Michael Schumacher
on this glorious day 24 years ago Michael Schumacher revived the prancing horse and won his first world title with Scuderia Ferrari ❤️ pic.twitter.com/hDucQufycQ
— Jules. ༒ (@schumisnoopy) October 8, 2024
The first-ever Formula 1 driver to cross 5 or more titles was the German F1 legend, Michael Schumacher. In his debut season, Michael challenged Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna. After winning the championship in 1994 and 1995 Michael moved to Ferrari in 1996 where he missed his title opportunity for four consecutive seasons.
He then finally became a champion with ferrari in 2000 which he continued till the 2004 season. His championship run was force-stopped by Fernando Alonso in the 2005 and 2006 seasons. He then tried again with Mercedes from 2010 to 2012 but the old Mikey was never seen again.
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1. Lewis Hamilton
15/11/2020
— Mona (@Mona_SLH44) November 15, 2024
LEWIS HAMIL7ON CHAMPION OF THE WORLD FOR THE SEVENTH TIME!! 😭❤️ pic.twitter.com/xkJjUiCDHC
The British driver was on his journey to become the greatest-ever Formula 1 driver in history. He already has a 7-word title under his name. He challenged for the world title in his rookie season which was one of the rarest things we ever see in racing history. After Narrowly missing his debut world title he claimed that in the 2008 season.
He joined Mercedes in 2013 and that was the greatest ever move in Formula 1 career for him. He dominated the Formula 1 grid from the 2014 to 2021 seasons where he won six world titles. The controversial Abu Dhabi race in 2021 pulled him back from becoming an 8-time world champion beating Schumacher’s record.
He will next year move to Ferrari and he will aim for his 8th world title to become the GOAT of Formula 1. But we still have young and in-form Max verstappen and also Lewis Hamilton’s teammate next year Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton's 8th title and beyond that won't be that easy. The Legend knows how to take care of those challenges by himself.