Of the 60 drivers that have raced in F1 over the last decade, only four have been crowned world champions in that period, while three had won titles in previous years — leaving 53 other ‘world-class’ talents without a championship between them.
In 2013, Sebastian Vettel capped off an era of Red Bull supremacy, capturing nine consecutive race wins on his way to a fourth successive world title. Then 2014 kickstarted the Mercedes age, in which Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg would share seven drivers’ world titles between them (6-1 respectively). The 2021 season marked the turn of Max Verstappen.
Andrea Stella is the man tasked with ending McLaren's last decade of performance swings and restoring the team to the top step of the F1 podium. He tells Chris Medland how he — and key hires — plan to do it
By
Chris Medland
At 25, the Dutchman has already captured 40 grand prix victories – five coming in the first seven races of 2023 – along with 24 pole positions. His supreme ability, matched with the Red Bull’s performance brought back-to-back title successes in ’21 and ’22 and a third seemingly on the way in ’23, despite F1’s attempts to restrict one-team dominance with the cost cap and aerodynamic testing allowances that reduce the higher a team sits in the championship.
But this time, another period of domination doesn’t just threaten F1’s newfound popularity, but the legacy of an unprecedented batch of drivers who have shown their world championship potential.
Among the 17 drivers on the current grid who haven’t won an F1 title are Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Lando Norris who haven’t yet had the machinery or support to mount a sustained championship challenge, but who have proved their top-tier calibre again and again.
Max Verstappen's 40th F1 win in Barcelona was the latest landmark in a long history of rivalry and friendship between Helmut Marko and the late Niki Lauda and Dietrich Mateschitz
By
Mark Hughes
Leclerc, who followed an impressive rookie campaign in 2018 with an eye-opening first season with Ferrari in 2019 – beating team-mate Vettel to fourth in the drivers’ standings and capturing back-t0-back wins in Spa and Monza. For a short period, the Monegasque driver also proved to be a worthy opponent for Verstappen in 2022, but only when un-reliability or strategy error didn’t halt his progress.
Equally, Russell’s qualifying and race performance during his days at Williams and now Mercedes place him in F1’s upper echelon of drivers. Despite acting as a perennial back marker for the majority of his first three seasons, the Briton still put together some masterful qualifying performances, most memorably in the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix and Russian Grand Prix. In 2022, he wasted little time in celebrating his promotion to Mercedes and instead cemented his status as an F1 star, capturing a debut win in Brazil and becoming only the third driver to beat Hamilton in the drivers’ standings as a team-mate.
Norris completes the trio of future F1 title winners and even with a struggling and inconsistent McLaren underneath him, the 23-year-old still has six impressive podiums and a pole position to his name – feats only made possible by his remarkable talent.
When combined with the likes of Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon, this trio arguably lead one of the most talented, but undecorated grids of all time.
Full grid for the 2023 F1 season lined up ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix
Getty Images
With Verstappen and Red Bull out in front and the prospect of that scenario continuing until the next big rule change in 2026, will we have to wait another three years to crown a different F1 champion?
Even then, with the likes of Adrian Newey on board and Red Bull Powertrains continuing its own development, it’s conceivable that the Dutchman could remain on top for even longer. Where would that leave the likes of Leclerc, Russell and Norris as they become F1’s veterans and a younger generation snap at their heels?
You only have to journey back to 2016 for more examples of drivers missing out. While Mercedes duo Hamilton and Rosberg battled through their second season of F1 authority – winning 19 of the 21 grand prix – Daniel Ricciardo quietly enjoyed his best F1 season on record, capturing seven podium finishes and a win in Malaysia to earn third in the drivers’ standings. The performance rightly earned him the status of a potential world champion, which he duly supported with further great performances in 2017 and 2018.
But after Red Bull failed to deliver a title winning car – a feat they wouldn’t accomplish until 2021 – Ricciardo was forced to look elsewhere to fully maximise his potential, and after failed attempts at Renault and underperformance at McLaren, the Australian was effectively pushed off the grid. What a waste.
Ricciardo out-qualified Hamilton and Rosberg in Monaco despite Mercedes’ dominance
The unfortunate tale of Robert Kubica could be put in a similar category. Prior to his best performing season in 2008, Kubica was already widely regarded as a formidable talent – a reputation he solidified with a debut race win in Canada and seven podium finishes. A podium in Brazil the following year and two more with Renault in 2010 kept his name in the spotlight, but the dominance of Brawn in ’09 and Red Bull in ’10 left little opportunity for others and a catastrophic rallying accident in 2011 sidelined his F1 career until 2019 – but by then, his time at the front had passed.
As a career catalogue of near-misses go, there are few to match Adam Carroll’s. He outpaced Formula 1 champions, left Indianapolis and Le Mans winners floundering in his wake and…
By
James Elson
Partnering Russell at Williams, the Polish driver struggled to regain his form, was ultimately replaced by Nicholas Latifi in 2020 and became a reserve driver for Sauber in 2019 – his once successful legacy pushed to the back of people’s minds.
Losing their most competitive years is likely to be a prospect that haunts some of the grid’s current stars.
Of course, there are outliers – drivers so good that despite their lack of success (in varying quantities) they remain a part of F1 folklore: Stirling Moss, Ronnie Peterson, Jacky Ickx and Gilles Villeneuve all spring to mind.
But while Leclerc, Russell and Norris may be elevated to that level, both they – and we – deserve to see themselves in a genuine fight for the championship. That would really be something to remember.
