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In the words of the great Murray Walker; "Formula 1 is about the best driver in the best car allied to the best team," so to say the sport is purely about the fastest pilot isn't the whole truth. The only true measure of a driver is his successes compared to that of his teammate, as that particular pair have the same machinery available to them. Drivers such as Lewis Hamilton are extremely talented, but would Hamilton have had as much success if he stayed at McLaren post-2012? Absolutely not. Mercedes have dominated the V6-turbo hybrid era so far, but they're far from the first constructor to produce an all-conquering racing car.
#5 Williams FW14 (1991-2)
The FW14 was Williams' challenger for the 1991 season and was Adrian Newey's first championship winning car. Nigel Mansell returned to Frank Williams' outfit after two years at Ferrari with the intent of winning his first driver's championship, but the car got off to a rocky start. This was the first Williams car to employ a semi-automatic gearbox (a technology that Ferrari pioneered two years earlier) and the new system contributed to six retirements between Mansell and Riccardo Patrese in their first eight starts. However, once the reliability was rectified, it was arguably the fastest car on the grid, with Patrese picking up the FW14's first win in Mexico. Mansell accumulated a further five victories, with his Italian teammate also earning another on the way to a runners-up spot in the constructor's championship for Williams.
For 1992, a B-spec car, the FW14B, was produced, and this was the year which saw Adrian Newey's design enter folklore. Active suspension had been worked on in Formula 1 since the late 1980's, but the FW14B was the first car to successfully use it, and to devastating effect. Mansell won eight of the opening ten rounds, as nobody could come close to the Williams' pace. Red 5 won his first driver's title in Hungary, with five rounds remaining.
In total, the FW14 won 17 Grands Prix and its two drivers stood on the podium a combined 37 times from just 32 races. Given the poor reliability records in F1 over twenty years ago, that makes this car's record all the more impressive.
#4 Ferrari F2002 (2002-03)
It's easy to forget these days, but Ferrari were the Mercedes of the early 2000's, sweeping all before them on the way to six straight constructor's championships. The combination of Michael Schumacher, Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne was unstoppable during this period, and their entry for 2002 was arguably the best of them all. Schumacher finished on the podium for every race that season - a record that is yet to be matched - and that was partly down to the F2002's incredible speed and impeccable reliability. In the 15 rounds it was intered in during '02, either Schumacher or Rubens Barrichello won on all but one occasion, standing on the podium 25 times from 29 starts.
Back in the days when only the top 6 finishers earned points, Ferrari amassed 221 points, as much as the rest of the field combined. In fact, its success was part of the reason behind increasing the points paying positions down to eighth. The F2002 continued into 2003, where Schumacher and Barrichello finished 1-3 at that year's San Marino Grand Prix. Truly a remarkable work of art.
#3 Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid (2016)
Mercedes are the undisputed kings of Formula 1 during the new turbocharged era, and their 2016 entry is arguably their most impressive car since 2014. In the hands of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, drivers powered by the W07 won 19 of that year's 21 races and earned a combined 33 podiums finishes. Hamilton has the most poles ever in F1 history, and he earned 12 of them in 2016, with Rosberg accumulating a further 8 pole positions, meaning that only on one occasion did a non-Mercedes start from P1.
All of the Silver Arrows' V6-turbo hybrid entries have won the constructor's championship with ease, but none can match the W07's level of dominance. However, with three 1-2 finishes to open the 2019 season so far, the Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ has the potential to eclipse their car from three years ago.
#2 Lotus 72 (1970-5)
With the rate of development in modern Formula 1, cars competing in more than one season is extremely rare, so the Lotus 72's longevity is something that's hard to imagine. The 72 competed in Grands Prix throughout six years between 1970 and 1975, 75 races in total. In that time, Lotus won three constructor's championships, while its drivers won two driver's championship, one each for Jochen Rindt and Emerson Fittipaldi. Only the legendary combination of Jackie Stewart and Tyrrell could stop Chapman's team from increasing that tally during that period.
Rindt posthumously won his title in 1970, after winning all four races which he finished in the 72 along the way. Fittipaldi continued the car's success in '71 and '72, winning a further five Grands Prix on the way to his first driver's title. 1973 was arguably the 72's best season, as Super Swede Ronnie Peterson partnered the Brazilian, the combination winning 7 Grands Prix and standing on the podium 15 times from the 15 races that season and also the constructor's championship.
By the time the 72 was retired after the 1975 season, it had amassed 20 wins and 39 podiums from 75 races during those six seasons.
#1 McLaren MP4/4 (1988)
No team has ever won all the Grands Prix during a season, but McLaren came the closest we've seen to a perfect record in 1988. The MP4/4 was part of the last turbocharged F1 cars that characterises motorsport in the 80's. The combination of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna - F1's most infamous partnership - won 15 of that year's 16 rounds, and only missed out on a whitewash thanks to some horrible luck in Italy.
Prost's Honda engine blew part-way through the race and Senna was taken out when leading by Jean-Louis Schlesser's Williams in the Frenchman's only GP start. During an era when Formula 1 cars had a much lower rate of reliability, the McLaren-Honda combination was as reliable as it was fast. The MP4/4 finished off the podium on only two occasions and it only failed to finish five times in 32 starts, a finishing record that many teams would be happy with nowadays.
In total, 15 wins, 25 podiums and 15 poles is a record which speaks for itself and with the extended length of Formula 1 seasons now, it's hard to imagine this car's records going away anytime soon.
But which do you think is the best ever F1 car? McLaren's MP4/4 or another all-conquering force? Let us know in the comments below!
