Ranked: Top 5 F1 drivers who have lost the most championship battles

An F1 driver's ultimate goal is to win the world championship for themselves or their team. By winning his first world championship in the 2021 season, Max Verstappen became the 34th world champion that Formula 1 has witnessed since the first season back in 1950.

While Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher hold the world record for the most world championships, some drivers could finish on top only once in their entire career. Kimi Raikkonen is an excellent example of that. He won his first and only world championship in 2007, despite being one of the best drivers on the grid for an extended period.

Regardless, becoming the F1 champion in itself is a tough goal to achieve. It requires the perfect blend of multiple things to even come close to winning the world championship: excellent skills, a reliable and powerful car, mindful strategy, and a bit of luck.

F1, however, has not been very merciful in its long history. Drivers have lost multiple world championships narrowly despite their skills and a strong car. Here is a list of five such drivers who missed out on F1 championships by just a handful of points.

Top 5 F1 drivers to lose the most world championships

#5 Kimi Raikkonen

Raikkonen in 2007 (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

Showing early signs of competitiveness in his second season in F1 with McLaren, Kimi Raikkonen only won the world championship once, but came close to winning it on multiple occasions.

2003 - In a season dominated by Ferrari and Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen looked to be the only driver good enough to challenge him. Winning one race and stepping on the podium 10 times, he gained 91 points against the 93 of Schumacher.
2005 - Another F1 season of Raikkonen finishing second in the McLaren. This time, however, it was Fernando Alonso who took the championship in the Renault. The two drivers were separated by 21 points.
2008 - After winning his first and only world championship with Ferrari in the previous season, Raikkonen followed his teammate in third position while Lewis Hamilton clinched his first world championship. Hamilton and Raikkonen were separated by 23 points. Ferrari took the Constructors' championship that season, which remains their last F1 title.

#4 Fernando Alonso

Alonso in 2010 (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

The two-time world champion Fernando Alonso is still active on the grid almost 22 years after his F1 debut. It has been famously mentioned that he could have been the winner of many more championships if just a handful of points were added to his bag. Here is why:

2007 - Following the season where he was crowned the world champion, Alonso continued in the same vein, competing with Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari. The championship ended with a single-point difference between the drivers. Raikkonen won the title with 110 points and Alonso followed him with 109.
2010 - Fernando Alonso was the closest behind Sebastian Vettel in the four-way battle between these two, Mark Webber, and Lewis Hamilton. He lost the championship at the final race in Abu Dhabi with a difference of four points.
2012 - A similar battle followed between himself and Vettel in the 2012 season as well. Alonso ultimately lost to the German in the Red Bull with a difference of three points.

#3 Michael Schumacher

Schumacher in 1997 (Mandatory Credit: Shell /Allsport)

There are multiple records that Michael Schumacher set back in the day and a few that he still holds to date. While he won seven world championships, if he had a little bit more luck, he might have won even more.

1997 - Before being disqualified from the 1997 season, Schumacher was very close in the championship battle. At the end of the season, he was 3 points away from Jacques Villeneuve at the top. Despite finishing second, he was stripped of his position because of the disqualification. The disqualification resulted from the incident when he purposely tried to crash Villeneuve out in the final race of the season.
1998 - Schumacher again shared a close battle for the championship, ultimately losing it to Mika Hakkinen in the McLaren. The latter had 100 points at the end of the season while the German had 86.
2006 - With the end of the 2004 season, Schumacher and Ferrari's era of domination came to an end. He still had a good chance at winning another title in 2006, but he finished in second place behind Fernando Alonso. The two were separated by 13 points.

#2 Alain Prost

Prost in 1990 (Photo by Pascal Rondeau/Getty Images)

Alain Prost is considered one of the most influential drivers of his era, winning four world championships and sharing amazing battles at the top with teammate-turned-competitor Ayrton Senna. Prost had his share of tough seasons as well.

1983 - In his first season as a championship contender, Prost was in Renault against the Brabham of Nelson Piquet. The final standings had the latter as the F1 world champion with 59 points while Prost lost out with 57 points in his bag.
1984 - Another season of close competition before Prost won his first world championship in 1985. This time, it was with his McLaren teammate Niki Lauda who won the championship with 72 points. Prost followed him with 71.5 points.
1988 - After winning his two world championships with McLaren, Prost faced Ayrton Senna as his teammate at McLaren. Prost ended the season with 87 points and lost the title to the young Brazilian. Senna outscored him with 90 points.
1990 - After switching teams because of the tension that built up between the two drivers, Prost lost to Senna in '90 after defeating him in the earlier season. This time, however, Prost was in the Ferrari. The final points were 78 for Senna and 71 for Prost.

#1 Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton in 2021 (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Ever since his debut in 2007, Lewis Hamilton has been a record-breaking driver. Yet, he ranks first on this list. As surprising as it may sound, the seven-time world champion was close enough on multiple occasions to win more but barely lost out.

2007 - The British driver showed signs of excellence quite early in his career. Hamilton was close to setting an F1 world record by being supremely competitive in his rookie season and finishing in second position, right behind Kimi Raikkonen. The latter won his first championship with 110 points and Hamilton scored 109.
2010 - After winning his first F1 title with McLaren in 2008, Hamilton had to wait for quite a while to win his next championship. 2010 proved to be a rather competitive season. With 240 points in his bag, he finished in fourth place in a four-way battle for the championship which was ultimately won by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel with 256 points.
2016 - This season saw complete Mercedes domination. Lewis Hamilton had won four titles at the time and was on course to win a fifth. His teammate Nico Rosberg, however, won the championship in the final race of the season at Abu Dhabi, retiring from F1 after that. The pair were separated by 5 points.
2021 - The 2021 F1 season was close to becoming history for Hamilton as he chased his eighth title battling against Max Verstappen. After a late safety car in the race, Verstappen was able to get ahead of him on the final lap and clinch his first title. Since then, the Briton has been trying to get back on top.