Top 5 British F1 Drivers of all time

Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button
Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button

Welcome to Sportskeeda's greatest Formula One drivers of all time series where we rank the best from a selection of countries that have brought up big names to the heart pumping racing series.

In this slideshow we pick our top five British F1 drivers of all time.

F1 began all the way in 1950 and in those 69 years we have seen many world champions crowned to determine who are the best drivers planet earth has to offer.

We have seen a number of German drivers win world championships including the sheer dominance of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel in the 21st century.

Three Finnish names of Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen by bringing home a total of four driver's championships since Rosberg's first in 1982.

F1 has certainly shared the racing with many different cultures but now we turn to British racing.

The very first F1 race took place at the historic Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix that was won by Italian racer Giuseppe Farina.

There have been over 160 British drivers that have competed in F1 but only ten of them can say they won the world championship once or on multiple occasions.

18 world championships overall for British motorsport but who is the greatest of them all?

Here are your top 5 British F1 drivers of all time.


#5 Jenson Button

The moment Button became a Formula One world champion
The moment Button became a Formula One world champion

Ranking the top 5 is hard enough but not including Jenson Button would leave this slideshow with regret.

To many, Button was the people's champion. He was very much loved during his time in F1 even before he was crowned world champion in 2009.

His character, his personality and his sense of humour certainly won many fans over and when Button won his first ever Grand Prix at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix - it would mark the real talent of Button that some had doubted.

But three years later, no one had ever predicted Button to become a world champion in 2009 ahead of the first race in Melbourne, Australia.

Brawn GP took over from Honda Racing after the 2008 championship but after no real appearances at pre-season testing, Ross Brawn's team look to receive a very long season ahead.

Then out of nowhere, Button won the Australian Grand Prix and team mate Rubens Barrichello completed a one-two finish.

The championship win got Button a contract at McLaren the following year and would win multiple races including the infamous Canadian Grand Prix in 2011.

Winning a championship and winning arguably the greatest F1 race of all time, not a bad career Jenson.

#4 Jim Clark

Jim Clark
Jim Clark

Jim Clark won 25 races and achieved 33 pole positions during his time in Formula One before he sadly passed away at just the age of 32 after an accident in Germany in 1968.

Before his death, 25 race wins and 33 pole positions was the highest for an F1 driver, way before the future generations of Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton would eclipse stats like that.

In reflection to Clark's F1 career, the Briton could have added more world championships to the two he won in 1963 and 1965.

But it is an argument that would never be settled.

Clark raised the standard for future racers to beat and in 2009 The Times ranked the double world champion as the greatest F1 driver of all time.

Something that can be argued ten years since a newspaper's ranking was published but anyone that changes the aspect of a sport for the greater good should never be overlooked.

#3 Nigel Mansell

Mansell winning the 1992 British Grand Prix
Mansell winning the 1992 British Grand Prix

To be honest, third place in this top 5 was between Nigel Mansell and Graham Hill.

Yes, Hill won one more world championship than Mansell by picking up two driver's titles but at the same time, Mansell won more races in his F1 career.

Mansell won a whopping total of 31 races while Hill secured 14.

Of course, the more advanced years of F1 has hosted more races as this season there is 21 races filling up the Grand Prix calendar.

But Mansell displayed some top quality racing in his final two years in F1, on top of already being in the sport for nearly 15 years.

He saved the best til last when he finally won his first and only world championship in 1992 for Williams.

In his championship winning season, Mansell won the first five races of the calendar before adding four more race wins later on in the season.

#2 Sir Jackie Stewart

Sir Jackie Stewart
Sir Jackie Stewart

Sir Jackie Stewart is one of the best drivers ever produced from Great Britain.

He is the second most successful driver in British motorsport, just behind current world champion Lewis Hamilton.

He is a three time world champion, more than any other fellow Briton accept for Hamilton.

Let's keep going with his stats shall we, 27 race wins, 43 times finishing on the podium and 17 pole positions.

It is stats and figures like that that cannot be unrecognised.

Stewart won his three world championships in 1969, 1971 and 1973 in which he never defended his title but consistently battled at the top.

But after retiring from motor racing, Stewart worked in different departments including his ambition to make racing safer for current and future generations.

The 79-year-old campaigned for better medical facilities and track improvements at motor racing circuits.

The guy has made a big difference to F1 both on and off the track.

#1 Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton

Was there any doubt that we would rank Lewis Hamilton as Britain's greatest F1 driver of all time?

In 2018 at the Mexican Grand Prix, Hamilton made a big statement by becoming only the third driver to achieve five world championships.

The other two to have done that is Michael Schumacher (7) and Juan Manuel Fangio (5).

To this day, Hamilton is aiming to beat high records and one of his biggest records to date is having the most pole positions with 84.

But the Briton still has a lot to do if he wants to beat the most championships and most race wins as both records are held by Schumacher himself.

While writing this, Hamilton has this season (2019) and next season left in his contract with Mercedes.

Who knows what the future holds for the 34 year old but he definitely has a shout to equal the record of seven world championships.

Do you agree with our list? Comment below.


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