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A famous Liverpool FC manager once said "experience is everything" but some athletes defy the odds to defeat the established pros right from the beginning of their career. Formula 1 is no exception to this, as there have been some stunning rookie seasons over the years.
From several near-rookie champions to the newbies that dragged their backmarker cars up the grid, there's too many to list, but here's 5 of the most impressive.
#5 Charles Leclerc, 2018
Charles Leclerc will become the youngest Ferrari driver since Ricardo Rodriguez in 1961 and this is in part thanks to his fantastic debut season in Formula 1. Kimi Raikkonen has arguably been driving the best he has since his championship-winning season in 2007, but that hasn't stopped the Scuderia from promoting their young driver to Finn's seat for 2019.
After a stellar Formula 2 campaign in 2017, - one of the most dominant displays in the feeder series' history - Leclerc was given his shot in F1 with Sauber and he's impressed us ever since. Marcus Ericsson has been with Sauber since 2015, but it only took a few races for his younger team-mate to begin outperforming the Swede.
Ericsson isn't the highest rated driver on the grid but he's still an experienced driver and has improved a lot in 2018 compared to his previous campaign but that hasn't stopped the Monaco native from besting Marcus. Looking into the statistics reveals a very one-sided battle, Leclerc leading 16-4 in qualifying (with an average advantage of 0.6 seconds per lap), 9-3 in races where they've both finished and 33-9 in points scored.
If that was a boxing match, the referee would've stopped it early and don't rule out Leclerc getting the better of Sebastian Vettel next year.
#4 Ayrton Senna, 1984
Ayrton Senna is probably the fastest driver to ever pilot a Formula 1 car, and the Brazilian enjoyed a stellar debut season in F1. After turning down drives with McLaren and Williams, Senna began his Grand Prix career with the Toleman team, generally regarded as backmarkers amongst the paddock.
Senna surprised everyone, though, scoring points for the first time in South Africa (just his second race) before producing a mesmeric drive in Monaco. In torrential conditions, Ayrton outclassed the entire field and would've won the race had it not been for Alain Prost controversially waving at the stewards and demanding the red flag to be waved.
What's often overlooked in that season, is that Senna also scored another podium in Portugal, the scene of his first win the next year. By the season's end, he was 9th in the driver's standings on 13 points, level with Nigel Mansell in a far superior Lotus.
#3 Jackie Stewart, 1965
When you're thrown in at the deep end and put in one of the best cars on the grid against a man who has already won a world championship, you'll do very well to positively standout. However, Sir Jackie Stewart did exactly that in his debut F1 season in 1965.
Stewart was signed for BRM to partner 1962 world champion Graham Hill and would've been expected to act as decent backup for Hill, but that wasn't entirely the case. Sir Jackie hit the ground running, scoring a point in his first race in South Africa before standing on the podium in Monaco in the next round.
3 more podiums in the next 4 races would follow, before he sensationally won at Monza and was just a point behind Hill with two races remaining, and stood third overall. Jim Clark won the championship that year, but the seeds were sewn for Stewart's future success, as a move to Tyrrell for 1968 yielded 3 championships in six seasons.
#2 Jacques Villeneuve, 1996
Villeneuve is a last name that raises the hairs on the back of Formula 1 fans' necks, as two top drivers have shared that surname in the sport. Gilles is regarded as one of the fastest drivers to ever drive in the sport and one of the best to never win the title.
His son, Jacques, did accomplish this in 1997, but not after a debut season in 1996, which saw him go so close to champion's trophy. After winning the Champ Car series (would later become Indy Car) in 1995, Villeneuve transitioned to Formula 1 and began in the Williams team, the constructor which would have the dominant car that season.
Jacques could've won in his first race, had it not been for team orders allowing Damon Hill through and the Canadian later fading due to an oil leak. He'd get his first win at the Nurburgring in his fourth race and go onto win three more before the season's end.
By the final round in Japan, Villeneuve had an outside shot on the title, starting 9 points behind Hill with 10 to play for. It wasn't Jacques' day, as one of the wheels became detached part way through the race and handing the title to Hill but had been an incredible first term in Formula 1.
#1 Lewis Hamilton, 2007
Lewis Hamilton's first season in Formula 1 is statistically the best of any driver in the history of the sport. No man has ever won the driver's world championship in their first season, but Lewis came the closest, missing out by just a single point in the end.
Double World Champion Fernando Alonso joined McLaren for 2007 and was partnered by Hamilton, who had been a junior driver at the team since he was a teenager. Hamilton began the season with 9 straight podiums (a record) and led the championship after Spain (Round 4) at the age of just 22 (another record).
During that season, he'd also set the record for the most pole positions in a debut season (6), most wins in a debut season (4) and the most points in an opening season (109), the latter still standing despite the points restructuring in 2010.
His victory in torrential rain at the Japanese Grand Prix in superb style appeared to have all but won the title with two rounds remaining. However, a rookie error at the Chinese Grand Prix had put Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and his Alonso in with an outside shot of snatching the title in Brazil, which Kimi ended up doing.
A mechanical error (his only of the campaign) ruined his chances of winning the title. Heartbreak for Hamilton, ecstasy for Raikkonen, but the young Brit didn't have much longer to wait, as he'd get redemption the following year by becoming the youngest ever world champion (at the time). And the rest? Well, you know the rest.
Who do you think is the best rookie in F1's history? Let us know in the comments below!
