If Purple Bull’s Max Verstappen sees off Lando Norris to seal the Method One world championship in Las Vegas on Saturday, he’ll develop into simply the sixth driver to win 4 titles.
AFP appears to be like on the different 5 who achieved that feat:
– Juan Manuel Fangio –
Titles received: 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957
Automobiles: Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Mercedes, Ferrari
Born in 1911, Fangio was a profitable driver at house in Argentina, notably profitable the gruelling 10,000 kilometre (6,250 miles) Gran Premio del Norte in 1940, earlier than turning into the primary celebrity of Method One.
He received the 1951 title with Alfa Romeo and went on to triumph with Maserati, Mercedes and Ferrari to develop into the primary man to win 5 titles, a file that stood for 46 years. He died aged 84 in 1995.
In his personal phrases:
“I discovered to method racing like a recreation of billiards. For those who bash the ball too onerous, you get nowhere. As you deal with the cue correctly, you drive with extra finesse.”
– Alain Prost –
Titles received: 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993
Automobiles: McLaren, Williams
The Frenchman, who was referred to as ‘The Professor’ for his analytical method to the game, is remembered by many because the boring counterpoint to the crowd-pleasing Ayrton Senna (three titles) in a rivalry that gripped F1 within the late Nineteen Eighties, early Nineties.
However he was a gifted, methodical driver who received his first three titles with McLaren and a fourth with Williams. He might need had 5 had he not been pipped by half a degree by Niki Lauda in 1984.
In his personal phrases:
“My ideally suited is to get pole with the minimal effort, and to win the race on the slowest pace potential.”
– Michael Schumacher –
Titles received: 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
Automobiles: Benetton, Ferrari
The 12 months after Prost’s ultimate championship, up stepped the inheritor obvious in Michael Schumacher. The German, along with his undoubted verve and tempo mingled with an aggression that sometimes bordered on the harmful, received twice with Benetton within the Nineties earlier than switching to Ferrari.
From 2000 he dominated the observe, profitable 5 titles on the trot, eclipsing Fangio’s file on the best way. His 91 race wins was a brand new file till Lewis Hamilton handed him.
Schumacher suffered a severe mind damage in a 2013 snowboarding accident and has been in care on the household house in Switzerland since.
In his personal phrases:
“Simply being a mediocre driver has by no means been my ambition. That’s not my type.”
– Sebastian Vettel –
Titles received: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Automotive: Purple Bull
Six years after Schumacher’s final title, alongside got here one other German to take a agency grip of the game. Vettel made his F1 debut in Indianapolis shortly earlier than his twentieth birthday in 2007 with Purple Bull which had taken over and rebranded the Jaguar workforce 4 years earlier.
Three years later he grew to become the youngest-ever champion, occurring to win 4 in a row and irritating the nice Spaniard Fernando Alonso who was runner-up 3 times to Vettel. His 2013 title was the final received by Purple Bull till Verstappen’s first in 2021.
In his personal phrases:
“It is right that I am a nasty loser. Why ought to I lie? If I used to be good at shedding I would not be in Method 1.”
– Lewis Hamilton –
Titles received: 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Automobiles: McLaren, Mercedes
In a sport that had been solely white, Lewis Hamilton broke new floor for being the primary Black driver and the primary Black champion. He used his place to talk out on many social points however saved his most telling actions to the observe the place he and his Mercedes workforce have been in a category of their very own.
After profitable his first title with McLaren in 2008, he switched to Mercedes profitable six additional titles over a seven-year interval. Arguably he ought to have made it eight when a controversial choice by the race director in Abu Dhabi ushered Verstappen by way of for the win as an alternative — and the title.
In his personal phrases:
“For those who don’t have the balls to brake late, that’s your drawback.”
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