Formula 1 season overview

This Formula 1 season overview is a summary of all FIA automotive championships that have taken place so far and the Formula 1 world championships that have arisen from them . More detailed information and lists of results for the individual Grands Prix can be found in the articles for the respective season.

1950

The first world championship was marked by the dominance of the Alfa Romeos , who had already dominated the 1947 and 1948 Grand Prix seasons . Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio fought an exciting battle for the first world championship title right up to the end. Third was Luigi Fagioli .

1951

With Ferrari, the Alfa Romeos slowly but surely became an equal competition. Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari was able to make the World Cup exciting, but in the end Alfa Romeo won again; it was the first title for Fangio . Giuseppe Farina came third. At the end of the year Alfa Romeo then withdrew from racing because they wanted to concentrate on the production of series cars.

1952

In order not to have too small a starting field after Alfa Romeo's retirement, the 1952 season was announced for the vehicles of the previous Formula 2 with a maximum displacement of 2000 cm³, in which a number of smaller teams cavorted. The season was a complete triumph for Ferrari and Alberto Ascari .

1953

The former Formula 2 cars were driven for another year, and Alberto Ascari dominated for another year , albeit not as clearly as the year before. Fangio , who had to take a break due to injury in 1952, was able to achieve some respectable successes on Maserati .

1954

In 1954 a real Formula 1 was reintroduced, with a maximum displacement of 2500 cc. Mercedes , the successful team of the 1930s , returned to the racetracks, and with the star driver Fangio they won the title in a brilliant manner. Another team caused a stir at the end of the year, Lancia with Alberto Ascari, who was sacked by Ferrari . The car was fast, but notoriously unreliable.

1955

The year 1955 went down in automobile racing history as a disaster year. Alberto Ascari crashed 1 test drive in Formula Monza and the 24-hour race at a private Le Mans died Pierre Levegh and 80 spectators in an accident. Several Grand Prix were then canceled. Mercedes decided to retire from racing at the end of the year. Even Lancia renounced his Formula 1 ambitions and handed over his car Ferrari . Fangio took the title again in a Mercedes-Benz .

1956

Fangio and Enzo Ferrari , whose team competed with the modified Lancias from the previous year, which sounded like a dream combination, turned out to be a successful, but conflict-prone meeting of two stubborn heads. After successfully winning the title, also thanks to the generous gesture of Peter Collins , who gave Fangio his car in the decisive race, this connection ended after just one year.

1957

So far, Fangio had won several Maserati wins , but not a title. That changed that year, and Fangio celebrated his fifth world title. However, the English teams, especially Vanwall with Stirling Moss, gave a clear sign of life.

1958

After Fangio's resignation in the middle of the season, the cards were reshuffled. Ferrari , with the British Mike Hawthorn against Vanwall , with the eternal World Cup runner-up Stirling Moss was the duel for the title. In the end, Hawthorn only needed one win and four second places, Moss had to be satisfied with second place again. Several deaths in the season caused Hawthorn to resign after winning the title. After all, Vanwall won the design engineer title advertised for the first time, but also resigned.

1959

“The horses belong in front of the car”, according to this philosophy almost all teams had previously placed the engine in front of the driver. (One exception was Auto Union in the 1930s). Team Cooper , which had already won two victories in 1958, had shown it: the future belonged to mid-engined cars, in which the engine was mounted behind the driver. Ferrari continued to cling to the old philosophy and only won on high-speed tracks. Somewhat surprisingly, the Australian Jack Brabham won the title in the Cooper .

1960

If the title of Jack Brabham was interpreted as a lucky coincidence last year, this year it showed it to the competition. With an impressive winning streak, he was able to defend the title in his Cooper . Only Lotus with the extremely light Lotus 18 could stand up to it.

1961

A new regulation, which was supposed to reduce the speed due to some fatal accidents, reduced the displacement to 1500 cm³. Ferrari had prepared itself best and finally relied on the concept of the mid-engined car. It was the year of the famous Ferrari 156 "Sharknose" (in German "Hai", so called because of its front openings). The Ferrari drivers Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips and Phil Hill fought for the title until the death of Trips' in Monza tragically decided the duel.

1962

The British teams had learned from the debacle of the previous year and adjusted well to the new formula. Internal disputes at Ferrari , which led to the retirement of the race director and chief engineer, reduced the Italians' chances of victory to zero. The duel between Graham Hill on BRM and Jim Clark on Lotus developed into the fight for the title .

1963

Last year Jim Clark was still too unreliable with the Lotus , this year he dominated the world championship. New to the Lotus is the monocoque, which replaced the previous tubular space frame. With seven wins in ten races, he celebrated a sovereign title win.

1964

At first it looked like a successful title defense for Jim Clark and Lotus , but it failed because of the lack of reliability of his car. It was a balanced season in general, with BRM , Lotus , Ferrari and the new Brabham team winning four different brands. In the end, John Surtees took the title in a Ferrari .

1965

The last year of the 1500 cm³ formula brought hardly any technical innovations, but with Jackie Stewart and Jochen Rindt two new top drivers. As two years before, the season belonged to Jim Clark in the Lotus , who was on the podium six times.

1966

Although the new 3000 cm³ regulations had been known for a long time, many teams were not prepared for it. The engine manufacturer Maserati , which supplied Cooper , even mooted and refreshed an engine from the 1950s. BRM and Lotus proved too unreliable and so the title went to Jack Brabham for the third time , this time on their own team. To this day he has remained the only one who succeeded in this.

1967

The last year with cars without spoilers. With the engine manufacturer Ford- Cosworth , Lotus got a strong partner who will dominate Formula 1 until the 1980s. Jim Clark in the Lotus against the Brabhams was the duel of many races in 1967. In the end Brabham was ahead, but not the team boss Jack Brabham , but the calm New Zealander Denis Hulme .

1968

That year, the teams began to mount front and rear wings on their cars, but still on long poles. Many were counting on Clarks ' third title this year , then the bad news came from Hockenheim : Clark had a fatal accident in a Formula 2 race. The way was clear for Graham Hill , who celebrated his second title on Lotus .

1969

After a few incidents with spoilers, these are trimmed to what is still common today. In addition, some teams experiment with all-wheel drive vehicles, all attempts fail. The title this year went to the Scottish Jackie Stewart , whose team boss Ken Tyrrell relies on French Matra cars, powered (like all first ten of the drivers' championship) by the Ford Cosworth engine.

1970

Colin Chapman , Lotus Team Principal , presents another technical revolution: the Lotus 72, in wedge shape, with the coolers on the side. Even Ken Tyrrell began after the separation of Matra with the construction of their own race car, the Tyrrell . However, the season belonged to Jochen Rindt at Lotus . Tragically, he had a fatal accident during training in Monza, in the remaining races no driver could catch him, not even his closest rival Jacky Ickx in the Ferrari . So Rindt became the first and so far only posthumous world champion in Formula 1 history.

1971

The new Tyrrell and its driver Jackie Stewart proved to be successful this year. They won their second world championship title in a superior manner. The slicks , treadless tires, were an innovation on the car .

1972

Again it was not a successful title defense in Formula 1, it would have been the first since Jack Brabham 1960. A stomach ulcer seriously affected Jackie Stewart . The Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi on Lotus snatched the title from him. At the age of 25, he was the youngest world champion in history until Alonso's triumph in 2005.

1973

Odd years are “ Stewart years”, according to this wisdom the Scot was able to celebrate his third title after 1969 and 1971. The two Lotus of Fittipaldi and Peterson could only challenge him to a limited extent. At the end of the season, Stewart, who had been the most successful driver to date after victories, resigned one race earlier than planned due to the death of his team-mate Cevert .

1974

After Stewart's resignation, many drivers had title ambitions. Clay Regazzoni and Niki Lauda in the Ferrari , Jody Scheckter in the Tyrrell or Ronnie Peterson in the Lotus . World champion was again Emerson Fittipaldi , who had switched to McLaren and so helped the team of Bruce McLaren, who died in 1970, to its first title.

1975

Enzo Ferrari had had to wait for a title for eleven years . In 1975 the time had finally come again. The Austrian Niki Lauda won his first world title with the new Ferrari 312T with transversely installed gearbox .

1976

At first everything looked like a successful title defense for Lauda in a Ferrari , but his terrible accident at the Nürburgring , which he only barely survived, and various FIA judgments brought the turning point. In the completely rainy final race in Japan, Lauda parked his car due to safety concerns and the former Hesketh driver James Hunt was able to achieve the World Championship victory with a McLaren with a third place - after an overtaking maneuver against Alan Jones in the last lap. The most eye-catching car of the year was the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 .

1977

The surprise team of the year was Walter Wolf Racing , whose driver Jody Scheckter managed the feat of winning the first race of the new car. In the fight for the title, Niki Lauda prevailed again in a Ferrari . After securing the world title, Lauda did not end the season because Enzo Ferrari resented the termination of his contract and replaced him with Gilles Villeneuve for the last races .

1978

The ingenious Lotus team boss Colin Chapman achieved another great success in 1978 with the Lotus 79 , an improved version of the Lotus 78 . Upside-down wings on the sides pressed the car to the ground and enabled higher cornering speeds. The American Mario Andretti won the title, which was marred by the death of his teammate Ronnie Peterson in Monza.

1979

Lotus' technical lead was gone this year. Other teams like Ferrari, Williams and Ligier copied Chapman's ideas. The team of the year was Ferrari : with the calm Jody Scheckter and the impetuous Gilles Villeneuve they achieved first and second place in the drivers' championship. With the victory of the turbo-powered Renault in France and several successes for Williams , the future of Formula 1 flashed for the first time.

1980

The year is marked by disputes between the teams and the race organization. One Grand Prix (in Spain) is even canceled. In the sporting field, the strongest teams are Ligier , Brabham and Renault , but the Australian Alan Jones in the Williams is at the top .

1981

In addition to Renault , Ferrari is also turning to turbo technology, which is still too immature: Gilles Villeneuve only wins twice, but his victory in Spain is one of the best performances of a GP driver. Brabham and Williams fought for victory ; the title ultimately went to Brazilian Nelson Piquet (Brabham), one point ahead of Carlos Reutemann (Williams).

1982

The tragedy hit Ferrari : Gilles Villeneuve died in Belgium and Didier Pironi had to end his career after a serious training accident at Hockenheim . 1982 was evenly balanced like no other season, 16 races saw eleven different winners. A single win was enough for Keke Rosberg to win the title on Williams .

1983

In 1983 the duel between the turbos and the conventional naturally aspirated engines finally decided in favor of the turbos. Nelson Piquet in the BMW- driven Brabham became the first turbo world champion in Formula 1 history after a tough battle with Alain Prost in the Renault turbo pioneer team .

1984

Refueling stops were forbidden and the amount of fuel was limited; the fastest driver was no longer the winner, but the one who could manage the fuel best. McLaren could best adapt to it. Three years after his retirement, Niki Lauda returned in 1982 and won his third world title at the end of the season with a 0.5 point lead over his teammate Alain Prost . In the rain of Monaco, a young driver showed his talent for the first time: Ayrton Senna . But another, Stefan Bellof , showed his skills in an impressive way.

1985

Had Alain Prost lost in 1983 and 1984 the title by clumsiness and bad luck, he could finally triumph in 1985 and McLaren to be world champion. Alboreto in the Ferrari and Senna in the Lotus couldn't challenge him.

1986

What no driver had managed since Jack Brabham 1960, Prost achieved in 1986: successfully defending his title. He benefited from the bad luck of his rivals Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet in the Williams .

1987

What had already been suggested in the previous year became reality in 1987. The best team of the year was Williams with the Honda turbo. However, the drivers Piquet and Mansell were badly at odds. In the end, Piquet won his third world title.

1988

Engine manufacturer Honda had switched from Williams to McLaren , with clear results: 16 races and 15 McLaren victories. Thanks to the duel between arch-rivals Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna , the season became exciting. Gerhard Berger celebrated the only non-McLaren victory in a Ferrari in Monza, four weeks after the death of Enzo Ferrari .

1989

Turbo engines were banned because of their enormous power (over 1400 hp were rumored for training engines) and naturally aspirated engines were allowed to have 3500 cm³ from now on. Nevertheless, the duel between McLaren teammates Prost and Senna continued. In the penultimate race of the season, Prost Senna was involved in a collision and celebrated his third world title.

1990

Ferrari was hungry for success and had hired world champion Prost . Until the end, the World Cup between him and Senna on McLaren is open. Senna's revenge came at the penultimate race of the season, he pushed Prost off the track and, in addition to a severe warning, won the second world championship title.

1991

Ferrari was no longer competitive. Prost compared the driving behavior to that of a truck and was then dismissed by Ferrari. Ayrton Senna in the McLaren successfully defended his title in the Williams despite fierce resistance from Mansell . Legendary debut of Michael Schumacher in Spa.

1992

It was the year of the British Nigel Mansell in the superior Williams . Nine wins this season in 16 races are a record back then and gave him his long-earned title. For the first time in a long time, a young German also made it to the top of the podium: Michael Schumacher .

1993

For 1993 Prost had secured the number 1 seat in the superior Williams and nobody could dispute his fourth world title. At the end of the season he resigned with 4 titles and 51 wins, more than anyone else back then.

1994

Ayrton Senna in the Williams was the avowed favorite to win the 1994 world championship. Then the tragedy happened: He had a fatal accident in Imola, as did Roland Ratzenberger . However, it was not his team-mate Damon Hill who became world champion , but Michael Schumacher in the Benetton , despite a ban due to neglected black flags and illegal changes to the car.

1995

After the fiasco in Imola, the engine capacity was reduced to 3 liters. Schumacher in the Benetton , this year with a Renault engine against Damon Hill in the Williams , last year's duel continued. In the end, the German was able to celebrate his second title.

1996

17 years had passed since Ferrari 's last driver's title, now the world champion Schumacher was brought into the team. However, the car was too slow and unreliable, so that more than respectable successes were not possible. Williams dominated the season and Damon Hill was world champion ahead of Jacques Villeneuve .

1997

Damon Hill had switched to Arrows , and the way was clear for Williams pilot Jacques Villeneuve . A desperate attempt to ram this off the track in the fight for the title ended for Michael Schumacher with the loss of all points and the runner-up world title.

1998

After the withdrawal of the engine supplier Renault , Williams is unable to continue his previous performance, and Ferrari is still too weak. This is how the dominant team of the 1980s made a comeback in connection with the dominant engine of the 1930s and early 1950s, the McLaren - Mercedes-Benz combination was the best of 1998. Mika Häkkinen celebrated his first title.

1999

Finally Ferrari seemed strong enough to win the title again after a long wait with Schumacher when he broke his leg in an accident at Silverstone . Ferrari won the constructors' title, but the more prestigious driver's title went to Mika Häkkinen in the McLaren again . The Finn was not driving as well this year as last year. Not least because of this, Ferrari driver No. 2, the Northern Irishman Eddie Irvine , still had a World Championship chances until the last race.

2000

After 21 years the dry spell came to an end for Ferrari . Michael Schumacher won his third title, his first for the Italian team. Häkkinen had to be content with second place, the pictures of the red wigs of the Ferrari team went around the world.

2001

Traction control was reintroduced for the fourth round of the season . Thanks to his driving skills and the reliability of his Ferrari , Schumacher was able to defend the world championship brilliantly in the fifth race before the end of the season. His long-time rival Mika Häkkinen couldn't stand up to him, not least because of his fragile McLaren-Mercedes . Schumacher's superiority over Häkkinen is also evident in the training duels (15: 2 for Schumacher). In addition to the drivers 'championship, Ferrari also won the constructors ' championship .

2002

With the help of the incredible reliability of his Ferrari (17 podium places in as many races) Michael Schumacher completely dominated the 2002 season. With his fifth title, he set Fangio's record . Team mate Rubens Barrichello made Ferrari's dominance perfect with an overall rank of 2, 4 wins and 10 podium places, the team won exactly half of all the points to be awarded.

2003

An important rule change this season was a change in the point system (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1), which should improve second place and thus prevent a premature World Cup decision. The re-established Renault team returned to Formula 1. Young drivers like Kimi Räikkönen and Juan Pablo Montoya shook Michael Schumacher's throne vigorously . In the end, however, he just got the upper hand over Kimi Räikkönen and was able to achieve title number six.

2004

Had you expected before the season starts with a balanced season so dominant Michael Schumacher at Ferrari completely and won 13 of 18 races. Behind Ferrari, the new teams BAR and Renault prevailed ahead of Williams and McLaren in the constructors' championship.

2005

The world championship developed into a duel between the Spaniard Fernando Alonso in a Renault and the Finn Kimi Räikkönen in a McLaren , which the Spaniard ultimately won thanks mainly to the unreliability of the McLaren. Michael Schumacher , the dominator of recent years, was unable to intervene in the World Cup decision and only won one race, the scandalous Grand Prix in Indianapolis .

2006

The season got exciting from the middle of the year. At this point, Michael Schumacher started his race to catch up with Fernando Alonso. On September 10th, Schumacher announced his long-awaited resignation. In the penultimate race of the season, however, when the points were equal, he suffered an engine failure and thus his dream was over - Alonso was world champion for the second time.

2007

With Lewis Hamilton led long time a Formula 1 rookie in the championship ahead of his McLaren-Mercedes -Teamkollegen and reigning world champion Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari . It was not until the last race that Kimi Raikkonen, who had been third up to that point, took the lead and won his first world title with one point each over Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Ferrari managed to do better than McLaren-Mercedes in the last three races, but nevertheless to secure the constructors' championship, which was believed to be no longer attainable. Because of the espionage affair , McLaren-Mercedes were stripped of all points for the constructors' championship.

2008

As in the previous year, the season was dominated by McLaren - Mercedes , Ferrari and, for the first time, the Sauber team, which had been taken over by BMW . After several changes in the championship lead, the driver's decision was made in the last seconds of the last race, but this time for Lewis Hamilton , who made Felipe Massa runner-up in the last corner . As in 2007, Ferrari won the constructors' championship. BMW-Sauber came third. As the youngest winner of a Formula 1 Grand Prix made in Monza the then 21-year-old Sebastian Vettel in the low Toro Rosso 's attention.

2009

The field has been mixed up due to significantly changed technical regulations, the established teams only played a minor role, especially at the start of the season. The Honda Racing F1 , which was taken over by Ross Brawn and renamed Brawn GP , dominated the first half of the season, taking six wins in seven races. In the second half of the season, however, the team's performance was weaker and successes could only be celebrated irregularly. Nevertheless, Jenson Button led the world championship after every race and was world champion in the penultimate race. The German Sebastian Vettel came second in a Red Bull Racing car . Button's team-mate Rubens Barrichello was third . The season was particularly interesting because of its unpredictability. BMW Sauber and Toyota ended their Formula 1 involvement after the last race in Abu Dhabi .

2010

The most important rule changes were a refueling ban during the race and a major change in the points system (25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1). The latter in particular should have a significant impact over the course of the season. Brawn GP had been taken over by Mercedes GP after just one season . After decades, Mercedes returned to Formula 1 with its own team. The successes of the previous season could not be repeated, despite the commitment of Michael Schumacher , who celebrated his comeback in Formula 1 after three years. The season was dominated by five drivers: Fernando Alonso , Mark Webber , Sebastian Vettel , Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button . For a long time, all five drivers had a chance for the title. Even before the last race in Abu Dhabi , everyone but Button still had a chance of the title. Alonso had the best prospects at this point. In the end, however, Vettel became world champion, although he had not topped the overall standings for the entire season. He replaced Hamilton as the youngest world champion. Red Bull became constructors' world champions for the first time one race before the end of the season .

2011

The Drag Reduction System (DRS for short) was used for the first time in the 2011 season . Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull Racing team with second driver Mark Webber were able to defend their titles in a superior manner. Already after the Japanese Grand Prix (fifth last race of the season) Vettel had the world championship title, the constructors' title followed in the subsequent Korean Grand Prix. By defending his title, Vettel became the youngest double world champion of all time at the age of 24.

2012

The appearance of most of the vehicles in the 2012 season was characterized by the so-called nose hump, which was due to a lowering of the maximum height of the nose. Only the McLaren MP4-27 and the Marussia MR01 managed without this hump.

At the beginning of the season, the balance of power between the teams was not yet apparent. In the first seven races a different driver always won - a novelty in Formula 1. As the season progressed, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso emerged as title contenders.

Red Bull Racing secured the constructors 'championship with one race before the end , while the drivers' championship was not decided until the last race. Sebastian Vettel won it and, at the age of 25, became the youngest Formula 1 driver to win three titles.

2013

At the beginning of the season, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso were again the title contenders. From the summer break after the Hungarian Grand Prix, however, Vettel began a winning streak that lasted until the end of the season. He won nine times in a row, which replaced Michael Schumacher's record from the 2004 season, and drew level with Alberto Ascari, who also won nine times in a row, but across seasons. Vettel won 13 times this season, which equalized a record by Schumacher. Vettel secured his fourth championship title four races before the end of the season, and Red Bull Racing the constructors' title.

2014

The Briton Lewis Hamilton became world driver champion for the second time since 2008. With Mercedes, a German racing team won the constructors' world championship for the first time since the title was awarded in 1958.

2015

The Briton Lewis Hamilton became world drivers championship for the third time after 2008 and 2014, the Mercedes team for the second time after 2014 world constructors championship.

2016

The German Nico Rosberg became driver world champion for the first time, the Mercedes team for the third time after 2014 and 2015 constructor world champion.

2017

Lewis Hamilton became world driver champion for the fourth time, and the Mercedes team became world constructor champion for the fourth time in a row.

2018

Both Lewis Hamilton as driver world champion and the Mercedes team were able to defend their title from last year.