F1 drivers who have won multiple championships
Discussion
Been doing a bit of counting up, and I reckon there have been 17 drivers (of whom 7 were British) who (up to now) have won the Formula 1 WDC just once:
Farina
Hawthorn
Hill P
Surtees
Hulme
Rindt
Andretti
Hunt
Scheckter
Jones
Rosberg K
Mansell
Hill D
Villeneuve
Raikkonen
Hamilton
Button
On the other hand there have been 15 drivers, including 3 Brits, who have won the WDC more than once:
Fangio (5)
Ascari (2)
Brabham (3)
Hill G (2)
Clarke (2)
Stewart (3)
Fittipaldi (2)
Lauda (3)
Piquet (3)
Prost (4)
Senna (3)
Schumacher (7)
Hakkinnen (2)
Alonso (2)
Vettel (4)
We're about to find out whether today's result will change that from 17/15 to 16/16, or to 18/15.
Farina
Hawthorn
Hill P
Surtees
Hulme
Rindt
Andretti
Hunt
Scheckter
Jones
Rosberg K
Mansell
Hill D
Villeneuve
Raikkonen
Hamilton
Button
On the other hand there have been 15 drivers, including 3 Brits, who have won the WDC more than once:
Fangio (5)
Ascari (2)
Brabham (3)
Hill G (2)
Clarke (2)
Stewart (3)
Fittipaldi (2)
Lauda (3)
Piquet (3)
Prost (4)
Senna (3)
Schumacher (7)
Hakkinnen (2)
Alonso (2)
Vettel (4)
We're about to find out whether today's result will change that from 17/15 to 16/16, or to 18/15.
The governing body ran the World Drivers Championship to Formula 2 rules in 1952 and 1953, the years Ascari won the championship.
The two year hiatus in F1 happened because so many teams dropped out of F1 at the end of the 51 season there simply weren't enough competitive teams (only Ferrari and BRM had meaningful competitive cars available). It was F1's first crisis and at the time the expedient solution was to drop the category whilst a new set of more affordable F1 regulations were devised.
A new set of F1 rules were announced for the 1954 season and F1 has continued unbroken since 1954 - although the F1 regulations have changed continuously over the decades since.
It just shows that the type of problems that are affecting the smaller F1 teams today have happened in the past.
The two year hiatus in F1 happened because so many teams dropped out of F1 at the end of the 51 season there simply weren't enough competitive teams (only Ferrari and BRM had meaningful competitive cars available). It was F1's first crisis and at the time the expedient solution was to drop the category whilst a new set of more affordable F1 regulations were devised.
A new set of F1 rules were announced for the 1954 season and F1 has continued unbroken since 1954 - although the F1 regulations have changed continuously over the decades since.
It just shows that the type of problems that are affecting the smaller F1 teams today have happened in the past.
Eric Mc said:
I could point out that Ascari was never a Formula 1 World Champion - but I won't 
Of course you are quite right, Eric, I should have been a bit more accurate in my wording.It's interesting that (prior to 2014) there were 64 championship years, and 32 different champs - an average of precisely 2 championships per champ.
Before World War 2 there was a European Championship for Drivers. This was totted up using Grand Prix wins and other events such as hill climbs. In those days, top GP teams also took part in hill climbs. I know that Rudolf Caracciola was a European Champion at least once but I've never seen a definitive list of who won this championship or even how many pre-war Championships there were.
This European Championship was the precursor of the post war World Championship but is largely forgotten now.
Of course, pre-World War 2 it would have been very difficult to host a true World Championship because of the difficulty, time and expense involved in transporting teams and their cars and equipment to foreign countries, especially North or South America (which already had very active motor racing scenes of their own).
One thing I do hate is the total neglect of pre World Driver's Championship Grand Prix racing. It's like it never existed - even though there were Grand Prix races held from 1906 right through to 1949 (with gaps for the two world wars, of course).
This European Championship was the precursor of the post war World Championship but is largely forgotten now.
Of course, pre-World War 2 it would have been very difficult to host a true World Championship because of the difficulty, time and expense involved in transporting teams and their cars and equipment to foreign countries, especially North or South America (which already had very active motor racing scenes of their own).
One thing I do hate is the total neglect of pre World Driver's Championship Grand Prix racing. It's like it never existed - even though there were Grand Prix races held from 1906 right through to 1949 (with gaps for the two world wars, of course).
Eric Mc said:
Before World War 2 there was a European Championship for Drivers. This was totted up using Grand Prix wins and other events such as hill climbs. In those days, top GP teams also took part in hill climbs. I know that Rudolf Caracciola was a European Champion at least once but I've never seen a definitive list of who won this championship or even how many pre-war Championships there were.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Championship...Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff