Top 10 F1 Drivers Ranked as Hamilton vs Schumacher GOAT Debate Settled

We've named and ranked our top 10 F1 drivers of all-time ahead of this weekend's United States Grand Prix.

The 2025 title race is being contested between McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at present, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen not yet out of contention.

A total of 22 points separates Piastri and Norris at the top of the standings, with Verstappen a further 41 back.

But with a sprint race this weekend and eight extra points on the cards for the winner, there could be some major gains made.

Should Verstappen manage to overhaul his deficit and secure a fifth consecutive Drivers' Championship, it would surely rank as his greatest achievement in the sport given his Red Bull's lack of performance compared to the McLarens at various stages this season.

But where does the Dutchman rank in our list of the 10 greatest F1 drivers of all-time? Let's take a look:

10. Sebastian Vettel

• Years active: 2007-2022
• Race wins: 53
• Championships: 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)

That Sebastian Vettel would one day become an F1 world champion was a given after he won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix for Toro Rosso, becoming the youngest F1 race winner in the process.

He had already agreed a contract to join Red Bull for 2009, and it took him just two seasons with the team to win his first title at the season-ending 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Three consecutive titles would follow, with the final race of the 2012 season seeing him escape a heavy first lap crash to finish sixth and collect the points he needed to finish ahead of Fernando Alonso.

Vettel moved to Ferrari in 2015, and although he regularly challenged Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, he wasn't able to add to his four Drivers' Championships.

He switched to Aston Martin in 2021, and retired at the end of the 2022 season.

9. Jackie Stewart

• Years active: 1965-1973
• Race wins: 27
• Championships: 3 (1969, 1971, 1973)

Jackie Stewart won three Drivers' Championship titles during his relatively brief stay in F1, but made a lasting impression on the sport that continues today.

The Scot won 27 of his 99 F1 races, but is just as revered for his tireless work off the track in improving safety standards across Formula 1.

Stewart initially planned to retire from F1 at the end of 1973 but, shortly after winning his third title with Tyrell, he immediately retired following the death of team-mate Francois Cevert in a practice crash.

8. Niki Lauda

• Years active: 1971-1985
• Race wins: 25
• Championships: 3 (1975, 1977, 1984)

Niki Lauda was already a Formula 1 great before his horrific crash at the Nordschleife in 1976 that caused severe burns to his head and lungs and left him with life-changing injuries.

That he missed just two races before making his comeback was testament to his unwavering determination, and although Lauda lost out on that year's title to James Hunt, he won back his crown in 1977.

He abruptly retired at the end of 1979, towards the end of a season that saw him fail to finish 11 out of 13 races, but returned with McLaren in 1982 and won his third title with them in 1984.

7. Juan Manuel Fangio

• Years active: 1950-1958
• Race wins: 24
• Championships: 5 (1951, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1957)

Juan Manuel Fangio was F1's first true great, winning 24 races and five championships between 1950 and 1958.

In the Argentine's day, the average age of the F1 grid was much higher - one of his team-mates, Luigi Fagioli, was 52 when he made his debut - and Fangio won his final title aged 46 in 1957.

He retired at the end of 1958, a season which started with the F1 legend being kidnapped in Cuba by two members of Fidel Castro's movement before being released.

6. Alain Prost

• Years active: 1980-1993
• Race wins: 51
• Championships: 4 (1985, 1986, 1989, 1993)

When you think of Alain Prost, his turbulent rivalry at McLaren with Ayrton Senna is probably one of the first things that come to mind.

In 1989, Prost won the championship with one race to go after a late collision with team-mate Senna, who won the race but was then controversially disqualified for cutting a corner to rejoin the circuit.

A year later, with Prost now at Ferrari, he and Senna were predictably involved in a first corner crash at the final race in Japan to hand the title to the McLaren driver.

But Prost had a long and successful career either side of his Senna rivalry, and ended his career at the end of 1993 with three Drivers' Championships, as well as an F1 record of 51 wins until it was toppled by Michael Schumacher.

5. Ayrton Senna

• Years active: 1984-1994
• Race wins: 41
• Championships: 3 (1988, 1990, 1991)

After Ayrton Senna was killed in a crash at Imola in 1994, Brazil's president declared three days of national mourning. Millions of Brazilians descended on to the streets on the day of his state funeral.

Senna trascended F1 in a way that not many drivers have ever been able to, with his character, aggressiveness on the track and barely believable feats of speed.

He inspired the likes of Lewis Hamilton to move into F1, and wet weather drives were his speciality - proven when he lapped the entire field except Damon Hill during a rain-soaked 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park.

He won three championships before moving in 1994 to Williams, who had the fastest car on the grid but Senna struggled with reliability issues in the opening two races.

Then came his death at Imola which changed Formula 1 forever.

4. Jim Clark

• Years active: 1960-1968
• Race wins: 25
• Championships: 2 (1963, 1965)

Like his fellow Scot Jackie Stewart, Clark only spent eight seasons in F1 but was killed in a crash during a non-championship race in 1968.

In both 1963 and 1965, Clark won every point that was available, with drivers back then able to remove their three worst-performing results from the standings.

He won 25 of the 45 Grands Prix that he finished, and was favourite to win a third title before his death in 1968 at the age of 32. Had that crash never happened, we could be talking about Clark using Hamilton and Schumacher numbers.

3. Max Verstappen

• Years active: 2015-
• Race wins: 67
• Championships: 4 (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)

When we compiled this list last year, Max Verstappen was in fifth and well on his way to winning his fourth Drivers' Championship.

Has much changed since then? Not really. Verstappen has just continued to achieve remarkable results, even while possessing a worse Red Bull car then he did for large parts of last season.

With Red Bull now back on the pace again, the Dutchman has two wins and a second place in his last three Grands Prix. He would be the youngest driver ever to win five titles, at the end of what would be his 11th season in the sport.

How much longer he decides to keep going in F1, amid his entry into endurance racing this year, remains to be seen.

2. Michael Schumacher

• Years active: 1991-2012
• Race wins: 91
• Championships: 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)

In his F1 career, Schumacher won seven titles, won 91 races and secured the most pole positions.

The German put Ferrari back on the map after a disappointing two decades without a title, ultimately winning on five occasions with the Italian team.

Schumacher retired in 2006, narrowly missing out on an eighth title to Renault's Fernando Alonso, but returned to the sport for three seasons with Mercedes before stepping away again.

In 2013, he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps, and hasn't been seen in public since.

1. Lewis Hamilton

• Years active: 2007-
• Race wins: 105
• Championships: 7 (2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

For many years, all the talk was about whether anyone could beat any of Michael Schumacher's three main records - titles, points or pole positions. Hamilton has overhauled two of the three, and equalled the other.

Entering the sport in 2007 as reigning champion Alonso's rookie team-mate at McLaren, Hamilton finished on the podium in each of the opening nine races of the season.

He was in prime position to secure his first crown but slid off into the pitlane gravel trap on worn out intermediate tyres in China, and suffered mechanical issues in Brazil.

In 2008, he overtook Toyota's Timo Glock at the final corner of the season to finish in fifth place and secure his first Drivers' Championship.

He left McLaren to join Mercedes for 2012 to start a new era, and won a further six titles after new engine regulations were introduced.

Now 40, Hamilton is with Ferrari and, despite a disappointing 2025 season thus far, will be hoping that the Scuderia can provide a more competitive car in line with the latest regulation changes next season.