Top 10: drivers never to win the world title
F1 has crowned 33 world champions since 1950, but many talented drivers have missed out. here are 10 of the best
Well over 700 drivers have started a Formula 1 race and it's safe to assume that all of them entered the sport with the same goal in mind: win the world title. Of course the majority will never fulfil that dream whether that's down to a lack of talent or not being in the right place at the right time. Here we list the top 10 drivers who deserved at least one title in their career.
A full list of honourable mentions would take forever, but Clay Regazzoni, Juan Pablo Montoya, Gerhard Berger, Felipe Massa and Francois Cevert were particularly unlucky to miss out.
10) Bruce McLaren
Bruce McLaren's legacy will forever be strong in F1 thanks to the hugely successful team that he created, however Bruce himself was rather unlucky to never win a world title.
McLaren came into the sport at a very early age and in 1959 became the youngest winner of a Grand Prix (outside the Indy 500). He would go on to finish second in 1960 and then third in both 1962 and 1969 but never quite got over the line to win a championship.
The list of teammates he was able to beat in his years of racing is further justification that he was unlucky to miss out on a title. He beat a total of three world champions: three-time champ Jack Brabham in 1961, Phil Hill in 1964 and compatriot Denny Hulme in 1968.
9) Rubens Barrichello
322 races over 19 years brought about 11 career victories, 68 podiums and 658 points. Unfortunately for the Brazilian though, no world championship. Rubens is best known in F1 for playing the role of second driver to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari. Whilst this enabled him to achieve second and third in the championship with the team, his chances of getting a title were always going to be slim.
After leaving Ferrari his chances became a lot more limited, however he was given a chance late in his career in a competitive car with Brawn. His teammate on this occasion was Jenson Button who got off to a storming start meaning Barrichello was playing catch-up for the whole season.
8) David Coulthard
With 13 wins to his name, 'DC' is second on the list of wins by drivers who have never won the world title. His consistency is something that has to be noted as he finished 3rd in the championship on four occasions between 1995 and 2000.
His best chance came with McLaren where he supported Mika Hakkinen on his way to consecutive titles, but by the time he became the team's number one driver in 2002, the Ferrari had become the superior car on the grid.
7) Jackie Ickx
Whilst many drivers have to wait years for their big break in F1, Jackie Ickx got his relatively early in his career. After just a few years, Ickx found himself racing in a Brabham for the 1969 season where he finished second (albeit a distant second to Jackie Stewart), this persuaded Ferrari to sign the Belgian for the 1970 season where he would have the best chance of his career.
1970 saw Jochen Rindt posthumously win the title after the Austrian had dominated early races before tragically being killed at the Italian Grand Prix, this gave Ickx 4 races to win the title, however he ended up 5 points short. After this he would only win another 2 races in his career.
6) Dan Gurney
Dan Gurney may well be the most under appreciated driver in F1's history. The American started his career at Ferrari where he raced four times, but on each occasion he beat all of his teammates including 61' champ Phil Hill.
His next venture was Porsche, where he vastly outperformed the ability of the car scoring almost all of the team's points including a brilliant win at the 1962 French Grand Prix. After this, he joined another underperforming team in Brabham. He would race there for three years, beating Brabham on all three occasions. Gurney would then leave the team after 1965, before Brabham won the title for the team in 1966.
Perhaps the best acknowledgement of his talent came from Jim Clark's father at his son's funeral when he revealed that Jim only truly feared one competitor. Who was it? Not Hill, not Surtees, not Brabham. It was Dan Gurney.
5) Tony Brooks
The career of Tony Brooks was short (he started just 38 races), but he won 6 of them and was close to championship glory in 1958 and even more so in 1959.
Brooks finished third in 1958 and he was able to carry this momentum forward going into 1959. He won both the French and German Grand Prix in the season, but was ultimately undone by a number of retirements in the year. Despite this he still had a chance going into the last race of the season, but a 3rd place finish was not enough as the more consistent Brabham came through for his first world title.
Brooks retired in 1961 at the age of just 29, perhaps another world title opportunity would've arose if he stuck around a few more years.
4) Gilles Villeneuve
One of the most naturally talented drivers to ever grace a Formula 1 circuit. Villeneuve only started in Formula 1 at the age of 27 but adapted very quickly, this was picked up on by Ferrari and they snapped him up to partner Jody Scheckter. He agonisingly missed out on the title in '79 by just four points as his teammate claimed glory.
The seasons following this saw Ferrari's car fall back on the rest of the grid, however this didn't stop Villeneuve from claiming two remarkable wins in 1981. Ferrari seemed to catch back up in 1982, and Villeneuve may well have pushed for the title, unfortunately we will never know as Gilles sadly died at Zolder qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.
3) Carlos Reutemann
Across 10 seasons, Reutemann was only able to claim six pole positions, whilst this may show his one lap pace wasn't quite there in comparison to other drivers of his time, it also shows his consistency and how brilliant his race pace was. Reutemann was successful everywhere he went, he secured third place in the championship with three different teams: Brabham in 1975, Ferrari in 1978 and Williams in 1980.
1981 was the biggest chance though, the season was a rather open one with four drivers finishing within 7 points of eventual winner Nelson Piquet. Reutemann was the closest though, as he lost out by just one point. 'Lole' actually led going into the last race of the year but an 8th place finish saw him lose the title by the smallest of margins.
Reutemann shockingly retired in 1982 due to political tension brought about from The Falklands War, his teammate Keke Rosberg went on to lift the title so it's not a stretch to think Reutemann may have won it instead.
2) Ronnie Peterson
Some people were born to race, Ronnie Peterson is definitely amongst that group. Seen by many as the naturally quickest guy of the 70s, Peterson came close to winning the title in 1971 and 1973. Often it was not his pace that was in question, instead it was the reliability of the cars he was in.
This remained a trouble for Peterson right through until 1978 where he found himself in a championship scrap with Mario Andretti, despite retiring more often he was still in contention with a few races to go. As with a few others on this list though, Peterson was involved in a tragic accident that resulted in his death with just three races to go in the season. There's no doubt in my mind, Peterson had the talent to win at least one world title.
1) Sir Stirling Moss
It really couldn't be anyone else. Stirling Moss is commonly known as the greatest to never win the title, and for good reason. Moss accumulated 16 wins, which to this day is more than anyone that has never held the title. The fact that Moss achieved this in just 67 races is truly remarkable.
In a seven season stretch between 1955 and 1961, he finished runner-up on three occasions and third on four occasions. This despite the fact that he was often not in the best car. A career-ending incident in 1962 confirmed that he would end his career without a world title. But you won't find many that believe he isn't one of the greatest drivers in F1's history.
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Comments (27)
Felipe Massa. 2008, 1 point from history. For 2 turns he was F1 World Champion.
He was very unlucky not to win and was right on the cusp of my top 10, but over an entire career I just about preferred the 10 I have
Mark Webber would be in there for me also though Montoya was never in the right car at the right time, Dont understand Rubens being on the list TBH. biggest two missing is Elio de Angelis and Francois Cevert both would have more than likely won or challenged if it wasn't for there untimely deaths
Be interesting to see how this compares... lol...: drivetribe.com/p/the-top-20-f1-gp-drivers-who-did-HEqM6QW_S_qCwvyniOz6vw?iid=EL1x5JnmRwSzwApzVKRwyA#comments
Chris Amon?
What about Riki Patrese? He had one of the longest F1 careers but never won a World Title (arrived second in 1990 if I remember correctly)
Another good shout. He's definitely up there. Considered a large number of names so selecting 10 was tough.