In 1950 it is Italian Giuseppe Farina who takes the first world title for Alfa Romeo, narrowly beating teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. The number two, however, will go down in the history books as one of the largest that Formula 1 has known to this day. After his defeat Fangio wins the world title in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957. A record that was not broken until 2003 (45 years later) by Michael Schumacher.
Juan Manuel Fangio
After Fangio, who wins for the Italian Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati and also for the German Mercedes, the British emerge. The British domination starts in 1959 when the Australian Jack Brabham takes the world title for the British team Cooper and it only ends in 2000, when Schumacher puts an end to the domination of the British teams. Between 1959 and 1999, six titles didn’t go to a British race team, while the other 35 titles did went to the British teams.
Formula 1 becomes a British affair
In addition to British teams such as Cooper, Brabham, BRM, Lotus, Tyrrell, McLaren and Williams, Formula 1 also grosses in British world champions. It's the time of Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, Jim Clark and James Hunt where it's a prize for the English almost every year, but also under the leadership of Stirling Moss, the British are quickly throwing high praise for the Formula 1 championship.
Meanwhile, Formula 1 is also a inspiring environment for the technicians in the automotive industry. From engines in the front of the car, engineers in F1 quickly manage to get engines to the centre of the car. The chassis was first made of aluminium in 1962 and Lotus impresses with the ground-effect cars in the 1970s. These cars which are sucked to the track which gave them tremendous amounts of downforce which allowed them to go through the corners like a rocket.
The power of Bernie Ecclestone
Based on Bernie Ecclestone, Formula 1 is also growing financially. In 1978, Ecclestone took over as president of Formula 1 and made circuits pay more to organize a race. Participating or staying away was the motto of Ecclestone, who was very hard in negotiations with circuits and teams. Formula 1 is growing under Ecclestone into a multi-billion dollar business, as we know it today.
Meanwhile, a lot has changed on the track. Williams and McLaren are in the competition, but it's other nationalities that are running away with the driver's title. However, after Nelson Piquet, Niki Lauda and Keke Rosberg, a storm is blowing up that will go down in the books as the greatest rivalry of all time: Alain Prost versus Ayrton Senna.
Senna versus Prost
Prost is the established name with two world titles in its pocket and Senna is the great talent and huge figurehead for the sport. Millions of fans all over the world watch the battles between the two, which ended mainly in 1989 and 1990. In the first edition Senna is disqualified after a disputable duel with Prost in which the Frenchman is held over by the French boss at the FIA and in 1990 the incident in which Senna deliberately crashes with Prost, so that he would become world champion.
When Prost signed for Williams in 1993, he had a clause included in his contract that his teammate could not be Senna. Williams has by far the best car and gives Prost his fourth and final title. Senna comes to Williams the following year but crashed in the fourth race during the Grand Prix of San Marino, which tragically resulted in his death.
The death of Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, who died the same weekend, marks a turning point in Formula 1. Formula 1 safety is finally taken more seriously and since the death of Senna and Ratzenberger, only Jules Bianchi was killed in a Formula 1 race in 2015.
The breakthrough of Michael Schumacher
In 1994, however, a great talent emerged: Michael Schumacher. The German will drive all the records from the history books. The German is far ahead of his time and is fitter and sharper than any driver ever. He first wins two titles at Benetton, then takes the decayed Ferrari to the top with a self-constituted management with Jean Todt and Ross Brawn.
Schumacher won five world titles at Ferrari between 2000 and 2004. The Formula 1 team thus takes most of the titles in a row, but above all Schumacher is the first with seven titles to set the record for Juan Manuel Fangio. Ferrari's supremacy continues, until a new talent emerges in 2005. Fernando Alonso wins the title twice with the old team of Schumacher (Renault that used to be Benetton), after which Schumacher retires at the end of 2006.
Hamilton on the hunt for Schumacher
After Schumacher, however, it is not Alonso who is there to take the throne, until his teammate debuted in 2007: Lewis Hamilton. The Brit first wins a title with McLaren, then six titles with Mercedes. Hamilton tried to beat Schumacher, but lost his eighth World Championship to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the final race in the 2021 season. This marked a changing of the guard. Verstappen is now a three-time World Champion.
Formula 1 in 2023
The 2023 Formula 1 World Championship is dominated by Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen. During the winter test in Bahrain it became clear that Adrian Newey's RB19 was one step better than its predecessor as there was little competition for the two Red Bull drivers. Max Verstappen took pole for the Bahrain Grand Prix and also won the first race of the season. Sergio Perez came second.
It was a foreshadow for the rest of the season. Red Bull Racing won the first 14 Grands Prix of the season. 12 of them were won by Verstappen, two by Perez. The Mexican had hopes of competing for the world title after four races, but saw the gap widening after his victory in Azerbaijan.
Verstappen managed to win ten Grands Prix in a row, from the Grand Prix of Miami to the Grand Prix of Italy. With those ten victories in a row, Verstappen broke Sebastian Vettel's record in Monza. After breaking the record, Red Bull Racing lost a race for the first time in 2023. The Singapore Grand Prix was won by Carlos Sainz. Not a single Red Bull finished on the podium. Verstappen finished fourth, behind Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
After the off-weekend in Singapore, Verstappen happily continued to achieve victories. Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix and thus secured the world constructors' title for Red Bull Racing. The Austrian racing team thus achieved the sixth world title in its history. Verstappen won his third world title a race weekend later in Qatar. Verstappen was officially world champion after the sprint race on Saturday in Qatar. Verstappen finished second in that sprint race, behind Oscar Piastri. After a party, Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen continued his winning streak. Verstappen won the sprint race on Saturday in the United States. At the Circuit of the Americas, Verstappen started the. Grand Prix from sixth and worked his way to the front with a good strategy. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton felt they could've won the event but had to settle for P2. That was later removed from them due to a disqualification.
Sergio Perez crashed out of the Mexican Grand Prix at the first corner. Ferrari couldn't live with the pace of Verstappen, which meant the Dutchman won his 16th race of the year. But the most interesting storyline from the Mexican Grand Prix was a mystery paddock rumour potentially involving the future of Fernando Alonso.
