The 2025 F1 season begins on the weekend of March 14th, and the drivers will be hoping to try and take the title away from Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman won his fourth Drivers’ Championship last year, and it was his fourth title in a row. The Red Bull ace moved up to joint-third place in terms of total World Drivers’ Championship titles, tied with Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel, and surpassing the likes of Ayrton Senna, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Jack Brabham and Nelson Piquet.
In light of the new season starting soon, we worked on ranking all F1 drivers to date based on their results and accounting for the changes in the points system over the years. Considering we have three drivers on the grid (Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso) who have won multiple World Drivers’ Championships, we wanted to see how they stack up against all F1 drivers to date.
Points distribution methodology
To create this leaderboard, we made adjustments to the point scoring system to attain uniform points distribution. F1 scoring systems have changed over the years, and we have applied the current points scoring system to Grand Prix’s held to date.
Take the 2007 Canadian GP as an example. Hamilton won the race, putting 10 points on board in the Drivers’ Championship. Unlike today, where the top 10 finishers are awarded points, only the top six were awarded points then. So, to be fair to drivers of this era, in our analysis, we awarded points to the top 10 from this race, as per today’s scoring standard – 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 and an additional point for the fastest lap.
This was done for all races which used a different scoring system from the one in use today and we then produced the leaderboard.
Lewis Hamilton Is The Most Prolific Driver Of All Time
Ferrari’s newest driver, Lewis Hamilton, is considered by many to be the greatest driver of all time, and in our leaderboard, he is the most prolific. With 5182 points from 356 races, the British superstar towers above everyone else.
Hamilton’s total is over 1000 points more than that of second-placed Michael Schumacher and nearly 2000 more than third-placed Sebastian Vettel.
Verstappen, to his credit, is already fifth in this list and while the 2024 season was challenging, he is in pole position to surpass Fernando Alonso’s point total in 2025.
Prost and Senna also feature in the top 10, with the rival pair positioned at seventh and ninth place respectively. Senna’s compatriot and Schumacher’s perennial running mate Rubens Barrichello is sandwiched between the two rivals. Interestingly, in the top 10, Barrichello is the only one to have not won a World Drivers’ Championship.
Jenson Button rounds up the top 10 with 1876 points, edging ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Among drivers currently on the 2025 grid who are not Hamilton, Verstappen or Alonso, Charles LeClerc is the highest placed at 21st, followed closely by former teammate Carlos Sainz in 23rd.
Most F1 Podium Finishes
Hamilton also leads the way when it comes to podiums, with 202 podium finishes from 356 races. That number would have likely been higher had he had a more competitive car at Mercedes over the last three years.
Hamilton’s podium percentage is only surpassed by Luigi Fagioli and Juan Manuel Fangio. Fagioli comes with a caveat as he only raced 10 times in F1, amassing seven podiums. Fangio, meanwhile, achieved a podium finish in nearly 59 percent of his 63 races in motor racing’s premier class.
Verstappen’s podium percentage is also very strong - the Dutchman has gotten a podium in 54 per cent of his races so far.
Most Wins, Second Places And Third Places
Hamilton rules the roost when it comes to wins and second place finishes, with 105 wins and 57 second place finishes from 356 races. Schumacher is second in the all-time win list with 91, and Verstappen is already third with 61 wins.
Verstappen’s win percentage is better than Hamilton’s but he’s still behind when it comes to drivers with over 10 races. Fangio’s 41.27 win percentage is the best among said drivers, followed by Jim Clark and Alberto Ascari.
