F1 has seen incredible racing action over the decades, but few seasons can match the crowd of drama fans in 2021.
The title rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen is already among the biggest the sport has ever seen, including Senna / Prost, Hunt / Lauda and Schumacher / Hill.
And apart from the battle at the front, there was a catalog of epic moments that F1 fans will remember for a long time.
The amount of exciting action and drama has led many to refer to the 2021 season as one of the greatest the sport has ever seen.
The 2021 title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen was tough – but where is it one of the best F1 seasons of all time?
(
Image:
Formula 1 via Getty Images)
But where exactly is it one of the most epic seasons in F1 history?
Here at Mirror Sport we decided exactly that:
5. 2007 (won by Kimi Raikkonen)
Kimi Raikkonen defeated Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in the 2007 drivers’ title
(
Image:
REUTERS)
After Fernando Alonso had beaten the title in 2006, this was the first Formula 1 season in 16 years in which the legendary Michael Schumacher was not at the start.
But whatever, because a new generation of racing drivers shaped the sport, led by a young upstart named Hamilton, who made his debut in the premier class of motorsport.
The Brit went on to see what was possibly the greatest rookie season in the history of the sport when he instantly challenged McLaren teammate and reigning two-time champ Alonso for the title despite being a junior driver.
Things got sour between the two, but it was Hamilton who got the upper hand until a heartbreaking DNF in China and gearbox problems in the Brazil final caused his lead to be eroded by pursuers.
Alonso drew level with his rival at the end of the last race, but both were beaten to the title by Kimi Raikkonen – the Finn had used the McLaren internal battle to win the championship with just one point with his defeated Ferrari.
If ever there was a brutal example of F1 being a team sport, it was it.
4. 1982 (won by Keke Rosberg)
Williams F1 boss Frank Williams with 1982 champion Keke Rosberg
(
Image:
Daily record)
It was one of the most tragic seasons in F1 history, as both Gilles Villeneuve and Riccardo Paletti died in accidents while Didier Pironi sustained an injury that would end his career in another incident.
But with the racing action it was remarkable how open and even the title race was all year round.
There were 11 different race winners, representing seven different teams, showing how competitive the 1982 season was – for a while it seemed like everyone could win.
Alain Prost won the first two races but did not finish first again this year, while drivers like Niki Lauda, Riccardo Patrese and Nelson Piquet were also winners in this exciting season.
Toto Wolff calls for team bosses to be banned from speaking to race directors after Mick Schumacher took on the Ferrari role in Abu Dhabi as the star tries to follow in his famous father’s footsteps
In the end, however, it appeared to be a fight between Pironi, John Watson and Keke Rosberg.
Pironi’s injury put him out of the race and Watson couldn’t do enough in the last two races to overtake the Finn, who won his first and only world title.
Incredibly, Rosberg – the father of 2016 champion Nico – had only won one race during the entire season, the Swiss Grand Prix, which was actually held in France, but it was his consistency in points racing that led him to F1 fame.
3rd 1976 (won by James Hunt)
James Hunt and Niki Lauda were the protagonists in the exciting title race of 1976
(
Image:
S&G and Barratts / EMPICS Sport)
So good that they made a movie about it, the intense rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda made this one of the most memorable years in motorsport.
Ron Howard’s 2012 film Rush may be a fun flick, but it doesn’t quite do the fight justice – but to be fair, the way the drama played out was enough on its own for a Hollywood screenplay .
Lauda had taken control of the championship early on, won four of the first six races and finished second in the other two to give the impression that the Austrian’s world title was a matter of course.
Hunt’s win in France – a race that Lauda didn’t finish – reduced the gap a bit, but the Austrian recovered, won his fifth race of the season at Brands Hatch and scored twice as many points as his closest competitor.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen face big changes as the FIA changes the rules again Mick Schumacher hit a £ 4m repair bill when he was named F1 crash king
Then came the turning point. Lauda’s fiery accident at the Nürburgring resulted in severe burns and inhalation of toxic gases that sent him into a coma and made doctors believe he would not survive.
Amazingly, he not only prevailed, but was back in racing six weeks later after missing just two Grand Prix.
His ordeal had made him more cautious, however, and he decided to abandon the final race of the season after deciding that the torrential rain made conditions too dangerous for him and the fire made him unable to blink.
It left the door open for Hunt to claim the title by a point after winning three of the last five races and recovering from a forced pit stop due to tire blisters on the final day to finish third.
2. 2021 (won by Max Verstappen)
Max Verstappen won the title in controversial circumstances against Lewis Hamilton in 2021
(
Image:
Pool via REUTERS)
Six different race winners, a hard-fought constructors’ battle and a gigantic title fight ensure that the 2021 season is at the top of our list to be classified as the second best of all time.
The hybrid era was largely boring at the top, a Mercedes victory was a matter of course every year – the Silver Arrows created by far the best car in the first hybrid season and have developed well enough to maintain their lead in the following seasons to claim.
But this year Red Bull was able to really keep up again and in Max Verstappen they had the superstar driver they needed to get the most out of their car and lead the battle to Mercedes.
In the end, the German team did enough to maintain its design engineer title – but it was a much more closely fought competition than in previous years.
Max Verstappen admits he was leaving Formula 1 because Red Bull engineer George Russell Lewis Hamilton warned about Jenson Button’s Mercedes partnership
However, Lewis Hamilton’s dominance was ended by Verstappen, who became the first non-Mercedes racing driver to win the drivers’ championship since 2013.
That was after a bad-tempered exchange of blows between the two, with high-profile falls at Silverstone and Monza, anger over a bizarre contact in Saudi Arabia and of course after this dramatic and controversial overtaking maneuver on the last lap in Abu Dhabi.
And with all that, it’s easy to forget that this was in the same season as Esteban Ocon’s shock victory in Hungary, George Russell’s first podium in the rain-soaked farce in Spa and McLaren’s historic double victory as Daniel Ricciardo in front of Lando Norris in Italy.
What a year!
1. 2012 (won by Sebastian Vettel)
The star-studded 2012 F1 season was finally led by Sebastian Vettel. won
(
Image:
X02765)
If one season of F1 action can beat what we’ve all just seen this year, it was the thoroughly insane 2012 campaign.
There were six world champions and a few others who had come close in the past, which meant the field was crammed with stars with real racing pedigrees and the potential to win races.
That point was driven home in the first seven races, all of which were won by different drivers. Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, Pastor Maldonado, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton all tasted the victory.
Maldonado’s win was the most spectacular and surprising as he started from pole for the first time and then crossed the finish line first before finishing just once over eighth for the rest of the year. It remains Williams’ only race win since 2004.
Mercedes ‘Identifies Two Potential Lewis Hamilton Spares’ When British Legend Retires Nicholas Latifi apologizes to the team after the Abu Dhabi crash sparked controversial final lap drama
Alonso seemed to have taken control of the title race, but then Vettel won four races in a row and took the lead before the Brazil final.
He crashed on the first lap and drove last, but a monster drive took his damaged Red Bull from last to sixth place, enough to win his third straight title and become the youngest ever three-time world champion at age 25 .
Aside from the title race, there were Hamilton’s reliability problems, Michael Schumacher’s problems in the last season of his Mercedes comeback and Lotus’ surprising performances, led by Kimi Raikkonen’s consistent results.
2012 was really tough.
Continue reading
David Coulthard’s X-rated message to Max Verstappen after the controversial F1 title triumph
Continue reading
Lewis Hamilton warned that he may have missed his chance to outperform Michael Schumacher
