Which F1 Driver Has The Most Wins in a Season?

Last updated: May 5, 2024 by Leon Marshal

Defining which driver has had the most wins in an F1 season, is a more complicated question than you might imagine.

You could simply list the drivers who have won the most races in a certain year, but that gives obvious bias to more recent seasons, when the number of events has swelled. There are now 22 races each year, compared to just seven when Formula One was launched.

So working out the percentage of races won in a season, is a fairer system. It does mean that some of the drivers from the early days of F1 have an advantage, in that was potentially easier to win a large percentage of a smaller number of races, rather than a larger one. Yet who is to say that the drivers from the fifties and sixties, would not have carried on winning races, had their seasons been longer?

It also makes for an interesting contrast between eras and showcases the greatness of the modern breed of driver, who have won a high percentage of races across a very long season and make it easy for the best betting sites to predict who will win. Here are our top 15 drivers with the most wins in an F1 season, based on the percentage that they won.

15. Alberto Ascari – 1953 – Ferrari

• Races Won: 5
• Total Races: 9
• Percentage Won: 55.56%

This was Alberto Ascari’s second consecutive World Drivers’ Championship. Along with Michael Schumacher, he is the only Ferrari driver to have won back-to-back championships. Ascari also remains the last Italian to have won the title. It was a less dominant campaign than the first time he won, as Ascari pipped Juan Manuel Fangio by 6.5 points.

In total, he would win five races, taking the chequered flag in Argentina, Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain and Switzerland. After securing his second title, Ascari became embroiled in a pay dispute with Ferrari, which saw him switch to Lancia. In the second race of the 1955 season at Monaco, Ascari crashed his car through the barriers and into the sea, before escaping with just a broken nose. Yet just days later, Ascari was test-driving a car at Monza and was involved in another crash, claiming his life at 36-years-old.

14. Nigel Mansell – 1992 – Williams

• Races Won: 9
• Total Races: 16
• Percentage Won: 56.25%

After three second-place finishes in the Drivers’ Championship, Mansell finally tasted glory in 1992. Driving the super-fast FW14B, the Brit got off to a superb start to the season, claiming maximum points in the first five races of the season, with wins in South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and San Marino.

Mansell got back on the winning trail with a victory at the French Grand Prix in the eighth race of the season, before winning the next two in Great Britain and Germany. A second place finish in Belgium secured the Drivers’ Championship, but Mansell added to his winning total with victory in the Portuguese Grand Prix. It was a superb season for the British favourite, who easily beat off opposition from top class drivers such as Ayrton Senna and the emerging Michael Schumacher.

13. Juan Manuel Fangio – 1955 – Mercedes

• Races Won: 4
• Total Races: 7
• Percentage Won: 57.14%

Born in 1911, Juan Manuel Fangio was something of a latecomer to Formula One, but he more than made up for lost time with his achievements. Making his debut in the first F1 season back in 1950, the Argentine would win his first Drivers’ Championship the following year, which would be one of five in total.

This included a run of four titles in a row between 1954 and 1957. The 1955 season was one of his best, with Fangio winning four races of the seven races that he competed in. After winning his home Grand Prix in Argentina, he then claimed victories in Belgium, Netherlands and Italy. It was Fangio’s last season with Mercedes and the constructors’ final campaign in F1, until they returned to the scene in 2010.

= 12. Lewis Hamilton -2014 – Mercedes

• Races Won: 11
• Total Races: 19
• Percentage Won: 57.89%

When Mercedes returned to F1 in 2010, it took until 2014 for them to win a Constructors’ Championship and a Drivers’ Championship. It was Lewis Hamilton that delivered the latter, in his second year with Mercedes, having placed fourth in his first season with them. It was his second Drivers’ Championship, which came six years after his first and it would start a spell of true dominance from the British racer.

After a retirement from the first race of the season in Australia, Hamilton then won in Malaysia, Bahrain, China and Spain. Then came a spell where he would only won one of the next six races, though it was a notable one on home turf at Silverstone. Hamilton finished strongly, winning six from the last seven, in Italy, Singapore, Japan, Russia, USA and Abu Dhabi, to finish 67 points ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg.

= 12. Sebastian Vettel – 2011 – Red Bull

• Races Won: 11
• Total Races: 19
• Percentage Won: 57.89%

In joint 11th place on our list is Sebastian Vettel, who also won 11 of the 19 races, back in 2011. It was the second of four consecutive Drivers’ Championships for the German. Though he had won the title in 2010, he only tasted victory in five races overall. This was a much more dominant season, which truly highlighted that he was the top driver at the time.

Vettel won five of the first six races, finishing first in Australia, Malaysia, Turkey, Spain and Monaco. His sixth win came at the European Grand Prix and then from race 12 onwards, he produced another burst of five wins from six, as he triumphed in Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea and India. At the age of 24-years and 98-days, he was the youngest ever driver to win a second Drivers’ Championship.

10. Jim Clark – 1965 – Lotus

• Races Won: 6
• Total Races: 10
• Percentage Won: 60%

Jim Clark’s second World Drivers’ Championship looks impressive enough based on the raw statistics, but the full story is even more impressive. The six wins in 1965, came in the first six races that he took part in that season. Clark came out on top in South Africa, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Netherlands and Germany.

The Scot did not take part in the Monaco Grand Prix, which was the second race of the season, as he was busy at the time, winning the Indianapolis 500. Such was his dominance at the start of 1965, that he comfortably finished above fellow Brits Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart, despite finishing 10th in Italy and retiring in the final two races of the season.

= 9. Lewis Hamilton – 2020 – Mercedes

• Races Won: 11
• Total Races: 17
• Percentage Won: 64.71%

The seven-time world champion’s best season in terms of wins, came in 2020, when he won 11 of the 17 races on offer. The season was truncated due to the Covid-19 crisis and was meant to feature 22 races, so it is possible that Hamilton may have won even more. After finishing fourth in his opening race of the season in Austria, Hamilton won the Styrian Grand Prix and then in Hungary and Great Britain.

Having won in Silverstone, Hamilton could only finish second in the 70th anniversary race at the same track, but bounced back by winning in Spain and Belgium. Another win in Tunisia followed, before a run of five in a row in Germany Portugal, Imola, Turkey and Bahrain. To date, it was the last title that Hamilton has won.

= 9. Michael Schumacher – 2002 – Ferrari

• Races Won: 11
• Total Races: 17
• Percentage Won: 64.71%

The only other man to have won seven Drivers’ Championships is Michael Schumacher and he had an identical record in 2002. It was the fifth of the German legend’s seven titles and his third for Ferrari, in a run of five straight championships between 2000 and 2004. In a spell of remarkable consistency, Schumacher would finish all 17 races and have a spot on the podium in all of them.

As well as his 11 wins, there were five second place finishes and one third place. The victories came in Austria, Brazil, San Marino, Spain, Austria, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and Japan. At the time the record for the most wins was nine, which he himself had achieved in 1995, 2000 and 2001, as had Nigel Mansell in 1992. The 67-point margin over his second-placed teammate Ruben Barrichello, was also a record.

7. Juan Manuel Fangio – 1954 – Maserati and Mercedes

• Races Won: 6
• Total Races: 9
• Percentage Won: 66.67%

Juan Manuel Fangio’s best season came in 1954 and it came with an unusual challenge. His first two F1 races of the season came with Maserati, before he switched to Mercedes. With Maserati, Fangio won in Argentina and Belgium. In-between came the Monaco Grand Prix, which Fangio did not enter, as he was competing in the Indy 500.

So in actual fact, Fangio won six out of the eight F1 races that he took part in during 1954, which gives him a win percentage of 75%, which would put him much further up this list. Once he made the switch to Mercedes, Fangio won four of the last six races, finishing first in France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

6. Max Verstappen – 2022 – Red Bull

• Races Won: 15
• Total Races: 22
• Percentage Won: 68.18%

After winning his first Drivers’ Championship in 2021, Max Verstappen began to flex his muscles. His defence did not get off the great start, with a win in Saudi Arabia sandwiched between retirements in Bahrain and Australia. Five wins from the next six races put Verstappen back on course, with victories in Imola, Miami, Spain, Azerbaijan and Canada.

The next burst of wins came from the 12th race onwards, as Verstappen took the chequered flag in nine of the last eleven contests. Those victories came in France, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Japan, USA, Mexico and Abu Dhabi. It says much for Verstappen’s ability that he won so many races, despite only starting on pole seven times and having the fastest lap on five occasions.

5. Sebastian Vettel – 2013 – Red Bull

• Races Won: 13
• Total Races: 19
• Percentage Won: 68.42%

Sebastian Vettel’s final Drivers’ Championship win in 2013, was his greatest, as he won 13 of the 19 races. In the first ten races, Vettel was solid rather than spectacular. He only won four of those races, coming out on top in Malaysia, Bahrain, Canada and Germany. Yet if there was any doubt that Vettel would win the title at that stage, he comprehensively answered that question in the second-half of the season.

Vettel would win the final nine races of the season. The Grand Prix races at Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea, Japan, India, Abu Dhabi, USA and Brazil, all saw him claim maximum points. This saw him break the record for the most consecutive wins in a single season. Vettel also set a then record, for the biggest win margin for the Drivers’ Championship, with 155 points.

4. Jim Clark – 1963 – Lotus

• Races Won: 7
• Total Races: 10
• Percentage Won: 70%

Jim Clark’s first World Drivers’ Championship was his most dominant performance, as he won seven of the ten races. Obviously, the small sample amount of total races could raise questions about the greatness of this achievement. To put it into context, no F1 driver won seven races in a season after Clark until 1984, when Alain Prost equalled the record. It took until 1988 for that number to be beaten, by Ayrton Senna with eight. Both Prost and Senna had 16 races to record their totals.

Clark would win the races in Belgium, Netherlands, France, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico and South Africa. Not only did that see him win the title, but it also played the major part in Lotus winning their first Constructors’ Championship.

3. Michael Schumacher – 2004 – Ferrari

• Races Won: 13
• Total Races: 18
• Percentage Won: 72.22%

Every F1 driver likes to get off to a fast start. In 2004, Michael Schumacher took that concept to another level. The German won 12 of the first 13 races of the season, with a retirement at Monaco being the only disappointment. Schumacher won at Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, San Marino, and Spain before Monaco. Then came wins in the European Grand Prix and at Canada, USA, France, Great Britain, Germany and Hungary.

A second place finish at the Belgian Grand Brix, secured the title in his 14th race. Schumacher beat his own previous record of 11 wins in a season. He also set a points record, with 148. The legend’s seventh and final Drivers’ Championship win, was also his greatest.

2. Alberto Ascari – 1952 – Ferrari

• Races Won: 6
• Total Races: 8
• Percentage Won: 75%

Of Alberto Ascari’s two consecutive World Drivers’ Championships, it was his first in 1952 that was statistically the stronger. While some naysayers could come to the conclusion that the small amount of races says that his record doesn’t mean much, there is a counter-argument that his record is actually better than the stats suggest. Ascari missed the first Grand Prix of the season in Switzerland because he was qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, which at the time formed part of the F1 season, even though it largely featured drivers from outside the circuit who did not normally compete in Formula One.

With Ascari failing to finish in the Indy 500, the final six F1 races of the season, were essentially also his first six races. He won every won of them, triumphing in Belgium, France, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands and Italy.

1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull

• Races Won: 19
• Total Races: 22
• Percentage Won: 86.36%

The most recent Formula One season, provided the most dominant display by a driver that the motor racing world has ever witnessed. No matter what criteria that you judge Max Verstappen’s performance in 2023 upon, he comes out on top. No driver has ever come even close to winning 19 races in a season, while his win percentage of 86.36% is also far better than that of any driver in history.

It is quicker to list the races Verstappen didn’t win, which were second placed finishes in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, along with a fifth placed finish in Singapore. For the record, the 19 wins came in Bahrain, Australia, Miami, Monaco, Spain, Canada, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Qatar, USA, Mexico, Sao Paulo, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi. It was Verstappen’s third consecutive Drivers’ Championship and he also broke records for the most podium finishes (22), most consecutive wins (ten) and most points (575).