10 Most Successful Formula One Drivers Of All Time

5. Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton
By Richard Paquet (https://www.flickr.com/photos/rpaquet/18495848738) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Championships: 3

Wins: 56

Poles: 65

Much like his hero Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton is a polarising figure. Some see him as a brilliant racing driver on the level of the illustrious company he keeps on this list. Others struggle to see past the playboy image he has cultivated in recent years. Nevertheless, his record speaks for itself.

Second only to one other man on this list in terms of race wins, Lewis has taken competitive cars and turned them into dominant cars and taken non-competitive cars and turned them into race winners. A podium, race win and very nearly the World Championship in his debut season, Lewis has always been competitive. His battle with the defending double World Champion Fernando Alonso in his first season showed the type of character he is. His first and second World Championships are spread out over six years, yet in that time he was always a race winner. His dominance in the Mercedes team from 2014 was the reward for one of the best racing drivers of his generation.

If Lewis can keep the fire going for a few more seasons, we may have to re-write this list with him at the top, though he will have some competition from...

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