Top 15 Formula 1 Single Season Performances of All-Time

Over the 62 seasons in Formula 1 history, there have been fiercely fought championships, dead years and complete runaways which could be very fun if your driver/team was the runner.  But beneath those championships, there were times drivers completely dominated, even if the scoreboard didn’t say so. 

In my book, focused on deleting luck from Formula 1 history as much as possible, I went to find the most powerful seasons by a driver.  This idea of looking at the best seasons was given to me after I compared Sebastian Vettel’s first three years (2008-2010) to Ayrton Senna’s first three years (1984-1986), and saw that they were very similar. 

I’m writing the book to hopefully get a better glimpse than I or anyone can at this point, to find out who the greatest driver of all-time really was, and answer questions about why Clark and Senna are believed to be better than Schumacher and Prost by experts, even if Clark and Senna’s plain statistics don’t say they are. 

In this slideshow, you will get a glimpse into what I am doing with the book.  You will see "Fair Starts" versus "Starts," by which the wins, podiums and points will be averaged by.  I've gone through all the seasons and read through the occurrences of every race to come up with this stat.  

For example, for Sebastian Vettel's 2011 season, you will see 18 starts versus 19, since he never got the chance to get a win/podium/points at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.  You will see a similar situation on poles and fastest laps.  I came up with the positioning of the 15 years through a massive equation that puts many factors together at varying degrees.      

This article will feature two aspects that you wouldn’t have expected initially.  I will only say right now that they involve Jim Clark and Alberto Ascari.  

Honorary Mention No. 3: Jack Brabham, 1960

Starts: 8  

Wins: 5

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 7.81  

Poles: 3 of 8 possible 

Podiums: 5  

Fastest Laps: 3 of 8 possible 

Hat Tricks: 2      

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 1    

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0  

The fastest lap in the quad trick was a three-way tie at Spa with Innes Ireland and Phil Hill, but we will give it to him, as the technology was quite horrible in those days.  Who knows, out of the three men in the tie, who got it by one thousandth of a second.  

Honorary Mention No. 2: Jim Clark, 1962

*Came in third in the championship  

Starts: 6  

Wins: 3

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick, and 1 point for a perfect race: 7.75 

Poles: 6 of 9 possible     

Podiums: 3  

Fastest Laps: 5 of 9 possible 

Hat Tricks: 2      

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 1    

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0 

Yes, Clark didn't win the championship.  He didn't even come second.  But if you paid attention, Jim Clark had by far the most impressive season of those drivers that year, enough to get him to put his 1962 season into the Top 15.  He also went out of two races in which he was leading with good chances to win.  

Honorary Mention No. 1: Juan Manuel Fangio, 1954

Starts: 8 

Wins: 6

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 9.94  

Poles: 5 of 8 possible     

Podiums: 7  

Fastest Laps: 3 of 8 possible 

Hat Tricks: 1       

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 0      

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0  

This was a great season by the five-time champion.  But even though this great year came with a championship win, his greatest season came in a year where he did not win the championship.  We will get to that a bit later.  

15. Sebastian Vettel, 2011

Fair Starts: 18  

Wins: 12  

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick, and 1 point for a perfect race: 8.97  

Poles: 15 of 19 possible     

Podiums: 17      

Fastest Laps: 4 of 18 possible 

Hat Tricks: 3      

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 1    

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0  

If you thought this season was the most dominant season of all-time, or that it was second to one of Schumacher's dominant years, then this is a great chance for you to learn about the history of this great sport.  

This year by Vettel only ranks 14th on the list.  The one difference outside of AbuDhabhi's race not counting as a start, is that I give Vettel the win and fastest lap (and hence the hat trick) in Brazil, since he had gear box problems.  

He still was able to put together a fastest lap in the middle of the race well after he moved over and surrendered the lead to Mark Webber (by team order) until his team kept forcing him to slow down because he'd blow the gear box.  He nursed the car home in second and stayed very close with winner Mark Webber for most of the race until he didn't need to.  

He would have surely grabbed fastest lap and the win if it weren't for those problems.  

14. Ayrton Senna, 1990

Fair Starts: 12  

Wins: 6  

Wins: 3

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick, and 1 point for a perfect race: 9.08  

Podiums: 11  

Poles: 10 of 16 possible     

Fastest Laps: 2 of 15 possible 

Hat Tricks: 2      

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 2    

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0  

The two notes to take away from this season were A. Ayrton had a problem with the car while leading with a good chance to win four times that year. Also, B. Alain Prost, supposedly a legend status in his own right, had 0 poles that year while Senna had 10.  

13. Michael Schumacher, 2004

Fair Starts: 18    

Wins: 13  

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick, and 1 point for a perfect race: 9.33  

Podiums: 15  

Poles: 8 of 18 possible     

Fastest Laps: 10 of 18 possible 

Hat Tricks: 5      

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 2    

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0 

Yes, I know.  You had expected this to be No. 1, No. 2 or at least No. 3.   But in fact, when there are 18 races, it's hard to put together a fully dominate season.  

Also, the Ferrari in 2004 was simply unbeatable.  That, of course, takes away from the dominance.  Actually, Michael had a better season than 2004.  You'll see it soon.  

12. Jim Clark, 1964

Fair Starts: 5.5  

Wins: 3

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 9.82  

Podiums: 5

Poles: 5 of 10 possible     

Fastest Laps: 4 of 10 possible 

Hat Tricks: 2  

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 2  

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0   

Jimmy once again.  This time, he did win the championship under my system, by way of a tiebreaker, with Graham Hill having two wins to Jim's three.  

Officially, the books will tell you Graham did of course.  It may not seem like it was better than Schumacher's 2004 campaign, but the more you read into the statistics and read articles about various details, you'll know it was.  

11. Ayrton Senna, 1988

Fair Starts: 15  

Wins: 10

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 10.1  

Podiums: 14

Poles: 13 of 16 possible     

Fastest Laps: 3 of 16 possible 

Hat Tricks: 3    

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 1  

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0  

There were three changes I made to this year.  The first being that Senna deserved the win in Monaco, as he was in his zone until his team told him he had too big of a lead, and said "please slow down."  They learned never to do that again.  Senna is a racer through and through.  It's like telling Secretariat he can relax near the end of a race.  

The second, was that I am giving Senna third in the Spanish Grand Prix instead of fourth, since he had fuel problems.  Lastly, I am giving Senna the win in Italy because if there ever was a chance to prove to atheists that God exists, look at what occurred at the 1988 Italian Grand Prix, how strong (or weak) Ferrari had been the past 10 years and who died just before the race.  

This is not to mention that Senna's accident right near the end of the race that took him out wasn't his fault either.  Brazil does not count as a start, even though it was yet another amazing race for Senna, as his car stalled on the grid, and he started from the pits and drove a monster of a race.  

After he got all the way up to fourth by the mid-point in the race, the stewards said that Senna was not supposed to start form the pit land and black flagged him.  Why didn't tell him that at the beginning of the race?  Oh F1 stewards, how we love thou.  

With that being said, Senna finished 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 6th, 3rd, 1st, 2nd.  It sounds similar to Vettel's 2011 year.  I'll be continuing my article on Vettel versus Senna concerning the beginning of their careers as well.  

10. Juan Manuel Fangio, 1955

Fair Starts: 5    

Wins: 4  

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 10.5

Podiums: 5    

Poles: 3 of 6 possible     

Fastest Laps: 3 of 6 possible 

Hat Tricks: 0  

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 0     

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0  

What a season.  The only race Fangio did not win, he lost to Sterling Moss in the British Grand Prix.  And he lost it by 0.2 seconds.  

I almost think Fangio, who had the championship wrapped up by that point, didn't fight 110 percent for the win because Moss (British) winning this Grand Prix (British), would be huge for everyone there.  

Another person could argue that Moss had a moderate lead near the end, and let Fangio catch up at the very end because the drivers in those days knew each other very well, and were very friendly and close.

Moss knowing Fangio wouldn't pass since Moss deservedly won the race, and would understand why Moss was giving up his lead (either for photo shots or for the fans in general).  Nonetheless, four firsts and a close second is insane.  But no hat tricks in this season keep it from going up the order more.  

9. Jim Clark, 1967

*Came in third in the championship  

Fair Starts: 7      

Wins: 5

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 9.21  

Podiums: 5

Poles: 6 of 11 possible 

Fastest Laps: 5 of 10 possible 

Hat Tricks: 2

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 1

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0 

Jim Clark didn't even get second in this championship, but he had five wins, and went out of the race while leading four other times!  There were 11 races outside of Spa that he either won that year or didn't finish, a la Senna and Fangio.  

This was the year Jim led the Italian Grand Prix, lost an entire lap due to a puncture, came all the way back to capture the lead, only for the fuel pump to cause more problems.  He of course won that race in my system (hence the five wins).  

Furthermore, he qualified for the pole at the Indy 500 and had a problem with the car after leading.  How could this be ninth of all-time when Hulme—who won the championship—and Brabham don't even get into the argument?  It's because they won two races apiece, and had a steady pace all year, which is pretty standard for yearly championships.  

8. Michael Schumacher, 1994

Fair Starts: 13

Wins: 9

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 10.08  

Podiums: 11

Poles: 6 of 14 possible     

Fastest Laps: 8 of 14 possible 

Hat Tricks: 4

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 3   

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0 

He had nine wins out of 13 fair races, over 10 points per race average and four hat tricks with three quad tricks.  He should have had to battle with Senna far more than he did, but the Benetton was just solidly better than the Williams in 1994.  

The real debate is how many championships Senna could have won with 1995, 1996 and 1997.  Likely, all of them.  For 1994, it stands basically as is, outside of a few aspects in certain races, but we will never know how much impact Senna would have had.  

It's funny I say clean, as Schumacher crashed into Hill to win the championship this year.  Did you know, I had Hill win the race at Adelaide, but Schumacher still easily had the championship.  Under my points system, he wouldn't have had to crash Hill.  

7. Jackie Stewart, 1971

Fair Starts: 8.5  

Wins: 6

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect ace: 9.82  

Podiums: 7

Poles: 6 of 11 possible     

Fastest Laps: 3 of 11 possible 

Hat Tricks: 2

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 2  

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0  

Of Course Jackie Stewart is getting in here!  His only "bad" race came at the United States Grand Prix where he led at the beginning and then had tire trouble.  He also went out of a race while leading once.  

6. Alberto Ascari, 1953

Fair Starts: 8

Wins: 5             

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 8.47  

Podiums: 5

Poles: 6 of 7 possible     

Fastest Laps: 3.5 of 8 possible.  They used to have ties in those days because let's just say the stopwatch technology wasn't so hip and all iPhone-y.  They got it to a 10th of a second, but no more.  

Hat Tricks: 2

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 2

Perfect Races (Quad rick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 1   

Yes, a name that is not usually spoken with Clark, Fangio, Senna, Stewart, Schumacher, Tazio Nuvolari, etc.  Of course Alberto needs to be in this talk.  For the first time we see a perfect race in the stats.  He also, my goodness, won Spa by almost three minutes, but didn't get the fastest lap somehow.  

He also led all the laps of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, but didn't get the fastest lap somehow.  One of the quad tricks (British Grand Prix) included a tie for fastest lap, but we will give it to Ascari because he won the race by a minute.  

This is part of the epic streak where he won nine races in a row, including 11 of 13 races.  Just for kicks, he won the Swiss Grand Prix by over a minute as well.  Had luck fallen slightly differently, he could have won every race this season (which I will talk more about in a later slide).  Now that is a season!  

5. Juan Manuel Fangio, 1950

*Came in second in the championship  

Fair Starts: 5  

Wins: 3

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 9.9  

Podiums: 4

Poles: 4.5 of 6 possible     

Fastest Laps: 3 of 6 possible  

Hat Tricks: 2

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 1  

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 1  

To go over this season:

British Grand Prix: Fangio was coming up to Farina to battle for the win with 15 laps to go or so, coming within 0.5 seconds with 10 to go.  Then with eight laps to go, his oil pipe went and he retired.  I give him second since he would not have done worse than second.  

Monaco Grand Prix: Fangio destroys Farina for Pole by over 2 percent, wins by over a lap (which was two minutes back then), takes the fastest lap and leads every lap. 

Swiss Grand Prix: Fangio grabs pole, and is up front when his car lets him down with 25 percent of the race to go.  

Belgian Grand Prix at Spa: Fangio ties Farina for pole and wins.  

ACF Grand Prix at Reims: Fangio takes pole, fastest lap and the win.  

Italian Grand Prix: Grabbed pole and fastest lap, but retired near the beginning/halfway point of the race, doing the "jump in another car when yours craps the bed" plan which was legal in those days.    

The season wasn't long enough to really get excited about the percentages of stats, but it was still a highly impressive season.  

4. Ayrton Senna, 1989

Fair Starts: 12.5

Wins: 8

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules  with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick, and 1 point for a perfect race: 9.00  

Podiums: 10  

Poles: 13 of 16 possible     

Fastest Laps: 3 of 16 possible  

Hat Tricks: 2

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 1 (Spanish Grand Prix)  

Perfect Races (Quad Trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0  

This season may look good on paper, but if you dive into the hidden statistics, it's just completely insane.  Start with the knowledge that Senna went out of four races he could have surely won, and went out on his own merit a few other times while leading.  

Then go to the fact that he had pole seven times by over one percent!  Again, remember that his teammate is a legend himself, in the exact same car.  Seven times at one percent.  

Next, note that Senna led at least a portion of every single one of the 16 races that year.  Lastly, know that Senna missed four hat tricks and four quad tricks due to him not having the fastest lap.  

This is important, because had the point system I use been in place, Senna would have most certainly grabbed the fastest laps on the four races he knew he had gotten the pole, was leading every lap and only had so many laps to go and was poised to win, very much like Sebastian Vettel did a few times this year, albeit to his team's dismay.

It is worth noting here more than any other season, because Senna was obviously quicker in Lap 1 versus the rest of the field.  If you gave Senna the four fastest laps, he would have had seven of 16 fastest laps, six hat tricks and five quad tricks.  What a completely insane season.  

So, how is it only fourth?    

To highlight the changes from the actual stats: First at Canada, second at Portugal (Nigel Mansell took out Senna when Nigel should not have even been on the track) and first at Sazuka obviously.  

3. Jim Clark, 1963

Fair Starts: 9

Wins: 7

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 11.30  

Podiums: 9  

Poles: 7 of 10 possible     

Fastest Laps: 6 of 10 possible  

Hat Tricks: 3

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 3      

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 1  

Monaco Grand Prix: Clark takes pole, but falls to third at the beginning of the race.  He regained the lead early and started to pull away.  With a solid lead, Clark's gear box let go, and he had to retire.  

Belgian Grand Prix: Clark qualified eighth, but went to the lead immediately and led the first lap.  He went on to lead every lap and win by almost five minutes.  

Dutch Grand Prix: Clark got pole, fastest lap, led every lap and won by a full lap.  

ACF Grand Prix: Clark got pole, fastest lap, led every lap and won by a minute.  

British Grand Prix: Clark got pole and led all but three laps (at the beginning due to a bad start).  He won the race solidly.  

German Grand Prix: Clark qualified on pole, but would come second to John Surtees by a minute.  

Italian Grand Prix: Clark took fastest lap, and would have won by a lap if he didn't slow down at the end of the race.  Though his biggest rivals had issues and this is a race which was very much like NASCAR's restrictor plate races today: tight for the lead from green to checkers.  This likely would have been the case no matter how fast Clark was because of the nature of the draft.  Regardless, he won by a lap (one-and-a-half minutes).  

United States Grand Prix: In every great season, you have to have a comeback race.  For Clark's 1963 campaign, this was it.  He had already sowed up the championship (the first time a championship had been sown up with three races left) and had to start at the back of this race.  He roared through the field and grabbed fastest lap along the way, finishing third a lap behind the BRM's of Graham Hill and Richie Ginther.  

Mexican Grand Prix: After his comeback race, Clark grabbed pole by over one percent, grabbed the fastest lap, led every lap and won by a minute and a half.  

South African Grand Prix: Clark was on pole, led every lap and won by a minute.  

Do you now see why every season before this was not in the top three?  Furthermore, Clark qualified fifth in the Indy 500 and finished second.  This was truly a gem of a season.  I don't know if you ever will see something like this in the future, mostly because of the closeness of cars and formula used.  

But regardless, it was an epic, epic season with seven wins, a second, a third coming from the back of grid and race he retired in that he was leading solidly with 25 percent of the race to go.  So, how is it only the third best season?  

2. Jim Clark, 1965

Fair Starts: 7

Wins: 6

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 10.71  

Podiums: 6

Poles: 6 of 9 possible     

Fastest Laps: 6 of 9 possible  

Hat Tricks: 3

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 3  

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 0 

Before you get too excited, let me tell you that Jim Clark also qualified second for the Indy 500 in 1965, and won it.  Want to guess how many laps he led out of the 200?  190.  There's nothing to talk about with this season except to look at the stats in awe.  Note the fact the Clark has five seasons mentioned in this article, Senna and Fangio have three. 

Now get ready for the only season that could beat this.  And it's not Clark, or Senna, or Schumacher or Fangio.  

No. 1. Alberto Ascari, 1952

Fair Starts: 6

Wins: 6

Points Per Race Under the 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Rules with 1 point for pole, 1 point for hat trick, 1 point for quad trick and 1 point for a perfect race: 10.71  

Podiums: 6

Poles: 6 of 6 possible     

Fastest Laps: 5.5 of 6 possible  

Hat Tricks: 6

Quad Tricks (Hat tricks with leading all laps): 5  

Perfect Races (Quad trick with winning by 1 minute and 30 seconds, average lap of today's races): 3  

I don't know if there will ever be a season that is remotely comparable to what this man did in 1952, and for that matter what he did in 1952 Into 1953.  He is not ever talked about in the, "Who was the greatest race car driver ever?" conversations.  

It's not even Mario Andretti for his versatility or Emerson Fittapaldi and Mark Donahue for the same reasons.  This man deserves to be part of the discussion.  He was killed way too early in life, and the corner he died on is at Monza.  These statistics, are the stats of Alberto Ascari in 1952.  

Ascari beat his teammate, the champion Nino Farina, by over 1 percent in qualifying in the same exact Ferrari in three races during the season, and won the first three races of the season by two minutes.   

Ascari officially, did not lead the first lap at the Belgian Grand Prix.  We will disregard that since he won by two minutes and give him the perfect race at Spa.  Ascari and Farina tied for pole at the British Grand Prix.  We will disregard that because he should have easily had the tiebreaker, going by how his season was going and that he also won this race, by yes, two minutes.  

Six wins, six poles, basically six fastest laps, six hat tricks and five quad tricks in six fair starts.  That is the definition of dominance.  You can say, "well they have three times as many races now so you can't just multiply what he would have done." But that's not the dominance.  

It is how he won those races, especially being in the same car as championship-level drivers and competing with legends.  This was the season.  It was also the period in which Ascari won nine races in a row, and 11 out of 13.  

Had he not crashed with Farina in the last corner of the last lap of the 1953 Italian Grand Prix, had his wheel not come off while leading by 40 seconds in the 1953 German Grand Prix and had the 1953 French Grand Prix not been a drafting race (a la Talladega and Daytona, as Reims and Monza were like that in F1 back then), he could have very easily won 14 out of 14 races between 1952 and 1953—every race in two straight seasons.  

That was Alberto Ascari.