F1 World Champions Milestone Comparisons

F1Brits_90

F1Brits_90

World Champion
this thread kind of came from the Chinese GP thread after another error by Verstappen in Bahrain. i was in 2 minds where to rank Verstappen as he is a bit of freak in F1 terms . if we still giving him a abit of leeway & can still use inexperience as a factor because. he's doing all his development In F1 after only 1 yr in open wheel formula before f1. but then on the other hand. by end of this season. he will have started more GPs than Robert Kubica, Jim Clark, Gilles Villeneuve & Sterling Moss. 4 of the most highly thought of F1 drivers in its history so he should be less error prone now. he could take part in 81 GPs still be the F1's youngest pole sitter & 120ish GPs still become youngest world champion in 2020

so good idea from RasputinLives to see where other Legends of F1 were at certain milestones 1st pole position, 1st win & 1st world championship. ive taken 16drivers (mainly as it all i could fit on my notepad :D) thought i only include double champions or more, with exception of Kimi Raikkonen & Jenson Button as only single world champions, as they were in early 2000's similar to max. fast tracked into F1 even if they are almost OAP's by todays standards ;)

Micheal Schumacher
1st Pole - 41 GPs - 25yrs old
1st Win - 18 GPs - 23yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 52 GPs - 25yrs old
Had won 10 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Juan Manuel Fangio
1st Pole - 2 GPs - 38yrs old
1st Win - 2 GPs - 38yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 15 GPs - 40yrs old
Had won 7 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Lewis Hamilton
1st Pole - 6 GPs - 22yrs old
1st Win - 6 GPs - 22yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 35 GPs - 23yrs old
Had won 9 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Alain Prost
1st Pole - 21 GPs - 26yrs old
1st Win - 19 GPs - 26yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 39 GPs - 30yrs old
Had won 21 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Sebastian Vettel
1st Pole - 22 GPs - 21yrs old
1st Win - 22 GPs - 21yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 62 GPs - 23yrs old
Had won 10 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Jack Brabham
1st Pole - 20 GPs - 33yrs old
1st Win - 17 GPs - 33yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 24 GPs - 33yrs old
Had won 2 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Niki Lauda
1st Pole - 27 GPs - 25yrs old
1st Win - 28 GPs - 25yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 53 GPs - 26yrs old
Had won 7 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Ayrton Senna
1st Pole - 18 GPs - 25yrs old
1st Win - 18 GPs - 25yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 79 GPs - 28yrs old
Had won 14 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Jackie Stewart
1st Pole - 42 GPs - 29yrs old
1st Win - 8 GPs - 26yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 50 GPs - 30yrs old
Had won 11 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Nelson Piquet
1st Pole - 24 GPs - 28yrs old
1st Win - 24 GPs - 28yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 49 GPs - 29yrs old
Had won 6 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Fernando Alonso
1st Pole - 19 GPs - 21yrs old
1st Win - 30 GPs - 22yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 69 GPs - 24yrs old
Had won 8 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Jim Clark
1st Pole - 16 GPs - 26yrs old
1st Win - 17 GPs - 26yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 33 GPs - 27yrs old
Had won 10 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Emerson Fittipaldi
1st Pole - 15 GPs - 22yrs old
1st Win - 4 GPs - 20yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 26 GPs - 22yrs old
Had won 6 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Mika Hakkinen
1st Pole - 95 GPs - 29yrs old
1st Win - 97 GPs - 29yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 113 GPs - 30yrs old
Had won 9 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Jenson Button
1st Pole - 70 GPs - 24yrs old
1st Win - 113 GPs - 26yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 170 GPs - 29yrs old
Had won 7 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time

Kimi Raikkonen
1st Pole - 43 GPs - 23yrs old
1st Win - 36 GPs - 23yrs old
1st Drivers Title - 120 GPs - 28yrs old
Had won 15 GPs by time he became world champion for 1st time​
 
Last edited:
Verstappen won his 27th Grand Prix and awaits his first pole position.

The only drivers to wait more than 65 Grands Prix and subsequently achieve a pole position are:

Ava.png


Three of those drivers went on to become World Champion, one of them had won the title 6 years hence (!) but most importantly for Verstappen is that he's still got some time to beat the driver with the most similar career path [Ricciardo] to that first pole.
 
What these stats fail to take into account is the time spent in poor cars by the named drivers.

This is not a reflection on any individual talent but as examples, Hamilton and Emerson started their careers in cars of championship winning capabilities, Prost and Stewart in championship winning teams but not decent cars and Mika and Fernando in real tail enders.
 
Look at Mark Webber on that list! F1 is not a finishing school you know!

Interestingly there is only one name in that list you would consider in the 'legends' section and that would be Mika but then he always bucked the trend.

Might have to dig out my 'if you ain't won a race by end of your third season your chances of being champion are seriously reduced' thread from yesteryear.
 
I think it took him a long time to recover to the driver he was hence the long time on the stats. You can't fault his 98 season though. Most of 99 was alright too.
 
Well, if we’re talking Verstappen, he did win his first Grand Prix in a capable car. Although by that measure Vettel is on about -5.
 
RasputinLives said:
Look at Mark Webber on that list! F1 is not a finishing school you know!

Interestingly there is only one name in that list you would consider in the 'legends' section and that would be Mika but then he always bucked the trend.

Might have to dig out my 'if you ain't won a race by end of your third season your chances of being champion are seriously reduced' thread from yesteryear.
Click to expand

I think im right but isnt button the only f1 world champion who didnt win a race in his 1st 100
 

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