Over the 75-year-long history of F1, the sport has had the privilege of having drivers be multiple championship winners. Drivers like Alain Prost or Nelson Piquet took home titles sporadically throughout their careers. In contrast, drivers like Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel have consecutively taken home the win. However, there have also been racers who have achieved more than a few championship wins but have had to have patience. These drivers have seen the highest prize in this sport and have had to wait a considerable time to see it again.
3. Graham Hill – The F1 titles won in 1962 and 1968
Graham Hill is one of the first of F1’s media stars. He started his career with Lotus, spending time with them for two seasons in 1958 and 1959, before moving to the British Racing Motors team. It would be two seasons ending with back-to-back P15 in the standings before Hill secured his first championship title. At the end of the 1962 season, the BRM driver had won four out of nine races and appeared on the podium of another two, scoring a total of 42 points.
The British driver would have to wait another six years to win his second championship. This time, he was driving for the team he started his career with, Lotus. The win came after a string of P2s, a P5, and a P7 in the standings. In 1969, he achieved a total of six podium finishes, three of which had him standing on the top step. He scored 48 points, which was enough for him to take his second and final title in the sport.
2. Lewis Hamilton – The titles won in 2008 and 2014
Lewis Hamilton entered F1 with a bang. He finished his first season with a P2 in the standings, and his first championship title came in the following year. Driving for McLaren, Hamilton’s five race wins and a total of 10 podiums out of 18 races gave him 98 points. This was only one point more than runner-up finisher Felipe Massa. The Briton was 23 years old when he scored this achievement, making him the youngest World Champion at that time.
Hamilton spent another four seasons with McLaren, scoring a fourth and fifth place in the standings at the end of the season before he moved to Mercedes in 2013. That year would mark the last P4 finish for him in a while because he scored his second of seven titles in 2014 with the Brackley-based team. Like Graham Hill, the Tewin-born driver also had to wait six years before taking home the trophy once again.
1. Niki Lauda – The F1 titles won in 1977 and 1984
The largest drought endured by a driver between title wins was seven years. The unfortunate honor went to one of the most iconic drivers in the sport, Niki Lauda. It would only take two seasons with the Ferrari team for Lauda to secure his first driver’s championship win. He would get a runner-up finish in the standings in the following season due to missing races because of his infamous accident.
But the next year, after winning three races and securing another seven podium finishes, the Austrian took home his second trophy at the end of the 1977 season.
Leaving Ferrari, Lauda would join the Brabham team for two seasons before stepping away from the sport for two more years. He would then return as part of McLaren’s driver lineup. In his third season with the team, after five wins and a total of nine podiums, he would achieve his third driver’s championship title. The gap between his second and third championship wins is the longest time any driver has had to wait to take home the trophy again.
