The Top 10 Formula One Seasons of the 2010s
The 2022 Formula One season is currently on its annual summer hiatus. Before the racing resumes in Belgium in a few weeks, let’s look back at a decade of quality racing not too far in the rear-view mirror.
It’s important for new fans of the sport to know why drivers like Lewis Hamilton and the soon-to-be-retired Sebastian Vettel are held in such high esteem. This is because both drivers cemented their legendary status in the 2010s.
Hamilton and Vettel combined to win nine of the 10 championships in the 2010s. This decade-long domination by two drivers is unrivaled in Formula One history. A comparison can be made to the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s in the NBA. Those two franchises won eight out of 10 world championships that decade.
Although two drivers won 90% of the decade’s championships, there were still some nail-biting championships that came down to the year's final race.
Now let’s get into the rankings:
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Lewis Hamilton celebrates his sixth F1 championship in 2019. Photo: USA Today Sports / Jerome Miron
10. 2019
The last season of the 2010s just so happened to be the worst. Lewis Hamilton was coming off of his second championship in a row and fourth in five seasons.
Ferrari looked like a challenger with their pace in the preseason and new driver lineup with Charles Leclerc in his first year with Scuderia Ferrari. However, Ferrari’s race pace wasn’t what Mercedes’ was from the beginning. A Mercedes driver led the championship after all 21 rounds.
Hamilton took the championship lead from his teammate Valtteri Bottas after round five in Barcelona and never looked back. Hamilton cruised to his sixth championship by 87 points over Bottas.
There are quite a few reasons this was the worst season. Hamilton won the championship easily, but it wasn’t as dominant as other champions in this list. Hamilton got his points margin by consistency, not domination in every race. He won 11 races but didn’t win back-to-back races in the second half of the season.
Also, Mercedes was clearly the best team. Max Verstappen won some races with Red Bull as did Charles Leclerc with Ferrari. Neither of them posed a serious threat to Hamilton. Personally, when the points difference isn’t close; championship battles between drivers from two different teams are better than those between teammates.
Another reason this season is viewed poorly is it was more of the same. Mercedes dominate and Hamilton wins another title. People don’t like one person to stay on the mountain top for too long.
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Lewis Hamilton wins his second F1 title overall and first with Mercedes in 2015. Photo: USA Today Sports / Jerome Miron.
9. 2015
This year was similar to 2019 but the changing of the scenery made it more compelling. Hamilton had just won his second title overall and his first with Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel moved on from Red Bull and was at Ferrari for the 2015 season.
Hamilton was more dominant from the start, as he led the championship after every round this year. The points difference was smaller than 2019 since Hamilton beat his teammate Nico Rosberg by 59 points. Therefore, it was another season of Mercedes dominance in the 2010s.
Another reason this season is low on the rankings is only three drivers won races this year. That’s especially low considering it’s tied for the lowest amount for the decade with 2014.
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One of the races Vettel won on the way to his second straight championship in 2011 was the Monaco Grand Prix. Photo: GEPA/USA TODAY Sports
8. 2011
Vettel continued his championship-winning form from 2010 and won again in 2011. The 24-year-old German at the time led the championship after every round as he finished with 11 wins and beat second-placed Jenson Button by 122 points.
Vettel won the title with ease but there was more variance in this season than in the previous seasons on this list. Five drivers won races this season and Button finished second in his McLaren, ahead of Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber.
The variety at the top of the championship makes for more compelling seasons as you have different team philosophies, strategies, cars and pit crews with different teams fighting for championships. The differences usually make for more compelling racing and championships.
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Hamilton earns his first title for Mercedes over teammate Rosberg by 67 points. Photo: USA Today Sports / Jerome Miron
7. 2014
This season is the first one on the list in which there was a battle for the title. The final points margin is deceiving. Hamilton won his first title for Mercedes over his teammate Rosberg by 67 points. But the last race was worth double points. Hamilton won and Rosberg didn’t finish so Hamilton gained 50 points on Rosberg in the final race.
The championship battle was compelling because Hamilton had the pace the whole season but he had issues with the car that caused him to retire in a few races. Rosberg didn’t have as many issues and was able to capitalize and gain critical points. After Round 12 in Belgium, Rosberg had a 29-point lead over Hamilton. Unfortunately for Rosberg, he couldn’t hang on as Hamilton won six of the last seven races.
There was a fight in this championship but other than the top two drivers, Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was the only other driver to win races that season. The lack of variety on the top spot of the podium sinks this season to seventh on the list.
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Lewis Hamilton does it again in 2018. Photo: USA Today Sports / Jerome Miron.
6. 2018
Another year, another Hamilton world championship title. The British driver again found himself in second place in the title race in the middle of the season. This time it was Vettel in the Ferrari who was leading the title fight.
Vettel crashed in the German Grand Prix in one of the most heartbreaking crashes in recent Formula One history. The German was leading the championship and his home race when, in changing conditions, Vettel slid off the track into the barriers and was out of the race. A saddened Vettel apologized to his team and kicked the gravel in frustration walking away from his Ferrari.
The crash was the end of Vettel’s title contention as Hamilton took the lead after that race and won the championship by 88 points. Hamilton won six out of the last eight races as Vettel didn’t win a race in that span.
The season did have a good variety of winners, as three different constructors had winning drivers and five drivers in total won races that year.
One of the most notable wins was Kimi Raikkonen’s final win in Formula One at the United States Grand Prix. It was Raikkonen’s only win that season.
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Sebastian Vettal wraps up an unprecedented fourth consecutive F1 title. Photo: USA Today Sports / Jerome Miron.
5. 2013
The placement of this season may be controversial, but it’s all perspective. The ranking here is based on the perspective of a history lover. The 2013 season was a history-making season. Not by the competition, but by the domination.
Vettel was coming off three titles in a row and secured his fourth straight by having arguably the most dominant season of all time.
The Red Bull driver led the championship from after the second round onward. He won a mesmerizing nine races in a row to finish the season. That’s still the current record for most wins in a row. Vettel also tied Michael Schumacher for the most wins in a season with 13. The 26-year-old German also broke the record for the biggest points gap. Fernando Alonso finished in second in the title race, 155 points behind Vettel.
The 2013 season will be remembered for an advantage for a car and driver we may not see for a while.
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Once again, it was a close battle between Vettel and Hamilton, with the latter winning out. Photo: USA Today Sports / Jerome Miron
4. 2017
The 2017 season was a welcome change from the previous three seasons. From 2014-2016, Mercedes dominated and finished first and second in all three of those championships.
In 2016, Rosberg won his only championship and retired from his seat at Mercedes. Bottas came in and took his spot in 2017.
Ferrari and Vettel got off to a good start to the 2017 season and led the championship for most of the first half of the season. At one point Vettel had a 25-point lead over Hamilton.
Hamilton fought back and claimed a three-point lead going into Round 14 at Singapore. Vettel was in a good position starting from pole and Hamilton was starting from fifth. Once the lights went out, all hell broke loose. Vettel got off to decent start but his teammate Raikkonen collided with Verstappen and then Raikkonen hit Vettel.
This took all three of those drivers out of the race and Hamilton was in first place by the end of lap one. Hamilton went on to win the race and once again Vettel wasn’t able to recover from a catastrophic crash from the lead.
Hamilton beat Vettel by 46 points to win the championship. Five drivers from three different constructors won races in a fun title fight until the wet streets of Singapore.
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Nico Rosberg wins his only F1 title in 2016. Photo: USA Today Sports / Jerome Miron
3. 2016
If you scroll up or are paying attention, you know championship fights against teammates are worse than championship fights against drivers from different manufacturers. But when the fight is very close between teammates, it’s electric.
2016 was one of those rare epic teammate battles. Since joining Mercedes in 2010, Rosberg was playing second fiddle to a bigger star. From 2010-2012 Rosberg was paired with an aging legend in Michael Schumacher. From 2013-2015 he was paired with a world champion in Lewis Hamilton. In 2016, Rosberg finally made his mark.
Rosberg started out the season on fire as he won the first four races. After the fourth race, Rosberg was up by 43 points on Hamilton.
The next race was in Barcelona, where Rosberg looked for his fifth win of the season. However, that didn’t happen as Rosberg and Hamilton famously collided in the first lap and were both out of the race.
This crash strained an already tense relationship between the former close friends. The bad blood continued through the season, as Hamilton clawed his way back into championship contention by winning the three races before the finale in Abu Dhabi. Rosberg was holding onto a 12-point lead and needed to finish third or better.
As the race started, Hamilton led and Rosberg was second. Hamilton intentionally slowed down so the slower cars would close up on Rosberg. The tactic didn’t work as Rosberg won his only world title.
Rosberg and Hamilton won 19 out of 21 races that year. It was one of the better duels in the 21st century of Formula One racing.
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Sebastian Vettel was ultra-focused as he won his third of what would be four consecutive championships in 2012. Photo: USA Today Sports / Jerome Miron
2. 2012
The word variety has been thrown around in this story so far, but 2012 takes the cake. The season got off to an unbelievable start. In 2011, Vettel won his second title in a row by 122 points. So, some people might’ve thought Vettel would dominate from the start of 2012 right? Wrong. An astounding seven different drivers won the first seven races!
Even better, the first five races were won by five different constructors when Pastor Maldonado took an incredible win in Spain for Williams.
In total, eight different drivers along with six different manufacturers won races.
With this elite competition in the field, four different drivers led the championship at one point. Button and Hamilton took turns leading early on until Alonso took over and built a healthy championship lead to the rest of the contenders. For seven straight races, Alonso held a double-digit points lead in the world championship. His lead stretched to as big as 40 points.
Alonso then had a few retirements and Vettel turned up his level of driving. Vettel won four races in a row late in the season to take the lead in the championship.
Going into the final round in Brazil, Vettel had a 13-point lead over Alonso. Then the race began and Vettel was hit and spun on the first lap. He was then last and Alonso was in position to win the championship.
Vettel then began a brilliant drive through the field and changing conditions to win the title by three points when he finished sixth. Alonso’s second-place finish wasn’t enough. Vettel won his third title despite only winning five races, a testament to the insane competition in the 2012 season.
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This is where it all began for Sebastian Vettel, capturing the first of four consecutive F1 driver championships. Photo: USA Today Sports / Matt Kartozian
1. 2010
This season should go down as one of the all-time greats. Sebastian Vettel’s first title was a wild comeback story in a five-man title fight. Yes, you read that correctly: five men had a chance at the world title that season. Vettel and Webber for Red Bull, Hamilton and Button for McLaren and Alonso for Ferrari.
Here’s a mind-boggling stat: Four of those five drivers led the championship after multiple rounds. The one man who didn’t? The man who won the world championship: Vettel!
In total, Vettel led after one round, Button after two, Alonso led after four, Hamilton led after five and Webber after six rounds.
It gets better.
Vettel was down 25 points and was in fourth place in the standings with two races to go. He then won in Brazil and moved up to third place in the standings, 15 points behind Alonso.
Going into the final round in Abu Dhabi, four drivers still had a chance at the title. Alonso had an eight-point lead on Webber in second along with a 24-point lead over Hamilton in fourth.
Vettel won from pole and did everything he could. Alonso got caught behind Vitaly Petrov and couldn’t pass him. He finished seventh and finished four points behind Vettel.
2010 was an all-time year and there was no other choice for the top season of the decade.
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Be on the lookout for some more Formula One content before the season resumes on August 28.