German Formula One Drivers - Current Drivers

Current Drivers

Michael Schumacher has often been listed as one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula One and the "most dominant driver in the history of the sport". He is statistically the best driver, holding many records including the most world championships, most wins, most fastest laps, most pole positions, and most points. He won an unprecedented seven world championship titles, firstly in 1994 and then his second in 1995. Those titles came while Schumacher was a driver for Bennetton but in 1996 he left to join Ferrari, a team who were, at the time, in disarray and without a champion driver since 1979. Over the next few seasons Schumacher and Ferrari saw some success and some controversy, including his disqualification from the 1997 season. However, the combination eventually proved highly successfully and Schumacher won five consecutive championships between 2000 and 2004. Many of Schumacher's records are believed unlikely to ever be surpassed.

Sebastian Vettel is the current world champion have won the 2010, 2011, and 2012 seasons. He is the youngest driver to score a point, to win a race, and to win the title. Vettel is seen as one of the greatest qualifiers in the sport and holds the record for the most consecutive front row starts, having qualified in first or second at 25 consecutive races.

Timo Glock was the third driver for Jordan in 2004 and was called up for racing duty when Giorgio Pantano was unable to drive due to a sponsorship dispute. Glock finished 7th, becoming one of only a handful of drivers who have scored championship points on their debut. It would prove to be Glock's only race in that season and he would not return to F1 until 2009.

Nico Rosberg, the son of 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg, drives for Germany even though his father represented Finland. He joined Formula One as a driver with Williams before moving to Mercedes in 2010. The first year with the German team, alongside German team mate Michael Schumacher, was his best to date, scoring 142 points and finishing on the podium three times. He scored his first pole position at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix and held on to win the race, his only F1 victory.

Nico Hülkenberg joined F1 in 2010, replacing Rosberg in the Williams team. Despite some good performances he was dropped by the team for the following season and he became a test driver for Force India. For the 2012 season he was given a race seat, and he went on to achieve his career best result at the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix, finishing fourth.