World Champions and Race Winners
There have been ten Formula One World Drivers' Champions winning a total of fourteen titles. The first champion was Mike Hawthorn in 1958, who became only the fourth different person to win the title. In the 15 seasons between 1962 and 1976 the title was won by a British driver nine times: Graham Hill (1962, 1968), Jim Clark (1963, 1965), John Surtees (1964), Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973), and James Hunt (1976). Despite these successes no British champion has ever retained their title. Hunt's victory was the last title until 1992 when Nigel Mansell's winning season. Graham Hill's son Damon won in 1996 before another lengthy period without a British world champion. Lewis Hamilton won by just one point in 2008 with the most recent champion, Jenson Button, winning the year after.
The British Grand Prix has been won 16 times by eleven British drivers: Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, John Watson, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert, David Coulthard, and Lewis Hamilton. Eight other drivers have won races other than the British Grand Prix: Mike Hawthorn, Tony Brooks, Innes Ireland, Graham Hill, John Surtees, Peter Gethin, Eddie Irvine and Jenson Button.
Read more about this topic: British Formula One Drivers
Famous quotes containing the words world, champions, race and/or winners:
“Cleopatra: Was I right to avenge myself?... Caesar: If one man in all the world can be found, now or forever, to know that you did wrong, that man will have either to conquer the world as I have, or be crucified by it.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“While the Governor, and the Mayor, and countless officers of the Commonwealth are at large, the champions of liberty are imprisoned.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Pessimists are the people who have no hope for themselves or for others. Pessimists are also people who think the human race is beneath their notice, that they’re better than other human beings.”
—James Baldwin (1924–1987)
“The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people don’t acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)