Formula 1 has been running since 1950, and over 75 years, the championship has come down to the very last race 31 times. That means almost one in every three F1 seasons ended with drivers unsure whether they would leave as world champions.
A blown tyre, a safety car, a crash, or one controversial call from a race director, any of it can flip the F1 championship results in second.
Top 10 Most Dramatic F1 Title Deciders
Here are the 10 most dramatic F1 title deciders ever-
1. John Surtees Steals the Crown (1964 Mexican Grand Prix)
Three British drivers, John Surtees, Graham Hill, and Jim Clark, fought for the title in Mexico. Jim Clark looked certain to win the F1 title, then his engine blew on the last lap. Graham Hill could have benefited from this, but he had already been damaged in a collision earlier in the race and couldn’t score enough points. That left John Surtees, who finished second and took the title.
Till this day, he remains the only person in history to win world championships on both two wheels and four.
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2. Jack Brabham Pushes His Car (1959 United States Grand Prix)
Jack Brabham ran out of fuel on the last lap with the F1 championship on the line. He got out of his car and physically pushed it across the finish line in the Florida heat to claim fourth place and enough points to win the title.
He became the first-ever Australian Formula 1 World Champion, and the story of that push is written forever in the history of sports.
3. Nigel Mansell’s Tyre Blowout (1986 Australian Grand Prix)
Going into the final race in Adelaide, Nigel Mansell led the championship standings ahead of his teammate. As Nigel already had a points advantage, he did not even need to win that race, he just needed to finish third or better.
He was running comfortably in third place when his left-rear tyre exploded in a shower of sparks. It was one of the most dramatic tyre failures ever seen in the sport; the footage of his Williams car going airborne and skidding down the Adelaide street circuit is still shown.
Although Nigel survived the crash, the championship was gone. Alain Prost, who pitted for fresh tyres at just the right time, won the title.
4. Kimi Raikkonen’s One Point Miracle (2007 Brazilian Grand Prix)
Lewis Hamilton entered the final race in Brazil leading by four points over his own teammate Fernando Alonso, and seven over Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton just needed fifth place. But a gearbox failure on lap 9 dropped him to 18th. He fought back to seventh, but it was not enough. Kimi Raikkonen won the race and took the championship by a single point, despite having been seven points behind just two races earlier.
5. Sebastian Vettel’s Sudden Win (2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix)
Sebastian Vettel was third in the F1 standings going into the final race, behind both his teammate Mark Webber and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Fernando Alonso was the heavy favourite at that time; he just needed a solid finish. But he got trapped in traffic behind a slower car following a Ferrari strategy mistake and could barely score.
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Therefore, Sebastian Vettel won the race from pole, finishing four points ahead of Alonso and became F1 world champion at 23.
6. Schumacher vs Villeneuve (1997 European Grand Prix)
Michael Schumacher led Jacques Villeneuve by a single point going into the final race in Jerez. The F1 qualifying session was so intense that Schumacher, Villeneuve, and Villeneuve’s teammate all set the same lap time, which was 1:21.072.
During the race, Villeneuve made a bold overtaking move on Schumacher. Rather than race cleanly, Schumacher turned in and hit him. But his car got beached in the gravel, while Villeneuve survived and finished third to take the title.
The FIA later disqualified Schumacher from the entire 1997 championship standings for dangerous driving.
7. Schumacher vs Hill (1994 Australian Grand Prix)
Michael Schumacher led Hill by just one point going into the final race in Adelaide. On lap 36, Schumacher clipped a wall and damaged his car, then came back onto the track directly in front of Hill’s Williams. The two collided.
Schumacher was taken out of the race immediately. Hill’s suspension was too damaged to continue. Both were out. Schumacher won the title by a single point. But Hill always said that the collision was deliberate.
And, till now, there is no one particular answer to this.
8. James Hunt vs Niki Lauda (1976 Japanese Grand Prix)
Niki Lauda had dominated 1976 until a horrific crash at the Nurburgring, which left him hospitalised with severe burns. He came back just six weeks later. By the final race in Japan, Lauda led James Hunt by only three points.
Race day at Fuji Speedway was a complete monsoon. Lauda drove two laps, parked the car, and said, “My life is worth more than a title.”
James Hunt still needed to finish fourth or better. His tyres shredded, and he had to pit, dropping down the order. With no radio, he had no idea where he stood. He passed two cars in the closing laps to finish third and became champion by a single point.
9. Lewis Hamilton’s First Title (2008 Brazilian Grand Prix)
Lewis Hamilton led the standings by seven points going into the final race in Brazil. Felipe Massa won his home race, and Ferrari’s garage erupted in celebration; they believed Massa was the world champion. But Lewis Hamilton was still out on track.
Going into the final lap, he was in sixth and needed fifth. Ahead of him was Timo Glock, still on dry tyres while rain fell. In the final metres of the final lap, Lewis Hamilton passed Glock for fifth. He crossed the line as world champion by a single point, at 23 years old, becoming the youngest world champion in history at the time.
10. Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton (2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix)
The most-watched F1 race ever and the most controversial finish in the sport’s history. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen arrived at Abu Dhabi tied on exactly 369.5 points.
Hamilton dominated the race, leading by 11 seconds with five laps to go. A record eighth world title was all but guaranteed.
Then Nicholas Latifi crashed on lap 53, bringing out the safety car. Max Verstappen pitted for brand-new soft tyres. Hamilton stayed out. Race director Michael Masi then broke from normal procedure: he allowed only the five lapped cars sitting between the two title rivals to unlap themselves and immediately called the safety car in, creating one final lap of racing.
Lewis Hamilton’s tyres were 43 laps old, but Max Verstappen’s were brand new. On the final lap, Verstappen passed Hamilton at Turn 5 and became the World Champion.
Mercedes protested, but nothing changed. The FIA later confirmed Masi had violated the regulations but said he acted in good faith. Masi was removed as race director, but the result stood the same, and it became one of the most controversial F1 championships ever.
Also Read: Top 10 Biggest Controversies In F1 History
