These Are the Greatest Driver Lineups in Formula 1 History

Still, we wanted to share with you some of the greatest driver lineups in the history of this great sport.

Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at McLaren (1988-1989)

In terms of talent, you can't find anything better than this duo, but in terms of chemistry, things were pretty bad. I don't want to talk too much about statistics and numbers but come on, in only two years, these two legends won 25 out of 32 races and were on pole 30 times. Out of these 30 poles, the Brazilian driver took 26, while the French achieved only four. And Alain Prost both won one driver's championship and brought two constructors' championships for the British team. They were indeed helped by some of the most excellent F1 cars ever created, like the McLaren MP4-4.

It's hard to bring anything new on this rivalry because it was so discussed and disputed. It's safe to say that Senna and Prost are in the top ten, if not top five drivers of all time. Having two drivers of that caliber on your team at the same time seemed unthinkable. But it happened.

However, another reason that made this lineup probably the greatest was the crazy rivalry and bitter hatred that both had for each other. I mean, those two crashed each other on the track intentionally to make sure the other one did not win the championship. Prost crashed into Ayrton at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, and Senna crashed into Prost at the same Grand Prix one year later.

Funny enough, after Prost went to Williams in 1993, where he won his fourth and final title, the British team tried to recreate this excellent lineup for the 1994 season, but the four-time world champion just said no. Back then he stated that he would rather retire early, after winning the championship, to let Ayrton Senna come into the team so that they would not be teammates once again.

Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss at Mercedes (1955)

They indeed raced for the same team but for only one season. Besides, considering that the 1955 F1 season had only five races in the calendar (six with the Indy 500, but only American drivers would enter), you could say they had very little time together. And things are a little weird because back in the 50s, a team could have multiple drivers. For example, Mercedes had four in their lineup. However, this list will consider only Juan Manuel Fangio and Sir Stirling Moss.

While it's true that Sir Moss never won a driver's championship, he is considered one of the most talented F1 drivers in history and definitely the best one to never win a title. In addition, Juan Manuel Fangio is arguably in the top five best drivers. He won five championships, with only Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher getting more. Besides, he was an almost 50-year old man with a beer belly driving at 120 mph (200 kph), wearing a leather helmet and no seat belt.

In contrast with Senna and Prost, Stirling Moss admired Fangio a lot. Furthermore, the Argentinian legend had so much respect for his teammate, and they were getting along really well. Remember, in that era, teammates could share the same car. For example, there were races when Fangio's car broke down, and he took over Moss's car. In the end, the points were shared evenly between the two of them.

From a statistical standpoint, 1955 was a massively successful season for the Silver Arrows. Mercedes won five races that year (Fangio-4 and Moss-1) and took four pole positions. Juan Manuel won the driver's title. Until 1958, there was no constructors' championship. However, Mercedes would have won it that very year, 1955, without any real competition, to be honest. His British teammate finished second, and as a fun fact, he finished right behind the champion four times in his career. How unlucky.

Niki Lauda and Alain Prost at McLaren (1984-1985)

Alain Prost hadn't won any championships when he joined Niki at McLaren. However, the French driver took the world of Formula 1 by storm and was already a star on the grid. On the other side of the garage, Niki Lauda was one of the best and most respected drivers, especially after his comeback just six weeks from that devastating crash at the Nurburgring in 1976, where he was almost burned alive. He had already won two championships with Ferrari in 1975 and 1977.

Then he made a shocking move to Brabham, where he wasn't that successful. In 1979, Niki Lauda retired from F1. However, he didn't stay away from the sport that made him a celebrity and almost killed him at the same time. In 1982, he joined McLaren with the desire to win a third title. Which he eventually did, in 1984.

Those two had a lot of respect for each other. They were both very intelligent in strategy and car setup, which is interesting, because they were at opposite times in their careers. In 1984, we had the smallest margin in the history of Formula 1 between the top two drivers at the end of the season. We are not talking here about points or single a point. No, we are talking about half a point. Niki Lauda won his third championship by just half a point over his Frech teammate.

However, a year later, Alain Prost obliterated Niki. To understand better, Alain won the championship by 20 points over Michele Alboreto, while the Austrian legend finished only in P10. It's safe to say that Lauda was more of a teacher for Prost, and it was significantly beneficial for him. Prost wouldn't have won four titles if it wasn't for those two years with Lauda.

Jim Clark and Graham Hill at Lotus (1967-1968)

By 1967, Graham Hill won the 1962 F1 championship and achieved the only-ever constructors' title for BRM. Mr. Monaco (his nickname because, next to Ayrton Senna, he has the most wins around Monaco) was already one of that era's most respected and famous drivers. Still, Hill was hungry for one more title, so in 1967, he joined Lotus. At that time, Lotus was owned by one man. Actually, two men. The official owner and one of the most innovative engineers was Colin Chapman, and the other "owner" was Jim Clark. Some claimed, at that time, that he was the most talented driver in history. Clark already had two titles under his belt, both won with Lotus in 1963 and 1965.

Once Graham Hill arrived, the Cosworth DFV-engined Lotus 49 was the fastest car on the grid by a considerable margin. As a result, Jim Clark achieved six poles and Hill three. Unfortunately, reliability was a significant problem for the British team.

Clark managed to take four wins, but bad luck cost him the title in the end. Still, Mr. Monaco had it the worst that year, achieving only two second places.

As a result, the car was refined for the following season and it was immediately visible, with the British drivers taking a one-two at the season-opening South African Grand Prix. Unfortunately, Jim was killed in an F2 crash at Hockenheim, Germany, before the season's second round. He was 32 and had won more GPs (25) and achieved more GP pole positions (33) than any other driver.

Meanwhile, Graham Hill picked up the devastated Lotus team and scored his second title in a showdown against Jackie Stewart and Denny Hulme.

You have just read about the most significant driver lineups in F1 history, but if you have any completions, please feel free to drop us a line in the comments section below.