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An F1 driver cannot win without a competent team, and vice versa. The combination of man and machine has always been the epitome of winning races in any motorsport, including Formula 1. Hence, some drivers find a golden connection with a team and stay with them as long as possible. They gradually improve themselves while building an empire with other members of the team.
Here are the five longest driver-team partnerships in the history of F1.
5 longest driver-team pairings in F1
#5 Jim Clark - Team Lotus - 1960 to 1968
Jim Clark is one of the very few extremely successful drivers who drove for only one team throughout his F1 career. He entered the sport with Team Lotus in 1960, led by the legendary engineer Colin Chapman. Clark won his first driver's world title in 1963, driving the famous Lotus 25, designed by Chapman. He went on to win another championship in 1965. Team Lotus clinched their first two constructors' world titles as well.
Unfortunately, the world of motorsport suffered a terrible loss when Jim Clark had a fatal accident at the Hockenheimring in 1968 while racing in a Formula 2 race. This led to the tragic end of his nine-year partnership with Team Lotus.
#4 David Coulthard - McLaren - 1996 to 2004
David Coulthard also drove for a single team for nine years. He had a long relationship with McLaren, which started in 1996 when he joined alongside the more experienced Mika Hakkinen. The British driver came from Williams in hopes of winning races and eventually world championships. While he managed to win 13 races with McLaren from 1996 to 2004, he never tasted a championship victory, neither for the Woking-based outfit nor for any other team.
During Coulthard's time at McLaren, his teammate Mika Hakkinen managed to bag two world titles. Following that, Michael Schumacher's long-dominant era began with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004, during which no driver or team was able to challenge them.
Eventually, Coulthard left McLaren to join the new Red Bull Racing team in 2005.
#3 Max Verstappen - Red Bull - 2016 to present
Max Verstappen is still racing in F1 and his partnership with Red Bull is going strong. The Dutchman was in the team's junior program and raced for Toro Rosso in 2015. However, he was promoted to the first team in mid-2016 and won his first race with the team at the Spanish GP, after replacing Daniil Kvyat.
Verstappen continued to bag race wins and finish in the top half of the table. Eventually, he was in an intense title fight with Lewis Hamilton in the 2021 F1 season, which ended with him winning his first drivers' world championship. As of now, Max Verstappen has won three consecutive world titles with Red Bull and will continue to race with them in 2024 and beyond.
Though he has a long-term contract with the team that ends in 2028, Verstappen has mentioned how he could retire sooner than that, provided he stops deriving fun from racing. However, he could easily forge the longest driver-team partnership with Red Bull if he stays for a few more years.
#2 Michael Schumacher - Ferrari - 1996 to 2006
When it comes to discussing the golden partnership in F1, Michael Schumacher and Ferrari's names pop up instantly. They were one of the best driver-team combinations, not only in F1 but in motorsport in general, having shared an extremely successful partnership for 11 years.
Schumacher was already a two-time world champion when he came to Ferrari in 1996. At that time, the Italian giants were suffering since they had been titleless for more than a decade.
Both the driver and the team started working hard to push the team back to where it belonged. Soon enough, the dream squad of Ferrari team principal John Todt, strategist Ross Brawn, car designer Rory Bryne, and Michael Schumacher brought home six constructors' and five drivers' world championships between 1999 and 2004.
After 2004, the team experienced fierce competition from Fernando Alonso and Renault, who won two world championships. Eventually, Schumacher left Ferrari in 2006 and took a sabbatical from the sport before returning as a Mercedes driver in 2010.
#1 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 2013 to 2024
As of now, Lewis Hamilton's partnership with Mercedes is the longest and also the most successful in F1. The British driver was already a world champion with McLaren before joining the Silver Arrows. After his debut season, Hamilton and Mercedes embarked on a dominant era that even surpassed Schumacher's and Ferrari's.
He won six drivers' world championships from 2014 to 2020 (except 2016), and helped the team win eight consecutive constructors' world championships from 2014 to 2021. Their partnership is respected and celebrated by millions of F1 fans. Lewis Hamilton also equalled Schumacher's championship record with Mercedes.
However, on February 1, 2024, it was confirmed that the British driver would eventually leave the Brackley-based team and move to Ferrari in 2025, putting an end to his 12-year-long journey with Mercedes.
