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The 2023 F1 grid is filled with drivers from both horizons. We have youngsters like Oscar Piastri who have just entered the limelight and then we have the veterans like Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. When we talk about the sport, then it is a game with varied demands. It demands skills, precision, raw talent, experience, and most importantly the right car.
There are drivers who end up getting the right car very early in their careers and then there are others for whom this happens much later. In this article, we're focussing on the former. We will be talking about the drivers that were able to climb the hill at a very young age. So, who are the 5 youngest F1 world champions in the history of the sport? Let's find out.
5. Emerson Fittipaldi, Lotus (1972 F1 champion) Age: 25 years, 273 days
The name 'Fittipaldi' is a royalty in the sport and one of the reasons behind that is the fact that he was a pioneer in Brazil. He was the one who paved the way for the likes of Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet the future champions from the same country.
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Emerson Fittipaldi clinched his first world title with the iconic Lotus team led by Colin Chapman in 1972. What made it even more impressive was the fact that the Brazilian was just 25 years of age in a field with much older drivers. He went on to taste far bigger success in his career and became multiple world champions but his accomplishment of being the youngest world champion stood for more than 30 years.
4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull (2021 F1 champion) Age: 24 years, 73 days
The reigning world champion is the fourth youngest world champion in the history of the sport and he accomplished it on that fateful night in 2021. It's almost a surprise to see that it took so long for Verstappen to achieve this feat, especially since the driver was a race winner already as a teenager.
However, this is exactly what happens when a driver does not have the right tools to get the results. As soon as Verstappen got the car in 2021, he put together a relentless challenge and has not stopped winning since.
3. Fernando Alonso, Renault (2005 F1 champion) Age: 24 years, 58 days
Fernando Alonso was the driver who bested the youngest world champion record of Emerson Fittipaldi after a three-decade break. The Spaniard is arguably the biggest example of why in F1 you need to have the car under you to be successful. In 2005, Renault provided Alonso with that opportunity and he took it with both hands.
In 2006 as well Alonso beat Michael Schumacher to become the youngest two-time world champion. Since then, however, it's been 17 years and the driver has not clinched a title. It's not as if the driver does not perform at an elite level, he does. It's the lack of competitive machinery that has thwarted the success that he should have achieved.
2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren (2008 F1 champion) Age: 23 years, 300 days
Lewis Hamilton burst onto the scene in 2007 and challenged Alonso for the title in his very first season. With neither driver achieving that much-coveted win, the Brit would have to wait until 2008 to lift the title. The McLaren driver beat Felipe Massa in a highly intense championship battle on the last lap of the season.
The driver beat Fernando Alonso's record, the one that only lasted a couple of years, unfortunately.
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (2010 F1 champion) Age: 23 years, 134 days
Sebastian Vettel did something similar to Lewis Hamilton as he also became the youngest F1 world champion in 2010 after snatching the title away from Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber in the last race of the season.
The German was at best an outside contender in the championship battle coming into the last race but when the chequered flag fell, he stood strong while everybody else tripped over themselves.
Just like Alonso whose youngest F1 world champion record stood for only two years, the same thing happened with Hamilton as Vettel took over in 2010.
