Top 10 F1 races in the past 15 years

The following races take into consideration the greatest victories of some of the best drivers in the history of Formula One. Their skills, pressure, disappointments, world records – all of their experiences have been included.

2003 United States Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher

This was one of the best races driven by seven-time world champion Michel Schumacher. He started 7th on the grid, behind the Renault and now Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. Kimi Raikkonen – who was one of the title contenders that year along with Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya – started on the pole position.

It was a weather dominated race which spoilt the race day for many drivers including Kimi. According to him, they were not as quick as the Ferrari driver (Schumacher) during the rain. There were many drivers who started pitting as early as lap 6 and lap 7 for wet tires, only to later find that the track had dried up completely by lap 8.

They again pitted a few laps later to change back to dry tires. Even when the rain had returned, Raikkonen, Montoya and Schumacher decided to remain on dry tires. The German snatched the victory from the pole setter and finished 18 seconds ahead of the Finn, thereby extending this championship lead when there was only one race left in the 2003 season.

2008 Brazilian Grand Prix

This Grand Prix had its share of mixed emotions. It was the most thrilling race for the fans of Lewis Hamilton and the most disappointing one for the fans of Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, even though he won the race. It was the final race of the 2008 season, where Massa started on the pole position ahead of former Toyota driver Jarno Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen, who then drove for Ferrari.

Hamilton was ahead of Massa in the championship by seven points, with a maximum of ten points available in the race. The situation was, if Hamilton finished sixth or below then Massa would comfortably win the title. But destiny was on the side of Lewis.

On the last lap, Hamilton was running sixth, which brought a happy atmosphere in the Ferrari garage; Massa crossed the line, making the home crowd proud.

There was a fight going on between then Toyota driver Timo Glock and Hamilton for fifth position. To the great disappointment of the Ferraris, Hamilton won the battle and won the 2008’s driver’s championship by one point.

2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

It was the 18th race of the season and the championship leader Sebastian Vettel started the race from the pit lane because he had stopped in the final qualifying the previous day due to lack of fuel. It was a huge test of his driving skills, and only a podium finish would keep his chances for the driver’s title alive.

The other title contender, Fernando Alonso, who had led the championship for a large part of the season before Vettel overtook him, was sixth on the grid. This starting position for Alonso was threatening for the other drivers; for some unknown reason, he comes out very strong when he starts fifth or sixth.

Christan Horner had said in one of his interviews that Vettel was the only one in the garage who was confident of making it to the podium. And he did that.

Starting from the pit lane, he was running second behind Kimi Raikkonen on second position by lap 31, which was an unbelievable sight. His pit stop in lap 37 put him down to fourth position, behind the McLaren driver Jenson Button. The British driver had no idea that he was going to be overtaken by a 25-year-old racer who was less experienced when compared to him. In lap 51, Vettel passed him cleanly and beautifully to get his goal, the third position, and stood on the podium with the second runner-up’s trophy, making his team very proud.

1998 Belgian Grand Prix

This race rates at the top as far as retirements are considered. All thanks to David Coulthard, who lost control of his McLaren in the first lap and caused a collision which involved 13 cars. The race stopped and resumed after an hour.

There were four drivers who then did not race, which left 18 drivers racing on the Spa circuit. Due to the smoke, Coulthard’s McLaren was not visible to Schumacher who went on to hit it and damaged his Ferrari. This incident lost him his lead position and made the job easy for the Jordan drivers.

This race was about the younger Schumacher, Ralf, who finished second behind his British team-mate Damon Hill. The race saw ten retirements, which included Michel Schumacher who only managed a fastest lap of 2.03.766 in the ninth lap.

2012 Singapore Grand Prix

It was the first race in Asia in 2012. Fernando Alonso had had a great start to the season and was 39 points ahead of the defending champion Sebastian Vettel. The pole setter Lewis Hamilton had got a good start to the race but his gearbox failure handed the lead to Vettel. Till the race at the Marina Bay, the German had just won once, and that was in the beginning of the season at Bahrain. The Singapore GP was the important breakthrough which Vettel needed, and from there he was unstoppable.

He went on to win all the four races in Asia; to be specific, he won four in a row, and suddenly Alonso’s championship hopes appeared in trouble.

2011 Chinese Grand Prix

It was the third round in the 2011 season. This was totally meant to be Lewis Hamilton’s race. He faced a huge fuel problem with his car a few minutes before the start of the race. He would have to pit just 35 seconds after the start.

But the former world champion drove a thrilling race with a three pit stop strategy and won the race ahead of Sebastian Vettel. This race had another incident which is vividly remembered by everyone. McLaren driver Jenson Button had pitted in the Red Bull’s pit area, costing him and Vettel, who also came to the pits at the same time. McLaren’s pit was one place ahead of the Red Bull’s. Mark Webber had a spectacular race; starting from 18th on the grid he finished third after beating Button on the last lap for the podium position.

1998 British Grand Prix

The Silver Circuit race was the ninth race of the 1998 season. There was heavy rainfall before the start. Even though the rain stopped, the track had a mixture of dry and wet parts. These conditions caused a lot of cars to spin, which led to the safety cars.

The first car to spin was Michel Schumacher’s, which damaged the front wing of his car. Following a lot of other spins, the safety car was brought in. For passing Benetton-Playlife’s driver Alexander Wurz under the safety car, Schumacher was given a stop and go penalty. He had to drive through the pit lane, stop at the pit for ten seconds and then continue the race. By doing so he crossed the finish line, which extended across the pit lane, before Mika Hakkinen finished second behind him.

2013 Monaco Grand Prix

The sixth race of the year, this was a very emotional win for the other German Nico Rosberg. Thirty years ago his father Keke Rosberg had won in the same circuit. Nico, starting from the pole won the Grand Prix ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Due to Roman Grosjean’s crash into the back of Daniel Riccardo, the safety car was brought in which happened to be a huge plus point for Rosberg. In the closing laps of the race, Vettel set the fastest lap for which he was criticized by the Red Bull, saying he would not be given any points for setting the fastest lap. To which Vettel replied, “But it will give satisfaction.” This was a good example of a true racer.

2012 Brazil Grand Prix

This race will always remain in the memory of the Red Bull Racing team. Three-time champion Niki Lauda said that he had never seen a race like this one. It is considered to be one of the most exciting races in the history of Formula One.

The Brazil GP was the final race of the 2012 season and Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso were the only contenders for the driver’s title. The Ferrari driver started seventh on the grid, three places behind Vettel. The championship leader had an advantage of 13 points over Alonso, with a maximum of 25 points available in that race.

Vettel had a poor start; his car spun in the first lap therefore damaging his left wing. This forced him to pit and start the race on the 22nd position. The situation here was, if Vettel finished sixth then even if Alonso won the race, that win would not be enough for him to clinch the title.

The “baby-faced” German overtook the older German Michel Schumacher in the closing laps and finished sixth, which won him his straight third title.

2008 Italian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel, then a driver for Toro Rosso, the sister team of Red Bull, had started on pole position, ahead of the McLaren-Mercedes and Red Bull. Everybody thought the underdogs had just got lucky during the qualifying, and that they would struggle to maintain their position on the race day. But this younger driver shocked the entire F1 fraternity with his flawless drive; neither he nor his team put a foot wrong and Vettel went on to become the youngest driver, at the age of 21, to win a Grand Prix.