Top 3 Wet weather drives in F1 in the 21st century

In F1, the outcome of a race is a combination of the driver's skill and the kind of machinery that the driver has at his disposal. More often than not, it's the machinery that plays a bigger role. How else can one explain Fernando Alonso not winning another title in 15 years?

The impact of the machinery on the result, however, does get a bit diminished when an added variable of rain is added to the equation. This is why there is a common saying in F1 that rain is the true equalizer.

Throughout the 21st century, there has been a slew of wet weather races that have left the audience amazed, for the lack of a better word. The quality of driving and the action on display at some of these races left fans deeply impressed. In this piece, we pick the top 3 wet weather drives of the 21st century.

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#3 2020 F1 Turkish Grand Prix – Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton does face his share of criticism for driving the dominant Mercedes car throughout his career. Many of his critics have attributed his success in the turbo-hybrid era to the superior car he has at his disposal.

Yet at the 2020 Turkish GP, Hamilton did something hard to find fault in, or attributed to anything, but his class. The Mercedes was not conducive to the strange conditions with the new tarmac laid down just before the weekend and the overcast weather.

Hamilton was nowhere near the front-running pace with Lance Stroll taking pole position. On race day, however, experience shined through for the Briton as he kept his nose clean. While everyone else was tripping over each other during the race, Hamilton slowly but steadily made up places and ended up winning the race. That win was all him and no critic could take the credit away from him.

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#2 2008 F1 Italian Grand Prix – Sebastian Vettel

The Italian GP was significant because it brought to the forefront a driver that was surely talented but no one knew how much. At Monza that weekend, Sebastian Vettel showed he belonged in the big leagues. When you're in your rookie season, you're expected to keep your head down, keep your nose clean, and get the best result possible.

At the 2008 Italian GP, however, Vettel found himself in a strange position as a rookie in a midfield car. He qualified on pole in torrential conditions on a grid that had wet weather specialists like Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, and Jenson Button. Regardless, it was Vettel who shone the brightest.

As a rookie, Vettel dominated a wet weekend in a car that was, at best, a midfield one. A pole position and a win as a rookie in a Toro Rosso in the team's home race definitely stands out as one of the best wet weather drives from this century.

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#1 2011 F1 Canadian Grand Prix – Jenson Button

There aren't many races in the history of F1 that typified the 'never give up' attitude of an F1 driver than the Canadian GP. The race that stretched far beyond the expected duration because of multiple stoppages (caused by rain) saw one of the best comeback drives the sport has ever seen.

Jenson Button had one of the most torrid experiences possible in a race. First, he crashed into Lewis Hamilton, which resulted in him receiving a drive-through penalty. He then had to make a ridiculous number of visits to the pits. His cause was further unaided when he bumped Alonso out of the race and had to drop to 21st in the race. He, however, mounted a comeback that saw him finish the last lap of the race as the leader of the pack.

He did that by going through a field that had Michael Schumacher, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel amongst others in the list of top talents on the grid. Button is now regarded as one of the best wet-weather drivers ever in Formula 1 and this was one of his best drives in the sport.