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F1 in the 21st century has not ideally been a spectacle of competitive racing. The sport has seen three of the most dominant eras in the history of the sport. The first was Ferrari, which dominated the sport for five years from 2000 to 2004. Then Red Bull took over with a four-year dominance from 2010 to 2013, and most recently we've had Mercedes reign supreme in the turbo era for eight years since 2014.
It's been a series of dominant eras in Formula 1 where if one team picks up the initiative, then it runs with it for a significant period. Even during these extended stretches, however, we've still had quite a few interesting and closely fought championship battles. There have been battles that have featured driving at very high levels and some intense on-track battles.
In this piece, we rank the top 5 F1 seasons of the 21st century, with the ordering based on the quality of driving by the contenders, the key storylines, and how close the battle was for the title.
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#5 2003 F1 season (Michael Schumacher vs Kimi Raikkonen vs Juan Pablo Montoya)
Michael Schumacher was considered the gold standard of driving in F1. In the 2003 season, however, he was facing an uphill task against the new blood that had made its way into the sport. With exceptional drivers like McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, Schumacher was involved in a see-saw battle for the championship that season.
There were stages when the championship was led by Raikkonen. There were stages when Montoya would obliterate the field in his Williams, eg. 2003 German Grand Prix. Schumacher, however, ultimately took the initiative in the latter stages of the season and won the title against Raikkonen by the tiniest of margins of just two points.
#4 2007 F1 season (Lewis Hamilton vs Kimi Raikkonen vs Fernando Alonso)
The 2007 F1 season was the first since Michael Schumacher's retirement, and to the surprise of many, the season did not disappoint. Lewis Hamilton made his debut this season and made an immediate impact on the sport.
In his rookie year, Hamilton would challenge, and beat, reigning two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in the same car. The season had a lot of drama with the 'Spygate' controversy, but with Alonso, Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen driving at their best, the season kept everyone hooked.
To cap it all off, the final race of the season had Hamilton leading the championship followed by Alonso and Raikkonen. The Briton would, however, struggle from reliability issues during the race. With Raikkonen winning the race, the Finn would clinch the title by 1 point from Alonso and Hamilton.
#3 2012 F1 season (Fernando Alonso vs Sebastian Vettel)
The iconic, and slightly tragic, image of Fernando Alonso staring into the distance as Sebastian Vettel celebrated his third F1 championship win at the 2012 Brazilian GP will still be fresh in the minds of many F1 fans.
The 2012 Formula 1 championship was clinched by Vettel driving a Red Bull but the season belonged to Alonso. The Spaniard was driving a car that was, at best, the fourth fastest car on the grid. He was somehow able to extract performance from that car, however, and take the championship battle to the last race of the season.
The championship battle was capped off by Vettel suffering from contact on the very first lap of the final race of the season. The German roared his way back into contention during the race and sealed the title.
The 2012 championship was one of the more exciting seasons as the form book was thrown out the window multiple times. The sport witnessed seven different race winners in the first seven races. It also saw the rise of new contenders like Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, the return of Kimi Raikkonen and so much more.
#2 2010 F1 season (Fernando Alonso vs Sebastian Vettel vs Mark Webber vs Lewis Hamilton)
If an F1 season begins with four different teams capable of winning the title, then it is surely a recipe for a great season. 2010 had Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes in that position, which resulted in a topsy-turvy season.
While Red Bull appeared to have the edge in qualifying, teams like McLaren and Ferrari were better in terms of reliability and race pace. The lead in the championship would change hands multiple times between Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber. Interestingly, Sebastian Vettel was not initially in contention.
By the time the F1 circus reached its last race of the season, Alonso was leading the championship ahead of Webber, with Vettel and Hamilton having an outside shot at the title.
The German, who'd had terrible luck throughout the season, would put his Red Bull on pole. He would then go on to win the race and hope for the other contenders to trip over themselves. To the surprise of everyone watching, this was exactly what happened as Alonso and Webber committed strategic blunders that would hand Vettel his first world championship.
Ironically, Vettel topped the championship standings for the first time in the entire season only after the last race.
#1 2021 F1 season (Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton)
The F1 2021 season is surely fresh in the minds of every F1 fan. The season featured two of the best drivers on the grid driving to the absolute limit of their abilities for an entire season.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, arguably the two best drivers on the grid, went hammer and tongs at each other throughout the season. Both tangled on track multiple times, had something to say about each other, and carried discord heading into the final race of the season.
The situation was clear — both drivers were level on points and the driver who finished ahead in the race would be crowned world champion. It all seemed to be going Hamilton's way, but a late safety car completely flipped the script.
With just one lap left, the race director ordered the safety car to come in that lap, thus restarting the race. With Verstappen on fresh soft tires, Hamilton was a sitting duck as the Dutchman overtook him on the last lap to win the race and the championship. Although the season ended on a contentious note, it had everything that a Formula 1 fan could ask for — except the proper finish of course.
