I’m proud to admit that I’m a big fan of the Iceman. I started out being a huge Alonso fan, but the confusing shift from Renault to McLaren and back again… But it’s a preference thing. Still love Alonso, but I like Räikkönen and Hamilton more. I like Kimi’s no-frills, pure skill driving style. Though he has a tendency to zoom over chicanes and cause heavy tire wear by the middle of the race, I haven’t seen him really loose his cool in F1—and that’s commendable.

For two straight years, Alonso shone in F1. He thwarted what would have been a Schumacher victory (it was Schumi’s last season, so everyone expected him to win), and he also outdrove Kimi in 2006. But 2007 was a good year… no, scratch that… a great year for the Finn. Read on to find out why!

2007 Formula One World Champion

Name: Kimi-Matias Räikkönen

Nationality: Finnish

Team: Ferrari

Nicknames:

1. The Iceman — on account of his cool, calm, and collected demeanor and racing strategy

2. Kimppa, Kimster, Räikkä — all of which are used by his mechanics

3. Räkä (means bogey) –used in Finland

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 1; in 2007

Race Wins: 17

Races: 140, with 139 starts

Podium Finishes: 57

Pole Positions: 16

Fastest Laps Set: 35

2008 Standings: 3rd Place with 75 points

Brief Bio:

Prior to becoming the Formula One pro we all love, Kimi’s only racing experience revolved around races in very junior, open-wheel categories. He got his Super License from the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) only after he made a performance delivery promise to BMW Sauber Big Boss Peter Sauber in 2001. In 2002, Räikkönen jumped ship and joined McLaren Mercedes, where he became a title contender twice during the 2003 and 2005 championships.

Kimi lost out to Michael Schumacher in 2003, and Fernando Alonso in 2005.

Come 2007, Kimi surprised his fans when he joined the Ferrari team. It was a pretty weird year, considering how Fernando Alonso, his biggest rival also confirmed plans of joining McLaren, Kimi’s former team.

By 2007, Kimi was the biggest paid driver in motor sport. Each year, he was set to earn an astounding $51 million. By that time Schumi was already enjoying his retirement. Maybe it proved to be an irresistible incentive for Räikkönen, but that same year, he managed to beat newcomer Lewis Hamilton and his main rival Fernando Alonso by a single point.

In 2008, Kimi also became one of the only two F1 drivers to make an appearance in the Celebrity 100 list of Forbes magazine. The other racer? Fernando Alonso. He was in 36th place that year, an improvement to the 41st place he secured in 2007. He was also listed as the 26th highest paid celebrity in the world. And was the 5th highest paid athlete, after Phil Mickelson, Michael Jordan, David Beckham, and Tiger Woods.

2007 Formula One Season

Kimi Räikkönen started the 2007 F1 season right, when he secured pole position for the Australian Grand Prix. Räikkönen managed to set the fastest lap that day. He also became the first driver since 1989 (Nigel Mansell) to have won the season’s first Grand Prix with Ferrari. This was also a triple victory for Kimi, since this was the first time he managed to get pole position, complete the fastest lap, and win the grand prix. The Malaysian Grand Prix wasn’t a very lucky race for Kimi. The massively-talented and rookie British driver, Lewis Hamilton, managed to pass him in the early stages of the race. Throughout the event, Kimi tried hard to overtake Hamilton, but all in vain. He stayed behind Hamilton until the last lap, and finished in third place.

The next race in Bahrain wasn’t any better. Räikkönen started from third place in the grid, and was able to hold on to that position for a while. But then Alonso basically came out of nowhere and overtook the Finn. In a show of sheer determination, Kimi moved past the Spanish ace, and eventually finished the race in third position once again. Things started to look rather bleak for Kimi after that. During the Spanish Grand Prix, he actually had to retire after only ten laps! According to reports, there was an electrical problem with his car. Not getting a single point in that race pushed Kimi to fourth place in drivers’ standings. In points, he was directly under his teammate Felipe Massa.

In a show of more bad luck, Kimi crashed out in qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix. The 27-year old Finnish driver apparently struck a barrier which destroyed his car’s right front suspension. Due to car problems, he was forced to start at 16th place in that race. But he did manage to earn a single point after finishing eighth in the Monaco Grand Prix. The Canadian Grand Prix was up next. In that race, Räikkönen qualified in fourth place, but finished in fifth. As if that wasn’t bad enough for Ferrari, his teammate Felipe Massa was also disqualified during that race.

Things started to look a bit sunnier at the United States Grand Prix. Kimi who qualified at fourth, managed to finish fourth as well. Which, considering the amount of talent on the grid, was a pretty good finish already. He also recorded the race’s fastest lap–not too shabby, right? The bad news was that he was still 26 points behind the race leader and newcomer Lewis Hamilton. The French Grand Prix allowed Räikkönen to finally overtake Hamilton in a race. While he qualified at third place, he still managed to overtake the young Brit at the very first corner of the circuit. For most of the race, he was also running in second place, behind Massa. Strategic pit-stops from the Ferrari camp, however, had Räikkönen running in front of his teammate in the final laps. Kimi went on to win the French Grand Prix. This was his 11th victory in F1, as well as the team’s first 1-2 win in 2007.

During the British Grand Prix’s qualifying session, Räikkönen qualified in second place. He missed the pole position due to a minor but costly mistake he made in the last corner. Instead of running tightly around the curve, he ran wide, costing him precious milliseconds. Once again, Ferrari’s well-timed pit stops had the Finn back in first place, allowing him to claim his 12th Grand Prix victory.

Kimi finally got his second pole position of the season during the European Grand Prix. Sadly, he wasn’t able to finish the race due to hydraulic issues with his car and heavy rain. At the next race, the Hungarian Grand Prix, Kimi qualified in fourth. But Alonso, who was in third place was penalized, and Kimi was asked to step up to third place. During this race, Kimi overtook Nick Heidfeld at the early stages of the race and closed-in on Hamilton who was at the lead. He made sure Hamilton felt the pressure, but Lewis wouldn’t give way. In the end, Kimi had to stick with second place. At the final lap of the race, Räikkönen set the fastest lap time. When asked about his sudden burst of speed, Räikkönen had a cheeky answer for the press. He said: “I was so bored behind Hamilton, I wanted to see how quick I could have been.”

At the Turkish Grand Prix, Räikkönen once again, missed the opportunity to get pole position. While he may have been incredibly quick during the first part of the final lap, he made a mistake during the last sector, leaving him to start the race on third place. Come race day, Kimi was once again stuck behind Hamilton. But just like before, the Iceman was able to overtake Hamilton during the first part of the race, putting him in second place until the end of the race. While Räikkönen was exhibiting extraordinary skill during race day, he was still pretty unlucky when it came to qualifyings. At Monza, during the qualifying session for the 2007 Italian Grand Prix, Räikkönen found himself stuck in fifth place after he crashed into the tire wall right before the Ascari chicane. In spite of a nasty neck problem, Kimi forced himself to race in the Ferrari spare car. The team, hoping Räikkönen could secure first place, decided to employ a one-stop (pit stop) strategy. Which, if it worked, would have allowed Kimi to overtake four other drivers and to remain the race leader throughout the Grand Prix race. Unfortunately for Kimi, McLaren’s Hamilton was able to pass him in the latter parts of the race. Mostly thanks to the McLaren’s fresher tires. Kimi finished in third place.

The Belgian Grand Prix has always been Räikkönen’s favorite event. Mainly because he’s really speedy when it comes to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. After securing pole position, Kimi went on to win the race, claiming his fourth victory for that season. It was a 1-2 finish for Ferrari. Massa came in second, and Alonso took the last step at the podium. Hamilton, Räikkönen’s other rival, was able to finish fourth. The Fuji Speedway for the Japanese Grand Prix, was the only new track added to the F1 race. Kimi secured third place in qualifying, while Alonso placed second. Hamilton, the astonishingly gifted newbie secured pole position. The weather was pretty bad. The circuit was incredibly wet, and for 19 laps, we had to watch the racers drive at a leisurely pace behind the safety car. Massa and Räikkönen had a pretty bad start. The tire-change notification from the FIA arrived late in the Ferrari camp, and both drivers were forced to make a pit stop for a tire change. At the latter parts of the race, Räikkönen was able to secure third place but was unable to move past another Finn, Heikki Kovaleinen for second place.

By the Chinese Grand Prix held at Shanghai, Kimi was once again on top. He had the fastest laps during the practice sessions. But Räikkönen lost pole position in qualifying, mainly thanks to Hamilton’s lighter fuel load. Our favorite Finn qualified second, while his teammate Massa came in at third place. While road conditions were still slightly wet in China, it wasn’t nearly as wet as the Fuji Speedway. All drivers were forced to change to intermediate tires. During the first round of pit stops, Lewis Hamilton’s tires suffered graining, causing him to lose grip. Räikkönen took the opportunity to pass the Brit. While on his way to the pit lane, Hamilton was forced to retire when his car slid into the gravel trap. With less competition on the tracks, Kimi was able to secure his fifth win for the 2007 F1 season. This brought new hope to Kimi and his team. Räikkönen was once again capable of securing the championship title before the end of the season. This time around, Kimi found himself just seven points short of Hamilton’s point standings, and three points behind Alonso. This was set to be the first three-way title battle for F1 since 1986.

Räikkönen experienced victory and clinched the 2007 Formula One Driver’s Championship title after the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix. The Grand Prix held at Interlagos was definitely incident-packed. His teammate took pole, while Kimi was stuck in third place. Hamilton qualified second and Alonso started in fourth place. At the very start of the race, Kimi immediately overtook Hamilton through the outside lane. The Finn found himself neck and neck with his teammate. Alonso was also extremely competitive during the race. He too, overtook Hamilton, and Hamilton slowly fell down the order. Massa, who was out of the contention for the championship gave away the lead to Räikkönen during the second pit stop rounds. Kimi won his sixth race for the season, and won the F1 Championship title by a single point over Alonso and Hamilton. Hamilton, who was the leader in driver’s standings prior to the race, finished in seventh place. Defending champion, Fernando Alonso secured third place during the championship.

But immediately after earning the title, investigations by race stewards put Kimi’s championship title in doubt. Apparently, the stewards were able to identify fuel irregularities in the cars of Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica, and Nico Rosberg. If they were to be disqualified and the race would be reclassified, Hamilton would have been lifted to fourth place in the race result. That would put him ahead of Kimi in standings, making him the rookie who won the championship. (Actually, in retrospect, that would have been pretty interesting. I’m a big fan of Hamilton’s too!) Naturally, McLaren made an appeal to the FIA against the decision to name Kimi number one. But the FIA Court of Appeal rejected their plea on the 16th of November, 2007, and Räikkönen remained champion. (I didn’t know the FIA had a court of appeal…)

So that concludes our Räikkönen review. Wait a few more days to read on about the 2008 Formula One World Champion.

Sources: The ever-helpful Wikipedia

Let’s take a look at the Formula One Driver’s World Champions from 1998 to 2004. Seven years. Two champions. Several rivalries and numerous controversies. Yes, the years leading to 2004 definitely proved to be exciting! Once again Schumi dominated, but his back-to-back wins weren’t that easy. Mostly thanks to his greatest rival, who coincidentally is also the first champion on this list!

1998 to 1999 Formula One World Champion

Name: Mika Pauli Häkkinen (Mika Häkkinen)

Nationality: Finnish

Team: McLaren

Career Highlights:

Championships: 2

Race Wins: 20

Races: 165, with 161 starts

Podium Finishes: 51

Pole Positions: 26

Fastest Laps Set: 25

Brief Bio:

Born: September 28, 1968

Hometown: Vantaa, Finland

Häkkinen is a two-time F1 champion and a Finnish auto racer. He is known as Michael Schumacher’s greatest rival. (Years after the rivalry ended, mostly thanks to Häkkinen’s abrupt exit, his rivalry with Schumi was likened to the rivalry Räikkönen and Alonso had a few years ago—but that was before Hamilton entered the picture.)

According to Schumi, Häkkinen was the one rival that he respected the most throughout his F1 career.

Like almost all the other racers in our list, Häkkinen started his racing career, not with F1 right away, but with smaller sports in karting. By the time the young Finn was 18, he already had five karting victories under his belt. But it was his stint in the British Formula Three that got him noticed by the F1 execs. He was promptly promoted to F1, and started racing under the Lotus team in 1991.

In 1993, after a relatively successful stay with Lotus, the Finn decided to join McLaren—a team he stayed with until his retirement in 2001. While he started out as a McLaren test driver, his dreams of racing was quickly realized when that same year, Michael Andretti left F1 after getting disappointing season results.

1998 F1 Season:

1998, Häkkinen finally tasted F1 victory. He had the fastest car in the strip, and he had the speed and talent needed to be number one that year. The Finn started the season great. He was the top driver for several races… that was until he encountered various car problems and bad luck. Michael Schumacher, who by that time had already won a couple of championships in the past, was quick to jump on this opportunity. Demonstrating what can only be described as “inspired driving”, the German caught up with the Finn, and by the last two races, the two drivers were level in points! With two races to go, Häkkinen showed nerves of steel. Instead of folding under pressure, he actually excelled. He managed to beat Schumacher in the Luxembourg Grand Prix as they went neck-and-neck in a straight line. Schumi’s car stalled, and Häkkinen went on to win the 1998 Formula One World Championship.

1999 F1 Season:

Defending his title in 1999 proved to be a tougher job for the Finn. This time around, his McLaren car was no longer as reliable as the 1998 version. Early in the season, the Finn saw himself sliding down the ranks in driver’s points. But his luck changed when right before Schumi’s Silverstone leg-breaking accident, he managed to overtake Schumacher in driver’s standings. While Schumi was out, Eddie Irvine, Ferrari’s number two driver that year, assumed the team lead driver’s position.

Reliability problems with the McLaren car and Häkkinen’s own driving mistakes allowed Irvine to swiftly catch up with the Finn in driver’s standings. During the latter parts of the season, Häkkinen continued to make mistakes. Some of his biggest errors are said to have happened at Monza and Imola. During both times, Mika crashed out in spite of starting with a strong lead. The pressure to stay on top must have been so hard on Häkkinen. According to reports, after his crash in Monza, Mika was so overwhelmed by his major mistake that he actually started crying in front of the cameras, and later ran away from his stalled car to hide. These events led some people to think that perhaps Häkkinen could not handle the stress of being number one.

Needless to say, Irvine caught up. And the deciding race (for the championship title), ended up as the final race that season—the Japanese Grand Prix. But by that time, Häkkinen was back and in prime form. He won the race and won the 2009 F1 championship with Irvine an entire lap behind him, and Schumi a close second.

Häkkinen stayed with F1 until 2001. Initially, this was supposed to be a sabbatical for the Finn, but by mid-2002, his mini-vacation had turned into permanent retirement.

Post F1:

In 2004, Mika Häkkinen announced that he was planning on returning to F1. After talks with the F1 team Williams, no deal was reached. So instead, Häkkinen joined another racing league, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM). He raced with Mercedes Benz that year. Häkkinen was pretty successful in DTM. He even had a win at a race in Spa.

2006 saw another comeback for Häkkinen—this time with DTM again. In his second season in DTM, the Finn wasn’t as successful as he was during his rookie year. His best results that year were a couple of second place finishes. Some critics say that Häkkinen’s driving style just isn’t suited for DTM.

The Finnish driver also raced for McLaren-Mercedes in the Goodwood Festival of Speed. He was more successful in Goodwood than he was in DTM.

Where is He Now?

On November 4, 2007, Mika Häkkinen announced that he was retiring from competitive motorsport for good. A year after that statement, Häkkinen announced that he was focusing on starting a new career in driver management.

2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 Formula One World Champion

Name: Michael Schumacher

Nationality: German

Team: Ferrari

<click HERE for Schumi’s stats>

2000 F1 Season:

After losing the title to Mika Häkkinen the previous year, Michael Schumacher managed an amazing start in the 2000 F1 season. The German racer managed to win the first three races that season. By the eight race, Schumi had already won five. But bad luck came in the middle of the year, when Schumacher was forced to retire early in three races. This allowed his biggest rival, Häkkinen to catch up in points. Mika Häkkinen secured two more wins before Schumacher finally won another race at the Italian Grand Prix. During the post race press conference that day, Schumacher broke down in tears after he managed to equal the total number of Grand Prix Wins (41) won by his racing idol, the late Ayrton Senna. The championship fight between Häkkinen and Schumi ended in the penultimate race of that season—the Japanese Grand Prix. While most fans thought it was going to be a relatively easy win for Schumi, after all, he was in pole position, he lost his early lead to Häkkinen. But after his second pit stop, in a demonstration of skill powered by will, Schumi managed to overtake the Finnish driver and he proceeded to win the race and the 2000 F1 championship.

2001 F1 Season:

This year, Schumi experienced his fourth championship win. While there were about four other racers who were able to secure race wins that season, Schumi was the only driver to have ever managed to keep other racers at bay in defending his F1 championship title. Schumacher managed to score a record-tying nine wins that season! By the latter part of the season, with four more Grands Prix on the F1 schedule, Michael Schumacher secured his fourth championship title. By the end of the 2001 season, Schumi had 123 points under his name. That’s 58 points ahead of the second placer, David Coulthard.

2001 was monumental for the Schumacher family. During the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix, Ralf Schumacher (Michael’s brother) managed to win the race. Schumi placed second. That’s the first 1-2 finish by brothers in the whole F1 history. In the Belgian Grand Prix, Schumi also secured his 52^nd race win, letting him break Alain Prost’s record for the most number of race wins in F1.

2002 F1 Season:

In his decade-long career in F1, Schumacher has been involved in various controversies. But during the 2002 season, Schumi faced a very public controversy where he ended up being booed by fans as he stood on the top step of the podium.

During the Austrian Grand Prix in 2002, Schumacher was lagging behind his teammate, Rubens Barrichello. In the last few meters of the final lap, fans were astonished to see Barrichello slow down to let Schumacher pass so that he could win the race. According to Barrichello, he was under Ferrari orders to slow down and let Michael take the win. The fans were outraged. They booed and kept booing even as Schumacher and Barrichello stood on the podium steps. An embarrassed Schumacher attempted to make amends by trying to push Barrichello onto the top step of the podium.

The United States Grand Prix later that year, also ended in a very strange note. This time around it was Schumi leading the race, and Barrichello lagging behind him. But as Schumi slowed down near the finish line, the German racer apparently hit the brakes too much that Ferrari’s number two driver found himself in first place. That year, Barrichello and Schumacher managed to finish 9 of the season’s 17 races in the first two places.

By the end of the season, Schumacher had broken the record he shared with Nigel Mansell for the most races won in a single season (9) by winning 11 times that year. Schumi also tied Juan Manuel Fangio’s record for the most championship wins (5).

In 2002, Ferrari won 15 out of the 17 races that season. Schumacher clinched the World Driver’s Championship (F1 WDC) title with six races remaining that year. And he also became the only F1 racer to finish every race in that season on the podium.

Schumi finished with 144 points. That’s a record-breaking 67 more points than that season’s second-placer—Rubens Barrichello.

2003 F1 Season:

With six F1 championship titles under his belt, Schumacher managed to break Juan Manuel Fangio’s record for the most F1 championship wins. In 2003, Schumi’s biggest competitor was another Finnish driver—this time it was Kimi Räikkönen.

To say that Schumi was unlucky during the first few races would be an understatement. On that season’s first race, the German driver drove off track, causing him to lose crucial points. The next two races, he found himself on the sidelines, after getting caught in on-track collisions. After just a few races, Schumi was lagging by 16 points behind Räikkönen.

In a true demonstration of skill and expertise, Schumi managed to make an amazing comeback. He zoomed to first place in the 2003 San Marino Grand Prix and finished the next two races on top. This allowed him to close the gap between him and Räikkönen to just two points. After a win in the Canadian Grand Prix, Schumi was number one again.

Then, another title rival emerged. Juan Pablo Montoya managed to put himself between Räikkönen and Schumacher. Schumi’s lead was cut down to a point between him and Montoya, and two points between him and Räikkönen.

After the Hungarian Grand Prix, the FIA announced a slight change in rules. This time around, tire width was going to be measured. This meant that Michelin, the tire-provider for teams like Williams and McLaren would have to make changes to its tire design before the next race—the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher who was running on Bridgestone had no problems with this news. In fact, it worked to his advantage. He ended up securing two more race wins. During the United States Grand Prix, Montoya was penalized—leaving Räikkönen as Schumi’s closest rival for the title. At the last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix, Schumi only needed one point to win the championship, while Räikkönen needed to win the entire race. Schumacher finished in 8^th place, earning him the only point he needed to win the championship, and Räikkönen lost the title by just two points.

2004 F1 Season:

Schumacher was incredibly dominant in 2004. He managed to win the twelve races out of the first thirteen races that season! Read: 12 race wins in 13 races. The only time he wasn’t able to finish a race was in Monaco after he locked his brakes too much during a safety car lap. That year, he won 13 out of 18 races, breaking his old F1 record for the most race wins in 2002. He also became the only seven-time World Champion in F1 history.

Sources: More and more and more Wikipedia!

Here are the Formula One World Champions from 1996 to 1997. I’m featuring just two drivers this time to make the text a bit easier to read.

1996 Formula One World Champion

Name: Damon Hill (Damon Graham Devereux Hill), OBE

Nationality: British

Team: Williams

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 1

Race Wins: 22

Races: 122, with 115 starts

Podium Finishes: 42

Pole Positions: 20

Fastest Laps Set: 19

Brief Bio:

Born: September 17, 1960

Damon Hill is the son of the two-time Formula One World Champion Graham Hill. Graham Hill was world champion in 1962 and 1968. In 1975, Damon Hill lost his dad in a horrific plane crash that claimed five other lives. When Graham Hill died, Damon’s family experienced some tough times, particularly after Graham Hill’s entire, uninsured estate was wiped out by the claims of the families of the other five victims.

Damon showed interest in the same line of sports his father loved—motor racing. But unlike other Formula One drivers, Damon had a pretty late start. He entered into motorcycle racing when he was already 23. After some success, he moved on to one-seaters and gradually rose up in ranks in the International Formula 3000 championships. Although Damon was pretty competitive in Formula 3000, he wasn’t able to win any championships.

In 1992, already in his early 30s, Damon became a test driver for the Williams team. Being driver number three when racing in F1 means having way-limited driving action, which is why it’s a good thing Hill found a racing seat in the middle of the 1992 season with the struggling Brabham team. Unfortunately for Damon, Brabham was a sinking ship that was in financial trouble due to lack of sponsorships. The ship sank sometime in 1992, and Damon spent the rest of the season testing for Williams again.

Nigel Mansell, William’s number one guy and the reigning world champion quickly exited Formula One in 1993 to join the North American Cart series, which meant one empty seat and one eager test driver to fill it. Hill ended up with the number “0” car, due to sport technicalities. Since the world champion gets #1 and his partner gets #2, without #1 but with #2, new driver is automatically given the “0” number. Pretty cool, huh?

During this time, his partner was no other than world champion Alain Prost! When Prost said “buh-bye” to Williams and F1 in general in 1994, Hill was joined by another world champion—Ayrton Senna. Ayrton, was William’s number one bet in 1994, but Schumi proved competitive and Senna died tragically before the season’s end. Because he was the most (and the only) experienced driver left in Williams, Hill suddenly found himself thrust into the position of team leader.

To accompany Damon, Williams promoted another test driver to take the #2 seat, David Coulthard—or DC as the media cool cats call him. Later on, Williams would bring back Mansell to share the seat with DC—the team must’ve really been gunning for another championship win during those seasons. Mansell earned 900,000 British Pounds for each of the four races he drove in, while team leader Damon Hill got paid 300,000 Pounds for the entire season. Talk about unfair!

Hill drove exceptionally well in 1994. He was second to Schumacher in points. And when Schumi got banned for two races (for overtaking Hill during a formation lap), and kept getting disqualified—Hill became the race leader. It came to the point where Schumi’s lead was reduced to just a point. Schumi also finished second after Hill during the rain-soaked race in Japan in 1994—after Schumi allegedly implied that Hill who was eight years his senior, wasn’t a world class driver. Now that’s what I call karma.

1994 title went to Schumi of course. So did the 1995. With rookie driver Jacques Villeneuve by his side, Hill dominated the entire season. Unfortunately for Hill, his bad performance the year before made Williams drop him after he won the title. No worries, Arrows picked him up. He also got his second BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, making him one of the only three athletes to have received this award, not once, but twice! That year, the Royal Automobile Club also gave him another prestigious trophy to add to his collection—the Segrave Trophy. So the year didn’t end *that* bad for Hill after all.

1997 Formula One World Champion

Name: Jacques Villeneuve (Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve), OQ – Order of Quebec

Nationality: Canadian

Team: Williams

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 1

Race Wins: 11

Races: 165, with 164 starts

Podium Finishes: 23

Pole Positions: 13

Fastest Laps Set: 9

Brief Bio:

Born: April 9, 1971

Hometown: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada

Jacques Villeneuve is a Canadian auto racing driver. He is the son of the late Formula One racer, Gilles Villeneuve. Jacques’ father was killed in 1982, while Gilles was on the final qualifying lap for the Belgian Grand Prix that season.

Aside from the 1997 Formula One World Driver’s Championship, Jacques has also won the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1995 CART Championship. He is the third driver to have managed this feat—the other two being Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi.

The year Jacques became the F1 champion, Williams’ lead driver Damon Hill was dropped by the company, pushing Villeneuve to become the new team leader. To replace Hill, Williams hired Heinz-Harald Frentzen as driver number 2. While last year, Villeneuve was in a points-race for first place with his own teammate Damon Hill, this year, Villeneuve was in tough competition against another former F1 champion—Michael Schumacher.

His championship win was decided in the final race in Jerez when Schumi slammed against the side of Villeneuve’s car, damaging the Canadian’s sidepod. But while Schumi was forced to retire the race and was also disqualified for the championship, Villeneuve managed to recover and finish in third place—securing the championship title in the process.

After his win, Jacques’ career in F1 started to decline sharply. In 2006, following an alleged injury in the German Grand Prix on lap 31, Villeneuve was temporarily replaced by Robert Kubica. During the Hungarian Grand Prix, Kubica managed to finish in seventh place, but was later disqualified. The FIA discovered that the Sauber car was too light. A few days after this incident, Villeneuve and BMW Sauber announced that they were parting company, effective immediately.

Villeneuve went on to race in the 2007 Le Mans where his Peugeot team finished in second place. He also raced for NASCAR, SPEEDCAR, and V8 Supercars. He has also released a musical album that unfortunately was poorly received in 2007. And has had some TV adverts and a cameo in Driven, the 2001 Sylvester Stallone movie.

NOTE: Notice how both F1 Champions have F1 dads who both died tragic deaths?

Source: Wikipedia throughout.

For this post, we’ll be covering the Formula One World Driver’s Championship winners from 1981 to 1984. We’re going to be seeing a lot of F1 daddies and uncles in this section–unfortunately, their young may still have a long road ahead of them before they reach the top.

Let’s start with one F1 daddy whose son is quickly following his footsteps. The 1981 World Champion–Nelson Piquet.

1981 Formula One World Champion

Name: Nelson Piquet (Nelson Piquet Souto Maior)

Nationality: Brazilian

Team: Brabham Racing

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 3

Race Wins: 23

Races: 207, with 204 starts

Podium Finishes: 60

Pole Positions: 24

Fastest Laps Set: 23

Brief Bio:

Born: August 17, 1952

Nelson Piquet has won three Formula One World Driver’s Championships during his 13-year stay in F1. He joins the ranks of the few drivers who managed to win at least three championships in F1. Other skilled drivers who are a part of this category include Ayrton Senna, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher, and Juan Manuel Fangio.

Piquet started out with go-karting in Brazil. He was the national champion from 1971 to 1972. He later participated in the 1976 Formula Super Vee championship, thanks to the urging of the first Brazilian Formula One World Champion, Emerson Fittipaldi.

In 1978, Piquet managed to break Jackie Stewart’s records for the most wins in one season when he joined the British Formula 3. Nelson Piquet was instantly hailed as a motor racing prodigy.

His son, Nelson Angelo Piquet, is now racing for Renault, alongside Fernando Alonso.

Piquet Sr. became a part of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in the year 2000.

Aside from being a serious car racer, Piquet is also a pretty successful businessman. Piquet founded Autotrac in 1994. This company tracks customer trucks using GPS Tracking. It also provides mobile data messaging services.

In 2000, Piquet also founded his own racing team, Piquet Sports, mostly as a way to help Nelson Piquet, Jr. participate in the sport.

1982 Formula One World Champion

Name: Keke Rosberg (Keiko Erik Rosberg)

Nationality: Finnish

Team: Williams

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 1

Race Wins: 5

Races: 128, with 114 starts

Podium Finishes: 17

Pole Positions: 5

Fastest Laps Set: 3

Brief Bio:

Born: December 6, 1948

Hometown: Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden

Keke Rosberg is the first Finnish F1 driver to have ever competed in Formula One at a regular basis throughout the series.

Rosberg actually had a late F1 start, debuting at 29 years of age. He had stints in Formula Atlantic, Formula Pacific, Formula 2, and Formula Vee before he ventured into Formula One. He started driving under the Theodore team in the 1978 F1 season–although he wasn’t a regular driver yet.

When his stint at Theodore didn’t work out, he joined the Wolf team in the middle of the 1979 F1 season. The team had difficulties with its car, and Rosberg had problems finishing his races. When Wolf left F1, he signed with Fittipaldi Automotive. He scored just two points in 1980, but failed to score at all in 1981.

In spite of all this, Williams saw Rosberg’s true potential and still wanted to sign him. Alan Jones had just retired and his seat was up for grabs. Rosberg was given Jones’ seat, and Keke certainly proved himself worthy. Points-wise, he was consistent. It was definitely his best year. While he didn’t win all the races, his remarkably consistent performance landed him the driver’s championship.

Unfortunately for Rosberg, immediately after his victory, an unreliable Williams chassis and a problematic (at least until 1985) but powerful Honda engine kept failing him, resulting in subpar performance from the driver. Rosberg left F1 in 1986.

Three years later, Rosberg re-entered the racing world, participating in the Spa 24 Hours. He achieved relative success in this field. He later moved on to the German Touring Car Championship.

In 1995, the Finnish driver created his own racing team, Team Rosberg. He also managed the future world champion Mika Häkkinen, Jyrki Järvilehto, and his own son Nico Rosberg.

Daddy Rosberg must be proud to have his son Nico now driving for Williams. The same team where he first tasted Formula One victory.

1983 Formula One World Champion

Name: Nelson Piquet

Nationality: Brazilian

Team: Brabham

(Scroll Up to read more about Nelson Piquet)

1984 Formula One World Champion

Name: Niki Lauda (Andreas Nikolaus “Niki” Lauda)

Nationality: Austrian

Team: McLaren

(Click HERE to read more about Niki Lauda)

Sources: A LOT of Wikipedia still Useful site!

This list will cover the Formula One World Driver’s Champions from 1971 to 1980. We have a lot of ground to cover, but like the previous entry, there are a number of drivers who will be showing up more than once or even thrice in this short F1 champions list.

We start of this post with the 1971 Formula One World Champion. Another familiar name: Jackie Stewart

1971 Formula One World Champion

Name: Jackie Stewart (Sir John Young “Jackie Stewart”, OBE)

Nationality: British

Team: Tyrrell Racing

Jackie Stewart, AKA “The Flying Scott” brings his good luck and mad skillz to Tyrrell after his stint with Matra, or Mécanique Avion TRAction.

(Click HERE to find out more about Jackie Stewart)

1972 Formula One World Champion

Name: Emerson Fittipaldi

Nationality: Brazilian

Team: McLaren

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 2

Race Wins: 14

Races: 149, with 144 starts

Podium Finishes: 35

Pole Positions: 6

Fastest Laps Set: 6

Brief Bio:
Born: December 12, 1946

Hometown: São Paulo, Brazil

Emerson Fittipaldi is one of the most successful Brazilian auto racing drivers in the world. He won a couple of championships in Formula One and some more in the Indianapolis 500 and CART.

He started racing motorcycles at 14, and moved on to hydrofoils at 16. After realizing the dangers of racing hydrofoils, Fittipaldi, along with his brother moved on to racing karts. After moving to Formula Vees, Formula Ford, and Formula Three, Fittipaldi caught the attention of Colin Chapman who was looking for a supporting driver for the late Austrian Jochen Rindt in 1970. After starting out as the No. 3 driver for Lotus, Fittipaldi was propelled to the number one seat when Rindt died at Monza, and the No. 2 driver, John Miles, left the team. Emerson later made the move to McLaren. He was active in the motorsport for ten years, from 1970 to 1980.

Fittipaldi would go on to win two championships in Formula One. He later moved on to CART in 1984 after a 4-year hiatus from racing.

In 2001, Emerson became a part of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

1973 Formula One World Champion

Name: Jackie Stewart

Nationality: British

Team: Tyrrell

A third time and final championship win for Jackie Stewart.

1974 Formula One World Champion

Name: Emerson Fittipaldi

Nationality: Brazilian

Team: McLaren

A second appearance for Fittipaldi. (Scroll Up to Read More on this Driver)

1975 Formula One World Champion

Name: Niki Lauda (Andreas Nikolaus “Niki” Lauda)

Nationality: Austrian

Team: Ferrari

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 3

Race Wins: 25

Races: 177, with 171 starts

Podium Finishes: 54

Pole Positions: 24

Fastest Laps Set: 24

Brief Bio:

Born: February 22, 1949

Hometown: Vienna

Aside from being a three-time Formula One World Champion, Lauda is also lauded fro beign a successful Austrian aviator and entrepreneur. For a couple of years, he managed the Formula One Jaguar Racing team from 2001 to 2002. He has also founded and managed two airlines—Lauda Air.

1976 Formula One World Champion

Name: James Hunt (James Simon Wallis Hunt)

Nationality: British

Team: McLaren

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 1

Race Wins: 10

Races: 93, with 92 starts

Podium Finishes: 23

Pole Positions: 14

Fastest Laps Set: 8

Brief Bio:

Born: August 29, 1947

Hometown: England

Died: June 15, 1993

Although he was active in Formula One for just 6 seasons, Hunt became one of the most well-remembered F1 British drivers. He retired from driving in 1979 and became a successful businessman and media commentator. He had a pretty good commentary career with BBC, which was something he stayed with from his retirement up until his death in 1993.

Some say that his F1 career’s rapid decline had to do with lack of motivation. Hunt was a skilled driver, but car problems combined with the lack of a test driver in 1977 and 1978 certainly brought his morale down. And any motivation he had left was completely gone during the crash that he and his good friend Ronnie Peterson were involved in. After a chaotic start in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix, a huge accident resulted in Peterson’s Lotus hitting the barriers and bursting in a cloud of flames. Hunt along with Clay Regazzoni and Patrick Depailler attempted to rescue the trapped driver but the Swede died a day later due to an embolism. When Hunt moved to Water Wolf Racing the next year, he found that the team’s ground effect car wasn’t competitive enough. And when he failed to finish in the 1979 Monaco Grand Prix, he immediately announced to the press that he was quitting F1. And he did–forever.

Hunt died at 45 due to a heart attack at his house in Wimbledon.

1977 Formula One World Champion

Name: Niki Lauda (Andreas Nikolaus “Niki” Lauda)

Nationality: Austrian

Team: Ferrari

A second win for the three-time F1 World Champion, Nikki Lauda.

(scroll up to read more about Lauda)

1978 Formula One World Champion

Name: Mario Andretti (Mario Gabriele Andretti)

Nationality: American

Team: Lotus

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 1

Race Wins: 12

Races: 131, with 128 starts

Podium Finishes: 19

Pole Positions: 18

Fastest Laps Set: 10

Brief Bio:

Born: February 28, 1940

The Italian-American Andretti is one of the most famous American F1 drivers in history. He is one of the only two drivers to have ever won races on all four of the top motor racing categories including: Formula One, World Sportscar Championship, NASCAR, and IndyCar. The other racer is Dan Gurney.

Throughout his career, the Italian American managed to snag four IndyCar titles, one F1 championship and IROC VI. Until now, he’s the only driver to have ever won the Daytona 500, Formula One World Championship, and the Indianapolis 500.

He shares the record of being one of the only two drivers to have won the Indianapolis 500, Formula One, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with former F1 driver, Juan Pablo Montoya.

Andretti has had a total of 109 wins on all the most famous circuits.

Until now, Andretti is the only American to have ever won the Formula One series.

Andretti has also had victories in sprint car, drag, and midget car racing.

1979 Formula One World Champion

Name: Jody Scheckter (Jody David Scheckter)

Nationality: South African

Team: Ferrari

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 1

Race Wins: 10

Races: 113, with 111 starts

Podium Finishes: 33

Pole Positions: 3

Fastest Laps Set: 5

Brief Bio:

Born: January 29, 1950

After moving to Britain in 1970, Scheckter debuted in Formula One in 1972 as a McLaren driver. His amazing performance in the race at Watkins Glen instantly made him an overnight star–someone for the crowds to watch. The next year, he won the Formula 5000 and participated in 5 F1 races. In one of his starts at the British Grand Prix held at Silverstone, he was involved in an accident that took out almost a dozen cars–that pretty much summed up his whole career.

But he finally got his chance to drive in 1974, when Tyrrell offered him a seat. Jody proved his worth by finishing third in the Formula One World Driver’s Championship. The next year, though it wasn’t as good as 1974, Scheckter managed to be the first and only South African to have won in the South African Grand Prix. In 1976, he found himself in third place again. But just a few years later, Scheckter managed to finally clinch the driver’s championship.

These days, Scheckter works as an organic farmer at Overton. Because of his knowledge on organic farming and the benefits of organic food, he was featured in several episodes on the Visionhealth TV and DVD documentaries in 2005.

1980 Formula One World Champion

Name: Alan Jones (Alan Stanley Jones, MBE) *Member of the Order of the British Empire

Nationality: Australian

Team: Williams

Career Highlights:

Championship Wins: 1

Race Wins: 12

Races: 117, with 116 starts

Podium Finishes: 24

Pole Positions: 6

Fastest Laps Set: 13

Brief Bio:

Jones was the first driver to have ever won the F1 World Driver’s Championship with the Williams team. He is also said to have been the last Australian Driver (so far) to have won at the Australian Grand Prix.

Prior to landing a seat in F1, Jones was racing in Formula 3. He later managed to get a Formula Atlantic ride, which landed him in F1 the next season.

In F1, Jones started out as the injury replacement driver for Rolf Stommelen in Graham Hill’s racing team. It was only in 1976 when Jones landed a full-time F1 drive in the John Surtees racing team. During these races, he instantly caught the media’s attention, mostly thanks to his infamous Durex sponsorship. Unfortunately Surtees and Jones didn’t get along well, so Jones was dropped from the team. Shadow picked Jones up and turned him into the replacement driver for Tom Pryce. Pryce was killed in South Africa during a freak racing accident.

Jones made the most out of the opportunity presented to him, winning at the Österreichring (his maiden victory), and getting seventh place in the driver’s championship.

1977, Jones caught the eye of Frank Williams, who was planning on rebuilding his F1 team–Williams Grand Prix. While he didn’t win the championship that year, Jones did succeed in putting the team on the map after he won at Watkins Glen.

In 1980, Jones finished first, making him the 1980 Formula One World Driver’s Champion.

Sources: A lot of Wikipedia