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Formula One World Drivers' Championship trophy.

The Formula One World Drivers' Championship (WDC) is awarded by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) to the most successful Formula One racing car driver over a season, as determined by a points system based on Grand Prix results. The Drivers' Championship was first awarded in 1950, to Nino Farina. The first driver to win multiple Championships was Alberto Ascari, in 1952 and 1953.

The FIA do not officially declare the Champion until the end of the season, but a driver is said to have "clinched" the Championship after it is no longer possible for another to obtain more points than him, even if the former driver were to not compete in the remaining races of the season, and the latter to score the maximum number of points possible. The Drivers' Championship has been won in the final race of the season 24 times in the 59 seasons it has been awarded. The earliest in a season that the Drivers' Championship has been clinched was in 2002, when Michael Schumacher secured the title with six races remaining.

Overall, thirty different drivers have won the Championship, with German Michael Schumacher holding the record for most titles, at seven. Schumacher also holds the record for most consecutive Drivers' Championships, winning five from 2000 to 2004. The current Drivers' Champion is Lewis Hamilton, who won his first World Championship in 2008.

By season

Season	Driver	Team	Engine	Tyres	Poles	Wins	Podiums	Fastest Laps	Points	Clinched	Pt. Margin
1950	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo	P	2	3	3	3	30	Race 7 of 7	3
1951	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo	P	4	31	5	5	31	Race 8 of 8	6
1952	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Ferrari	F P	5	6	6	6	36	Race 6 of 8	12
1953	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Ferrari	P	6	5	5	4	34.5	Race 8 of 9	6.5
1954	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati Mercedes2	Maserati Mercedes	P C	5	6	7	3	42	Race 7 of 9	16.86
1955	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	Mercedes	C	3	4	5	3	40	Race 6 of 7	16.5
1956	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ferrari	Ferrari	E	6	33	54	4	30	Race 8 of 8	3
1957	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	Maserati	P	4	4	6	2	40	Race 6 of 8	15
1958	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	Ferrari	E	4	1	7	5	42	Race 11 of 11	1
1959	Jack Brabham	Cooper*	Climax	D	1	2	5	1	31	Race 9 of 9	4
1960	Jack Brabham	Cooper*	Climax	D	3	5	5	3	43	Race 8 of 10	9
1961	Phil Hill	Ferrari*	Ferrari	D	5	2	6	2	34	Race 75 of 8	1
1962	Graham Hill	BRM*	BRM	D	1	4	6	3	42	Race 9 of 9	12
1963	Jim Clark	Lotus*	Climax	D	7	7	9	6	54	Race 7 of 10	21
1964	John Surtees6	Ferrari*	Ferrari	D	2	2	6	2	40	Race 10 of 10	1
1965	Jim Clark	Lotus*	Climax	D	6	6	6	6	54	Race 7 of 10	14
1966	Jack Brabham	Brabham*	Repco	G	3	4	5	1	42	Race 7 of 9	14
1967	Denny Hulme	Brabham*	Repco	G	0	2	8	2	51	Race 11 of 11	5
1968	Graham Hill	Lotus*	Ford	F	2	3	6	0	48	Race 12 of 12	12
1969	Jackie Stewart	Matra*	Ford	D	2	6	7	5	63	Race 8 of 11	26
1970	Jochen Rindt	Lotus*	Ford	F	3	5	5	1	45	Race 127 of 13	5
1971	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell*	Ford	G	6	6	7	3	62	Race 8 of 11	29
1972	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus*	Ford	F	3	5	8	0	61	Race 10 of 12	16
1973	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell	Ford	G	3	5	8	1	71	Race 13 of 15	16
1974	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren*	Ford	G	2	3	7	0	55	Race 15 of 15	3
1975	Niki Lauda	Ferrari*	Ferrari	G	9	5	8	2	64.5	Race 13 of 14	19.5
1976	James Hunt	McLaren	Ford	G	8	6	8	2	69	Race 16 of 16	1
1977	Niki Lauda	Ferrari*	Ferrari	G	2	3	10	3	72	Race 15 of 17	17
1978	Mario Andretti	Lotus*	Ford	G	8	6	7	3	64	Race 148 of 16	13
1979	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari*	Ferrari	M	1	3	6	0	51	Race 13 of 15	4
1980	Alan Jones	Williams*	Ford	G	3	5	10	5	67	Race 13 of 14	13
1981	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	Ford	M	4	3	7	1	50	Race 15 of 15	1
1982	Keke Rosberg	Williams	Ford	G	1	1	6	0	44	Race 16 of 16	5
1983	Nelson Piquet	Brabham	BMW	M	1	3	8	4	59	Race 15 of 15	2
1984	Niki Lauda	McLaren*	TAG	M	0	5	9	5	72	Race 16 of 16	0.59
1985	Alain Prost	McLaren*	TAG	G	2	5	11	5	73	Race 14 of 16	20
1986	Alain Prost	McLaren	TAG	G	1	4	11	2	72	Race 16 of 16	2
1987	Nelson Piquet	Williams*	Honda	G	4	3	11	4	73	Race 15 of 16	12
1988	Ayrton Senna	McLaren*	Honda	G	13	8	11	3	90	Race 15 of 16	3
1989	Alain Prost	McLaren*	Honda	G	2	4	11	5	76	Race 1510 of 16	16
1990	Ayrton Senna	McLaren*	Honda	G	10	6	11	2	78	Race 15 of 16	7
1991	Ayrton Senna	McLaren*	Honda	G	8	7	12	2	96	Race 15 of 16	24
1992	Nigel Mansell	Williams*	Renault	G	14	9	12	8	108	Race 11 of 16	52
1993	Alain Prost	Williams*	Renault	G	13	7	12	6	99	Race 14 of 16	26
1994	Michael Schumacher	Benetton	Ford	G	6	8	10	8	92	Race 16 of 16	1
1995	Michael Schumacher	Benetton*	Renault	G	4	9	11	8	102	Race 15 of 17	33
1996	Damon Hill11	Williams*	Renault	G	9	8	10	5	97	Race 16 of 16	19
1997	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams*	Renault	G	10	7	8	3	81	Race 17 of 17	3912
1998	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren*	Mercedes	B	9	8	11	6	100	Race 16 of 16	14
1999	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren	Mercedes	B	11	5	10	6	76	Race 16 of 16	2
2000	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari*	Ferrari	B	9	9	12	2	108	Race 16 of 17	19
2001	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari*	Ferrari	B	11	9	14	3	123	Race 13 of 17	58
2002	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari*	Ferrari	B	7	11	17	7	144	Race 11 of 17	67
2003	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari*	Ferrari	B	5	6	8	5	93	Race 16 of 16	2
2004	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari*	Ferrari	B	8	13	15	10	148	Race 14 of 18	34
2005	Fernando Alonso	Renault*	Renault	M	6	7	15	2	133	Race 17 of 19	21
2006	Fernando Alonso	Renault*	Renault	M	6	7	14	5	134	Race 18 of 18	13
2007	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari*	Ferrari	B	3	6	12	6	110	Race 17 of 17	113
2008	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	Mercedes	B	7	5	10	1	98	Race 18 of 18	1

Notes

* Indicates the team also won the Constructors' Championship (awarded since 1958).

1. ^  Fangio shared the win of the 1951 French Grand Prix with Luigi Fagioli.
2. ^  Fangio competed in the 1954 Argentine and Belgian Grands Prix with Maserati, then completed the season with Mercedes.
3. ^  Fangio shared the win of the 1956 Argentine Grand Prix with Luigi Musso.
4. ^  Fangio shared 2nd position in the 1956 Monaco and Italian Grands Prix with Peter Collins.
5. ^  Hill won the Championship at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, where teammate Wolfgang von Trips died after an accident in the race.
6. ^  Surtees became the first person to win World Championships on motorcycles and cars, having previously won seven titles in both 350cc and 500cc.
7. ^  Rindt died during practice for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix, but his Championship was not confirmed until two rounds later, making him Formula One's first (and only) posthumous World Drivers' Champion.
8. ^  Andretti became Champion after teammate Ronnie Peterson died following an operation due to a collision at the 1978 Italian Grand Prix.
9. ^  Narrowest margin of victory ever, after half points were awarded at Monaco due to early finish because of bad weather.
10. ^  Ayrton Senna won the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, but was disqualified for cutting the chicane after receiving a push-start from track-side marshalls. McLaren appealed the decision but lost, handing Prost the title.
11. ^  Damon Hill is the son of Graham Hill, who won the Drivers' Championship in 1962 and 1968, making them the first father-son pair to both win Drivers' Championships.
12. ^  Michael Schumacher scored 78 points during the 1997 season, only 3 points behind Villeneuve. However, Schumacher was disqualified from the championship for colliding with Villeneuve at the final race of the season, the European Grand Prix. This left Villeneuve with a 39 point margin over Heinz-Harald Frentzen with 42 points.
13. ^  Kimi Räikkönen won by 1 point over both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

By driver

Michael Schumacher won the World Drivers' Championship a record seven times.

Driver	Total	Seasons
Michael Schumacher	7	1994–1995, 2000–2004
Juan Manuel Fangio	5	1951, 1954–1957
Alain Prost	4	1985-1986, 1989, 1993
Jack Brabham	3	1959–1960, 1966
Jackie Stewart	3	1969, 1971, 1973
Niki Lauda	3	1975, 1977, 1984
Ayrton Senna	3	1988, 1990-1991
Nelson Piquet	3	1981, 1983, 1987
Alberto Ascari	2	1952–1953
Jim Clark	2	1963, 1965
Graham Hill	2	1962, 1968
Emerson Fittipaldi	2	1972, 1974
Mika Häkkinen	2	1998–1999
Fernando Alonso	2	2005–2006
Nino Farina	1	1950
Mike Hawthorn	1	1958
Phil Hill	1	1961
John Surtees	1	1964
Denny Hulme	1	1967
Jochen Rindt	1	1970
James Hunt	1	1976
Mario Andretti	1	1978
Jody Scheckter	1	1979
Alan Jones	1	1980
Keke Rosberg	1	1982
Nigel Mansell	1	1992
Damon Hill	1	1996
Jacques Villeneuve	1	1997
Kimi Räikkönen	1	2007
Lewis Hamilton	1