Lando Norris is Britain’s eleventh Formula One world champion – however the place does the McLaren star end in JONATHAN MCEVOY’S rankings of our driver’s champions?

Lando Norris has entered the pantheon of British Formula One champions.

The McLaren star is only the 11th man from these shores to lift a drivers’ title; only the 35th all countries considered. 

A comfortable third-placed finish at the Abu Dhabi GP on Sunday night was enough to prise the crown from Max Verstappen after four years of the Dutchman’s dominance. 

And so he joins the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Nigel Mansell, and Jenson Button. The vaunted names of Sir Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill. Norris has his piece of history.

But where does he rank in relation to the other British champions? Here, our F1 correspondent Jonathan McEvoy ranks them all from 1-11.  

1. Sir Jackie Stewart – 1969, 1971, 1973

No driver has contributed more to Formula One in the round than Stewart. He was a clever, calculating world champion three times, never racing on the edge but conforming to his maxim that to win, first you have to finish. He revolutionised safety, won as a team owner, and acted as an enduring ambassador for the sport.

Had he not campaigned to save lives so vociferously, he believes he would have been ‘a more popular world champion but a dead one’.

His record of 27 wins from 99 starts was then a record, and achieved in a dangerous epoch.

2. Sir Lewis Hamilton – 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Current travails at Ferrari cast a shadow over his legacy right now. Statistically, however, he stands alone with seven titles and 105 wins. His longevity is also immense.

But two other factors count even more strongly in his favour. First, his tenacious fight up the ranks from relative poverty. Secondly, his debut season in 2007 – when he arrived like a starburst at McLaren alongside the double and reigning world champion Fernando Alonso – remains scarcely believable.

But losing to team-mates Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, George Russell and Charles Leclerc are blots on his GOAT-ish status.

A full assessment awaits posterity.

3. Jim Clark – 1963, 1965

The modest Borders farmer was highly rated by contemporaries. Many fans of the mid Sixties still rate him as unsurpassed.

His close friend Stewart emphasised how smoothly Clark drove, never stressing his car, as well as being blindingly quick.

What more might he have won but for being killed at Hockenheim in 1968, cause unknown, in a Formula Two race.

4. Graham Hill – 1962, 1968

Described by Stewart as the fairest man he ever met, Hill remains the only driver of any nationality to win the Triple Crown of the Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

He was known as ‘Mr Monaco’ for his five wins in the principality. A twice world champion, he exuded panache, though in natural talent he falls a smidgeon below the top three.

5. James Hunt – 1976

For a brief period before his exuberant lifestyle caught up with him, Hunt was the best driver in the world.

He was also among its most charismatic ever, and drove bravely in one of the most famously dangerous races ever to claim his sole title in rain-lashed Fuji. The great Niki Lauda pulled out, muttering that it was insanity to continue.

There will never be another James Hunt because the world of sport has changed.

6. Nigel Mansell – 1992

A darling of the British crowd perhaps like no other. Brave, fierce, moustachioed, Mansell was the embodiment of British bulldog spirit. He was Il Leone at Ferrari. He toiled hard for the title before securing it in a dominant Williams, aged 39.

The only man to hold the world championship and Indy 500 titles concurrently.

7. John Surtees – 1964

A legend as the only man to win world titles on two and four wheels. He was noted for being meticulous, stubborn and straight-shooting.

He won his one championship at Ferrari in controversial circumstances when Lorenzo Bandini, his team-mate, drove into Graham Hill’s BRM in the title-decider in Mexico. Bandini finally allowed Surtees to pass to clinch the title by one point.

8. Damon Hill – 1996

Hill drove in a golden era that comprised such talents as Senna, Prost and Schumacher. Although in the shadow of his domineering father Graham, who died when he was a boy, Damon nevertheless carved a place in British hearts as he claimed his one title, having taken over the No 1 seat at Williams in the shadow of Senna’s death.

9. Jenson Button – 2009

A fine driver with a silky touch, he was a consistent and often excellent performer. His one title came in a dominant Brawn during a season of opportunity in 2009 that nobody foresaw after Ross Brawn bought the down-at-heel team for £1.

Button took victories in six of the first seven races, which set up his one title success. He moved to McLaren in a dream partnership with Lewis Hamilton. In all, he won 15 races.

10. Lando Norris – 2025

Fortunate to rank above Mike Hawthorn, who drove in a more dangerous time? Perhaps. 

But Norris is also competing in a sport that runs deeper and is more global now, and where the participants are scrutinised more intensely.

He also took on and beat Max Verstappen, a true great, admittedly not in equal machinery, but who could? 

Verstappen, it must be said, won eight races in an inferior Red Bull to Norris’s seven.

11. Mike Hawthorn – 1958

A versatile racer, who died in a road accident aged 29, Hawthorn was a flamboyant figure and the first British world champion.

He was practically gifted the title by Sir Stirling Moss, who campaigned for Hawthorn to be reinstated in Portugal over an infringement. Hawthorn took the title by a single point. He won one race to Moss’s four, and three in his shortened career.