Know Your Formula One Drivers

• Take a pitstop into the leading drivers’ racing histories

November 18, 2015 - Formula 1 is the motoring enthusiast’s ultimate event, promising to deliver the thrills and exhilaration that can only come from being so close to deafening monster engines and the drivers that can expertly wrangle them. With the final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, just around the corner, Carmudi.ae takes a look at the top three contenders this year and their race to the top.

Lewis Hamilton

Already crowned the champion for this year, Hamilton won the first race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix and has won 10 of the 18 races so far. He started off his career with McLaren in 2007 and claimed his first championship with them in 2008. Five years later, he signed on with the Mercedes AMG Petronas team and went on to win the 2008 and 2014 World Championships as well. He is labelled the first black driver in Formula One and this year, he becomes the first British driver in history to win consecutive F1 titles. He is also the only driver on the current grid to have won at least one race in each season he has competed in.

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari driver Vettel won the second race of the season at the Malaysian Grand Prix and has won three of the 18 races so far. The German national has four consecutive titles to his name, winning them all with the Red Bull Racing team in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. When he won the 2010 championship, he was the youngest racer ever to do so at the age of 23. He beat Lewis Hamilton for the accolade by 168 days.

Nico Rosberg

The Mercedes team’s other half, Rosberg has won 5 of the 18 races so far. His biggest career achievement was in 2014, when he finished second in the Formula One World Championship behind Hamilton. He started his career off with the Williams Grand Prix Engineering team, with whom his father Keke Rosberg had won the 1982 World Championship. While never having been crowned a Champion himself, he has come in first in 13 Grands Prix and was the youngest driver to claim the fastest lap in the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix at the age of 20.