The top five F1 seasons of the 21st century including incredible four-way championship finale

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Formula 1 has delivered many classic seasons over the past 25 years but choosing which is the best is a difficult task with so many great championships and champions.

The current millennium has produced two seven-time drivers’ champions in the form of Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, who are arguably the greatest of all time.

F1 also saw its popularity explode more than in previous years thanks to Netflix’s coverage of the sport with the Drive to Survive documentary bringing a whole new fanbase in.

Netflix even captured one especially incredible Formula 1 season with the iconic title battle between Hamilton and Max Verstappen in 2021, reminding everyone after a period of Mercedes dominance that the sport could create an amazing spectacle.

Whether Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel or one of those mentioned prior are your favourites, the beauty of Formula 1 is that it never goes without drama.

While 2024 wasn’t a classic season, it did at least deliver a Constructors’ Championship battle between Ferrari and McLaren, which has only been seen a few times throughout our list of the top five Formula 1 seasons since 2000…

Was the 2010 and Sebastian Vettel’s first title the greatest Formula 1 season of all time?

The 2010 Formula 1 season was a championship which seemingly had everything, from suspense to a spectacular finale under the lights, as Vettel reigned supreme to help claim Red Bull’s first title double.

Four drivers still had a chance to claim the title at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and despite facing a 15-point deficit before the race, Vettel managed to overcome rival Ferrari driver Alonso and Red Bull teammate Mark Webber to win.

Hamilton was also in the picture for McLaren but needed a win and retirements for most of his rivals to bring home the unlikeliest of crowns. Yet the race victory and the title went the way of Vettel, so F1 crowned its youngest championship winner in history

Vettel also overcame the largest gap to a championship leader in one race to seal the 2010 title, capping a year in which he won five of the 19 Grand Prix and did not lead the standings until the Abu Dhabi GP.

Alonso also won five races, while Webber took four and Hamilton won three. But it was the start of Red Bull and Vettel’s dynasty, where they ascended the heights of the sport that led to where they are today, and yielded the first of their four successive championship doubles.

Yet the 2010 Abu Dhabi GP is the type of race which may never happen today after the invention of DRS as Alonso arguably lost the title stuck behind the midfield Renault car of Vitaly Petrov, but it’s part of what makes the tale so crazy.

Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton in a dramatic 2021 F1 season title fight

Although the drama of Hamilton and Verstappen’s title fight was controversial at the very least, the 2021 Formula 1 season was one of the greatest sporting events of all time.

The 2021 F1 season had everything from incredible performances to terrifying crashes, as Verstappen and Hamilton put on an absolute clinic at the front of the field.

Their British Grand Prix clash when Hamilton spun Verstappen into the barrier at one of the fastest corners on the calendar, Copse, is remembered for how much damage it caused.

Likewise, their collision in the 2021 Italian Grand Prix was another major flashpoint in the two drivers’ fierce rivalry as Verstappen refused to accept he had lost a position and created contact which led to the Red Bull driver parking his car on Hamilton’s roll hoop.

But the season-finale at the Abu Dhabi GP proved to be the storyline that many remember for its pure drama and the suspense that the FIA’s decision to create a contrived one-lap dart to the finish produced.

FIA race director Michael Masi ceded to pressure from Red Bull to resume the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP when it should have finished behind the safety car, gifting Verstappen one last chance to overtake Hamilton – who was set to win a record eighth title – with new tyres.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso feature heavily in the greatest F1 seasons of the 21st century thanks also to 2012

The 2012 Formula 1 championship witnessed a late safety car, too, but the Brazilian Grand Prix wasn’t restarted under racing conditions as Vettel once again beat Alonso to the drivers’ title like in 2010.

After trailing the Spaniard by a 40-point gap at one stage in the season, the German recovered to take a lead into the final race of the season. Yet Vettel’s hopes took a huge blip on the first lap when he was spun by Bruno Senna at Descida da Lago.

The collision sent Vettel to the rear of the field and with substantial damage to his Red Bull. But the champion-elect stayed calm and cruised through the field in mixed conditions – aided slightly by his Mercedes rival and idol Schumacher letting Vettel through to make his task easier.

READ MORE: Where are the top 10 from Pastor Maldonado’s 2012 Spanish Grand Prix win now?

It was Vettel’s third consecutive triumph but the drama of a wet championship finale which saw the leader taken out after a few corners can hardly be matched.

What’s more, the 2012 Formula 1 season also started with seven different Grand Prix winners from the first seven rounds – including Pastor Maldonado winning the 2012 Spanish GP for Williams, marking the Venezualan’s only victory in F1.

Jenson Button kicked off an incredible season with his victory in Australia, followed by Alonso winning in Malaysia and Nico Rosberg scoring his and Mercedes’ first win in F1 in China.

Hamilton also swept wins throughout the year, while Kimi Raikkonen made F1 history with his ‘leave me alone’ quip en route to winning the Abu Dhabi GP for Lotus.

How Kimi Raikkonen avenged an agonising 2003 championship loss with an unlikely 2007 win

The final two campaigns in our list of F1’s best seasons of the 21st century both involve Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen – a driver who spent much of the 2000s chasing the Drivers’ Championship.

In 2003, Raikkonen came within just two points of preventing Schumacher from claiming the German’s fourth consecutive title but was held back by a slightly unreliable McLaren car.

Raikkonen retired three times through the season, while his rival with Ferrari only failed to finish just once after a driver error at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix saw Schumacher crash out.

In the end, it took Raikkonen leaving McLaren to replace Schumacher at Ferrari in 2007 for the Iceman to finally bounce back and become a champion.

Raikkonen even triumphed in one of the greatest F1 seasons of the 21st century by overcoming a 17-point deficit with only two races to go to beat McLaren teammates Hamilton and Alonso by a single point.

Ten points were awarded for a victory back then, making his achievement all the more unlikely today and a tale of Raikkonen’s incredible resilience.

While some drivers would have given up, Raikkonen ploughed on and it saw him rewarded with his only championship.