He is the driver who came second in a record four F1 title fights but never became world champion

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Formula 1 has crowned 34 world champions to date, starting with Alfa Romeo driver Giuseppe Farina winning the Italian’s sole title during the series’ first season in 1950.

Across the first 75 editions of the Formula 1 drivers’ championship, a total of 17 drivers have even won multiple titles. Alberto Ascari only needed four years to become the first two-time F1 champion, as the Italian took the title driving for Ferrari in the 1952 and 1953 campaigns.

Yet Ascari was quickly surpassed in the charts, as Juan Manuel Fangio won five F1 titles. The Argentine lifted his first championship crown with Alfa Romeo in 1951 and later while racing for Maserati and Mercedes in 1954, Mercedes in 1955, Ferrari in 1956 and Maserati in 1957.

Fangio even remained the most successful F1 driver until 2003, as Michael Schumacher won the sixth of his record-setting seven titles. Schumacher won titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, before the German even won the crown every season with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004.

Only Lewis Hamilton has since come close to becoming the new record-setter, having joined Schumacher as a seven-time F1 champion. The Briton won his first title with McLaren in the 2008 season, before taking Mercedes to the top in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Stirling Moss finished second in a record four F1 title fights but never won a championship

Hamilton has even finished second in the F1 drivers’ championship three times thus far. The Briton lost out by just one point to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, by five points to Nico Rosberg in 2016 and by eight points to Max Verstappen as he won his first of four straight titles in 2021.

But no one has finished second in the F1 drivers’ championship as often in the series’ history as Stirling Moss and Alain Prost. Yet, while Prost also secured four titles, Moss never became a world champion through his career in the pinnacle of motorsport between 1951 and 1958.

Moss is widely regarded as the greatest driver to never win a Formula 1 title. The Briton lost out to fellow great Fangio by 17 points in 1955 while they were teammates at Mercedes and by just three points in the 1956 season, after the Argentine quit the Silver Arrows for Ferrari.

Fangio, while at Maserati, was even the thorn in Moss’ side again in 1957. The legends were separated by 15 points when the latter started with Maserati before moving to Vanwall. The closest Moss ever came then arrived in 1958 when he lost to Mike Hawthorn by just a point.

After finishing second four years in a row, Moss also finished third three years in a row from 1959 to 1961. He fell 5.5 points shy of Jack Brabham in the 1959 F1 season with Tony Brooks in between, 24 points behind Brabham in 1960 and then 13 points adrift of Phil Hill in 1961.

Stirling Moss was the first British driver to win the F1 British Grand Prix

Moss was the man who made the impossible possible. But an F1 drivers’ title always eluded the London-born legend, who showed his skill in several series. He also won a host of World Sportscar races – including taking outright glory in the 12 Hours of Sebring on debut in 1954.

Sharing a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on his only finish in the classic Italian road race. He also finished second in the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally, and finished second outright at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1953 and 1956 (while winning the S3.0 class).

Such was his idolisation in Britain that legend says police officers would often ask speeding motorists, ‘Who do you think you are? Stirling Moss?’ And the fans who supported him on home soil saw Moss become the first British driver to win the F1 British Grand Prix in 1955.

Several British drivers have won the F1 British GP over the years, but Moss was the first to do so when he triumphed at Aintree in 1955 driving for Mercedes. He also won by just 0.2 seconds to teammate Fangio after three hours, seven minutes and 21.2 seconds of racing.

Moss also won the British GP in 1957, and that victory at Aintree even saw him share glory with Brooks. After Moss’ engine started to develop a misfire, he took over the Vanwall that Brooks had started the race in but could not continue due to cuts he sustained at Le Mans.