The 10 Oldest World Champions in Formula 1 History

Oldest World Champions in Formula 1 History: Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio on the 1957 German GP

Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and over the years it has played host to some of the greatest drivers in motorsport. When talking about formula 1 champions, you can't avoid thinking about Michael Schumacher, but do you know who was the oldest face on the grid?

It's often said that the older you get, the better you become. This adage has been popularized in several sports including the wonderful sport of Formula One racing. As of the 2021 season, there have only been three (3) Formula One World Champions who have won the title while they were aged 40-years or older. The first among them was Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957 (46 years, 41 days) and the most recent one is Jack Brabham (40 years, 155 days). Are you surprised?

In this article, we will be going over a list of 10 of the oldest age world champions in Formula 1 history as of 2021.

The 10 Oldest World Champions in F1 History (2022 Ranking List)
Rank	Driver	Age & Season
1	Juan Manuel Fangio(1911-1995), Argentina	46 years, 41 days 1957
2	Giuseppe Farina(1906-1966), Italy	43 years, 308 days 1950
3	Jack Brabham(1926-2014), Australia	40 years, 155 days 1966
4	Graham Hill(1929-1975), United Kingdom	39 years, 262 days 1968
5	Nigel Mansell(1953), United Kingdom	39 years, 8 days 1992
6	Alain Prost(1955), France	38 years, 214 days 1993
7	Mario Andretti(1940), Croatia	38 years, 193 days 1978
8	Damon Hill(1960), United Kingdom	36 years, 26 days 1996
9	Lewis Hamilton(1985), United Kingdom	35 years, 341 days 2020
10	Niki Lauda(1949-2019), Austria	35 years, 242 days 1984

Updated on 05/23/2202

The most notable record of those 10 champions is that only two were younger than 36 when they were crowned kings of Formula 1: Niki Lauda and Lewis Hamilton. These are the drivers who were able to keep their cool, focus on their goals, and win the most prestigious F1 race in motorsport at an age that many people would consider "senior."

It is unlikely that there will ever be a 50-year-old world champion. However, it is certain that we will see more champions passing the 40-year mark in the future. Since Juan Manuel Fangio, 46, currently holds the record for being the oldest F1 world champion in history (3-years older than second-place Giuseppe Farina), we can only expect new records to be set in the near future.