Top 10 F1 drivers of the 2000s

Watch: Top 10 F1 Drivers of the 2000s | Autosport Retro

The 2000s began with domination by one team and driver before developing into a fierce battle for supremacy between a new generation of talent.

The first half of the decade was also the era of V10 power, with lap records being set that would stand for years.

For the latest in our series of top 10 F1 drivers of each decade, we’ve tried to rank the best performers of the 2000s. As usual, we’ve considered their level of success, impact, machinery at their disposal, longevity and how highly the drivers were rated by their contemporaries.

Success outside the relevant decade is not considered.

10. Ralf Schumacher

Schumacher sneaks on to this list through his greater triumphs at the start of the decade

Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 6
Decade poles: 6
Decade titles: 0

Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel almost made it onto this list. Kubica was arguably F1’s best performer in 2008 while Vettel challenged for the 2009 title, and both ended the decade regarded as top-liners. But Ralf Schumacher’s fine start to the 2000s and longer involvement gets him ahead. The German also scored more wins across the decade.

Schumacher had been one of F1’s best in 1999 and led Williams as it began its BMW era. While his rookie team-mate Jenson Button stole many of the headlines, it was Ralf who finished fifth in the 2000 standings, behind only the Ferrari and McLaren drivers.

It was a similar story in 2001. Juan Pablo Montoya arrived in F1 with a bang, but it was Schumacher who picked up the results. Ralf took a fine first grand prix win at Imola, beat brother Michael to victory in Canada and inherited a third success when Montoya’s engine blew in Germany. That was enough for a career-best fourth in the championship.

The rivalry with Montoya grew, with the Colombian marginally getting the upper hand over the next couple of seasons. Schumacher nevertheless remained a factor and picked up three wins across 2002-03, though his 2004 campaign was curtailed by a nasty accident at the United States GP.

Schumacher joined Toyota for 2005 alongside Jarno Trulli, another candidate for this list. As was becoming a theme, Trulli’s performances – especially in qualifying – often grabbed the limelight but Schumacher scored more points across their three seasons together.

Toyota’s declining form meant that Schumacher’s final podium came in the 2006 Australian GP and he retired from F1 at the end of 2007.

9. David Coulthard

Coulthard shone for McLaren at the start of the decade before his star began to wane

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 7
Decade poles: 4
Decade titles: 0

Coulthard opened the decade with perhaps his two finest seasons. He couldn’t match Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen over the 2000 season but there were several highlights, including wins at the British, Monaco and French GPs. The Magny-Cours success came after a duel with Schumacher, and Coulthard regards it as the race of his life.

As Hakkinen’s luck and motivation appeared to wane in 2001, Coulthard stepped up and was the closest thing Schumacher had to a challenger. He brilliantly won the rain-hit Brazilian GP, overtaking the Ferrari driver, and the Austrian GP to move within four points of the championship lead.

Coulthard then took pole in Monaco but a hitherto undiscovered software glitch contributed to him stalling and he could only recover to fifth. Schumacher won and thereafter stretched away. Although there were no more wins, Coulthard was a career-best second in the table.

Coulthard took another fine win in the 2002 Monaco GP but McLaren had been jumped by Williams-BMW as Ferrari’s closest rival and new team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was a rising threat. Although Coulthard finished ahead in the standings, the Finn was gaining momentum and overshadowed the Scot with a brilliant 2003 campaign that took Raikkonen to within two points of champion Schumacher.

After a disappointing 2004, Coulthard joined new team Red Bull. He took a sensational fourth first time out in the 2005 season-opening Australian GP and helped build the team. He scored the squad’s first F1 podium at Monaco in 2006 and added one more in the 2008 Canadian GP.

By then he was being outperformed by team-mate Mark Webber and Coulthard bowed out of F1 as a driver at the end of the season.

8. Felipe Massa

Massa rose to prominence during the decade and fought for the title in 2008

Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 11
Decade poles: 15
Decade titles: 0

It took a little while for Massa to really hit his stride in F1 after he arrived with Sauber. Though there were flashes of promise, the Brazilian was beaten by team-mates Nick Heidfeld in 2002 and Giancarlos Fisichella in 2004, either side of a season as Ferrari test driver.

He finished ahead of Jacques Villeneuve in 2005 and made it into Autocourse’s end-of-season top 10 for the first time but didn’t score his first podium until joining Ferrari for 2006.

Understandably, Massa tended to trail team leader Michael Schumacher, who battled for the title, but he had a good end to the campaign. He scored his first pole and win in Turkey, added a second victory on home ground in Brazil and beat Renault driver Fisichella to third in the points.

The next two seasons were Massa’s best. He was close to new team-mate Raikkonen and was perhaps unfortunate to fall out of championship contention. There were several highlights, including wins in Bahrain, Spain and Turkey, while he would have won in Brazil had he not had to step aside to aid Raikkonen’s successful title bid.

Massa battled for the 2008 crown and overshadowed Raikkonen. He completed his Istanbul hat-trick and took six wins, more than anyone else, though was fortunate to inherit victory at Spa. On the other hand, he was set to win after a fine drive in Hungary before engine failure and considers himself the biggest victim of ‘crashgate’, a Ferrari pitstop disaster in Singapore following Nelson Piquet Jr’s deliberate crash for Renault.

Not always at his best in the rain – he spent much of that year’s British GP spinning – Massa rose to the occasion in tricky conditions at the Brazilian showdown. While rival Lewis Hamilton struggled, it looked like Massa had done enough, only for the Briton to grab the fifth place he needed at the last corner, beating Massa by a single point.

Ferrari didn’t nail the new regulations in 2009, though Massa was still leading Raikkonen in the points when they arrived at the Hungaroring. During qualifying, Massa was struck by a spring from the suspension of Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn, knocking him unconscious and causing a crash.

His injuries meant Massa ended the decade on the sidelines, though he did return for a less successful F1 stint in the 2010s.

7. Juan Pablo Montoya

Montoya was one of the most exciting drivers of the decade, not afraid of a fight

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 7
Decade poles: 13
Decade titles: 0

One of the most exciting talents to arrive during the decade, Montoya had won the International F3000 and CART Indycar titles, as well as the Indianapolis 500, before arriving in F1 with Williams in 2001.

He made an impact as early as his third race, audaciously overtaking Schumacher at a restart at the Brazilian GP. He was set to win before being removed by backmarker Jos Verstappen.

Unreliability and errors hampered Montoya’s season and team-mate Ralf Schumacher often led the way, but the Colombian was a growing threat. He took his first pole at Hockenheim, only to be denied by engine failure, and then took his maiden victory at Monza from pole.

The Williams-BMW with Michelin tyres was a potent combination in qualifying during 2002. Montoya took seven poles – as many as champion Schumacher – but the Bridgestone-shod Ferraris were virtually unbeatable on race day. Montoya went winless but seven podiums helped him to a best-of-the-rest third in the championship.

Williams and McLaren challenged Ferrari for the title in 2003. Montoya took victory in Monaco and then won in Germany by more than a minute, one of the most dominant dry-weather successes in recent F1 history.

Despite arguments over Michelin’s rubber, Montoya arrived at the penultimate round at Indianapolis just three points behind Schumacher (when victory earned 10). Montoya was battling for a podium in a US GP hit by changeable conditions, but a controversial drive-through penalty for a clash with Barrichello and uncompetitive wet tyre dropped him to sixth and ended his championship hopes.

Ferrari was dominant again in 2004 and tensions grew within the Williams team. But for the third time in four years, Montoya beat his team-mate in the standings, and rounded out the season with a fine victory in Brazil before heading to McLaren.

Montoya never seemed quite at home at the Woking team and generally played second fiddle to team-mate Raikkonen. He took three wins in 2005 to Raikkonen’s seven and finished a distant fourth in the table.

After being involved in a multi-car crash at the 2006 US GP, Montoya left F1having made 94 starts. He went on to have a long career across NASCAR, IndyCar and endurance racing. A sometimes fiery character who was perhaps not as complete as some of his rivals, Montoya nevertheless brought excitement to F1 and never finished outside the top six in the final points table during his full campaigns.

6. Rubens Barrichello

Barrichello: F1's best number two driver

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 11
Decade poles: 12
Decade titles: 0

To describe Barrichello as one of F1’s great number two drivers is not meant to be a case of damning with faint praise. Barrichello contributed to six constructors’ titles during the decade, proved to be a fine team player and was capable of beating the best of the era on his day.

Having shown promise at Jordan and Stewart in the 1990s, Barrichello joined Ferrari for the new decade, replacing Eddie Irvine alongside Schumacher. As the German finally achieved his dream of winning the crown with the famous Italian team, Barrichello was a consistent podium finisher and took a brilliant first win in a bizarre German GP, rising from 18th amid a track invader and rain showers.

As the Schumacher/Ross Brawn/Jean Todt/Rory Byrne Ferrari superteam gathered momentum and reeled off title after title, Barrichello was a constant near the front. There were no wins in 2001, but 10 podiums helped the Brazilian to third in the standings.

Though not a match for Schumacher over a season, Barrichello had days where he seemed unbeatable. He twice had to move aside for his team leader in Austria, his giving up of the victory in 2002 being particularly unpopular, and his drive to victory in the 2003 British GP – on a day Schumacher finished fourth – was one of the best of the decade.

Barrichello was championship runner-up to Schumacher in Ferrari’s dominant 2002 and 2004 campaigns. When he left Ferrari at the end of 2005, a season in which Ferrari and Bridgestone had been caught out by the one-set-of-tyres-per-race rule, Barrichello had racked up 55 podiums for the famous Italian team. That’s the same as Sebastian Vettel and more than any other Ferrari driver aside from Schumacher.

The next three years were spent with middling Honda machinery and Barrichello was narrowly outscored by team-mate Button, though he did score a fine third place at a wet British GP in 2008.

Brawn arriving at Honda started to improve the team’s fortunes before Honda pulled the plug before the 2009 season. Things looked grim but Brawn led a buyout and the squad arrived at the Australian opener with the pacesetting car.

While the BGP 001 was ahead, Barrichello couldn’t match Button and the Briton built up a healthy points lead. As the opposition caught up and the pressure increased on Button, Barrichello came on strong, winning the European and Italian GPs.

It wasn’t enough to stop Button becoming champion and Vettel sneaking between the Brawn duo in the final standings, but it meant Barrichello was again a frontrunner as the decade ended.

5. Jenson Button

The Button and Brawn 2009 F1 title triumph was a fairytale story

Photo by: Getty Images

Decade wins: 7
Decade poles: 7
Decade titles: 1 (2009)

Button burst onto the F1 season at the start of the decade with Williams, a fine fourth at Hockenheim and a brilliant third in qualifying at Spa among the highlights. He was just 20 and his future seemed bright, but the next few years were tough.

He moved to Benetton and struggled with the mediocre B201, overshadowed by team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella. Things were better alongside Trulli as the team became Renault, but it was the switch to BAR in 2003 that helped Button regain momentum.

He got the better of 1997 world champion team-mate Villeneuve and really seemed to hit his stride in 2004. Armed with the 006, Button was one of the stars of the season and reeled off his first 10 podiums. In a normal season he probably would have picked up a win or two but he was unfortunate to come up against the Ferrari F2004, which won all but three of the 20 races.

Button was still a comfortable third in the standings, ahead of Renault’s Fernando Alonso. Unfortunately, the 007 was a step back and, though he again outperformed team-mate Takuma Sato in 2005, a first win seemed as elusive as ever.

BAR became Honda in 2006 and Button was a consistent points threat before a special day in Hungary. In challenging conditions, Michelin-equipped Button and Alonso were the stars of the show. When Alonso suffered a loose wheel after a pitstop, Button swept through for his first GP win on his 113th start.

Button was ‘rewarded’ with two pretty bad F1 cars over the next two years and looked like he’d be out of a drive when Honda announced its withdrawal in 2008.

The resurrection of the team under the Brawn name has become part of modern F1 legend. Armed with a Mercedes engine and excellent chassis that included the double-diffuser trick, Button stamped his authority over team-mate Barrichello and everyone else by winning six of the first seven races.

He had a mid-season wobble, particularly as the threat of Red Bull and Vettel grew. But a combative drive to fifth in Brazil clinched the crown that Button’s raw talent had suggested was possible.

4. Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton stunned F1 as a rookie in 2007 and then winning his first title in 2008

Photo by: James Moy Photography via Getty Images

Decade wins: 11
Decade poles: 17
Decade titles: 1 (2008)

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Hamilton rewrote expectations of what an F1 rookie could achieve. He joined McLaren alongside Alonso, then regarded by many as the finest driver in the world, and proceeded to go toe-to-toe with the double world champion in an epic 2007 campaign. Yes, he’d had lots of testing and the MP4-22 was a good car, but Hamilton’s season was deeply impressive.

From overtaking Alonso at the first corner of the year to winning an appallingly wet Japanese GP, Hamilton looked comfortable running at the front of F1. He finished on the podium in his first nine GPs and the relationship with Alonso grew tense as the double world champion realised the threat.

With two rounds to go, Hamilton virtually had a hand on the championship trophy, with a 12-point lead over Alonso and 17 over Raikkonen when a win provided 10, but staying out too long on worn tyres hurt him in China. Hamilton slid off in the pitlane as Raikkonen won. A troubled run to seventh in the final round in Brazil, where Massa handed Raikkonen victory, meant Hamilton ended the year tied with Alonso, one point behind their Ferrari rival.

Alonso headed back to Renault for 2008, leaving Hamilton to lead McLaren alongside Heikki Kovalainen. The advantage swung back and forth between McLaren and Ferrari as Hamilton battled Massa for the championship.

Hamilton made mistakes, perhaps more than in 2007, but also put in some brilliant drives. His win at Silverstone was one of the great wet-weather F1 performances and most felt it was ridiculous he was robbed of victory after the flag fell at Spa on a day he and Raikkonen had been the class of the field.

A conservative McLaren strategy and fine performance from Massa seemed to have swung the title in the Ferrari driver’s favour in the Interlagos finale, but Hamilton overtook Timo Glock’s Toyota – struggling on slicks in the wet – at the final corner to snatch the crown by a point.

 McLaren started slowly under the new regulations for 2009 and Hamilton got himself into trouble at the Australian opener for misleading the stewards but the team rallied. Car developments brought Hamilton back into play and he won the Hungarian and Singapore GPs to finish fifth in the final table – and top Autosport’s driver rankings at season’s end.

3. Kimi Raikkonen

Raikkonen was an F1 star throughout the 2000s, but perhaps should have won more

Photo by: Sutton Images

Decade wins: 18
Decade poles: 16
Decade titles: 1 (2007)

Ah, the conundrum of Kimi. Some fans believe Raikkonen is the greatest thing since sliced bread, while others see him as an example of a squandered talent, one who should have won more than 21 GPs and one title. As usual, there’s an element of truth in both but it’s almost a certainty that Raikkonen doesn’t care either way!

What can’t be doubted is how impressive Raikkonen was at McLaren. After a fine rookie season in 2001 with Sauber, the Finn joined the Woking team alongside Coulthard.

Raikkonen finished behind Coulthard in the 2002 standings, but he was getting increasingly impressive and was soon leading the way. His 2003 season in the updated MP4-17D was superb, one victory and nine other podiums keeping Raikkonen in title contention to the very end, when he fell two points of Michael Schumacher.

Anyone not in a Ferrari in 2004 found the going tough but Raikkonen was again well ahead of Coulthard and scored one of his finest victories at Spa, beating Schumacher.

The following season arguably should have brought Raikkonen the title. Once initial set-up issues were sorted, Raikkonen and the MP4-20 were often the fastest combination of 2005, but unreliability and Alonso’s relentless campaign denied him the title.

Raikkonen’s season wasn’t perfect – his infamous suspension failure at the Nurburgring was the result of an earlier lock-up – but car problems were more costly. Engine issues that caused grid penalties gave him too much work to do at Magny-Cours, Silverstone and Monza, while further failures cost him possible wins at Imola and Hockenheim. Even so, there were seven victories, including a legendary charge from 17th on the grid at Suzuka, and Raikkonen generally outpaced team-mate Montoya.

The 2006 McLaren was far less impressive but Raikkonen still managed six podiums and fifth in the points. For the fifth consecutive year he was in the top three of the Autocourse driver rankings.

Raikkonen moved to Ferrari for 2007. He never looked quite as impressive in a Bridgestone-shod Ferrari as he had in a McLaren on Michelin tyres, but still won first time out in Australia and took advantage of the intra-team scrap at his old squad to take an unlikely crown at the Brazilian GP finale.

Raikkonen was overshadowed by team-mate Massa for much of 2008 and the first half of 2009, though still managed two wins and third in the points in the former. After Massa’s Hungaroring accident, Raikkonen stepped up with the difficult F60 and won the Belgian GP.

Ferrari ended its contract with Raikkonen early and he headed away from F1 at the start of the 2010s, but he had been a frontrunner throughout the decade and, for a time, had arguably been the fastest driver in the world.

2. Fernando Alonso

Alonso's back-to-back titles ended the Schumacher and Ferrari reign

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 21
Decade poles: 18
Decade titles: 2 (2005-06)

Alonso ended Schumacher’s reign at the top of F1 and, with a bit more luck and better off-track decisions, would have more titles to his name. He was one of the most relentlessly impressive performers of the decade.

Alonso’s debut season was quietly impressive but it was hard to make major waves in a Minardi that was the slowest car on the grid: his best finish was 10th.

After a year as Renault test driver, the Spaniard replaced Button in a race seat and soon made an impact. His first pole and podium came as early as round two in Malaysia, and there was a brilliant second on home ground, where he split the Ferraris. Alonso’s first win came in Hungary and he was placed second in both the Autocourse ranking and Autosport Top 50.

Team-mate Trulli started 2004 strongly, particularly in qualifying, and won the Monaco GP, but his relationship with the team soured and Alonso regained momentum. He was fourth in the championship.

The Renault-Alonso combination really came to the fore in 2005. As Ferrari and Bridgestone struggled to adapt to the one-set-of-tyres-per-race rule, Michelin-shod Renault and McLaren battled for the titles.

Alonso won three of the first four races, including superbly holding off Schumacher at Imola, and kept racking up podiums as Raikkonen came on strong. Alonso’s consistency and McLaren unreliability meant that the early points gap proved difficult to erode. Alonso wrapped things up with two rounds to spare, then rubbed it in with victory in the Chinese GP finale.

If Raikkonen was now the fastest driver in F1, many felt Alonso was the best and he proved it by going toe-to-toe with Schumacher in 2006. The pair traded blows throughout the season, taking seven wins apiece, with Alonso coming out on top.

Alonso joined McLaren for 2007 but a probable third title was derailed by his rivalry with impressive rookie team-mate Hamilton. Alonso still won four races, including brilliant drives at the Nurburgring and Monza, but frustration set in and he returned to Renault after finishing a point behind champion Raikkonen.

Renault was less competitive than it had been, though Alonso still took two 2008 victories, an excellent one in Japan and a controversial one in Singapore when team-mate Piquet Jr deliberately crashed. Alonso didn’t win in 2009 but still ended the decade as one of F1’s best and with a Ferrari contract in his pocket.

1. Michael Schumacher

Was there really going to be anyone else to top this list?

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 56
Decade poles: 45
Decade titles: 5 (2000-04)

Schumacher was always going to top this list. Having finally broken Ferrari’s drivers’ title drought in 2000, he reeled off four more consecutive titles, setting records along the way. Even after losing his crown to Alonso, Schumacher managed one last championship challenge.

Having built Ferrari into a title-contending team with Todt, Brawn and Byrne, Schumacher battled double champion Hakkinen in 2000. Schumacher would later rate his Japanese GP victory, in which he pipped Hakkinen to take Ferrari’s first drivers’ title since 1979, as the race of his life.

That title started an unprecedented run of success as Schumacher took nine wins on his way to a comfortable 2001 crown, putting him beyond Alain Prost’s record for world championship GP wins along the way. The 2002 and 2004 championships were two of the most dominant campaigns in F1 history, Schumacher scoring 11 wins from 17 races in the former and 13 from 18 in the latter.

The 2003 campaign was tougher as the Michelin teams gained the upper hand for portions of the season. Things got political surrounding tyre specs and Schumacher’s drive to eighth at the Suzuka finale was scrappy but he took six wins when nobody else won more than twice and retained his title.

After a poor 2005 for Ferrari, during which Schumacher’s only win was at the Indianapolis debacle, he battled Alonso for the 2006 crown. An engine failure at Suzuka ended his championship hopes and Ferrari signing Raikkonen encouraged Schumacher’s F1 retirement but he still went out on a high with a charging fourth in Brazil.

Watch: From the Archive: 2005 United States GP

During this time, Schumacher’s sometimes suspect approach to wheel-to-wheel racing occasionally showed itself and ‘parking’ his Ferrari during qualifying for the 2006 Monaco GP did not show the German in the best light. But his fitness, total approach to racing, ability to build a team around him and incredible consistency at the top of F1 set new standards and makes him one of the greats.

Schumacher celebrates his seventh F1 world title - five of them coming in the 2000s

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