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The 16 Greatest Wet-Weather Drivers in Formula 1 History

By YPB Team

Rain rewrites the order of a Grand Prix, and the same handful of names keep turning up at the front of it. Sixteen drivers who treated a wet track as an opportunity.

  1. Ayrton Senna — ranked #11
    Ayrton Senna
    Brazilian three-time champion whose Donington 1993 opening lap is the most replayed wet drive in the sport.
  2. Michael Schumacher — ranked #22
    Michael Schumacher
    Nicknamed Regenmeister after winning the rain-soaked 1996 Spanish Grand Prix by nearly a minute in his first Ferrari season.
  3. Lewis Hamilton — ranked #33
    Lewis Hamilton
    Seven-time champion whose wet breakthrough came at Silverstone 2008, where he won by over a minute.
  4. Jackie Stewart — ranked #44
    Jackie Stewart
    Scottish triple champion who won the fog-bound 1968 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring by four minutes.
  5. Jim Clark — ranked #55
    Jim Clark
    Two-time champion of the 1960s whose car control on streaming circuits was considered untouchable by his rivals.
  6. Jacky Ickx — ranked #66
    Jacky Ickx
    Belgian racer who carried the original Rainmaster label through the late 1960s and 1970s.
  7. Stirling Moss — ranked #77
    Stirling Moss
    British great who never won a title but built a reputation on drives in conditions that stopped other cars.
  8. Gilles Villeneuve — ranked #88
    Gilles Villeneuve
    Ferrari driver whose wet laps at Watkins Glen in 1979 were seconds clear of the entire field.
  9. Pedro Rodriguez — ranked #99
    Pedro Rodriguez
    Mexican driver remembered for a dominant wet run at the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix and long sportscar drives in rain.
  10. Max Verstappen — ranked #1010
    Max Verstappen
    Dutch champion whose comeback from 17th to victory at the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix came in torrential conditions.
  11. Jenson Button — ranked #1111
    Jenson Button
    2009 champion whose best days came on wet tracks, including his last-lap win at Canada in 2011.
  12. Sebastian Vettel — ranked #1212
    Sebastian Vettel
    Four-time champion whose first F1 podium and first win both came in the wet as a young Toro Rosso driver.
  13. Fernando Alonso — ranked #1313
    Fernando Alonso
    Two-time champion known for reading changing conditions and gambling on tyre calls before anyone else.
  14. Rubens Barrichello — ranked #1414
    Rubens Barrichello
    Brazilian veteran whose 2000 German Grand Prix win came from 18th on a track that turned wet mid-race.
  15. Niki Lauda — ranked #1515
    Niki Lauda
    Austrian triple champion who both won and famously withdrew in the rain, treating conditions as a calculation.
  16. Mika Hakkinen — ranked #1616
    Mika Hakkinen
    Finnish double champion whose smooth style translated into some of the fastest wet laps of the late 1990s.

Comments 1

Rain is the one condition that outranks the car, which is how a 1968 win in fog and a 1993 opening lap qualify here: https://youpick.best/articles/hamilton-vs-schumacher-ranked

YP
ypb-team
Aug 21