The 2000s were an era of change in Formula 1 as the sports growing popularity resulted in an influx of high spending car manufacturers who were each willing to plough in hundreds of millions of pounds every year for the prestige which came with winning the F1 world championship.
This unfortunately came at the expense of the privateer teams such as Jordan, Minardi, Prost and Arrows who simply couldn't keep up with the development rate of these manufacturer backed squads. Alongside increasingly sophisticated aerodynamics and engineering practices, this also led to the birth of the long-term driver development programmes where manufacturers would pluck out promising young talent from go-karting and the junior motorsport categories, investing in their career progression with a view to creating their future driver line-ups. Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso are just some of the names to have appeared in F1 during the 2000s having been part of driver development programmes for McLaren, Red Bull and Renault respectively.
The end result was an era which is still considered by many to be a golden period of the sport with high revving V10s and V8 engines, in-race refuelling and a tyre development war between Bridgestone and Michelin resulted in drivers being forced to push to the absolute limits of performance on every lap of a race. But who was it who came out on top in this era and were these new driver development programmes enough to displace the old guard? Find out as we list who we consider to be the top 10 best F1 drivers of the 2000s.
1. Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher refined what was required to be a successful F1 driver during the 1990s with his relentless training regime and hard work behind the scenes. He continued this into the 2000s adding team management to the skillset required to compete at the front of the grid. He did this by working tirelessly with the Ferrari personnel and setting an example for others to follow when it came to time investment and commitment to win.
Schumacher wasn't just the fastest driver in this era, he was also the most inspirational with an aura which engendered huge loyalty from Ferrari's workforce. The end result was 5 consecutive championship wins between 2000 and 2004 as Schumacher's team tore up the record books with levels of domination which had never been seen before. It took significant rule changes in 2005 to dethrone the German as F1's head honcho Bernie Ecclestone became increasingly concerned about the impact that Schumacher's domination was having on TV viewing figures.
A fightback in 2006 saw Schumacher almost claim an 8th title, losing out at the penultimate round of the season in Japan following a rare Ferrari engine failure. The German called it a day at the end of that season, with many seeing 2006 as the point at which Schumacher's crown as F1's best driver was passed over to the greatest of the new era of the sport.
2. Fernando Alonso
The man who ended Schumacher's run of titles in 2005 and beat him in a straight fight in 2006 was Fernando Alonso. He had been supported up the junior categories by Flavio Briatore who was leading the Renault team during this period. The plan was for Alonso to spend a year developing his skills at the back of the grid Minardi team in 2001, a year of testing for Renault in 2002 so the Spaniard could learn how to work with the team and then a promotion to a race seat with the French squad for 2003. Alonso exceeded expectations at every opportunity, spending every test session in 2002 proving to the team why it had no option other than to drop the highly rated Jenson Button from its line-up for 2003.
Alonso took the team's first win in six years at the 13th round of the 2003 season, but had already shown himself to be more than good enough to compete at the front. 2004 turned into a year of frustration on the back of Ferrari's domination, but the regulation changes for 2005 opened the door for the plucky Renault team to return to winning ways more regularly. Despite not having the fastest car, Alonso's consistency and determination ensured that he won his first drivers title that year with two races remaining. His second title in 2006 required a slightly different skillset, with absolute speed being needed to overcome the Ferrari of Schumacher.
With Schumacher retiring, Alonso entered 2007 not only as the reigning World Champion, but also viewed as the sports new best driver. A move to McLaren alongside rookie Lewis Hamilton quickly threatened Alonso's new status as Hamilton quickly proved to be more than a match for the Spaniard. This revealed Alonso's darker side, with conflict behind the scenes as he battled what he perceived to be bias from the McLaren team in favour of their new star. Things got so bad that Alonso's contract was terminated two years early at the end of 2007, severely damaging his previously stellar reputation.
Alonso was forced to return to a declining Renault for 2008 and 2009, but once again proved what he could do when he felt comfortable in a team with two remarkable victories in Singapore and Japan at the end of 2008. Nevertheless, the damage to his reputation had already been done and it's therefore difficult to place Alonso ahead of Schumacher despite potentially being the quicker of the two over a race distance. It's the behind the scenes stuff where Alonso really falls down.
3. Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton was the first product of McLaren's young driver development programme to make it to F1 with the team. He proved that their investment had been a wise one when he finished on the podium in each of his first 9 races in 2007, winning the 6th and 7th of these in spectacular style and putting himself on course to become the sports first ever rookie world champion. Only a strategic blunder from the team in China and a sensor glitch in the final race in Brazil gifted the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen the title.
With Alonso beaten and kicked out of the team for 2008, Hamilton entered the new season as the favourite for the title. Ultimately this year proved to be far less impressive, with Hamilton making numerous errors such as crashing into Kimi Raikkonen in the pitlane in Canada. He was on course to once again lose the championship at the final round in Brazil, this time to the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, until a gamble by Toyota to remain on dry tyres as rain fell in the final laps gave the Brit the 5th place he needed to secure the title.
McLaren made a mess of the new technical regulations for 2009 and Hamilton had no chance of defending his title. The car did improve as the year went on but it's unlikely that anyone other than Hamilton could have won those two races for the team in Hungary and Singapore. While he probably drove better during 2009 than in his championship winning year, there were still notable errors including a crash in Monaco qualifying and whilst running 3rd in Monza.
2007 was unquestionably Hamilton's best campaign, and if these ratings were based on that year alone he would be at the very top of our list of the best F1 drivers of the 2000s. The inconsistency and errors from the two subsequent seasons mean that it's hard to justify placing him ahead of either Schumacher or Alonso.
4. Kimi Raikkonen
From 2003 to 2006 whilst at McLaren, there is a compelling argument that Kimi Raikkonen was the outright fastest driver in F1. He was thrilling to watch in a tyre war era on high grip Michelin tyres in a McLaren which rewarded his preference to have a very pointy front end with minimal steering input. It was all enough to convince Ferrari to show Schumacher the door for 2007.
However, this coincided with the end of the tyre war and Raikkonen struggled to adapt to Bridgestone's tyres and a Ferrari chassis which increasingly started to show understeer characteristics in favour of his less heralded team-mate Felipe Massa. Nevertheless, Raikkonen won his one and only championship in 2007 as McLaren imploded from the Alonso-Hamilton civil war.
The understeer traits continued into 2008 and Raikkonen was finding it increasingly difficult to show his talents. Both of his wins in 2008 came within the first four races of the year in what became an increasingly lackluster title defence. Unbeknown at the time, but this would become the new normal for Raikkonen with his remarkable speed from the tyre war era being nothing more than a spectacular memory.
5. Mika Hakkinen
Mika Hakkinen only competed in two seasons of this era, so it might seem odd to include him in our list of the best F1 drivers of the 2000s. However, we are justifying this due to the levels of performance he managed to achieve during this period, particularly in 2000 when he battled all year with his arch nemesis Michael Schumacher.
The 2000 season was potentially one of the greatest in the sports history when it came to a straight fight between, what were at the time, F1 two fastest drivers. In his silver McLaren, Hakkinen took some remarkable victories including that year's Belgian Grand Prix where he completed an overtaking maneuver of Schumacher coming out of the notorious Eau Rouge corner for the lead which is still considered to be the greatest overtake of all time. However, the Finn was let down by consistent reliability gremlins which robbed him of victories in the first two races of the year and near the end of the season in the United States.
2001 looked set to be more of the same at the opening round with Hakkinen chasing Schumacher for the lead until a suspension failure put him into the tyre barriers at high speed. The impact cracked his helmet and brought back memories of a horrific accident the Finn had in 1995 which caused severe head injuries. Hakkinen recovered physically, but the impact of this crash triggered psychological ramifications. After this, Hakkinen only shun sporadically, putting in the effort required to win in the races that mattered most. This ensured that he managed to add wins at the British and American Grand Prixs to his record of achievements before heading into a sabbatical which ultimately turned out to be permanent.
6. Jenson Button
Making his debut in the first race of this era in Australia 2000 for the Williams team, Button made an immediate impression despite being just 20 years old. He showed plenty of speed, particularly in races with mixed weather conditions, showcasing his incredible feel for a car and the grip levels offered by a circuit which would set him in good stead for the years ahead.
Williams already had two drivers signed up for 2001 and Button was forced to move to Benetton/Renault. Two character building years where team-boss Flavio Briatore suggested that Button's head had been turned by the playboy lifestyle of an F1 driver damaged his reputation in the short term but proved to be invaluable in his future career. It took a move to BAR Honda for 2003 to put his career back on track, outperforming incumbent 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve and leading the team as they became consistent podium finishers in 2004. Not only did Button prove to be very consistent, finishing on the podium ten times, but he also showed his speed taking a blistering pole position at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola. However, the Brit would have to wait until his 113th Grand Prix in Hungary 2006 to finally win his first race.
Two years of misery followed at Honda until the team was sold to Ross Brawn ahead of the 2009 season. The team had identified a loophole in the regulations which gave them a significant technical advantage. Despite having nearly no budget to develop the car as the season went on, they started the year with a massive advantage and Button took full advantage of this, winning six of the first seven races. This Schumacher-esque level of consistency showed a whole new side to Button and he did just enough over the remaining races to take the championship despite an increasingly strong showing from Red Bull as the year went on.
7. Juan Pablo Montoya
Much like Nigel Mansell in the 1980s, Jean Alesi in the 1990s and Daniel Ricciardo in the 2010s, Juan Pablo Montoya was absolute box office entertainment in the 2000s. The Columbian made his debut for Williams replacing Button for the 2001 season having won the Indycar title and prestigious Indy 500 race over the previous two seasons. His first two races were somewhat anonymous but then in Brazil he dived up the inside of Michael Schumacher following a safety car period to take the lead in a ballsy manoeuvre where the pair made contact. Jos Verstappen (Max's dad) crashing into the back of him later in the race prevented Montoya from taking his first win that day but he did take him first victory before his debut season was out at the 15th race of the year in Monza having lost the chance of further victories in Germany and Belgium due to engine reliability gremlins.
Williams expected to be challenging for the title in 2002, but a poor car left Montoya winless despite establishing himself as the sports most spectacular qualifier, taking seven spectacular pole positions. That championship challenge though had to wait for 2003 where the Colombian won three races and was in contention for the championship right up until the penultimate race in America. A sluggish start to the year by the team in addition to reliability problems and driver errors when the car was the fastest package ultimately cost him the crown.
2004 was a case of 2002 repeated at which point Montoya had already lost faith and agreed to join McLaren for 2005. He would win three races for McLaren in 2005 in what was by far the fastest car. Any chance of a title challenge was put on ice when the Colombian missed two races early in the season after breaking his shoulder. McLaren failed to maintain the momentum in 2006 and Montoya started to look increasingly at sea with a difficult car, quitting on the spot after a collision with team-mate Raikkonen at the start of the 2006 USA Grand Prix.
Montoya never showed the same flare and spontaneity that made him so popular at McLaren. He had the speed to be a champion, but always seemed to be at his best in a difficult car. Whenever he was in a package which was the outright fastest, he tended to be outpaced by his team-mates. However, he still merits a place in our list of the best F1 drivers of the 2000s due to the pure excitement he brought to most Sunday afternoons throughout the era.
8. Felipe Massa
Having given Kimi Raikkonen his debut in 2001, Sauber tried to repeat the same trick twice in 2002 by replacing the McLaren bound Finn with Brazilian Felipe Massa. His first season was a mixed bag with plenty of errors, but he was young and had shown plenty of speed when the stars aligned. This wasn't enough to stop Sauber dropping him in favour of the more experienced Heinz Harald Frentzen for 2003. Massa would spend this season as a Ferrari test driver, having been an unofficial member of the Ferrari driver academy up to this point. This was prove to be a crucial year, with Massa having the chance to see the work ethic and techniques of Michael Schumacher first hand.
The Ferrari powered Sauber team gave him a second chance in 2004 as Frentzen went into retirement. While there was still the odd accident, Massa showed some real pace, particularly at the end of the year with spectacular performances in China and on home soil in Brazil. There was more of the same in 2005 where Massa easily outperformed his new World Champion team-mate Jacques Villeneuve. This was enough to convince Ferrari to place Massa alongside Schumacher for 2006.
The Ferrari powered Sauber team gave him a second chance in 2004 as Frentzen went into retirement. While there was still the odd accident, Massa showed some real pace, particularly at the end of the year with spectacular performances in China and on home soil in Brazil. There was more of the same in 2005 where Massa easily outperformed his new World Champion team-mate Jacques Villeneuve. This was enough to convince Ferrari to place Massa alongside Schumacher for 2006.
No one expected Massa to perform any better than the man he replaced, Rubens Barrichello. However, he really hit his stride once paired with race engineer Rob Smedley, finishing 3rd in the championship with two wins having been a significant support to Schumacher's title bid. Massa went up another level in 2007 paired up with Kimi Raikkonen, winning a further three races and having been a championship challenger until the very late stages of the season.
By 2008, Massa had already won over the hearts of the Ferrari personnel over the less affable Raikkonen. With the car being developed around his driving style, Massa became a serious championship challenger taking six wins and being just one point off winner Hamilton. Massa still contends that he was the rightful 2008 champion having lost the win in Singapore following the race fixing tactics of Renault.
Like McLaren, Ferrari were off the pace in 2009 and Massa's strong season came to a premature end when he suffered severe head injuries in a freak accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Arguably, Massa never regained his previous form and he was unquestionably at his very during the late 2000s.
9. David Coulthard
David Coulthard was a bit of a conundrum. On some days, he was capable of beating the very best of them convincingly. However, in between these spectacular victories were countless days where you barely knew he was in the race. It's something that even the Scot himself would readily admit was a frustration he could never truly explain.
Coming off the back of two years where he had been thoroughly outperformed by team-mate Hakkinen, Coulthard fought back with a vengeance in 2000 by winning the prestigious British and Monaco Grand Prix before coming out on top in a wheel-banging duel with Michael Schumacher in France. He eventually fell out of championship contention due to a mix of bad luck and some of those anonymous afternoons before hitting back in 2001 by establishing himself as Schumacher's most convincing rival for the championship. His wins in Brazil and Austria were both masterful and included another amazing overtake on Schumacher as the rain started to fall at the Brazilian race.
McLaren's form tailed off in the second half of 2001 and didn't get any better the following year. Nonetheless, Coulthard still scored their only win of 2002 in style in Monaco. He started 2003 perfectly by winning the first race of the year in Australia but the new one lap shoot-out style qualifying system didn't favour the Scot and he started to be dramatically out-performed by team-mate Raikkonen.
Coulthard probably wouldn't have made this list of the best F1 drivers of the 2000s based on his McLaren time alone. However, for 2005 he was chosen as the lead driver for the new Red Bull team. This revitalised his career and the Scot relished his leadership position, proving invaluable in creating the team that would go on to dominate the sport in the early 2010, including leading the efforts to bring on-board star designer Adrian Newey. This mix of occasionally incredible speed and consistently brilliant work behind the scenes ensured Coulthard's inclusion.
10. Sebastian Vettel
Rubens Barrichello, Mark Webber, Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella are just a few of the names that just failed to make this list of the best F1 drivers of the 2000s. Despite having competed in far fewer years than the other drivers, we felt that this list simply had to include Sebastian Vettel.
Despite having risen through the junior ranks as part of the Red Bull driver academy, the German made an impromptu debut for the BMW team as replacement for the injured Robert Kubica at the 2007 USA Grand Prix, impressively finishing in the points at the age of just 19. His mature performance led to him being given a seat at the junior Red Bull F1 team (Toro Rosso) for the remainder of the year. He was on for a podium at the wet Japanese Grand Prix that year before running into the back of Red Bull senior Mark Webber under safety car. However, he'd demonstrated his speed and made up for it with a fine 4th at the next race in China. His first full season started slowly but he soon found momentum culminating in a lights to flag victory from pole position in Monza. It was the teams first ever victory and once again proved Vettel's prowess in the most difficult of wet conditions.
Vettel naturally progressed to the senior squad for 2009 and took their first victory too, once again in wet conditions at the 3rd race in China. However, the car was generally off the pace of the Brawn in the first half of the season in dry conditions until an upgrade at the British Grand Prix transformed their season. Vettel took a further three wins over the second half of the year, becoming an increasingly persistent thorn in the side of Button. However, this blinding speed was mixed with plenty of unforced errors including a collision with Kubica in Australia and a crash in Monaco. Vettel still wasn't quite the complete package by the end of 2009, so we couldn't put him any higher on our list.
See the Modern Day Greats in Action
It's remarkable to think that there are still two drivers from this high-watermark era of the sport still in action to this day, helping to provide us with a barometer as to how good the current crop of talent really is. Nevertheless, neither Hamilton nor Alonso have as many years ahead of them in their career as they do behind, making it imperative to attend a Grand Prix in the next couple of seasons if you are ever going to have the opportunity to see the all time greats in action before your very eyes.
The team at Elegant Sports can help to create a tailor made F1 holiday package to your chosen Grand Prix, securing you the best seats in the house with F1 Paddock Club access where you'll get to mingle with the great and good of the sport and tour the famous pitlane. With hotels, flights and even the travel to and from the airport included in your package, we can create a tailor made F1 holiday experience which is perfectly tailored to your hopes and aspirations.