These Were The Greatest Formula 1 Seasons Of All Time According To Readers

Formula 1 wrapped up another year with a weirdly entertaining Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that saw the constructors title come down to the wire, an emotional split between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes oh and, oh, Valtteri Bottas also ran his last F1 race.

The grand prix rounded out a pretty entertaining year in F1, but was it the greatest ever? That's the question we put to you last week, and you had a lot of thoughts on this topic. So much so that we've rounded up a whole host of seasons that you argue could be the greatest in F1 history.

So why not don your favorite team's merch, pop open a bottle of Champagne and check out the greatest F1 seasons of all time, according to Jalopnik readers. Is there a year they missed? Let us know in the comments below.

"1967 – the second year of the powerful 3.0l formula, without any wings or aerodynamic aids. The cars were insane, though they often are in Grand Prix racing (Silver Arrows, anyone? 510bhp supercharged V-16s with 4 inch wide tires? Yeah, pretty nuts.). It was also the year that an 'Murrican won a race in an 'Murrican car, and his very own car at that (Gurney at Spa in his Eagle)...and the only year a Kiwi won the Championship (Denny Hulme).

"But the biggest reason...it was the last year before they started mucking up the pretty designs with sponsorship decals and paint schemes. Yeah, 1968 was when the horrible rolling-billboards started, unfortunately...though they did start putting spoilers and wings on the cars (not a good enough trade-off)."

Denny Hulme won the 1967 season after two race victories and six podium finishes in his Brabham racer.

Suggested by: osmodious

"2018-2019, when Merc was fighting with the cheating Ferrari."

I completely forgot about this! I wonder if we'll ever find out what was in that mysterious settlement Ferrari and the FIA reached?

Suggested by: Zul Hillman (Facebook)

"The correct answer is a two part answer. Those two parts are 2007 and 2008. Of course there was the Spy-gate drama of 2007 but this was also the year when a star was born and saw a rookie, Lewis Hamilton loose the championship by one point to Kimi. Then his follow up, sophomore year in 2008 saw Hamilton win the championship by one point, breaking Felipe Massa's heart on the very last corner on the very last lap."

The best years in Formula 1 always come with a close title fight and loads of off-track drama. Thankfully, 2007 and 2008 served up plenty of both.

Suggested by: ducatipax

"2008 was pretty fantastic. Not so much for the back and forth the entire season, but for the last lap, last corner finish to decide the title.

"2009 was fun for the surprise and the suspense of Brawn holding on.

"Come to think of it, the period of 2005-2009 was pretty great. First the breaking of the Ferrari stranglehold by Alonso and Renault, followed by a fantastic recovery for Ferrari and Kimi and the McLaren drama in 2007, and then 2008 and 2009 as mentioned above."

The amount of off-track drama may be directly correlated with the noise from an F1 car's engine.

Suggested by: Sam Giltner (Facebook)

"I started watching in 2012. I thought the run from 2012 until mid 2013 was a good time, before Vettel absolutely ran away with it. I enjoyed 2018 as well but not as much. 2021 was wild. Haven't felt much since then, though I did enjoy Alonso's run of podiums in 2023. I haven't watched a single race in 2024 and I may not in 2025 either."

I also thought 2012 and 2013 were a lot of fun, and I still think the whale shark look of those cars (especially the Ferrari) slaps.

Suggested by: Fiesta_Charles

"Nothing in the past 20 years, that's for sure. Probably one of those Senna/Prost early 90s years."

In 1990, there were six different race winners across 16 grands prix. In 2024, there were seven different winners over 24 events.

Suggested by: Stuart Stribling (Facebook)

"1976 will always be very, very hard to top.

"1988-89 with the Senna v. Prost battles were pretty great, too. An argument can be made for 2005 and 2007, as well.

"But, 2008 with the fight right up until the final race and at the at Interlagos in the rain...so emotional. 2008 was my favorite season as a fan."

James Hunt won his first title in 1976 after finishing just a single point ahead of Niki Lauda.

Suggested by: wcrago

"1979 with Gilles Villeneuve."

Gilles Villeneuve won three races for Ferrari in 1979 but missed out on the world title by just four points.

Suggested by: Chris Putzier (Facebook)

"Maybe because I saw it live at 15, but 1970 in Watkins Glen. Emerson Fittipaldi in his Lotus pipped Jacky Ickx and his beautiful Ferrari who ran from the back of the field, and won the Championship posthumously for Jochen Rindt."

The first race you go to is always going to leave an impression. That's maybe why I love the 2019 F1 liveries so much as that's the year I went to my first in-person race.

Suggested by: xl500

"2003

"2006

"2007

"2008

"2010

"2012

"2016

"2021

"2024"

I'm curious to know what you don't like about 2009 and 2011 among all of those runs?

Suggested by: Omar Yusaf Khan (Facebook)

"2024 – Everyone thought it was going to be another RB breeze, until it all fell apart. Meanwhile McLaren stepped up to mount a serious challenge to that championship. Ferrari and sometimes Mercedes (mostly George) stepped up as race contenders for podium places. The Constructors championship is not going to be decided until the last race."

It's the first year since 2012 that the top three finishers in the standings have all come from different teams.

Suggested by: tyson-chicken

"1982. 1989."

Very good seasons for very different reasons.

Suggested by: Reginald Robertson (Facebook)

"2012 is often considered to be the best F1 season of all time, and I'd have to agree."

There were eight different race winners in 2012 and the final result came down to three points.

Suggested by: BaggySpandex