These F1 stars came agonisingly close to F1 glory, but never won a championship

Throughout the years, Formula 1 has been graced with some incredible talent.

From Giuseppe Farina to Max Verstappen, 35 drivers have earned the right to call themselves world champion in the sport's 75-year history, creating legacies that will live on long into the future.

However, whilst it was joy for some during their careers, for others it was heartache, with some very talented drivers having narrowly missed out on championship glory during their racing days.

Below, GPFans looks at some names who came agonosingly close to F1 glory, but ultimately never won a world championship.

Stirling Moss

Arguably the greatest driver of all time never to become champion. Moss went damn close, finishing second place four times in a row between 1955 and 1958 and then third three times between 1959 and 1961.

If he was less sporting he would have been champion. In 1958, Moss won the Portuguese Grand Prix late on in the season, with title rival and British compatriot Mike Hawthorn disqualified for restarting a car in the wrong direction of the circuit.

Felipe Massa

The big argument made for Massa is how the Singapore Grand Prix should have been annulled - there's even a court case about the Marina Bay race that has just been heard in London.

Renault's race-fixing enabled Fernando Alonso to pick up a win following a deliberate Nelson Piquet crash that directly led to Ferrari panicking during a Felipe Massa pit-stop, costing him the win and any crucial points as they left the fuel hose on his car.

But there was one other race that did in for Massa and that was the Hungarian Grand Prix. Having bullied Lewis Hamilton to take the lead at the first corner, he dominated the race before an engine failure with just three laps left saw him lose 10 huge points in the championship battle. Fine margins never favoured Massa in 2008.

Juan Pablo Montoya

It's easily overlooked but among Michael Schumacher's iron fist domination of F1 between 2000 and 2004, the 2003 season was one of the best in the sport's history.

Now looking at the history books and it's hard to imagine Montoya being nothing more than an outsider as he finished 11 points down on Schumacher in a 10-points for a win era.

But with two races to go he was in a title fight with Kimi Raikkonen and the German. He was eliminated from the title race in the USA after he suffered from being given a debateable drive-through penalty after a collision with Rubens Barrichello, and at the following race in Japan, he retired while comfortably leading the race.

An extra point gained from not being handed a dubious penalty and a reliable Williams in Japan was all Montoya needed to secure a fully deserved world championship. The Colombian was a monster of a driver in 2003.

Eddie Irvine

Time to get the tin-foil hats out. Eddie Irvine really should have won the 1999 world championship. The puzzling sudden loss of pace in his Ferrari at the final race in Japan where race winner Mika Hakkinen pipped him to the title is weird enough.

That may not justify suspicion that Ferrari wanted Michael Schumacher to end their 20-year drivers' title drought and not Irvine, but there was one race where Irvine's collapse was out if his hands and fully on Ferrari in something ludicrous even by their slapstick standards.

It's the European Grand Prix and Irvine makes a pit-stop. Only problem is there are three wheels waiting for him. Once the fourth mechanic brings out the fourth wheel, two of the pit-stop team then start talking to each other while a helpless Irvine is stuck on the jacks and losing valuable time. It's a timeless F1 moment improved measurably by the sublime commentating from Murray Walker and Martin Brundle.

The 'major-mal-mis-organisation problem' cost Irvine half-a-minute. A 30 seconds that could have seen him bag valuable points and his only world championship.

Gilles Villeneuve

Son Jacques Villeneuve eventually brought home the championship in 1997, but his father Gilles is a Ferrari legend without winning a world title, and damn he was good enough to capture one.

Arguably the most entertaining driver of all time by the way he would hustle a car round a corner in any way physically possible and yet still be damn quick, Villeneuve was set to become one of F1's major stars.

Sadly a 1982 qualifying crash robbed the talented Canadian of his life and so it was the 1979 championship where he would come closest to winning a title.

Running second place in Monaco behind Ferrari team-mate and eventual champion Jody Scheckter, Villeneuve developed a mechanical problem that would cause him to retire, robbing him of the points to become champion.

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

Related

More F1 news

Full News Feed

Journalists call for FIA action after Max Verstappen media meltdown

• 1 hour ago

Max Verstappen in Red Bull summit after incident with journalist

• 3 hours ago

Max Verstappen tells all on Japanese Grand Prix controversy that saw him expel journalist

• Yesterday 21:03

Max Verstappen unleashes Red Bull fury

• Yesterday 18:05

This F1 team could be forced to wait a YEAR for a new boss

• March 26, 2026 23:00

Lewis Hamilton turns up in $5 MILLION Ferrari for Japanese GP

• March 26, 2026 21:00