The 10 best F1 title-deciding races ever

Brazil 2008

This is the one you all remember. There have been close finishes to an F1 season, but coming down to an overtake at the very last corner of the very last lap? Well, that was so exciting that I genuinely broke my laptop screen when it happened – as an impoverished student that was costly.

The set up was simple. A couple of drivers could realistically win the title: young upstart second-seasoner Lewis Hamilton (wonder whatever happened to him?) and the more weathered Felipe Massa. McLaren versus Ferrari. No love lost.

Brazil and Interlagos was the destination for this showdown, Massa’s home track. While that gave the Brazilian some advantage, the fact that he needed to score strongly and hope Hamilton – the points leader – stuttered played against him. It even looked like a reasonably perfunctory victory for Hamilton coming into the final few laps. Then it rained, Hamilton struggled to match the pace of Sebastien Vettel’s lowly Torro Rosso and Massa won the title. For thirty seconds anyway. A slowing Timo Glock provided one of F1’s greatest moments of drama by simply being an obstacle Hamilton had to dispatch and the rest was history.

Adelaide 1986

While the denouement of that 2008 title fight is almost impossible to match for sheer drama, little can fight the finish of the 1986 title for possibility. There weren’t two protagonists at play at the Australian Grand Prix in 1986, but three. Each of them is an F1 legend in the making.

Ayrton Senna had been in contention, but only in the distance and his chances were gone. Alain Prost’s still existed and so were slightly better, but the Williams pairing of Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet seemed the most likely winners. Between them, Piquet and Mansell had won nine of the season’s 15 races so far. As the race progressed that seemed to be the way things were going. Mansell ran a pretty steady race, not really trying to fight Senna, Piquet or Keke Rosberg for the lead to begin with and just stalking his way toward an apparent title. 

Piquet spun and was forced to fight back through the field, passing the relatively idling Mansell for second 21 laps later. Prost suffered a puncture and dropped to fourth. With 25 laps to go Senna had retired and the remaining trio ran second, third and fourth. The title was Mansell’s. Then, at about 180mph, the right rear Goodyear on Red 5 decided it had something to say, exploded and ended Nige’s title hopes. Piquet was the defacto champion. That was until Williams panicked, called him in for new tyres and left Prost to take victory and the title.

Suzuka 1989

A great title decider doesn’t have to be the final race. It doesn’t even have to see anyone in contention for the title actually classified in the results – as proven by the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix. A particularly spicy affair that would lead to repercussions for, well, years.

In 1988 McLaren, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost had dominated, totally dominated in a way F1 hasn’t seen before or since. Only one win escaped them, and Prost took the title. By ’89 Ferrari, Williams and Benetton had got their acts together and pinched some victories, but it was still a two-horse race for the championship between Prost and Senna. 

Prost really didn’t need to do much to win the title. He was 16 points ahead but, with a dropped scores system in place, if Senna won both the final two races he would be champion, no matter what Prost did – straightforward it was not. Pre-race Prost told team boss Ron Dennis that if Senna attacked him he would not leave the door open. On lap 40, with Prost leading, Senna attacked and Prost... did not leave the door open.

It’s a bone of contention, but it does appear that Prost moved over, causing a collision. If both cars were out on the spot Prost was the champion. As they came to a halt at the chicane Prost got out and walked away, believing himself the winner. Senna got a push from the marshals, skipped through the chicane and hunted down victory keeping his championship alive. But no, he was disqualified for missing the chicane and all hell broke loose. McLaren picked Senna, the FIA picked Prost and the two drivers’ already fractious relationship was over. Prost, though, remained champion.

Abu Dhabi 2010

Some of Sebastien Vettel’s four F1 titles in a row were a relative canter. But not all. Like in 2010 where, really, he shouldn’t have been champion at all. Arriving in Abu Dhabi’s sparkling-to-look-at-but-lacklustre-for-racing Yas Marina circuit, Fernando Alonso led the championship, Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber trailed with a chance to win the title, and Lewis Hamilton was fourth, in with a mathematical chance, but one that required an extraordinary turn of luck.

While Vettel led from the start, Alonso didn’t need to do too much to win, and after a brush with the wall pitted early for new tyres, Webber’s race followed a similar story. The idea was with fresh rubber they’d easily make their way through the field back to the right positions to win the title. 

But, Yas Marina is not a track set up for overtaking, or at least it was not in 2010. As Alonso and Webber caught Vitaly Petrov’s Renault on lap 18, passing was just not on the cards. For the next 37 solid laps, Alonso tried to overtake the Russian driver. It was a tense, nervous fight. Up front, Vettel could do nothing other than just keep driving to victory, but Alonso’s fight with Petrov just kept going on and on. That simple pass never came. Alonso was stuck finishing seventh and Vettel was the champion. Not exactly a barnstorming battle, but a tense finale nonetheless.

Fuji 1976

Normally you want both drivers in a title battle to actually drive in the race that decides who wins the championship. But at Fuji in 1976 there were so many different factors at play that it really didn’t matter to the drama that Niki Lauda quit the race after less than two laps.

It was wet. In fact so wet that the race really shouldn’t have been held, even in 1976. With Lauda out of the picture and several other top drivers suffering in the rain, Hunt led. In fact, he led for 62 laps. Then, almost defying belief, it began to dry up. And not just ease, properly dry. Hunt’s tyres, already suffering a little after being pushed to stay out front, began to wilt and the Englishman started to lose places. First passed by Patrick Depailler and then Mario Andretti. Hunt, suffering now from a fully deflating tyre, pitted and emerged down the order, needing to finish fourth to take the title with Lauda out. Running fifth with three laps to go Hunt passed Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni at the death and the crown was his. But so late were the passes and so confused was the race that Hunt didn’t know until he exited his car. 

Jerez 1997

If I told you at the start of the year that in the final race of the 1997 season the top three drivers would qualify with exactly the same time and then a near race-long battle between the two title protagonists would decide the title, you’d think I was on something. But that’s what happened, and it’s not even half the story.

After that extraordinary qualifying session, the grid was set by when each driver set the time. Jacques Villeneuve started on pole, but title rival Michael Schumacher immediately passed him from the start. Forty seven laps followed of Villeneuve following Schumacher, probably faster, but not really making headway. On lap 48 he closed the gap and launched his attack into Dry Sack pulling off a textbook overtake and heading off to win the title. Except Schumacher turned in, hit Villeneuve and exiled himself to the gravel trap.

Now the maths changed. Finish in fifth or above and Villeneuve was the champion. But despite Schumacher coming off worse, the Canadian’s car was damaged by the impact. Slowed from his previous speed Villeneuve was a sitting duck to the following McLaren pair of David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen. Limping, but just about surviving, Villeneuve would finish third and take the title. In the end, it wouldn’t have mattered, as Schumacher was disqualified from the standings for the incident.

Brazil 2007

Lewis Hamilton has learned some harsh lessons in his long Formula 1 career. But few have been as devastatingly solid as the one he was taught in his first-ever F1 season. On his way to a potential title in his debut season, Hamilton had slid out of the Chinese Grand Prix, from the lead... in the pit lane. But, he remained four points clear of team-mate Fernando Alonso, and seven ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen going into the final race in Brazil. 

Hamilton started second, alongside Räikkönen’s Brazilian teammate Massa, who would obviously be asked to move aside for the Finn should the situation require it. Hamilton got a bad start, passed by Räikkönen before the first corner, then Alonso passed him through turn three. Then, trying desperately to win back the places, he went wide and found himself in eighth. That shouldn’t really have been a problem. Gain a few places and enough points would come Hamilton’s way to negate whatever Ferrari did up front. But apparently his agony so far was not enough. 

By lap six Hamilton was back up to sixth and apparently doing what would now be needed to still take an extraordinary title. But then he slowed. McLaren said he had a gearbox problem, some claim he hit the pit limiter, but whatever happened he was crawling and plunging down the order. When he got the car going, Hamilton was 18^th, and needed to find his way to fifth to guarantee the title. He set off on a charge and would make it back to seventh, enough to win the title should Räikkönen finish second. But, as you would expect, Ferrari reversed their cars in the final pit stop phase, and Räikkönen was champion.

Brazil 2012

What is it about title deciders at Interlagos and the leader having a total nightmare at the start? In 2012 Sebastien Vettel led the championship by a comfortable 13 points coming into the final race in Brazil. Finish third or above and he was champion. That was surely fine, as Vettel had finished third or above in the last six races. 

He started fourth – not ideal – but four places ahead of his title rival Fernando Alonso and therefore totally in control of his destiny. By turn one he was seventh and now two places behind Alonso. Probably still fine though, just stalk Alonso and if he gets higher up you’ll still win. We wouldn’t be talking about this if that had happened though. So of course what transpired was Vettel and Bruno Senna came together at turn four, turning Vettel around and leaving him 22^nd which, in case you hadn’t worked it out, wasn’t quite enough to win the title.

The rest of the race was a cracker. Rain came and went, causing the teams to scramble for wets or try to brave it out. Through various factors (rain, not pitting or pitting, a safety car) too long to explain in this list, Alonso and Vettel eventually found themselves running fourth and fifth mid-race. 

But of course, that wasn’t the end. Rain came again and Vettel pitted... but his team had not heard him over the radio and he was sat waiting for tyres, losing places. Ferrari swapped Massa and Alonso, moving him into second and title-winning position. Finally, Vettel passed the soon-to-retire Michael Schumacher for sixth and the title was his after a breathless race.

Mexico 1964

So you think the 2008 finale was pretty dramatic, do you? Well, the finish to 1964 season might have something to say about that. This time it was a three-way showdown for the championship. John Surtees, Graham Hill and Jim Clark could all take it. Clark needed to win with Surtees finishing no higher than third and Hill fourth. 

Clark lead from the start as Hill battled with Surtees’ Ferrari team-mate Lorenzo Bandini for third and Surtees trailed in fifth. Then Bandini made contact with Hill’s car, sending the BRM into a barrier and damaging the exhaust. Now hobbled, Hill could only limp around hoping for some luck to fall his way, or misfortune to befall his competitors. Clark seemingly had it in the bag. Leading the race he would finish on equal points with Hill if he won and with more victories would claim the title on countback. Surtees was irrelevant.

With just over a lap to go all hell broke loose. First, an oil line decided it had had enough on Clark’s car. The Lotus’s Climax engine seized as he crossed the line and with one lap to go the title was back to Hill. But then Ferrari realised that, Surtees, who was by now running third, would suddenly win the title if he finished second. Frantically they waved at Bandini – running second – to slow down, a desperate attempt to change the order with no second chances. With a single chance to see them Bandini spotted the pleas, slowed on the very final lap of the final race to let Surtees past to win the title by a single point.

Abu Dhabi 2021

Say what you like about the finale to the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship, it was definitely exciting. If you don’t remember, the 2021 season came down to a straight fight between seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and then-title wannabe Max Verstappen. Whoever finished higher would win the title, it was that simple.

Hamilton was on a roll. He’d won the previous three races to eliminate Verstappen’s lead in the title fight, so they went into the final race on a completely equal footing. Hamilton qualified on pole, and after a skirmish between the pair, proceeded to scamper off into the distance. For a fair amount of time it looked like a record-breaking eighth title was Hamilton’s to lose.

But then Nicholas Latifi happened. A fight between Latifi and Mick Schumacher ended with the Canadian in the wall, and a safety car. With just a handful of laps to go it looked like that was that. By the time cars had unlapped themselves and been allowed to catch back up the race would be over.

Just in case something else happened, Verstappen jumped into the pits for some fresh tyres. Pitting under the safety car meant he rejoined still in second place, but with several lapped cars between him and Hamilton. The Brit stayed out to retain track position – if he’d gone in the Red Bull would have stayed out and as things were would have trundled to the title. But it turned out things didn’t stay as they were. Race director Michael Masi chose to let the lapped cars between the two title contenders, and only those cars, pass, and then restarted the race for a one lap showdown.

On old rubber Hamilton was a sitting duck, he was passed at the new hairpin and even though he had a go at coming back on the back straight, there was no DRS and Verstappen defended. The Dutchman was the champion and the recriminations began. Those, we will not get into.

Photography courtesy of Motorsport Images.