Formula 1 is not a sport that lends itself to tall athletes. For aerodynamic reasons, engineers tend to prefer shorter drivers.

A taller driver will naturally sit higher up in the cockpit, which can disrupt the airflow.

The minimum weight for an F1 driver is 82 kilograms. The drivers who don’t reach it must add ballast to their car, effectively equalising the field.

The taller drivers have to tailor their training regime to ensure they are at the minimum weight, because any extra kilograms will inherently cost them lap time.

Hans-Joachim Stuck is the tallest F1 driver ever

Hans-Joachim Stuck is widely believed to be the tallest F1 driver ever at 6ft 4in. He raced 74 times between 1974 and 1979, partnering some legends of the sport like John Watson and Ronnie Peterson.

Stuck never won a race. In fact, he retired from nearly two-thirds of the Grands Prix he started (64.9%) in an era where unreliability was par for the course.

One of those retirements came when he was leading the 1977 US GP at Watkins Glen, handing victory to James Hunt. The German did score a podium on home soil that year, though, and bagged another in Austria.

This was a commendable feat given that Stuck’s height made his driving position intensely uncomfortable.

Stuck’s father, also called Hans, made a handful of appearances in the early years of the F1 world championship. His sons, Johannes and Ferdinand, became racing drivers too.

Who are the tallest drivers on the 2026 Formula 1 grid?

Haas driver Oliver Bearman is the tallest driver on the current F1 grid, measuring in at 6ft 2in – only a couple of inches shorter than Stuck.

Teammate Esteban Ocon is tied for second with Mercedes’ George Russell and Williams’ Alex Albon (6ft 1in). Audi duo Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto are the only other drivers over 6ft.

How does this compare to other sports? Newcastle United defender and Nottingham Forest forward Lorenzo Lucca are jointly the tallest Premier League footballers at 6ft 7in.

But looking at the NBA – the opposite end of the scale to F1 – there are only three players under 6ft. Their shortest player, Chicago Bulls guard Yuki Kawamura (5ft 8in) is still taller than five F1 drivers.