<\/p>\n
Watch: Top 10 F1 Drivers of the 2000s | Autosport Retro<\/p>\n
The 2000s began with domination by one team and driver before developing into a fierce battle for supremacy between a new generation of talent.<\/p>\n
The first half of the decade was also the era of V10 power, with lap records being set that would stand for years.<\/p>\n
For the latest in our series of top 10 F1 drivers of each decade, we\u2019ve tried to rank the best performers of the 2000s. As usual, we\u2019ve considered their level of success, impact, machinery at their disposal, longevity and how highly the drivers were rated by their contemporaries.<\/p>\n
Success outside the relevant decade is not considered.<\/p>\n
10. Ralf Schumacher
\n ![\"Schumacher](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/podium-race-winner-ralf-schuma-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Schumacher sneaks on to this list through his greater triumphs at the start of the decade<\/p>\n
Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n
Decade wins: 6
Decade poles: 6
Decade titles: 0<\/p>\n
Robert Kubica<\/a> and Sebastian Vettel<\/a> almost made it onto this list. Kubica was arguably F1\u2019s best performer in 2008 while Vettel challenged for the 2009 title, and both ended the decade regarded as top-liners. But Ralf Schumacher\u2019s fine start to the 2000s and longer involvement gets him ahead. The German also scored more wins across the decade.<\/p>\n Schumacher had been one of F1\u2019s best in 1999 and led Williams<\/a> as it began its BMW era. While his rookie team-mate Jenson Button<\/a> stole many of the headlines, it was Ralf who finished fifth in the 2000 standings, behind only the Ferrari<\/a> and McLaren<\/a> drivers.<\/p>\n It was a similar story in 2001. Juan Pablo Montoya arrived in F1 with a bang, but it was\u00a0Schumacher who picked up the results. Ralf took a fine first grand prix win at Imola, beat brother Michael to victory in Canada and inherited a third success when Montoya\u2019s engine blew in Germany. That was enough for a career-best fourth in the championship.<\/p>\n The rivalry with Montoya grew, with the Colombian marginally getting the upper hand over the next couple of seasons.\u00a0Schumacher nevertheless remained a factor and picked up three wins across 2002-03, though his 2004 campaign was curtailed by a nasty accident at the United States GP.<\/p>\n Schumacher joined Toyota for 2005 alongside Jarno Trulli<\/a>, another candidate for this list. As was becoming a theme, Trulli\u2019s performances \u2013 especially in qualifying \u2013 often grabbed the limelight but Schumacher scored more points across their three seasons together.<\/p>\n Toyota\u2019s declining form meant that\u00a0Schumacher\u2019s final podium came in the 2006 Australian GP and he retired from F1 at the end of 2007.<\/p>\n Coulthard shone for McLaren at the start of the decade before his star began to wane<\/p>\n Photo by: Motorsport Images<\/p>\n Decade wins: 7 Coulthard opened the decade with perhaps his two finest seasons. He couldn\u2019t match Michael Schumacher<\/a> and Mika Hakkinen<\/a> over the 2000 season but there were several highlights, including wins at the British, Monaco and French GPs. The Magny-Cours success came after a duel with Schumacher, and Coulthard regards it as the race of his life.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n As Hakkinen\u2019s luck and motivation appeared to wane in 2001, Coulthard stepped up and was the closest thing Schumacher had to a challenger. He brilliantly won the rain-hit Brazilian GP, overtaking the Ferrari driver, and the Austrian GP to move within four points of the championship lead.<\/p>\n Coulthard then took pole in Monaco but a hitherto undiscovered software glitch contributed to him stalling and he could only recover to fifth. Schumacher won and thereafter stretched away. Although there were no more wins, Coulthard was a career-best second in the table.<\/p>\n Coulthard took another fine win in the 2002 Monaco GP but McLaren had been jumped by Williams-BMW as Ferrari\u2019s closest rival and new team-mate Kimi Raikkonen<\/a> was a rising threat. Although Coulthard finished ahead in the standings, the Finn was gaining momentum and overshadowed the Scot with a brilliant 2003 campaign that took Raikkonen to within two points of champion Schumacher.<\/p>\n After a disappointing 2004,\u00a0Coulthard joined new team Red Bull. He took a sensational fourth first time out in the 2005 season-opening Australian GP and helped build the team. He scored the squad\u2019s first F1 podium at Monaco in 2006 and added one more in the 2008 Canadian GP.<\/p>\n By then he was being outperformed by team-mate\u00a0Mark Webber<\/a> and Coulthard bowed out of F1 as a driver at the end of the season.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n Massa rose to prominence during the decade and fought for the title in 2008<\/p>\n Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n Decade wins: 11 It took a little while for\u00a0Massa to really hit his stride in F1 after he arrived with Sauber. Though there were flashes of promise, the Brazilian was beaten by team-mates Nick Heidfeld<\/a> in 2002 and Giancarlos Fisichella in 2004, either side of a season as Ferrari test driver.<\/p>\n He finished ahead of\u00a0Jacques Villeneuve<\/a> in 2005 and made it into Autocourse\u2019s end-of-season top 10 for the first time but didn\u2019t score his first podium until joining Ferrari for 2006.<\/p>\n Understandably,\u00a0Massa tended to trail team leader Michael Schumacher, who battled for the title, but he had a good end to the campaign. He scored his first pole and win in Turkey, added a second victory on home ground in Brazil and beat Renault driver Fisichella to third in the points.<\/p>\n The next two seasons were\u00a0Massa\u2019s best. He was close to new team-mate Raikkonen and was perhaps unfortunate to fall out of championship contention. There were several highlights, including wins in Bahrain, Spain and Turkey, while he would have won in Brazil had he not had to step aside to aid Raikkonen\u2019s successful title bid.<\/p>\n Massa battled for the 2008 crown and overshadowed Raikkonen. He completed his Istanbul hat-trick and took six wins, more than anyone else, though was fortunate to inherit victory at Spa. On the other hand, he was set to win after a fine drive in Hungary before engine failure and considers himself the biggest victim of \u2018crashgate\u2019, a Ferrari pitstop disaster in Singapore following Nelson Piquet Jr\u2019s deliberate crash for Renault.<\/p>\n Not always at his best in the rain \u2013 he spent much of that year\u2019s British GP spinning \u2013\u00a0Massa rose to the occasion in tricky conditions at the Brazilian showdown. While rival Lewis Hamilton<\/a> struggled, it looked like Massa had done enough, only for the Briton to grab the fifth place he needed at the last corner, beating Massa by a single point.<\/p>\n Ferrari didn\u2019t nail the new regulations in 2009, though\u00a0Massa was still leading Raikkonen in the points when they arrived at the Hungaroring. During qualifying, Massa was struck by a spring from the suspension of Rubens Barrichello<\/a>\u2019s Brawn, knocking him unconscious and causing a crash.<\/p>\n His injuries meant\u00a0Massa ended the decade on the sidelines, though he did return for a less successful F1 stint in the 2010s.<\/p>\n 7. Juan Pablo Montoya Montoya was one of the most exciting drivers of the decade, not afraid of a fight<\/p>\n Photo by: Motorsport Images<\/p>\n Decade wins: 7 One of the most exciting talents to arrive during the decade, Montoya had won the International F3000 and CART\u00a0Indycar titles, as well as the Indianapolis 500, before arriving in F1 with Williams in 2001.<\/p>\n He made an impact as early as his third race, audaciously overtaking\u00a0Schumacher at a restart at the Brazilian GP. He was set to win before being removed by backmarker Jos Verstappen<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unreliability and errors hampered Montoya\u2019s season and team-mate\u00a0Ralf Schumacher often led the way, but the Colombian was a growing threat. He took his first pole at Hockenheim, only to be denied by engine failure, and then took his maiden victory at Monza from pole.<\/p>\n The Williams-BMW with Michelin tyres was a potent combination in qualifying during 2002. Montoya took seven poles \u2013 as many as champion\u00a0Schumacher \u2013 but the Bridgestone-shod Ferraris were virtually unbeatable on race day. Montoya went winless but seven podiums helped him to a best-of-the-rest third in the championship.<\/p>\n Williams and\u00a0McLaren challenged Ferrari for the title in 2003. Montoya took victory in Monaco and then won in Germany by more than a minute, one of the most dominant dry-weather successes in recent F1 history.<\/p>\n Despite arguments over Michelin\u2019s rubber, Montoya arrived at the penultimate round at Indianapolis just three points behind\u00a0Schumacher (when victory earned 10). Montoya was battling for a podium in a US GP hit by changeable conditions, but a controversial drive-through penalty for a clash with Barrichello and uncompetitive wet tyre dropped him to sixth and ended his championship hopes.<\/p>\n Ferrari was dominant again in 2004 and tensions grew within the Williams team. But for the third time in four years, Montoya beat his team-mate in the standings, and rounded out the season with a fine victory in Brazil before heading to\u00a0McLaren.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n Montoya never seemed quite at home at the Woking team and generally played second fiddle to team-mate Raikkonen. He took three wins in 2005 to Raikkonen\u2019s seven and finished a distant fourth in the table.<\/p>\n After being involved in a multi-car crash at the 2006 US GP, Montoya left F1having made 94 starts. He went on to have a long career across NASCAR,\u00a0IndyCar and endurance racing. A sometimes fiery character who was perhaps not as complete as some of his rivals, Montoya nevertheless brought excitement to F1 and never finished outside the top six in the final points table during his full campaigns.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n 6. Rubens Barrichello Barrichello: F1’s best number two driver<\/p>\n Photo by: Motorsport Images<\/p>\n Decade wins: 11 To describe\u00a0Barrichello as one of F1\u2019s great number two drivers is not meant to be a case of damning with faint praise. Barrichello contributed to six constructors\u2019 titles during the decade, proved to be a fine team player and was capable of beating the best of the era on his day.<\/p>\n Having shown promise at Jordan and Stewart in the 1990s, Barrichello joined Ferrari for the new decade, replacing\u00a0Eddie Irvine<\/a> alongside Schumacher. As the German finally achieved his dream of winning the crown with the famous Italian team, Barrichello was a consistent podium finisher and took a brilliant first win in a bizarre German GP, rising from 18th amid a track invader and rain showers.<\/p>\n As the\u00a0Schumacher\/Ross Brawn\/Jean Todt\/Rory Byrne Ferrari superteam gathered momentum and reeled off title after title, Barrichello was a constant near the front. There were no wins in 2001, but 10 podiums helped the Brazilian to third in the standings.<\/p>\n Though not a match for\u00a0Schumacher over a season, Barrichello had days where he seemed unbeatable. He twice had to move aside for his team leader in Austria, his giving up of the victory in 2002 being particularly unpopular, and his drive to victory in the 2003 British GP \u2013 on a day Schumacher finished fourth \u2013 was one of the best of the decade.<\/p>\n Barrichello was championship runner-up to Schumacher in Ferrari\u2019s dominant 2002 and 2004 campaigns. When he left Ferrari at the end of 2005, a season in which Ferrari and Bridgestone had been caught out by the one-set-of-tyres-per-race rule, Barrichello had racked up 55 podiums for the famous Italian team. That\u2019s the same as Sebastian Vettel and more than any other Ferrari driver aside from Schumacher.<\/p>\n The next three years were spent with middling Honda machinery and\u00a0Barrichello was narrowly outscored by team-mate Button, though he did score a fine third place at a wet British GP in 2008.<\/p>\n Brawn arriving at Honda started to improve the team\u2019s fortunes before Honda pulled the plug before the 2009 season. Things looked grim but Brawn led a buyout and the squad arrived at the Australian opener with the\u00a0pacesetting car.<\/p>\n While the\u00a0BGP 001 was ahead, Barrichello couldn\u2019t match Button and the Briton built up a healthy points lead. As the opposition caught up and the pressure increased on Button, Barrichello came on strong, winning the European and Italian GPs.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t enough to stop Button becoming champion and\u00a0Vettel sneaking between the Brawn duo in the final standings, but it meant Barrichello was again a frontrunner as the decade ended.<\/p>\n 5. Jenson Button The Button and Brawn 2009 F1 title triumph was a fairytale story<\/p>\n Photo by: Getty Images<\/p>\n Decade wins: 7 Button burst onto the F1 season at the start of the decade with Williams, a fine fourth at\u00a0Hockenheim and a brilliant third in qualifying at Spa among the highlights. He was just 20 and his future seemed bright, but the next few years were tough.<\/p>\n He moved to Benetton and struggled with the mediocre B201, overshadowed by team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella<\/a>. Things were better alongside Trulli as the team became Renault, but it was the switch to BAR in 2003 that helped Button regain momentum.<\/p>\n He got the better of 1997 world champion team-mate\u00a0Villeneuve and really seemed to hit his stride in 2004. Armed with the 006, Button was one of the stars of the season and reeled off his first 10 podiums. In a normal season he probably would have picked up a win or two but he was unfortunate to come up against the Ferrari F2004, which won all but three of the 20 races.<\/p>\n Button was still a comfortable third in the standings, ahead of Renault\u2019s\u00a0Fernando Alonso<\/a>. Unfortunately, the 007 was a step back and, though he again outperformed team-mate Takuma Sato in 2005, a first win seemed as elusive as ever.<\/p>\n BAR became Honda in 2006 and Button was a consistent points threat before a special day in Hungary. In challenging conditions, Michelin-equipped Button and\u00a0Alonso were the stars of the show. When Alonso suffered a loose wheel after a pitstop, Button swept through for his first GP win on his 113th start.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n Button was \u2018rewarded\u2019 with two pretty bad F1 cars over the next two years and looked like he\u2019d be out of a drive when Honda announced its withdrawal in 2008.<\/p>\n The resurrection of the team under the Brawn name has become part of modern F1 legend. Armed with a\u00a0Mercedes<\/a> engine and excellent chassis that included the double-diffuser trick, Button stamped his authority over team-mate Barrichello and everyone else by winning six of the first seven races.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n He had a mid-season wobble, particularly as the threat of Red Bull and\u00a0Vettel grew. But a combative drive to fifth in Brazil clinched the crown that Button\u2019s raw talent had suggested was possible.<\/p>\n 4. Lewis Hamilton Hamilton stunned F1 as a rookie in 2007 and then winning his first title in 2008<\/p>\n Photo by: James Moy Photography via Getty Images<\/p>\n Decade wins: 11 It\u2019s not an exaggeration to say that Hamilton rewrote expectations of what an F1 rookie could achieve. He joined\u00a0McLaren alongside Alonso, then regarded by many as the finest driver in the world, and proceeded to go toe-to-toe with the double world champion in an epic 2007 campaign. Yes, he\u2019d had lots of testing and the MP4-22 was a good car, but Hamilton\u2019s season was deeply impressive.<\/p>\n From overtaking\u00a0Alonso at the first corner of the year to winning an appallingly wet Japanese GP, Hamilton looked comfortable running at the front of F1. He finished on the podium in his first nine GPs and the relationship with Alonso grew tense as the double world champion realised the threat.<\/p>\n With two rounds to go, Hamilton virtually had a hand on the championship trophy, with a 12-point lead over\u00a0Alonso and 17 over Raikkonen when a win provided 10, but staying out too long on worn tyres hurt him in China. Hamilton slid off in the pitlane as Raikkonen won. A troubled run to seventh in the final round in Brazil, where Massa handed Raikkonen victory, meant Hamilton ended the year tied with Alonso, one point behind their Ferrari rival.<\/p>\n Alonso headed back to Renault for 2008, leaving Hamilton to lead McLaren alongside Heikki Kovalainen<\/a>. The advantage swung back and forth between McLaren and Ferrari as Hamilton battled Massa for the championship.<\/p>\n Hamilton made mistakes, perhaps more than in 2007, but also put in some brilliant drives. His win at\u00a0Silverstone was one of the great wet-weather F1 performances and most felt it was ridiculous he was robbed of victory after the flag fell at Spa on a day he and Raikkonen had been the class of the field.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n![\"Coulthard](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/david-coulthard-mclaren-mp4-17-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Decade poles: 4
Decade titles: 0<\/p>\n![\"Massa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/an-emotional-felipe-massa-prou-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Decade poles: 15
Decade titles: 0<\/p>\n
\n ![\"Montoya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/michael-schumacher-ferrari-f20-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Decade poles: 13
Decade titles: 0<\/p>\n
\n ![\"Barrichello:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/rubens-barrichello-1st-positio-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Decade poles: 12
Decade titles: 0<\/p>\n
\n ![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/race-winner-jenson-button-braw.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Decade poles: 7
Decade titles: 1 (2009)<\/p>\n
\n ![\"Hamilton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772029633_427_lewis-hamilton-mclaren.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Decade poles: 17
Decade titles: 1 (2008)<\/p>\n
![\"Raikkonen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/race-winner-kimi-raikkonen-fe-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Alonso's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fernando-alonso-renault-r25-le-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Was](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783514620_916_michael-schumacher-ferrari-f20-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Schumacher](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/michael-schumacher-ferrari-f20.jpg\")
<\/p>\n