Top 25 Worst Seasons by F1 Legends
25. Alan Jones – 1981 (Williams)
Alan Jones struggled to defend his title in 1981. At Williams, he could only win two races with a points tally of 46.
24. Felipe Massa – 2012 (Ferrari)
Felipe Massa barely scored any points in 2012 against teammate Fernando Alonso. The disparity between the two Ferrari drivers was almost embarrassing.
23. Juan Manuel Fangio – 1958 (retirement year)
Juan Manuel Fangio may have dominated the 1950s but he had a poor final season. In 1958, Fangio just scored 6 points with a best finish of fourth place.
22. Ronnie Peterson – 1976 (March)
Ronnie Peterson's stint at March did not bring results. The SuperSwede scored 10 points and retired from 9 races in 1976.
21. Graham Hill – 1973 (Shadow & Embassy Hill)
Graham Hill's 1973 season was disappointing to say the least. The F1 legend just scored a couple of points with a P15 finish in the championship.
20. Jacques Villeneuve – 1999 (BAR)
Jacques Villeneuve's move to BAR started with a disaster. The F1 champion scored no points and retired from 11 races.
19. Emerson Fittipaldi – 1980 (Fittipaldi team)
Emerson Fittipaldi's foray into team ownership did not bear fruit. He could only manage a highest finish of third place all year.
18. Fernando Alonso – 2001 (Minardi)
Fernando Alonso cannot be solely blamed for his disastrous Minardi debut in 2001. Due to a bad car, the Spanish driver could never make it past P10 on-track.
17. Lewis Hamilton – 2025 (Ferrari)
Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari debut has not gone well. The seven-time world champion is yet to even bag a podium finish with just eight races to go. Though he did win the Sprint in China.
16. Mika Hakkinen – 2001 (McLaren)
Mika Hakkinen's 2001 season was marred with back luck. The Flying Finn had 9 DNFs and only 39 points.
15. Kimi Raikkonen – 2014 (Ferrari)
Kimi Raikkonen struggled at Ferrari at the start of the Turbo Hybrid era. The Finnish driver even failed to make it to the podium even once in 2014.
14. Damon Hill – 1997 (Arrows)
Damon Hill's switch to Arrows led to a massive decline in his career. The Briton scored only 7 points and finished the championship in P12.
13. Lewis Hamilton – 2011 (McLaren)
Lewis Hamilton's 2011 was chaotic. The British driver found himself in controversy over multiple penalties and incidents over the course of the season.
12. Nelson Piquet – 1988 (Lotus)
Nelson Piquet had a poor title defense in 1988. The Brazilian driver failed to even win a race. He finished the season with P6 in the standings.
11. Alain Prost – 1991 (Ferrari)
Alain Prost had a fallout with Ferrari in 1991 after he allegedly called the car a truck. This led to the Frenchman being sacked midseason. Before his exit, he had only scored 34 points that year.
10. Sebastian Vettel – 2014 (Red Bull)
Sebastian Vettel had a downfall in 2014. After winning four consecutive world titles, the German failed to even win a race in the Turbo Hybrid era. Vettel left Red Bull for Ferrari in 2015.
9. Niki Lauda – 1985 (McLaren)
Niki Lauda had a disappointing end to his career. The Austrian had 9 DNFs during his final season at McLaren, with a best finish of P4.
8. Nigel Mansell – 1981 (Lotus)
Nigel Mansell had a poor season with Lotus in 1981. The Briton had 7 retirements and finished the season in P14 in the standings.
7. Jenson Button – 2015 (McLaren-Honda)
Jenson Button fell victim to the McLaren Honda saga in 2015. The Briton had 6 DNFs and only 16 points to his name.
6. Fernando Alonso – 2015 (McLaren-Honda)
Fernando Alonso was far more vocal than Jenson Button at McLaren Honda. The two-time world champion was fed up with unreliability and a lack of power. In 2025, Alonso had 7 DNFs with only 11 points scored.
5. Lewis Hamilton – 2022 (Mercedes)
Lewis Hamilton had his first-ever winless F1 season in 2022. The Briton simply couldn't get used to the ground-effect cars. Hamilton finished the season with P6 in the standings.
4. Sebastian Vettel – 2020 (Ferrari)
Sebastian Vettel was fed up with Ferrari in 2020. The four-time world champion had a poor car that led to him scoring only 33 points with a single podium.
3. Michael Schumacher – 2005 (Ferrari)
Michael Schumacher fell from grace in 2005. After winning 5 consecutive world titles, the German won a single race in 2005, that too the infamous US GP at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
2. Ayrton Senna – 1994 (Williams)
Ayrton Senna's 1994 season was a tragic one. The Brazilian driver was struggling at Williams with a poor car. Senna kept pushing himself, which led to the horrible crash at Imola, that took his life.
1. Fernando Alonso – 2017 (McLaren-Honda)
Fernando Alonso's humiliation continued in 2017. The Spanish driver kept complaining about Honda's dismal performance. He had 7 DNFs and multiple grid drops due to reliability. McLaren ultimately ditched Honda for Renault power units for the following year.
