F1’s most dominant cars ever from Red Bull RB19 to McLaren MP4/4 and more

Red Bull has produced one of the most dominant seasons in Formula 1 history, with Max Verstappen having cruised towards a third drivers’ world championship in 2023.

He and team-mate Sergio Perez have a combined 20 victories this year with the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, won by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, the only time Red Bull has not stood on the top step at the time of writing. 

Red Bull’s race pace has been so superior of its rivals that it does not really matter where they start a grand prix. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the team scored a 1-2 despite Verstappen, who came second, starting the race in 15th. 

But the RB19 is not the only legendary machine in F1 history. Dominant cars have come before it and no doubt, more will come. So how does the 2023 Red Bull compare to others in years gone by?

There are lots of metrics that can be used to compare, but F1 has changed throughout the years. Judging dominance by wins in a season would place a bias towards the modern years with the F1 calendar now bigger, also meaning it is unfair to determine by points in a campaign.

So, these are the 10 most dominant cars according to win percentage in a world championship season.

It does still mean that there are some notable exclusions. The revolutionary Williams machines of the 1990s miss out, as does the 1963 Lotus that delivered Jim Clark his maiden championship after Colin Chapman built F1’s first fully stressed monocoque chassis. 

*Indicates season is still ongoing

1. Red Bull RB19*

• Year: 2023
• Wins: 20 of 21 (one race still to go)
• Win percentage: 95%
• Pole positions: 13 of 21 (one race still to go)
• Podiums: 29 of 42 (two podium spots left available)
• Round clinched the constructors’ championship: 16 of 22

Lewis Hamilton said the RB19 is the fastest F1 car he’s ever seen, which isn’t quite right given the rule changes since the lap record-breaking Mercedes W11, but it has definitely been the pacesetter of the new ground-effect era.

PLUS: How Mercedes created F1’s fastest car

It was quite clear from pre-season testing that Red Bull was the favourite for 2023. Verstappen said the RB19 had improved ‘everywhere’ from its predecessor, which is quite remarkable considering how successful the RB18 was with Red Bull winning 17 of the 22 grands prix in 2022. The talk early in 2023 was how could the team improve upon…