Most F1 points in a season: Highest driver points totals in history
RadioTimes.com brings you the top five F1 driver season points totals in history.
![Most F1 points season Max Verstappen celebrates winning the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix.](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2023/10/Most-F1-points-season-904e4b1.jpg?quality=90&resize=980,654)
Max Verstappen has enjoyed an unprecedented, historic season on the saddle of his Red Bull winning machine.
The Dutch superstar powered his way to a third successive F1 world driver's title and records have tumbled in his wake.
He became the first driver to win 10 consecutive races and set the record for most laps led, all before he claimed another huge milestone several races ago with a victory at the US Grand Prix
Verstappen's victory in Austin took him to 466 points for the season at the time, the most points ever record by a driver. He has continued to add to his tally ever since.
Where the last three campaigns sit among the greatest seasons by F1 drivers is subject to debate, not least because the modern schedule includes more races and more opportunities to score points, but there can be no arguing about where they are on the list of most points in a single season.
RadioTimes.com brings you the top five driver season points totals in history.
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5. Sebastian Vettel – 397 (2013)
Sebastian Vettel's dominance in 2013 should not be underplayed. The Red Bull driver won his fourth consecutive F1 Drivers' Championship by a record margin (155 points over Fernando Alonso) and scooped a number of other records along the way.
The German amassed 397 drivers' points - the most ever at the time - with 13 wins from 19 races in a season that also saw him win nine races on the bounce - a record later broken by Verstappen.
4. Lewis Hamilton – 408 (2018)
Vettel's record would stand for five years before being broken by Lewis Hamilton in 2018.
Hamilton was a four-time world champion already, but he wrote his name into the history books further by finishing with 408 points after winning 11 of the 21 races that season.
He overturned a mid-season points deficit to beat Vettel to the title and break his points record.
3. Lewis Hamilton – 413 (2019)
![Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton smiling with a bright light behind him](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2021/12/Lewis-Hamilton-09484e8.jpg?quality=90&fit=700,466)
A year later, a dominant Hamilton went one better on his way to a sixth world championship.
The Brit showed remarkable consistency as he finished in the points in all 21 races, winning 11, and totalled an outstanding 413 points.
The following year he would go level with Michael Schumacher by winning the F1 Drivers' Championship for a seventh time.
2. Max Verstappen – 454 (2022)
Second on the list is Verstappen's outstanding 2022 campaign.
Despite a rocky start, which saw him retire from both the first and third races, a record 15 wins from 22 races helped him go well beyond Hamilton's 2019 total as he established himself as the new force in F1.
1. Max Verstappen – 549* (2023)
![Max Verstappen Dutch Grand Prix Max Verstappen in Red Bull overalls with his arm aloft](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2023/08/Max-Verstappen-0d8d9a7.jpg?quality=90&fit=700,466)
The win in Austin saw Verstappen break the points record he set last year – a remarkable achievement with five races left.
He has been totally dominant this term, wrapping up a third consecutive world championship after just 15 races. Red Bull's star man has clinched 18 race wins and 20 podium places in 21 races with one left to go.
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