But the list holds some surprises: Juan Manuel Fangio’s two very different partnerships – with Giuseppe Farina at Alfa Romeo in 1950-51, and with a young, deferential Stirling Moss at Mercedes in 1955 – both crack the top three, the latter boasting an extraordinary 83% win rate across just six races.
Elsewhere, Niki Lauda and Alain Prost’s genuinely harmonious 1984-85 McLaren spell shows that not every great pairing had to end in fireworks.
Then there’s the modern era.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s 2013-16 Mercedes years combined childhood friendship with a rivalry that curdled under title pressure, while Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello’s dominant Ferrari run raises an uncomfortable question: does a lopsided number-one/number-two arrangement still count as a great “pairing,” even when it delivered five drivers’ and five constructors’ titles in a row?
The full feature digs into the numbers behind all 10 pairings – including Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve’s blistering single season at Williams, Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard’s underrated McLaren spell, and the two title-winning duos who bookended the 1960s and 70s for Brabham and Lotus – plus first-hand reflections from the drivers themselves on what it actually took to share a car with someone just as hungry to win as they were.
Read the full ranking, with all 10 pairings and exclusive driver quotes, in the latest issue of Motor Sport and have your say: pick the greatest team-mates in F1 history below and see if you agree with us.
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