Hunt v Lauda, Prost v Senna, a 2010 Duel in the Desert and much more. Can Hamilton and Rosberg serve up another classic?
Monday 28 November 2016 11:20, UK
When it comes to deciding a world championship, Formula 1 has come up with some classic and controversial races down the years. But where will Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's 2016 battle end up in this glittering list?
From Hunt v Lauda to Prost v Senna, all the way through to a previous Duel in the Desert, Sky F1 charts the great title showdowns in chronological order.
Hunt v Lauda, Japanese GP 1976
When casting an eye over the 1976 campaign and title battle, the James Hunt v Niki Lauda plot that would eventually make its way onto the big screens may have seemed too fanciful even for the most optimistic of Hollywood directors.
Not only were the two protagonists fierce enemies and dramatically different characters, but a 16-race season of drama and controversy almost ground to halt at the halfway stage after Lauda's fiery German GP crash. That the Austrian only missed two races with the serious burns sustained from his devastating accident was quite possibly the most miraculous recovery in sporting history.
And there was much more to come.
Thanks to his fine start to the year, the Ferrari driver, badly affected by his injuries, made his way to a rain-soaked Fuji three points ahead of the flamboyant Hunt, and qualified just behind the McLaren in third.
However, Lauda, along with a number of drivers, protested that it was too dangerous to race on the Sunday with heavy rain pelting down in Japan, and withdrew his car at the end of the second lap, seemingly leaving the now-leading Hunt set to seal the title.
But while that's how it panned out in the end, a late pitstop thanks to a puncture culminated in yet more late drama -and the Brit actually thought he had finished fourth and thus missed out on his dream.
However, the late overtakes on Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni were enough for third and made Hunt a world champion by a single point, writing the final chapter in one of F1's most enduring seasons in the process.
Prost v Mansell v Piquet, Australian GP 1986
"And, colossally, that's Mansell!" bellowed Murray Walker as the Briton's hopes of winning his first world title exploded as quickly as his tyre in a dramatic title decider in Adelaide.
The Williams driver had led the standings by six points going into the season's final round, but McLaren's Alain Prost and team-mate Nelson Piquet remained in mathematical contention.
Mansell took pole, but dropped to fourth on the first lap - although was back running in a title-winning third place as late as lap 64 of 82 before his left-rear tyre blew while passing lapped traffic.
While Mansell slewed into immediate retirement, Piquet was still on course to be champion but Williams called him in to the pits from the race lead to change his tyres as a precaution. The Brazilian came out second behind Prost, who won the race and pipped Mansell to the title by two points.
Prost v Senna, Japanese GP 1989
The title showdown of 1989 may not have been the last race of the season, but in terms of a memorable race that has settled a championship, this Ayrton Senna v Alain Prost classic may top the lot.
The intra-McLaren-Honda rivalry had simmered over two seasons and after the newly-signed Senna's triumph the year before, Prost was determined to put his younger team-mate back in his place.
Senna, who struggled with reliability issues in 1989, needed two wins from the final two races to retain his crown while Prost, in control of the championship, made it clear he would not leave the door open for a man he claimed was a risky driver.
Despite being comfortably beaten by the Brazilian in qualifying, Prost shot into the lead from the start in Suzuka. Senna, a master in attack, was persistent in his chase and trailed the Frenchman closely the whole race, before finally making his move on Lap 46, at the chicane just before the start-finish straight.
Prost, true to his word, closed the gap as Senna tried to dive up the inside, and the two McLarens collided before skidding off into the escape road.
While Prost was forced to retire, Senna was pushed back onto the track and somehow managed to win the race. We go on to a decider then, right?
Not quite. Senna was later disqualified as he was adjudged to have missed the chicane following his earlier altercation, prompting an almighty fall-out in the sport. McLaren appealed the decision, Senna claimed a conspiracy, but Prost was victorious.
Senna v Prost, Japanese GP 1990
While Senna and Prost were not team-mates the following year after the Frenchman's move to Ferrari, that did not mean another iconic yet controversial collision could not come to pass again. And at the same battle ground of Suzuka, too.
This time, Senna held all the aces as he led Prost by nine points and in the knowledge that his former team-mate needed to outscore him in both of the final two races to stand a chance of claiming the title.
Once again, Senna qualified on pole, though this time he was public in his criticism of his grid position being on the dirty side of the track next to his rival, storming out of the drivers' briefing while citing his crash and disqualification the previous year.
Senna vowed to attack Prost should he lose first place early on again, and attack he did. Prost had the lead into the first corner and stuck to his racing line, while Senna accelerated into the smallest of gaps on the inside. Contact was inevitable, and both cars span out into the gravel.
Senna had his revenge and his title back, though those nine seconds of racing were perhaps his most contentious.
Hill v Schumacher, Australian GP 1994
Just one point separated fierce rivals Michael Schumacher (92 points) and Damon Hill (91) heading to Adelaide for a final 81 laps of battle.
Schumacher qualified second, with Hill third on the grid and they both got past pole man Nigel Mansell on the run to Turn One.
That's how the order remained until Schumacher made a mistake and ran wide on lap 36. The error gave Hill the chance to pass into Turn Six, but as he dived up the inside, the German turned into the apex.
The two cars made contact and Schumacher was sent into the barriers, while Hill limped back to the pits.
Both drivers retired from the race due to the damage, meaning Schumacher was crowned world champion.
Villeneuve v Schumacher, European GP 1997
Michael Schumacher led Jacques Villeneuve by one point heading into the final round of the championship at Jerez.
Having won more races than Villeneuve, all the Canadian had to do was finish in points and ahead of Schumacher, as if the drivers were level on points, he would be crowned champion on countback.
Things looked positive for Villeneuve as he qualified on pole courtesy of setting his time first as he, Schumacher and Heinz-Harold Frentzen all set an identical time of 1:21.072.
But Schumacher took the lead at the start before, on lap 48, Villeneuve fought back and attempted to pass the Ferrari driver. However, Schumacher turned into the side of the Williams, eliminating himself from the race and hobbling Villeneuve's car.
During commentary on the race, Martin Brundle memorably observed: "That didn't work, Michael! You hit the wrong part of him."
With a slower car, Villeneuve was unable to hold off the McLarens and would eventually finish third, but it was enough to take the title.
As for Schumacher, he would later be disqualified from the championship for the incident.
Raikkonen v Hamilton v Alonso, Brazilian GP 2007
Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso headed to Brazil in 2007 as the title favourites despite a tempestuous season together as team-mates.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen still mathematically had a chance of the title, but being seven points behind Hamilton with only 10 available for a win certainly made him the outsider.
Needing a win and Hamilton to be sixth or lower (something which had only occurred twice all season) Raikkonen's chances appeared bleak when he was out-qualified by the rookie. He was at least ahead of the other McLaren, though, as the protagonists lined up two, three and four on the grid.
A good start saw Raikkonen take second and with the sister Ferrari of Felipe Massa leading, team orders would always ensure the Finn could gain another position - but first he would need help from behind.
Hamilton had dropped to eighth on the opening lap and worse was to follow when a mechanical glitch saw him lose drive for around 30 seconds and drop to 18th.
The title was heading to Alonso, unless Raikkonen was to overtake Massa.
At the final round of stops, Raikkonen produced a series of incredible laps to get the jump on Massa as he rejoined.
At the chequered flag, Raikkonen took victory from Massa with Alonso third. Hamilton could only recover to seventh meaning the Finn was crowned champion by a single point.
Hamilton v Massa, Brazilian GP 2008
A year on from his battle with Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton found himself in another title decider at the final race, this time with Felipe Massa.
His task should have been easier given he only had to worry about one car, and had a bigger advantage over the car in second, but Hamilton did it the hard way.
Only needing a top-five finish if Massa won the race, Hamilton qualified fourth while the Brazilian started from pole.
Rather than making forward progress, Hamilton found himself defending fourth place from the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel in mixed conditions and, when the pair pitted for inters, Timo Glock stayed out and leapfrogged the pair. That meant Hamilton was running in fifth and on the cusp of losing the title.
Hamilton then ran wide on lap 69, letting Vettel through and leaving him with two laps to salvage the title.
As the drivers started their final lap, the rain got heavier and Glock was struggling on dry tyres. At the final proper corner on the track, Hamilton dived to the inside of the Toyota to take the crucial fifth spot and cut short the celebrations in the Ferrari garage after Massa had crossed the line for a win that all-but won the championship too.
Vettel v Alonso v Webber v Hamilton, Abu Dhabi GP 2010
F1's only four-way title decider came at Abu Dhabi in 2010 and, not for the first time in F1 history, a final-day twist in the season's plot resulted in an unexpected world championship triumph.
If Lewis Hamilton, at 24 points back, was the rank outsider, then Sebastian Vettel's pre-race deficit of seven points to Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber and 15 points to title leader Fernando Alonso hardly made him an obvious favourite - although he was the form man after winning two of the previous three races.
Alonso, in his first season at Ferrari, just needed to finish second whoever won and only fourth if Vettel, who claimed pole from Hamilton, triumphed.
But the championship turned when Ferrari's strategists inexplicably decided to cover a struggling Webber by pitting Alonso for tyres far earlier than needed, dropping the Spaniard behind the Renault of Vitaly Petrov, who had already stopped under a Safety Car.
In the year before the advent of DRS, the seventh-placed Alonso remained stuck behind the Russian for 39 laps while Vettel swept to an untroubled win, giving the German his first world title by four points.
Vettel v Alonso, Brazilian GP 2012
Sebastian Vettel was Formula 1's undisputed champion for four Red Bull-dominated years but it so nearly, quite literally, came crashing down in 2012.
Vettel had recovered from a 44-point deficit to Fernando Alonso with stunning form in the second half of the season and held a 13-point advantage heading into the year-ending Brazilian GP, meaning he only needed to finish fourth in Interlagos. Sounds simple, right?
Wrong. A collision with Bruno Senna on the first lap not only had the German facing the wrong way at Turn Four, plunging him to the back of the field, but it also caused significant damage to his car.
With Alonso soon up to third, and therefore ahead of Vettel in the standings, it looked like the Spaniard was going to seal an emotional crown for Ferrari as Felipe Massa proved his worth as a rear gunner of a team-mate.
Wrong again. Though a DNF initially seemed inevitable for Vettel, the then two-time champion, despite being down on aerodynamic performance, fought on in the drizzly rain and eventually finished sixth to Alonso's second. That gave him the title by a scant three points.
