Max Verstappen won nineteen of the 22 races last year. Of the remaining three races, two went to teammate Sergio Pérez. This made the Red Bull RB19 the most dominant F1 car ever, with a win ratio of 95 percent. He also took fifteen pole positions, ten fastest laps and 27 podiums. It even makes the early turbo-hybrid Mercedes look a bit sluggish.
But the fabulous creation of Adrian Newey and his colleagues is not the first racer to rise far above the competition. Top Gear delves into the past of car history and looks for the most dominant racing cars of all time. Next to the RB19, that is.
McLaren MP4/4
Record-breaking Red Bull has dethroned the McLaren that led Senna and Prost to all but one victory in 1988. The Honda-powered brainchild of Steve Nichols and Gordon Murray thus began a four-year stranglehold on the manufacturers' title.
Porsche 956
Between '82 and '87 Le Mans was only won by Porsche 956s. So it was that good. Okay, in 1986 it was actually the later 962 generation, but it also had its origins in Norbert Singer's elegant longtail prototype. In 1983 the first nine cars in the top ten were 956s.
Audi R8
The Audi R8 (no, not that R8) dominated Le Mans long before turbodiesels came to La Sarthe. He won the race in '00, '01, '02, '04 and '05. Why not in '03? Because the VW Group thought it would be nice to have Bentley win for once, because it was the 80th anniversary of the event.
Nissan Skyline GT-R R32
From 1989 to 1993, there wasn't much point in competing in Japanese touring car races if you weren't behind the wheel of an R32 GT-R. His results? 29 participations, 29 victories. And four titles in a row. The R32 was so unbeatable that it virtually destroyed the Group A Touring Cars.
McLaren M8
The Can-Am Series was once called 'the Bruce & Denny Show', because of the four consecutive titles won by Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme. First they drove the McLaren M6, then the mighty M8 – in which McLaren tragically crashed during a testing incident at Goodwood in 1970.
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Although Group B rally cars are the most infamous, for true dominance you have to go back a little less in time. From 2013 to 2016, the VW Polo won four consecutive titles in the hands of Sébastien Ogier, who won 43 of 52 rallies. If you want to be a successful rally driver, it helps if your name is Seb.
Citroen C4 WRC
The other Seb, Loeb, won nine of the ten WRC titles between 2004 and 2012… And the C4 WRC won all thirteen asphalt rallies it participated in. For rallies without snow or loose surfaces, you want this Citroën hatchback – it is literally unbeatable. As long as your name is Sébastien, that is.
Mercedes CLK GTR
A homologation special par excellence: a specially built racing car that competed in the FIA GT championship, with 28 examples for public roads because the rule makers wanted that. He topped the F1 GTR, 911 GT1 and Lister and Marcos, winning eight of the thirteen races.
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