The Most Famous

RACING DRIVERS from Australia

This page contains a list of the greatest Australian Racing Drivers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,080 Racing Drivers, 28 of which were born in Australia. This makes Australia the birth place of the 12th most number of Racing Drivers behind Finland, and Argentina.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Australian Racing Drivers of all time. This list of famous Australian Racing Drivers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Australian Racing Drivers.

1. Jack Brabham (1926 - 2014)

With an HPI of 70.87, Jack Brabham is the most famous Australian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 54 different languages on wikipedia.

Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1955 to 1970. Brabham won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in 1959, 1960 and 1966, and won 14 Grands Prix across 16 seasons. He co-founded Brabham in 1960, leading the team to two World Constructors' Championship titles, and remains the only driver to have won the World Drivers' Championship in an eponymous car. Brabham was a Royal Australian Air Force flight mechanic and ran a small engineering workshop before he started racing midget cars in 1948. His successes with midgets in Australian and New Zealand road racing events led to his going to Britain to further his racing career. There he became part of the Cooper Car Company's racing team, building as well as racing cars. He contributed to the design of the mid-engined cars that Cooper introduced to Formula One and the Indianapolis 500, and won the Formula One world championship in 1959 and 1960. In 1962 he established his own Brabham marque with fellow Australian Ron Tauranac, which in the 1960s became the largest manufacturer of custom racing cars in the world. In the 1966 Formula One season Brabham became the only man to win the Formula One world championship driving one of his own cars. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving World Champion of the 1950s. After the 1970 Formula One season, Brabham retired to Australia, where he bought a farm and maintained business interests, which included the Engine Developments racing engine manufacturer and several garages.

2. Mark Webber (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 66.65, Mark Webber is the 2nd most famous Australian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 58 different languages.

Mark Alan Webber (born 27 August 1976) is an Australian former racing driver, broadcaster, and driver manager who competed in Formula One from 2002 to 2013. Webber won nine Formula One Grands Prix across twelve seasons. In endurance racing, Webber won the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2015 with Porsche. Webber began karting at age twelve or thirteen and achieved early success, winning regional championships before progressing to car racing in the Australian Formula Ford Championship and the British Formula 3 Championship. He competed for two years opposite Bernd Schneider in the FIA GT Championship with the AMG Mercedes team, finishing runner-up in the 1998 season with five wins in ten races before finishing second in the 2001 International Formula 3000 Championship driving for Super Nova Racing. Webber made his F1 debut with the Minardi team in the 2002 season and finished fifth in his first race, the Australian Grand Prix. He moved to the Jaguar squad for the 2003 and 2004 championships. For the 2005 season, he was granted an early release from his contract with Jaguar and joined the Williams team, securing his first podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix. Webber remained at Williams until 2006, driving for the Red Bull team for the rest of his F1 career. He won nine F1 Grands Prix, thirteen pole positions and finished third in the World Drivers' Championship in the 2010, 2011 and 2013 seasons. Webber left Formula One after 2013 and moved to the World Endurance Championship, sharing a Porsche 919 Hybrid with Bernhard and Hartley in the fully-professional Le Mans Prototype 1 class from the 2014 to 2016 seasons. The trio won eight races in the final two seasons and the 2015 World Endurance Drivers' Championship. He retired from motor sport in 2016, becoming a television pundit for Britain's Channel 4 and Australia's Network 10 and a driver manager. Webber received the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2017 Australia Day Honours. Webber is an inductee of both the Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame and the FIA Hall of Fame.

3. Alan Jones (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 66.27, Alan Jones is the 3rd most famous Australian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 43 different languages.

Alan Stanley Jones (born 2 November 1946) is an Australian former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One between 1975 and 1986. Jones won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1980 with Williams, and won 12 Grands Prix across ten seasons. He was the first driver to win a Formula One World Championship with the Williams team, becoming the 1980 World Drivers' Champion and the second Australian to do so following triple World Champion Sir Jack Brabham. He competed in a total of 117 Grands Prix, winning 12 and achieving 24 podium finishes. Jones also won the 1978 Can-Am championship driving a Lola. Jones is also the last Australian driver to win the Australian Grand Prix, winning the 1980 event at Calder Park Raceway, having lapped the field consisting mostly of Formula 5000 cars while he was driving his Formula One Championship winning Williams FW07B.

4. Mick Doohan (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 64.11, Mick Doohan is the 4th most famous Australian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Michael Sydney Doohan ( DOO-ən; born 4 June 1965) is an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion, who won five consecutive 500 cc World Championships.

5. Tim Schenken (b. 1943)

With an HPI of 58.57, Tim Schenken is the 5th most famous Australian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Timothy Theodore Schenken (born 26 September 1943) is a former racing driver from Sydney, Australia. He participated in 36 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 16 August 1970. He achieved one career podium at the 1971 Austrian Grand Prix, and scored a total of seven championship points. He did however have two non-championship race podiums – he finished third in the 1971 BRDC International Trophy and third in the 1972 International Gold Cup.

6. Paul England (1929 - 2014)

With an HPI of 57.66, Paul England is the 6th most famous Australian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Paul Thomas England (28 March 1929 – 17 June 2014) was an Australian racing driver. He worked for the Repco company and raced his own 138 Holden-powered grey motor Ausca sports racing car that used a fibreglass body based on the A6GCS Maserati. England contested a single Formula One World Championship Grand Prix race, the 1957 German Grand Prix, in a Formula Two Cooper T41-Climax. He retired from the race due to a fault with the distributor. After his return from Europe, England used a car by the same name Ausca but was a totally different creation – an 1800cc VW in front and a 2200cc VW in back both supercharged by the one supercharger with a special manifold to take the compressed intake to the other end, to win three Australian Hillclimb Championships, in 1970, 1973 and 1974. The Ausca is now in a VW museum in Ballarat. After retiring from racing, England owned a general engineering company called Paul England & Staff in Essendon, Victoria, Australia. Paul England & Staff is run by his first child and eldest daughter, Lisa Mary Coulton and her husband Steven Coulton. Paul had ten grandchildren. In the 1970s, England's company built 1.6 litre Ford engines for motor racing which were referred to as an England engine.

7. Daniel Ricciardo (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 56.99, Daniel Ricciardo is the 7th most famous Australian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 57 different languages.

Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( rik-AR-doh, Italian: [ritˈtʃardo]; born 1 July 1989) is an Australian former racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2011 to 2024. Nicknamed "the Honey Badger", Ricciardo won eight Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Born and raised in Perth to Italian-Australian parents, Ricciardo began competitive kart racing at the age of nine. Graduating to junior formulae in 2005, Ricciardo debuted in his regional Formula Ford championship. He won his first title at the 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 WEC with SG Formula, before winning the 2009 British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin. He then progressed to Formula Renault 3.5, finishing runner-up to Mikhail Aleshin by two points in his rookie season. Ricciardo made his Formula One debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with HRT as part of the Red Bull Junior Team, replacing Narain Karthikeyan for the remainder of 2011. He earned a full-time drive with Toro Rosso in 2012 and 2013 alongside Jean-Éric Vergne, scoring several points finishes in each. Ricciardo was promoted to Red Bull in 2014, replacing the retiring Mark Webber to partner defending four-time World Drivers' Champion Sebastian Vettel. In his first season with Red Bull under Renault power, Ricciardo finished third in the championship, taking his maiden victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, with further wins in Hungary and Belgium. After a winless 2015 campaign for Red Bull, he took his maiden pole position in Monaco and won the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2016, clinching third overall again. He took further wins for Red Bull at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017, as well as the Chinese and Monaco Grands Prix in 2018. Ricciardo signed with Renault in 2019, finishing a season-best fourth in Italy. He retained his seat for his 2020 campaign, achieving multiple podiums and finishing fifth overall. He then joined McLaren in 2021 to partner Lando Norris, achieving his only victory and podium for the team at the Italian Grand Prix. Following inconsistent performances, Ricciardo left McLaren at the end of 2022 and returned to Red Bull as a reserve driver in 2023. From the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards, he replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri; he retained his seat for their 2024 campaign as RB, but was replaced by Liam Lawson after the Singapore Grand Prix. Ricciardo achieved eight race wins, three pole positions, 17 fastest laps, and 32 podiums in Formula One. Upon his retirement in 2025, he became the global ambassador for Ford Racing. Ricciardo was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Australia Day Honours.

8. Ken Kavanagh (1923 - 2019)

With an HPI of 54.87, Ken Kavanagh is the 8th most famous Australian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Thomas Kenrick Kavanagh (12 December 1923 – 26 November 2019) was an Australian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racing driver. In 1952, Kavanagh became the first Australian to win a motorcycle Grand Prix race when he won the 350cc Ulster Grand Prix. In 1956, he won the Junior TT at the Isle of Man TT races. Kavanagh entered two Formula One Grands Prix in 1958 with his own Maserati 250F, firstly in Monaco where he failed to qualify, and lastly in the Belgian Grand Prix where he missed out on the race having blown his engine in practice, after having qualified 20th of 28 entrants.

9. Casey Stoner (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 54.31, Casey Stoner is the 9th most famous Australian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Casey Joel Stoner (born 16 October 1985) is an Australian retired professional motorcycle racer, and a two-time MotoGP World Champion, in 2007 and 2011. During his MotoGP career, Stoner raced for the Ducati and Honda factory teams, winning a title for each team. Born in Southport, Queensland, Stoner took up racing at an early age and moved to the United Kingdom to pursue his career. He joined MotoGP in 2006, riding for the Honda satellite team LCR. He joined the factory Ducati team in 2007 and won the championship. He was Ducati's first MotoGP World Champion, and would remain their only champion until Francesco Bagnaia in 2022. Stoner remained a strong contender on the Ducati in 2008 and 2009, winning multiple races despite the increasing superiority of Yamaha and Honda's bikes. Stoner made a good start to the 2009 season but had to miss three races due to chronic fatigue syndrome. In 2010, Ducati failed to challenge Yamaha and Honda until very late in the season, when Stoner picked up three race wins. Stoner left Ducati for Honda for the 2011 season. He won a second world championship in dominant fashion, taking ten race wins and sealing the title by winning his home race with two rounds remaining. In 2012, prior to the French Grand Prix, the 27-year-old Stoner unexpectedly announced that he would retire from Grand Prix racing at the end of the season due to burnout. Due to a crash during practice at Indianapolis, Stoner missed several races due to injury, curtailing his last championship challenge. He rounded off his MotoGP career with a remarkable sixth consecutive win in his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island, and a podium in his final race. On 27 March 2015, HRC announced that Stoner would return to competition for a one-off ride in the 2015 Suzuka 8 Hours. Stoner crashed out of the race due to a stuck throttle, and Honda apologised to Stoner over the technical failure that caused him to injure his ankle and shoulder. Stoner served as a test and development rider for former team Ducati from 2016 to 2018.

10. Wayne Gardner (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 54.29, Wayne Gardner is the 10th most famous Australian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Wayne Michael Gardner (born 11 October 1959) is an Australian former professional motorcycle and touring car racer. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1986 to 1992, most prominently as a member of the Honda factory racing team where he became the first Australian to win motorcycling's premier class in 1987. His success on the world motorcycle road racing circuit earned him the nickname The Wollongong Whiz. After his motorcycle racing career, Gardner competed in touring car racing from 1993 to 2002. Both of his sons, Remy and Luca, are motorcycle racers.

People

Pantheon has 28 people classified as Australian racing drivers born between 1920 and 2001. Of these 28, 21 (75.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Australian racing drivers include Mark Webber, Alan Jones, and Mick Doohan. The most famous deceased Australian racing drivers include Jack Brabham, Paul England, and Ken Kavanagh. As of April 2024, 3 new Australian racing drivers have been added to Pantheon including Will Power, Michael Masi, and Marcos Ambrose.