7 F1 World Champions are coming to the Festival of Speed

We’ve already announced the attendance of four-time Champion Alain Prost, who will be driving the legendary McLaren MP4/4 up the Hill on both the Saturday and Sunday of the Festival of Speed. He’ll be joined across the weekend by 1992 Champion Nigel Mansell and 1978 Champion Mario Andretti, both of whom will be driving the cars they drove to title glory while they’re here.

But now there’s an exciting new roster of names being added to the list as we prepare to experience the definitive F1 celebration at Goodwood. In total, seven F1 World Drivers’ Champions will be attending the Festival of Speed in 2025, covering the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.

Joining Prost, Mansell and Andretti will be Sir Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jacques Villeneuve and Mika Häkkinen. With 14 World Championships in all, these seven drivers will be at the centre of the festivities around the Goodwood Estate.

Stewart, the oldest living World Champion, won his three titles in 1969, ‘71 and ‘73 driving for Ken Tyrrell’s F1 team, first in the guise of Matra, and then as Tyrrell. He was undoubtedly the best driver on the grid throughout that period as he took over the mantle from the late Jim Clark.

He then passed the torch to Fittipaldi, who made an immediate impact at the beginning of his career with Lotus to win the Championship in just his second full season in 1972. Fittipaldi claimed a second title in 1974 driving the McLaren M23 to cement himself as a legend of the sport.

Andretti, Prost and Mansell were among the biggest names in F1 throughout the late 1970s, the ‘80s and the early ‘90s. Andretti claimed a dominant Championship win with Lotus in 1978, driving the ground effect Lotus 79. To this day Prost remains one of the most successful drivers in the sport’s history, his titles in 1985, ‘86 and ‘89 were all won with McLaren, and he completed his collection of four Championships with Williams in 1993.

Mansell was the first driver to make the most of that team's superiority in the ‘90s as he embarked on a record-breaking campaign to win the title at a canter in 1992 and finally achieve World Champion status.

It was with Williams that Villeneuve became a Champion in 1997, as he saw off the stern challenge of Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher to honour the memory of his father Gilles and rise to the top of the mountain.

Häkkinen, the Flying Finn, was always touted as a future World Champion since his earliest days with Lotus. His move to McLaren, first as a test driver then into a race seat for the end of 1993, immediately saw him claim regular podiums. A terrifying crash in Adelaide threatened his career, but he bounced back and finally fulfilled his potential in emphatic fashion in 1998. His rivalry with Schumacher was legendary, and he stands within a very exclusive list of drivers who beat the great German fair and square. His second Championship in ‘99 was hard fought and emotional, and confirmed his status as an F1 legend.

All of these great drivers will be attending the 2025 Festival of Speed, taking part in the huge celebrations that commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the Formula 1 World Championship. More details about their activities will be revealed in due course, but we can’t wait to see what they get up to as we look back at each of their remarkable careers.

The 2025 Festival of Speed takes place on 10^th-13^th July. Friday and Saturday tickets are now sold out, but Thursday and limited Sunday tickets are still available.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.