The best driver in the history of F1

Because this subject is so subjective, one can only gauge the answer on record only and we all know who holds those.

 

Records alone don't tell the whole story.
It's not the winning that is important, but how you win.

 

It's impossible to compare drivers from different era's.


But it is tough to ignore Alonso as being one of the very best in the last 20 years. I've been watching the old GP's when he still drove for Minardi and subsequently Renault. Great wallops of talent, not ignored by the likes of Brundle.

For me I can't put him as high as Schumacher though. Watching him was incredible. The other day I watched the 2003 Monza GP. Montoya in a very fast car was throwing everything he had at him yet schumi remained so calm. Never put a wheel wrong and made it look easy...

 

Schumi by a mile he had it all only people that say no are the British press

 

Any good driver will look excellent and well above the opposition if he drives a superior car and benefit of team orders.

That's why I don't rate Schumacher or Vettel as high as Prost or Stewart.

 

When i see Alonso do What Alesi did with such bad cars as the f92 and f93 i'll give him more credit...but he never will....as for the best ever, again, when i see a driver win 2 races in a row with the worst chassis on the grid, like Gilles did in 81 i will consider him for top spot, untill then Gilles s in front..by a long stretch...

 

Because you get 91 wins only by team orders.

Doesn't make sense.

 

Yes. Prost was unflappable and machine-like in his lap to lap consistency and a great driver, but he always had the very best equipment. BTW Mansell should have been a 3 time champion.

MS dominated when he had the very best equipment and team. I could say more but won't speak ill of the ill. He is not in my top 5.


This is a still from that race I posted above. One of Mansell and Senna's best drives, not to mention Patrese also and with guys like Hakkinen in mid-field. Yamaha and Lamborghini engines V8, V10, and V12's;
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

For example, everyone considers mansell as one of the greats, and in fact he fought hand in hand against Piquet, Senna and Prost but, truth is in the years he was team mate to Elio de Angelis, the italian was always the best of the two in equal machinery, in an british team...and i don't see anyone talking about him....even when he was at ferrari, Berger was faster than him until he crashed at Imola.

 

THis poll is so ridiculous they should shot tyhe guy who made it....so Ickx (surely a top 3 driver of his time) is at nº 40? Gilles, clearly the best of his time is at nº 10? Senna ahead of Clarck...why? Piquet who beat Prost and mansell for the titles is far back...why? what did mansell do better than him? And Ascari...o yes, he was italian driving for Ferrari this most voters are probably british and never saw a rece in theyr lives....

 

As did Stewart....

 

Better check your facts, Mansell and de Angelis were teamamtes for 83 and 84. In 83, Mansell outscored Elio. The reverse was true in 84 when mansell's car barely finished a race. Mansell was a rookie then. Look at Mansell when he was the #2 driver to Piquet in 86/87 on the Williams team.

Lost the championship in 86 with an exploding tire in the last laps of the season. See the 87 british GP for another of the best races in F1 history.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc1_gk-fZcQ]Nigel Mansell British GP 1987 - YouTube[/ame]

 

LOL ^^ - http://f1greatestdrivers.autosport.com/who/

 

No, but Schumacher ended up the best car in the field when he was at Ferrari, and had team mates who often were told not to challenge him. Hence his unpopularity.

 

You really have to watch that interview posted earlier to understand just how good/tough he was. He had many serious injuries and drove in pain a lot. The injury that cost him the 87 title was very serious. Not to mention his indycar title.

 

Apart during his last year at Williams, Prost had very challenging team mates: Lauda, Senna, Rosberg, Mansell.

There was certainly no team orders at McLaren at that time!

 

Mansell is underrated because he was unpopular too. "Nige" was a whiner and a prima donna.
That does do much for popularity.

 

I have only seen that term, whiner, used on mansell on this board, it certainly does not apply to the guy described in that interview. He didn't take crap, that hurts popularity.

I have heard him called "Il Leone", does that translate to the whiner?

 

From the perspective of one who has observed the sport across seven decades, Alonso is not be best ever, in terms of pure talent, by a long shot. But there may be no other driver with a bigger heart, or better able to never give up on the car and get the best possible from a POS. One of the greats...but not the greatest.

 

Going to go with Lewis Hamilton on this one. Schumacher, Alonso are close.

The drivers today are better than the drivers of yesterday. Sure some people buy their seats, but the real talent is pulled from a much larger pool of drivers and the physical and mental demands on the drivers of today are far greater. Years ago I think drivers had bigger balls but not necessarily bigger talent.

I think Alonso and Hamilton are probably the two best drivers in F1 today, and I think Hamilton has more natural talent/ability than Alonso, especially evidenced in Hamilton's rookie year when both of them were neck and neck despite Lewis' lack of experience and rookie year sloppiness.

Lewis has always been able to overdrive his equipment and achieve greater results than his car was deserving of. That ability is what separates him and Alonso from the rest of the pack.

 

You are confusing stats with popularity.

I think I reflect the opinion of many people when I say Schumacher was unpopular.
His arrogance for one, added to dubious tactics he used from time to time against rivals or even team mates tainted his record.

I have heard several people commentating about his career in unequivocal terms, some of them world champions in their own right, or very close to it: Stewart, Moss, and Ickx come to mind.

Granted, maybe neither Barichello or Irvine were WDC material, but they were still robed of a few wins to make room for Mr Schumacher.

Winning 91 GPs is an achievement certainly, but that doesn't make for a great driver.