The best driver in the history of F1

I have to agree with you but the question specifies F1 drivers.....if this wasn't so, i would easily put Loeb above any current f.1 driver and Toivonen one of the best ever....if we put F.1 and grand prix drivers, than Nuvolari and Gilles would take top places

 

Right now and at the top of his game IMO it is Hamilton.

He has pure raw talent always has had, and now with experience is pretty much the best with raw speed wet or dry, Alonso his nearest rival, Vettel is brilliant, however Ricci is making me think twice, I 'am totally impressed with him.

Across the history of F1 it is too hard to pick out a all best IMO because of changing factors, changing times, fitness didn't matter now it does ect, what was suitable back in the day now not suitable now, changing times can suit drivers better than others, I would imagine a X box generation multi tasking driver is more in line now, fully in tune with what maximum tech advantages can be gained.

I do rate Jackie Stewart for many many reasons I hold him in high respect.

 

I found the answer.....I saw it on the internet, so it must be true

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EQYimzsaW0]Michael Schumacher Tribute - When Words Are Not Enough - YouTube[/ame]

 

A car that is 3 seconds a lap faster than the rest when needed seems to be helping Hamilton's "game" right now.

 

Of course, and that's his choice he made that decision to jump ship all the more power to him, I didn't think it would be the right move at the time, also part of being a good driver is knowing when to move.

 

Definitely - it's only fair to mention drivers which were part of our "viewing era". So it has to be Senna and Schumacher for me - Senna/Mansell at Monaco, and the whole Schuey/Ferrari package was a triumph for a team which hadn't won a Championship for so many years. Brilliant memories.

The BBC's got a neat set of tables for the more statistically minded folk :

BBC Sport - Schumacher, Fangio, Senna & Vettel: Can stats find the greatest?


Best, Sammy

 

Lewis must have a good crystal ball eh?

 

That's a pretty damn good list. I find it difficult to adjust the list fore/aft, as I believe Timmy and I hold similar values when rating drivers. For me, it is not simply the ability to get the best out of a car, particularly when the car by itself is very good. More importantly, it is to get the most from a car that is not good, and have it finish better than it deserves. Even more important than that, it is the ability to communicate WHY is isn't good, and help the team make it better. But, supremely, the best drivers are able to make a poor car perform well, then help the team make it better, and ultimately develop the car to be the best on the grid.

There have been very few drivers who can claim they have achieved this feat. I think they are all on this list. We could add a few more, but their success was achieved in endurance racing, while their participation in Formula 1 and Grand Prix racing was somewhat limited.

Regardless, it is fascinating to look at the past and witness what some men have been able to achieve. I respect their achievements and use their accomplishments as a method of motivation to improve my own driving as a rank amateur.

 

Gut instinct sixth sense maybe, you have to be in the right car for sure, it makes too much difference, Button showed that of late.

Lewis held his own from day one!! with Alonso,< considered the best at that time, that spoke volumes to me.

The planets have to line up, but the driver has to help make that process happen.

 

How about "great advisors"?

 

Yup trusting in them that they have your success only, is up to them though.

 

Easy:

Greatest Formula One Driver: Ayrton Senna.
Greatest Racer: John Surtees - Four time 500cc world motorcycle champion / 1964 Formula One champion.

2 and 4 wheel championships - Never been equalled.

 

And that was in an era when the 500cc World Championship included the TT - respect.

 

That's got to be photoshopped, nobody could win THAT many GPs surely

 

And yet still he's not a Sir, unlike that bloody cyclist Bradley Wiggins! - There's no justice!

 

We will never see Mr. Surtees accomplishments equaled. I only wish I was around to have seen it.

 

1 - Tazio Nuvolari
2 - Fernando Alonso
3 - Michael Schumacher
4 - Ayrton Senna
5 - Juan Manuel Fangio
6 - Alberto Ascari
7 - Jim Clark
8 - Gilles Villeneuve
9 - Alain Prost
10- Nikki Lauda

Lots of great champions with great cars under them and solid team efforts. But in terms of pure car control, Alonso and Nuvolari are very similar drivers. Enzo would have loved to see Fernando Alonso in red.

 

In my opinion:

1) Fangio
2) Senna
3) Ascari
4) Lauda
5) Prost
6) Stewart
7) Schumacher
8) Clark
9) Raikkonen
10) Brabham

Honorable mentions: Alonso, Moss, Andretti

 

Looks good but I would never put Alonso above Schuey

 

+1

 

Mr Hill IMO, and with that I don't mean Phil or Damon.

Thijs

 

John Surtees may have been overlooked, or may have refused to be included in the Honours List.

Not many have be brilliant of 2 and them 4 wheels: Nuvolari, Rosemeyer, and Surtees.

What is sad in Surtees case, is that he could have achieved so much more if he had found the right environment. It must be said that sometimes he was his own enemy as well.

First, he left Lotus to make room for Clark . Then politics inside the Scuderia, the fall out with Dragoni and the sudden departure robbed him of a certain title. And Honda started winning and it decided to stop straightaway!

 

Modern era (My top 10, beginning in 1952, in chronological order as it's really not possible to accurately compare drivers from different eras):

Fangio
Moss
Clark
Stewart
Lauda
Villeneuve
Senna
Schumacher
Alonso
Hamilton

 

Senna...no doubt

 

Pre 1950-Nuvolari (possibly the best ever)
Post 1950-(not in order) JMF, AS, JC, MS, NL

The bad moves by AS (Japan 1990) and MS (Monaco 2006) are a knock on them IMHO as they let the red mist get to them.