Magneto’s Ferrari Driver Rankings

Magneto magazine #16, the current issue, has a 1-50 ranking of the scuderia’s F1 drivers. (The magazine has such a “Top 50” feature in every issue). Here are the rankings, 1-50, without the magazine’s justification or my comments. Apologies, I may have misspelled some names, I don’t have the time to edit right now, but you know who they are….

1 Villeneuve
2 Lauda
3 Ascari
4 Schumacher
5 Hill
6 González
7 Hawthorn
8 Surtees
9 Alonso
10 Scheckter
11 Fangio
12 Prost
13 Ickx
14 Brooks
15 Amon
16 Vettel
17 von Trips
18 Rega
19 Kimi
20 Massa
21 Barrichello
22 Collins
23 Mansell
24 Alboreto
25 Bandini
26 Gendebien
27 Arnoux
28 Reutemann
29 Andretti
30 Pironi
31 Farina
32 Berger
33 Irvine
34 Scarfiotti
35 Tambay
36 Parkes
37 Alesi
38 Trintignant
39 Mairesse
40 Ginther
41 Taruffi
42 Gurney
43 Baghetti
44 Musso
45 Vaccarella
46 Merzario
47 de Portago
48 Behra
49 Giunti
50 Rodriguez

No criteria were given for the rankings, but in the magazine each diver is pictured along with a brief commentary. As some of you know I think driver rankings are useless except for pub arguments, but it may spark an amusing off season discussion. Frankly I see a lot of absurdities in the list. Andretti #29? Seriously?

For you anoraks in the group, which Ferrari team F1 drivers (aside from the current crew) didn’t make the cut at all?

 

The Magneto piece looks more like a listing than a ranking to me.

Among the missing drivers, André Simon, Harry Schell, Paul Frére, Eugenio Castellotti, Cliff Allison, Andrea de Adamich, Johnathan Williams, Luca Badoer ?

 

I’m pretty sure it’s a ranking. Otherwise why not make it chronological, alphabetical, by nationality, etc? Also, the context of the previous “Top 50” articles would imply a ranking.

Did Frére drive for the scuderia or for ENB? Bob Bondurant did a one-off in a Ferrari, but for N.A.R.T., not for the factory.

 

Yes, Paul Frère did 3 GP for the Scuderia in 56.

A ranking that puts Fangio only in 11th position behind some drivers that didn't win much looks very subjective to me.
I don't know what were the criteria. Maybe the tifosi' fav drivers? I read some here rave about Alesi !!!

 

As stated, there were no criteria mentioned in the article. The article is presented in countdown format, 50-1, with numerically lower ranked (#5,4,3,2,etc.) drivers getting progressively more page space until #1, which gets a full page. There’s no question that it’s a subjective ranking, not a random listing. Otherwise, why not list every driver who started a race for the Scuderia? It would have been more useful!

 

I have only glanced at this issue of Magneto so far and I'm not privy to the criteria used but I would suggest Andretti (since you mention him) is relatively far down the list because one doesn't think of him primarily as a Ferrari driver. In F1, I first think of him in the Lotus 79 and then in various Indycars. Whatever the criteria, it clearly isn't talent or accomplishments even if everything beyond achievements in Ferraris are discounted.

As an aside (and I don't have the article I read it in immediately to hand), but I once read that Enzo Ferrari had employed something over 200 Factory drivers in his lifetime and had outlived about half of them but only one (I think), Piero Taruffi, had pre-deceased him of natural causes.

Missing (off the top of my head!): Andrea De Adamich, Mika Salo, Luigi Villoresi, Paul Frere, Jonathan Williams, Derek Bell, Pedro Rodriguez (I assume it is Ricardo in the list), Nani Galli, Stefan Johannson, Luca Badoer, Gianni Morbidelli, Ivan Capelli, Nicola Larini and no doubt some others.

Edit to add that I when I was typing this only the initial post was there

 

Good list of the disincluded. Yes, it’s Ricardo on the list. And if indeed Pedro was a factory F1 driver, it should have been him; a superior talent to his brother, in my opinion.

 

All I know is that your head is better than mine !!

I had forgotten a few of your finds. What about Raymond Sommer ?

 

Well... Subjective, I know, but I believe that Ricardo was the faster (and more committed of the two) at the time (1961) which is why Ferrari took him rather than Pedro. Pedro got better (and more committed to racing) as time went on. But then he had 10 years more than Ricardo in which to do so and who knows where Ricardo might have got to or what he might have achieved given another 10 years. But then that's true of many drivers in that period.

 

My head isn't so good on what was a Factory entry and what wasn't in the 1950s but I'm sure you're right. I also thought I had read Castellotti on the list which is my excuse for omitting him!

 

Jo Ramirez came to Europe thanks to the Rodriguez brothers and knew them well.
He made his way up in F1 and ended in a managerial position at McLaren.
In his book, he rated Ricciardo above Pedro, saying he would have been like Senna: truly exceptional.

 

Who ever did it wasn't completely stupid. Firts 4 names are correct, first two in the correct order, the others not quite sure. Alonso's position is ridiculous, he's completely insignificant in Ferrari's history, and Alesi should be much, much higher. Massa was also much more important tha Rubens.

 

I disagree with #1. Yes, emotionally he’s a fan favorite but I think he’s not the best driver on that list. Top five, maybe, but not #1. I tend to judge these subjective arguments from the position of a team owner; which 2 or three drivers on that list would I want in my team?

From that list, in no particular order:

Andretti
Prost
Surtees

 

I see that as a very good criteria.

I don't think I can do much wrong in chosing Fangio, Lauda and Prost in my team.

 

Pedro drove 4 GPs for the Scuderia in 1969.

All his other Ferrari outings were under the NART banner.

 

Yes, I considered choosing Lauda instead of Surtees. Tough choice!

 

Whatever the criteria is, it clearly isn't in order of best drivers. I suspect the criteria isn't defined because it is impossible to do so. I imagine it is something akin to the most archetypal Ferrari driver. In which case, there are two, in Ferrari history, that are at the top of that list and they are Nuvolari and Villeneuve (although Nuvolari, being pre-F1 World Championship, is not included here). The two Enzo most favoured, who would still give everything even when bits were falling off the car. Not just what they did but the way they did it. Regardless, I'm sure that no-one would end up with the same 50 drivers in the same order as Magneto. But never mind, it gave them an excuse, if one were needed, to fill a few pages of the magazine with Ferrari drivers and that gets no complaints from me.

 

Your positioning of JV and Nuvolari is subjective as well, as there’s no way to quantify “archetypical.” If you have the magazine you can decide for yourself what criteria they applied. I don’t think there’s an on line version.

 

If that's a ranking, then that's one of the worst lists I've seen. Under my own opinion only of course.

Gilles getting ranked so highly I believe only comes from his tragic death. Had he lived to continue his career, he wouldn't be in anyone's top 5. That's not to say he didn't have some greatness, but there are better drivers than him.

Alonso 9th? What he was able to achieve between 2010 and 2013 was nothing short of incredible. Vettel becomes a 4x champ and everyone recognized that Alonso was the best driver during that time. Very nearly won 2 championships with inferior cars.

Prost 12th??? What does that guy need to do to get some respect. I swear the same people the crucify Schumacher for being ruthless are the ones that overlook Prost for not being ruthless enough. Took the fight to Senna in 1990 when the McLaren was arguably the better car.

A driver that SHOULD be this list is Luca Badoer. He was pretty terrible as a race driver, but his role as a Ferrari test driver was pivotal in their success through the 2000s.

 

I call that "the James Dean effect": guys who reach fame because of their spectacular death.

Gilles Villeneuve entered the Ferrari mythology because of the circumstances of his fatal accident.

The stats don't support his reputation.

 

That really isn't true. I followed his Ferrari career at the time. On that list, Von Trips, Rodriguez, Musso, Giunti, Ascari, Collins, Bandini and de Portago (have I missed any?) all died racing Ferraris. As for stats, unlike say a 100m race, the stats depend upon the car as well as the driver. But I would contend that Villeneuve is where he is on that list not because of what he did but because of the way he did it and because that was the way Enzo Ferrari liked it to be done.

If it were about stats then I suspect Schumacher (in absolute terms) and probably Ascari (in percentage terms) would be way out front.

I suggest that perhaps Alonso is 9th and Prost 12th because large parts of their careers (and success) were not in Ferraris and neither ended their Ferrari careers on happy terms.

However, for the avoidance of doubt, I am not saying the list is in the order I would put it or even defending the order it is in. I'm merely hypothesising why some drivers might be where they are on the list. Regardless, I don't take it in any way seriously. It is just something to fill a few pages of a magazine.

 

Same criteria as the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame:

Whoever the owners like are ranked first.

 

Gilles Villeneuve died at a time where there were far less racing caualties than in the past, so that made an impact.
Also the accident that killed him was mediatised and broadcasted live, so was really shocking for many.
Villeneuve was also the darling of the crowd because of his juvenile look, the ideal poster boy.
In spite of his apparent cool exterior, his "do or die" attitude is what ultimately cost him his life.
Following the Imola incident, he wasn't in the right frame of mind when he set off for that fateful lap, IMO.

 

Lauda, Schumacher, Surtees, Prost….all are polar opposites of GV when it comes to emotional makeup while in the cockpit. That’s one reason why I’d rank all of them higher than him.

 

I can't really disagree with any of that except that, if you are suggesting that Imola contributed to his fatal accident then, who knows, but I don't personally believe it. I think it was just one of those things that could have happened at any time when there is a misunderstanding between two cars at speed on track. In that regard it is often forgotten, but worth noting, that a similar incident in the French Grand Prix that year, again involving Jochen Mass, resulted in his car ending up in a spectator area, although fortunately without and fatalities.