Favorite F1 driver - current or not.

Surely you jest with that one! Ron Dennis ought to move him back to a test driver at best. Here's his LATEST excuse:

McLaren 'difficult' - Montoya - 17 May 2005
Juan Pablo Montoya has admitted he does not feel comfortable at the wheel of McLaren's MP4-20.

The Colombian, who only returned from injury at Barcelona last time out, told 'Speed TV' that the Mercedes-powered car is not yet to his liking.

'At the moment it's a difficult car to drive for me,' the 29-year-old driver admitted.

While Montoya struggled with the handling, his teammate - Finland's Kimi Räikkönen - took the Spanish win with a dramatic pace.

JPM explained: 'The problem ... for me is (the car) seems to work in a very narrow window.

'For me to make the front tyres work at the beginning of the race is (also) a big issue.'


I'll take Michael for a multitude of reasons.

Carol

 

Favorites of last 15 years:

Jean Alesi and Nicola Larini!!

 

Interesting choice!

I would have to agree on the Alesi-part. The first F1-race I ever watched with more than just a glance was the Phoenix 1990 race. So it would only be obvious that Jeannot is very high on my list. I can also remember him battling it out with the awful (but beautiful looking) F92-A. Poor Ivan Cappeli saw his career, which was full of promise at the end of 1991, put down the drain by a car that just didn´t want to work and could be down right dangerous. Alesi could´ve suffered the same faith, but yet he took the F92 and showed the world that a driver actually cán be faster than his car. I can also remember Jean racing at the French GP that year, where he was in the rain faster on slicks than Morbidelli (in a Minardi) on full wets. Just like in qualifying for the Argentinian GP of 1995. The 412T2, dancing with the soaking wet asfalt, all carefully orchestrated by Jean, just balancing on the edge and making it stick right there. Beautiful. The right mix of determination, agression and skill. Too bad Alesi had more than his fair share of bad luck and poor career choices.

I would also have to name Senna. I´ve always felt he was on some other level. Where as Prost and Mansell were ´just´ very good drivers in my perception, Senna took it all a step further. Having said that, Senna too needed the help of his equipment to get on top of things, but he also could make the difference when the material couldn´t. His wins in 1993 with a less than inferior Ford V8 are a mere testament of what he could do when he had his mind set to it. And he always had.

 

Alex Zanardi.

by far.

 

Nope i don't jest, i think I'm partial to him because he's south american like me for one, also cause of the fact that he, like Mansell and others have tremendous balls in a racing car which i admire. I do think he needs to get his thumb outta his ass this year and get on with it. This isn't a debate about who's best, only your personal favs so let's not take it there again.

 

Michael Schumacher!

 

I admire drivers with balls, to name a few:

Gilles
Mario
Rindt
Senna
Lauda
Jones

 

I started going to F1 races in 1963 so just I missed seeing one of my early favorites, Stirling Moss. I'm partial to the Americans who've raced in F1 such as Gurney, Phil Hill, Ginther and Mario Andretti.

I was devasted when Jimmy Clark died in '67.

Other favorites: Graham Hill, Lauda, Rindt, Senna, Mansell.

 

Jim Clark. Smooth and deceptively fast and a true gentleman. I would have loved to have seen this man race.

 

Jochen Rindt
Awesome in the wet and a fierce competitor

 

Got to agree about Jochen Rindt, to see him around Crystal palace in an F2, car the guy was a natural and that is the type of driver I support.

It has to be Gilles as number 1. I cannot forget him at Silverstone, in the Mclaren, finding the limit at every corner in practice, spinning and then not doing it again.

Jochen as number 2. Unfortunately I was there at Parabolica when the Lotus 72 broke.

Ronnie Peterson as number 3. Sideways through Woodcote in that March 721G. In general testing he lapped me twice in one lap. I was in a Formula Ford. Where now would they let a F1 car and a Formula Ford out at the same time.

Stephan Bellof as number 4. Phenomenal car control and unfortunately no fear.

Senna as number 5. Incredible talent, but too calculating for me

Unfortunately there is fatal trend in my selection. Perhaps boring like Prost, Stewart, Hakkinen etc is best.

 

Mike Hawthorn won won the championship for Ferrari in 1958.
I read the book, "Mon Ami Mate" by Chris Nixon and ever since he is my of my favourite drivers.

 

Gilles Villeneuve...

Could you ask more out of a driver?

 

bandini, past. rubens, current.

 

For entertainment... Irvine... Too stupid to be taken seriously, too fast not to. Fantastic pi55 taking and mind games. Tied Senna up in knots mentally.

For raw racecraft..... Mansell, but out of the car he's nobody.

For sublime car skills, Senna, but fragile mentally.

All round genius is MS all the way.

 

Gurney

Gilles

Mario

Jarno Trulli

 

50's Fangio & Moss
60's Clark & Stewart
70's Villenueve & Lauda
80's Prost & Senna
90's Michael Schumacher & Mika Hakkinenn

Too Early too tell about the 00's but MS has to be #1.