Your crediblity just toileted with Irvine on your list. Just for that, my list: Schumacher Prost Lauda Rindt
I am shocked by the presence of the Kimi in some of the lists (wishfull thinking by Ferrari fans), as well as by the absence of Stirling Moss in ALL the lists. Here goes mine: JM Fangio A Senna M Schumacher G Villeneuve S Moss Cheers, Julio P.S. The footage of G Villeneuve racing is the most dramatic, exciting piece of F1 driving I have ever seen.
This list pretty much covers it in my book, although maybe I would replace Rindt with G. Hill or Stirling Moss. Rindt has the sad distinction of being the only posthumous F1 champ. Most versatile driver-Mario Andretti-dirt tracks to F1.... Although he was before the "modern" F1 era, Tazio Nuvolari warrants mention-he was brilliant in cars and on bikes....
Andreas, hahaha, Irvine? Surely you mean the greatest character right? I forgot about Moss on my list, I would have replaced Rindt with Moss as well.
This debate could go on forever, it's just like the debate about golfers you can't compare drivers of old with drivers of today because of the technology development. Just like many people say it's ot fair to compare Tiger Woods to Jack Nicklaus because of the change in the equipment. When you see movies of Fangio sawing that steering wheel back and forth, It seems to me that required more skill than adjusting the computer controls on today's modern cars. But then again things happen a lot faster in today's cars....on and on.
So true about Andretti. I often wondered, if A.J. Foyt lost a ton of weight, perhaps became a little shorter, how he would have done in an F1 car. To me, he was even more versatile than Mario.
I am including the Pre-F1 GP era in my list 1. Tazio Nuvolari . . . 2. Michael Schumacher 3. Ayrton Senna 4. J M Fangio . 5. Rudolf Caracciola
Strictly speaking, it wasn't called "F1" back then, but from everything I've read or heard, Tazio Nuvolari was the greatest racing driver who ever walked the earth, then or now. But in the true F1 era, I think Jim Clark would beat any of the others, including Senna and Schumacher.
+1 Foyt won the Indy 500, Daytona 500 and LeMans 24 Hour, it would have been interesting to see him in F1. I think Bobby Unser did a few GPs back in the 1960s.
I am a big Irvine fan, and he almost won the championship for ferrari, which would have changed he ay many saw him IMO. But most importantly i chose him just to get up your nose
The technology makes a difference, but how about the safety? Pre 1970, those guys had balls so big it's a wonder they fit in the car. Yeah, it's still dangerous today, but it's nothing compared to the no seatbelt era. A blown tire now means a frustrating day, not the end of your life. Not that he isn't a great driver, but you have to knock Schumi down a notch just for that.
Is this even debatable? I mean come on, everyone knows the best religion is Voodoo...followed closely by Scientology. Mark
Juan Manuel Fangio is by far and away the best F1 driver ever and will never be surpassed. Michael Schumacher has said that other drivers, including himself, cannot even begin to measure themselves against Fangio. He won 5 WDC titles, the first one at 40 years old! He won those titles for four different teams and he raced in an era without safety equipment or considerations. Today's drivers are a bunch of wussies next to Fangio, Ascari, Moss, Clark etc. Put a modern driver into a Fangio era situation and they would need to wear Depends under their race suits because they would crap themselves 10 seconds into the race.
Great point. This is another reason why you can't even compare the drivers of yesteryear with the drivers of today.
Given that I just sent you a nice mag with your hero MS you could be a bit nicer to me. As soon as somebody defines "Greatest" I'll be willing to have a serious discussion why Eddie Irvine simply is the greatest. It all depends on what the definition of the word "is" is. And yes, Eddie Irvine did have sexual relationships with Mrs... If people simply look at the stats, well, then this isn't even a question since MS has the most titles, end of story. Now if the question is about driving talent, racing accomplishments and the like then my list is: 1 Lauda 2 Alonso 3 Fangio I'm sure that makes you Ron feel a lot better, since your beef wasn't really with Irvine but rather finding an angle to go after your true nemesis Fernando. I like you anyway.
