Which World Champion do you think was the least talented?

Too much information.

 

Villeneuve/Hill for the single championship.
Fernando Alonso for multiple championships.

 

Some would say F1 is 70% car, 30% driver. I guess you could just pick the driver whom you think would have had the lowest percentage of that formula.

 

Damon Hill

 

From a driving talent standpoint I would say Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill in the first list and perhaps Graham Hill in the second list. Yep even though Hill Sr. won Le Mans as well I dont think he was as talented as his peers. Hill Jr. and Villeneuve lucked out in a good car at the right time. In average cars they were horrible.

 

Jacques Villeneuve by far. The car was the real champion.

 

...well, he wasnt that bad I´ll give you that...Its just I didnt like the guy either...sorry about the bias

 

With all due respect to everyone who said Nigel Mansell and Keke Rosberg, have you seen these two race before making your choice?

Nigel Mansell was called by the Tifosi Il Leone because he would stand on the gas and wring out every ounce of speed from his car.
He won his first race for Ferrari (Brazil1989), and went on that year to win Hungary starting from 12th and beating none other than Ayrton Senna in a clearly inferior car.
I'll never forget his last lap pass of Gerhard Berger in Mexico 1990 at the last corner going flatout (190mph) on the OUTSIDE to finish second.
He was paranoid (much more than Alonso) but the man could drive.

Keke Rosberg reminds me of a more level headed Gilles .His World Championship came in a normally aspirated Williams when most of the field had turbocharged engines. He won Monaco in 1982 on a wet track by driving his car sideways at every corner for the whole race.None of the more powerful cars could catch him. Keke had lots and lots of talent.

As far as the the one with the least talent I would have to say Damon Hill. He was fired by Frank Williams the year he became WDC just because he knew deep in his heart that Damon would NEVER be able to match MS.

Cheers

 

Lewis Hamilton

 

+1

 

I don't think this list even belongs to be honest. The fact that they won an F1 Championship proves they had the talent regardless of what you guys think. Doesn't matter if they had the best car, they still beat their teammate and the rest of the field.

 

+1 Like it's a stroll in the park driving one..

 

Except that in a few instances the vastly superior car beat the rest of the field and the driver beat a weak teammate (like Jaques beating Hines-Harald the Rug Maker)

 

Before we get completely lost in the "car versus driver" debate, consider the phrasing of the question: "talent".

There are two ways to do something: either you have the talent, or you work your tail off to develop the skills.

Most drivers who reach F1 have a combination of the two. But often with vastly different proportions.

For example: Alonso appears to have a lot of "natural" talent -- but is sadly lacking in the ancillary skills that go with being a champion. By contrast, I'd rate Massa as being much stronger on effort.

Hamilton is an enigma, hidden behind all the PR. Did he start from raw talent, or was he made?

But drivers who get a WDC on talent alone tend to not have long careers, I think. They reach the limits of their talent, and too much success disuades them from filling in with effort.

This is why I think Ferrari would be stupid to replace Massa with Alonso. I think Fred has gotten as far as he's going to, without a serious egoectomy. Massa is still working at it.

 

I suspect you had your tongue poking your cheek when you wrote this.

As to this this thread, from the first list, the one timers, I would pick Jody. As a race photographer, I watched most of those names on the first list except for the last four. He seemed the most unlikely to win the WDC, he wrecked quite a few cars on the way.

As for the second list, the multiple winners, I honestly believe that all of them earned at least one of their WDC's, so I can not pick one that is weak. As much as I find Alonso to be a jerk, I am impressed with his driving this year. If he wins the WDC in 2007, forgetting the Stephney BS, unlike the prior two years he deserves the title*.


*No pain pills so far today, and I am sober. I am impressed with the way he (Alonso) changed his driving style from the jerk steering in the Renault, to the smoother steering of the McLaren.

 

Nicely said.

 

All of those drivers are talented, whether single or multiple champions. Since this is merely a "relative" talent inquiry, my nod for least talent as a single champ is a tie between Damon Hill and Alan Jones. For multiple it is Mika Hakkinen.

 

I'm gonna go with Hill, Jones and Rosberg. None really impressed as other very talented drivers (champions and non champions) of their time.

 

Huge balls and great car control. Mansell's over taking manouver on the outside of the Peraltada curve in the Mexico GP is clear proof of his superior abilties. IMO he had the talent and personality of a multiple world champion.

 

For single, I would say Damon Hill.

For double, I would say Graham Hill, from everything I've read. I could also say Fernando Alonso, since he's having such a hard time against a rookie. Jarno Trulli was also very competitive with him in 2004.

 

One time: Damon Hill

Multiple: Ascari! His father was a better driver (1920s)

 

OK, but Graham Hill was also a superb sport-car driver. I think that counts for something...

 

gotta say im amazed to see Damon Hills name repeated so often.

he should have won in 94 - bar for MS blatantly cheating
runner up in 95
8 victories in a season in 96 made him champion - (oh and he never qualified off the front row in '96 either.)


22 wins from 115 starts is a pretty impressive tally too - especially considering some of the sh*t he had to drive some of the time.

does anyone remember Hungary '97 ? (or Spa in '98)


as for FW sacking him because he "couldnt cut the mustard" - thats simply not true, he had offers from Mclaren and Ferrari for '97 by all accounts
the real truth is that FW is a nasty little man with very few ppl skills. (way worse than RD)


Mansell im still to this day unsure of
his grit and determination are legendary, his skills maybe less so
i've always put him as a middle order driver who sometimes overcame adverse conditions to win out.

 

You are on drugs if you think Alonso is the least talented multi-champion.

There is no way to pick any of these guys over another because the cars are so much different.

Could Prost or Piquet man-handle a car like Ascari or Fangio ? Probably not.

Could Ascari or Fangio handle the cornering speeds of a ground-effects turbo-car ? Probably not.

Again, as always, comparing apples to oranges here, you can make all sorts of comparisons, and of course degrade those you don't 'like' in favor of those you do.

 

Rosberg-he won 5 races in his whole career....won in 1982 only because GV died, DP was severely injured, and the Renaults of Prost and Arnoux were unreliable....in 1985 he won 2 races and finished third....in 1981 he won NO Races and followed up his F1 Championship with a massive 1 win season in 1983...so in three years-1981-1983-he won 2 races.....

Some people bash Andretti but he won the rain soaked 1976 Japanese GP and would have won the WDC in 1977 if his car just had a wee more reliability....

Damon Hill had 22 wins from 115 starts? Rosberg had 5 wins in 128 starts....