To take it out of the MSC recovery thread, lets put it here: Who was the best ever driver to drive for Ferrari? Food for throught: For me it is no question, Schumacher remains the best driver to have ever driven for Ferrari. When he came to Ferrari, the team hadn't won a championship in years. That's a lot in F1 terms, more than half the time it F1 in it's entirety existed! He came from a very good team to a team that was, for lack of the better word, ****. He got free reign in the team and was influential in bringing Brawn, Byrne and Todt there. Together, they completely rebuilt the team from what it was to where it went. Yes he made some silly moves in his time (Villeneuve and Rascasse, 2 things in 10 years! ). He gave Hakkinen, in a superior Mclaren, a frightful battle in 1998, and attempted to do so again in 99 but broke his legs in an accident. He likely would've won the title that year. On his return, after missing 7 races, he outqualified everyone by a full second. No one has to talk about 2000-2004. Those years where menacing. In 2000 he was fighting with Hakkinen again, again mighty quick and especially reliable Mclaren. Won the title. 2001 an easy title. 2002, in the fastest car, he won it again, and could've easily had more wins if he didn't give them away. In Spa, Barrichello was over a second a lap faster than anyone. Schumacher, was another 1.5 to 2.5(!!!) seconds faster than his teammate, who was NOT holding anyone up. I need not go on. He got the title twice more after that, the only driver so far to have 5 consecutive titles. Fed up, FIA changed the rules to make Ferrari inferior. Schumacher managed to podium relatively often and finished 3rd in standings. Barrichello was 8th. ------ Even the British press, where in awe of his accomplishments. I'm watching the 2000-2004 seasons currently and the amount of times I heard Brundle, Murray Walker, James Allen and many, many others constantly go on about how GOOD schumacher really is...cements it really. Brundle mentions Senna-MSC comparisons every now and then, and couldn't choose. How high can praise get? ----- IMO Kimi rarely drove at his absolute best at Ferrari, especially after winning his title. He had races when he was stupendous, but watching the older seasons now really puts his skill in light. How we've seen him in 2012-13 is back at his Mclaren levels. He also got enormous praise constantly from everyone. Should've won the 2008 title, too. ---- DISCUSS. (And keep it out of the recovery thread)
I would also like to add (FYI that clown that says Schumacher doesn't deserve 'most of his titles'), the Damon Hill - MSC incident. Murray Walker, who knew Damon since a little kid and saw him struggle (financially and emotionally) after his dad died, remains to say that it was not Schumachers fault, but Damon's. He was too impatient and took himself out... Which other titles he won are not worthy?
Pointless to argue over drivers who drove in different era's but it's hard to argue with Schumachers stats. If the question had been "Ferrari's most loved driver"? Villenueve might have been a more realistic choice.
This is like asking who the best player for the Chicago bulls ever was. It's the man Schumacher. 7 wdcs, insane amount poles and lap records. 'Nuff said.
Haters are gonna hate. 7 world titles didn't come by luck, or cheating every single time. MS will go down in history as the best / fastest Ferrari driver, and the same in F1 until someone else can top all his numbers. Not even sure why this is even a topic , or thread....when it's a given.
Disclaimer: I'm no MS fan. The goal of any F1 driver are WDC titles. Given the stats it is impossible to argue against MS. He simply has all bases covered. AND he did it with a Ferrari team that was down and out. A team, that had the worst 2 decades ever. Granted MS had the dream team behind him but it was his talent and his determination that made it all happen. So MS gets the nod from me. Despite all his dirty driving (the Hill incident was deliberate). F1 is a dirty sport and the one who wins is not an angel. Senna wasn't one either and the days of gentlemen racers were over once a Shell sticker appeared on a Ferrari. My heart however votes for Lauda. My personal all time best Ferrari driver ever. But rationally there is no arguing against MS' success. As for Gilles: de mortibus nihil nisi bene
Schumacher - by a wide margin. He is the greatest F1 driver of all time, bar none. He changed the way everyone else approached F1 fitness and battled for championships. All the best, Andrew.
I doubt any Top 20 Ferrari F1 Driver list could satisfy two people alike, but that's a testament to passion worth arguing about until the wee hours of the morning LOL. I found it incredulous that Kimi and Jean Alesi were not on that list.
Indeed. Italians respect MS....but they love GV. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I don't think it is a fitting time to discuss this, but here's my two cents: For a driver to be good and get results the car has to be of a certain level. Both Lauda, Gilles and MS all had poor Ferraris at different times and were able to get results that were far above the cars level. When you take the time to read about Gilles you realise that he was an exceptional driver that unfairly got the reputation as a car destroyer and reckless. This was not the case at all. Lastly, an awful lot of credit for Ferraris success after 21 years had to go to Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Roy Bryne. Once they got the car right, many drivers on the grid could have won world drivers championships in that car (even Irvine or Barichello!, but yes MS was usually faster). As I have said before MS's driving when he joined Ferrari until 2000 was the best years and where he deserves all the accolades he gets. After that he normalised because the car was a match for his talents. If Ferrari had provided a team and a car as good as Jean, Ross and Roy did for MS for Gilles he would have won multiple WDC ... instead he had to deal with stupid team politics. And this is where Lauda needs to be praised. He managed to win during those crazy times and turned the team into something resembling sensible. MS did not have to, because heck the team was effectively Benetton with the car painted red. So I don't have a problem with the magazines order (other than Ascari who was very good but heck at that time the Ferrari F1 car was the only car but Fangio rated him so he must have been good!) but it is poor timing ... Pete
Well if this can mean the best driver, who happened to also drive a ferrari and not limited to ferrari-only results, then Prost or Mansell.
Any post about cheating or team orders or anything else is irrelevant. Numbers may lie, but when they are so overwhelming as to defy gravity, there is no use arguing. Michael is the best Ferrari driver ever. Nobody else is even close. (But Hakkinen is still my favorite.)
+1 Lauda never gets enough credit on here That said I disagree about the red Benetton: the 1996 Ferrari was a POS
Schumi is unquestionably the most successful Ferrari driver on paper but I will always admire Lauda more.
Yes my red Benetton comment was an attempt at explaining how unItalian the team had become. I say again that Italians are not good at motorracing. Ferrari should have won 2 or 3 times the number of WDC'ships but they (sterotypically) prefer a good passionate argument and political backstabbing over results. Pete
