Greatest F1 Driver Ever?

With the recent retirement of Michael Schumacher, who does everything think is the best F1 driver of all time? Actually, an even better question: Who is the best driver of all time in any racing sport?

My thought = Michael Schumacher.

Any others?

 

I am. Followed closely by Schumacher and Kimi.

 

Did you put a lot of thinking into that?

 

How can you even measure this? The technology has been so different over time, from greats like Fangio all the way to Schumacher. Also, things like rally racing and ice racing take a tremendous amount of skill to be dominant in, but it's so different to track racing, how can you equate these? I think that the premise of this topic is flawed. I think it's ideal just to name the best from each specific era, or racing discipline.

 

I think we could debate for days/weeks/months/years a way to compute the greatest driver ever taking into account things like team strength, technology, environment, and a hundred other X factors that play into a racers success.

Why isn't winning simply considered the end all determinant of who is the best?

I think a drivers job is to win races (and on a personal note serve sponsors). The process of winning races includes being with the best team, technology, strategies and everything else. Schumacher more so than any other driver has not only honed his own skills, but built the best team around him possible.

There are many other drivers that I like and consider great hero's. However Schumacher exploded everyone in the category that means the most.

Races won.

 

Gilles Villeneuve.

Simply because every single time he got into any car, no matter how uncompetitive, no matter how bad his chances were, he drove that car as fast as it could possibly go.

Time permitting he would have matured and surpassed Fangio, before MS ever did.

One of this things I most admire about MS is that he gives it 110%, even when running last ... just like Gilles.

Some of the things Gilles did in those crappy Ferraris, in the rain, etc. are just amazing.

Pete

 

My favorite as well.

 

+1, my first hero F1 driver, followed by Senna.

 

Schumi for me

 

My top 10 in no order

1) Jim Clark
2) Ayrton Senna
3) Juan Manuel Fangio
4) Michael Schumacher
5) Gilles Villenueve
6) Alberto Ascari
7) Jackie Stewart
8) Alain Prost
9) Niki Lauda
10) Jochen Rindt

Again, you cannot compare drivers from different eras, but from the same generation. Because of reliablity, teammates, competition, etc.

 

Michael is right up there for sure, but I there was something special about Senna and his style and fire.

 

Amen

 

good post Tony. just a ques...did u manage to see all these drivers race?

 

MS, Senna, Prost, Lauda, Villeneuve (LB 79 & LV 81) at the track. The rest on film and from what my dad told me.

Senna and Villeneuve made the most impression (Senna in the wet at Phoenix) on me.

 

Maurice Trintignant

 

wow...alll i remember was, my father told me bout senna...thats all..

 

There is no comparison, Senna was the greatest driver who ever lived...and Schumacher even admitted so in an interview I once read. Had Senna lived, Schumacher would still be chasing his records.

Jim Clark is up there as well and, statistically speaking, Fangio was a more successful driver than Michael Schumacher. He won a higher percentage of the races and championships he competed in than Schumacher did.

I think the drop-off from 4th to 5th on the list is pretty dramatic. There are quite a few drivers who can legitimately be considered:

My top 5:

1. Ayrton Senna
2. Jim Clark
3. Juan Manuel Fangio
4. Michael Schumacher
.
.
.
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5. Jackie Stewart (tie)
Alberto Ascari (tie)

 

Arguably the best in F1 - Jim Clark
Sports car racing - Jacki Ickx or Tom Christensen
Most diverse- Grahahm Hill or Mario Andretti
[Hill is the only driver to win the Big Four - F1 Championship (2), Lemans,
Indianapolis 500 and Monaco (5)]
[Mario has Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500, F1 Championship]
Coolest and Favorite - Graham Hill (Nobody looks more like a racing driver!)

Mark "Feff" Pfeffer

 

#1 would be Mario Andretti. With championships in every form of motorsport.

He has raced in the old days, new days, without a doubt can tackle any form of competition in any era.

It is surprising that he has been overlooked in this thread. I doubt Schumi or Kimi (??) have even set foot in, and won a dirt track car, or oval, or Indy, or IRL, or LeMans race as Mario has? To know all forms and disciplines of your profession is to be called a true leader.

#2 Would be Senna, pure leadership, intensity, technical and driving skill would make him a true racer.

#3 John Surtees, champion of MotoGp 500 and Formula 1, which hasn't been repeated by anyone else.

 

How does one measure this? At the time of Fangio or Clark, were there many young drivers fighting to get a ride as today, or was Fangio and others of that period all that was interested in driving F1? In other words, was there another driver better that just never got the breaks?

Even if you cut Schumachers records in half, he still leads the pack for drivers in the last 20 years. We can only guess how a Senna/Schumacher competition would have played out. At the end of the day, the driver more in control of his emotions would have come out on top. I would put my money on Schumacher.

In my opinion, to call any driver the best of all time is not possible. Too much changes in a matter of 5 years in this sport. Schumacher or hypothetically Senna could come back 5 years after they would have left F1, and not be able to adjust to then current breed of F1 cars.

 

1) Michael Schumacher
2) Juan Manuel Fangio
3) Senna

 

1) Niki Lauda
2) Fernando Alonso
3) Eddie Irvine

It doesn't really matter what name is in the top three as long as you don't put MS there.

What should we discuss next? Which religion is the best one? Which God is the true Almighty? Or simply which supermodel is the prittiest?

 

Best F1 driver of all time? My pick is Senna.

Best driver of all time in any racing sport? Valentino Rossi.

 

There's nothing to debate. Everyone knows that Kristy Turlington is the hottest model to walk the planet.

 

Oh, you are so wrong. She is just OK.