Who is the most underrated driver of all time?

I agree 100%. I definately feel he is a much better driver than people give him credit for being. I've said from the beginning of this season that he was a great driver, I'm glad finally some people are giving him the credit he deserves.

Mark

 

Senna !

And yes I read the question. That IS my answer. Senna!

 

Very good points. Mark D probably the best developement driver I can remember, and also a very "thinking" driver.
These days the developement role is taken by the Data aquisition equipment that pales human capabilities.
I know very fast young drivers that dont even know how to fuel their car properly. Sad.

 

The answer is Brian Redman...I read the same article... and he was F5000 champion a bunch of times ... and turned down Shadow...

his story of meeting Enzo Ferrari is great... Ferrari pinched his cheek and said in english...." izze-a Nice-a boi" and that was how he did F-2 and tazman with Ferrari.

I think Vick Elford is underated too... from the same era...

 

David Hobbs?? =)

 

The problem isn't that Kimi didn't blow Heidfeld away, it is that Heidfeld didn't blow Kimi away.

Kimi had 23 races total prior to joining Sauber. Heidfeld was a Formula 3000 champion with a couple years F1 experience. Heidfeld should have destroyed Kimi but didn't.

 

Remember Roger Williamson? Like Bellof, absolutely fearless, but killed
in a horrible fiery accident at Zandvoort in '73. He was a huge talent. I think he won two back to back F3 championships in the early 70s. David Purley was the guy who tried to extricate him from the wreck (I have another connection with Purley), but unsuccessfully. Williamson was one of those guys like Bristow and Stacey, who might have made the big time but for the brutally unforgiving nature of the sport in the 60s and 70s.

 

Terry excellent post, right on the money.

I always thought that Cevert was cruelly robbed of great potential as well.

William, your posts are always enlightening.

 

Good Answer Simon!!!!!!!

 

And Kimi has since proven to be one of the top 3 drivers in F1. That bodes well for Heidfeld.

 

Interesting that you mention Pedro Rodriguez as underrated. At the time he was regarded the best driver in wet conditions and by all means the best in sportscars when sportscars meant something.
He probably underacheived in F1 for his ability though. The fatal accident of Ricardo, his younger and more talented brother, really dented his confidence.
He was indeed unlucky and his untimely and senseless death did not help the cause.

 

I think Michele Alboreto, while not the most underrated driver, is very much underrated when it comes to F1 history. He nearly won the title driving a not so good Ferrari and later disappeared in the obscure Footwork team...
Wasn't Alboreto the last driver hand picked by Enzo?

 

+1

+1

 

Interesting replies.

First, you need to define 'underrated', because to some it means 'never won a major race', to others it means 'was never in a winning car', to me it means 'a guy that can win if he is put in a top-rate ride - in F1'.

Donohue was my idol, I spent time with him, I knew him somewhat personally over the span of 3 years, I have stories...
The only driver I have seen come close to him in the technical and driving areas was Alan Kulwicki. I'd LIKE to say Ryan Newman, but he is a troll...

That said, there are drivers we all recognize as blindingly fast, but we never really think about them, some that come to mind are Klaus Ludwig, Hans Stuck, Bob Wollek, the aforementioned Vic Elford.
I've also said earlier there was one guy that gave Senna and Brundle a fight in F3, but this guy never made it to F1 - Calvin Fish - FAST.

I can't say Bellof was underrated - he just wasn't on an F1 team capable of winning against the likes of Brabham, Renault, Williams, McLaren, Ferrari.

Clay Reggazoni and Didier Pironi come to mind, as does George Follmer, Tony Adamowicz, Bob Tullius was no slouch, and nobody is mentioning Sebastien Bourdais.

 

Yeah, but the problem is, after the top 3, there is one helluva dropoff to number 4... and Heidfeld is my number 3 or 4.

What happened to Nico Rosberg ? All you guys thought he was incredible after the first race of the year, and now you don't even mention him ?

 

I'm the worlds most underated driver, hell I drive everyone around that has to count for something

 

If I remember correctly, he is the only driver that refused an offer for a Ferrari F1 drive twice. He knew the Maranello mind games could very well get him killed.

 

I would be curious to see Nico is a reliable good car.

 

Me.

 

Not a bad choice. He only raced in F1 a small bit but supposedly was excellent, I was actually going to try to find out more about him

 

Quote
"Very good points. Mark D probably the best developement driver I can remember, and also a very "thinking" driver.
These days the developement role is taken by the Data aquisition equipment that pales human capabilities.
I know very fast young drivers that dont even know how to fuel their car properly. Sad."
Unquote

Of course the predecessor to Mark Donahue's combination of driving and engineering skills is 3 time F1 world champion Jack Brabham. First person to drive his own company's car to victory and first person (and only) to a F1 world championship (1966). Also a very underated driver, but reportedly very difficult to pass. Always adjusting his car for better handling. One of the first to use wings.


That combination of driving talent and tenacity, and engineering skills I think was pioneered by Jack Brabham and followed by Bruce McLaren (died too soon) Donahue, and nowadays MS.
Martin

 

In my opinion, Chris Amon. The worst luck of any F1 driver (which had a lot to do with Ferrari's horrendous reliability in the late 60s). Also possibly the worst F1 career move ever, leaving Ferrari at the end of the '69 season to go to March. Of course, the beautiful 312B was suffering from major development problems in track testing and Amon decided he couldn't take it anymore. The Ferrari finally came good late in the '70 season, and Amon had to suffer the indignity of being lapped by the Ferraris of both Ickx and Regazzoni on at least one occasion. I cannot even imagine how that must have felt. Of course, the title went to Rindt posthumously (after his horrible Monza accident) with Ickx a close second.

 

I can see Jack Brabham, and also Bruce McLaren, and believe it or not, I think Niki Lauda was underrated as well.

But I think we should concentrate on those that never fared too well in F1, and the reasons why (they are underrated), or we will get too far off-topic.

Revson was underrated, IMO