Vote for your favorite World Drivers Champion and in your post explain why?
I went for MS simply because hes the best, in this day. It would be better if we could pick them by era.
It is hard to vote for a world champion that I have not seen so for me it is between MS and FA... Ha0, FA has no chance in this one. The few races I remember seeing Andretti in, I always wanted him to win. I thnk it was my Italian dad making me This poll depends on the age of the voters and how long they have been following F1.
I hated him when I first started following the sport, his personality just didn't seem to sit with me. Then his driving just won me over. Time after time at the end of qualifying I'd be sitting there saying "how'd the f*ck did he do that!" He was ruthless on the track and rarely backed out of it even when he had room to spare. The few times he did mistakes were made and from then on it was 100%. The fact that he didn't mind racing with Prost with the same car speaks for itself. But, as ruthless as he was you always knew where you stood with him. When he took Prost out you knew it was going to happen because he said he would and he admitted it afterward. Unlike Heir Schumacher who'll probably deny parking his Ferrari at Monaco until he dies. Not the nicest guy on track but I do think he was fair. I know it sounds odd. His relationship with Prost was tit-for-tat and the coming together was the coup de grase of that relationship. He'd felt a wrong had been done to him earlier and we all waited with baited breath to see what was going to happen. I also don't like Ron Dennis that much but, I have to give it to him for allowing those two to go at it like cats and dogs.
In modern times it would have been easily Alonso. But since you brought them all up, I had to pick my all time favourite: Alan Jones, a real man.
I voted for Phil Hill because of his all-around abilities in formula one as well as sports cars; his many automotive interests; his reputation as a gentleman; the fact that he was the first American champion; the fact that he became champion while driving for the Scuderia.
I spent a lot of time over a weekend with Phil Hill a decade ago at the Italian Festival in Birmingham...he is a true gentlement.
Three guys are really close to top of the podium for me - Schumacher, Senna and Fangio. But of these three I would rate Schumacher the best because of his complete and utter domination of last decade, his ungodly driving talent, his motivational abilities and his determination and even ruthlessness and single mindedness of purpose. Sure he has done some dirty acts in the past. That still doesnt change my mind though - he is the best in the last 50 years. If you were to expand the horizon to include GP racing from say the 20s onward, my alltime favorite would be Tazio Nuvolari by a country mile. He was something else!!!
I picked Prost by a narrow margin over Senna and Andretti. Mansell is up there too. I was a huge fan of Prost growing up. He was just so smart and thought mainly about the team (suggested Senna to the team) very clean most of the time.
very difficult choosing between phil hill, clark or stewart. in the end i went with stewart. just a classic.
Gosh, 'favorite' can be defined so many different ways. I chose Graham Hill just because of the era he was in, when it appeared to be fun, before sponsorship, commercialization, and finally television removed every 'fun' aspect from the sport. However, I have to say almost ALL of the guys listed are my favorites, in fact, just about all F1 drivers are my favorites, but there are quite a few drivers that are or were in F1 that should not have been there (but $$$ got them a ride).
Although a professional, Jim Clark was IMO the last of the gentlemen drivers. I never heard or read anything against Jim Clark, and he dominated the early 60s. His driving was efficient, clean and economical. He missed the 62 championship by a whisker because of engine failure in the last GP, won in 63 & 65. Beaten, not by much in 64, he was on his way to his 3rd championship in 67 when he died in a freak accident at Hockenheim. He was shy, displayed sportmanship and was not one to boast about his achievements. Came 2nd at Le Mans once, won Indy as well. Clark had no idea about his real value, and once replied to Walter Hayes, the Ford UK boss, who wanted to increase his retainer: "What for?" Which for a Scot is rare (!), not like JYS who always knew how much he could ask for.
I decided to put up this poll because of all the discussions about the negative decisions of Michael Schumacher during his career in other threads. Then Schumacher fans brought up some of the stupid stuff that Senna did during his short career. So I started wondering which driver that won the world championship more than once was innocent of any action that might be considered a black mark on their legacy. From that I wondered which one of all the former world champions I would personally consider my favorite. Anyway, I do believe that Michael Schumacher has rightfully earned all of his world championships and the glory that goes with this distinction. And if in a Fantasy Grand Prix all 28 of these past champions could appear all at once when in their driving prime for this race, I do think MS would likely come out on top. His physical conditioning is second to none in championship history, and when you add his driving skill, he must be considered the favorite. For me, it was a toss up between Jackie Stewart, and Niki Lauda. Maybe because that was the period I was fortunate enough to be in their pits, but Stewart did more for driver safety than any other driver, and Lauda for his ability to overcome fear. Both were also excellent cerebral drivers, with few if any black marks during their F1 careers. A close third, only because he added more color to the paddock than any other driver did before and has since, is James Hunt. I always wanted to be him when I grew up.
Interesting poll. Would be even more interesting to see it on a non Ferrari related website. Apart from that bias these polls are also always favoring the more recent champions. Simply because there aren't that many folks around anymore who were watching the Fangios and Clarks duking it out. (They might be around, but not necessarily hanging out on a geeky website) I'm a bit surprised to not see more support for Jones. We got a bunch of Aussies on here and the hopeless Webber always gets a defense, but nobody is rooting for their last real champion? A champ who would have been easily a two times champ if it hadn't been for that silly half season points rule still in effect in 79 (people complain about the unfair points system of today, how about the one from 79?).
Mansell: you could feel the guy's happiness and love for what he was doing. Surely not the greatest driver but the one with the most heart and the question was not about skills. My second would have been Sir Jacky Stewart. What a character.
Andreas, you and I are old. In my case, very old (the big 5-0). Few people here remember anyone beyond Mika. I remember when Alan Jones when he became world champion. He was really laid back, didn't get in the press much, we all saw Helen Stewart, but what females were in Jones' life? He was so non-controversial that he just blended into the scenery. But he was a heck of a driver and deserved the world championship.
Alright old man, let's talk. Since nobody else remembers those days. Seeing the incredible injustice done to Jones and Williams team in 79 infuriated me so much I got hooked on that bad ride called F1. So what am I complaining about today? Should have known it right back then. Actually to be perfectly honest it was watching my hopeless compatriot Regazzoni lead the British GP that really got me going. From there it was an easy switch to become a Williams and Jones fan. Jones was super. Slightly overweight (can you say JPM?), down to earth kinda guy, hated Reuteman-prettyboy and just drove the snot out of the superb Williams. Duked it out against Piquet in titanic battles. I remember staying up all night (in Europe at a friend's house) to watch the US and Canadian races. What a thrill. When he retired he just said "I got so much money, I can't eat golden steaks.". His only flaw was the brief and embarassing "comeback" with Arrows.
I always liked Clay R. Bummer when he got hurt, but he later continued racing in specially equipped sedans. I am curious, does anyone else here really remember Alan Jones? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Actually the way to remember Alan was in his lucky green overall with the FW07. FW06 wasn't bad, but plagued by many problems, a learning step for Williams. The FW07 was a quantum leap. Was it Patrick Head who said "Perfect solutions are always elegant and simple" or something along those lines? FW07 was a thing of simplicity, beauty, efficence and the begin of a new era in design that lasted until the turbo pencils took over. FW06 in comparison is very much a car of the seventies.
