Curious to see how folks here rank drivers. Here's my go: Fangio #1 Schumacher #2 Hamilton #3 Stewart #4 Prost #5 Clark #6 Lauda #7 Hill (Graham) #8 Alonso #9 Brabham #10
I reserve the right to change my mind - LOL. Too many to remember just now. 1. Fangio 2. Alonso 3. Schumacher 4. Senna 5. Stewart 6. Hamilton 7. Lauda 8. Andretti (Mario) 9. Prost 10. Clark Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Here we go ... I wouldn't put Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton or Verstappen on my list of favourite drivers either !!!
I'll go chronological(ish), too hard to compare across eras: Nuvolari Caracciola Fangio Ascari Clark Stewart Lauda Prost Senna Schumacher Hamilton probably belongs on that list too, though the Mercedes dominance makes it hard to judge. (I know Ferrari was dominant from 2000-2004, but not to the same degree.) Verstappen perhaps too. Immensely talented, I just don't like his racing style. Though most of them race that way now. A byproduct of modern circuits and paved runoff, I suppose. Not sure who they'd bump off. Also - how to rank sportscar and rally drivers? All of our lists seem very GP-centric.
It's a pretty impossible task, but I rate the drivers from the '50s through the '80s the highest based on the rawness of the technology and danger factor. They were legitimate gladiators who took their lives in their hands and often lost them. Here's my personal list based on my current level of knowledge, chronologically: Fangio Ascari Brabham G. Hill Clark Stewart Lauda G. Villeneuve Prost Senna Just because a driver appears on this list, it doesn't necessarily mean I like their driving style. I'm looking at you, Senna.
Nuvolari Ascari Fangio Clark Gilles Senna Schumacher Alonso They all did super human things in cars. The rest are merely mortal, and that includes Verstappen, Lewis, Prost and a few other greats. They could win in a car that was class of the field but the guys above could drag inferior machinery to the top. Verstappen could get there among them, but if he drives Adrian Newey cars his whole career it'll be tough to judge.
Mine: Michael Schumacher (work ethic, skill, and aggression) Fernando Alonso (terrific driver, like him more lately) Jenson Button (quirky gentleman racer) Kimi Räikkönen ("leave me alone, I know what I'm doing") Lewis Hamilton (consistency and determination) Felipe Massa (raced with a lot of heart) Niki Lauda (unparalleled grit) Sebastian Vettel (funny) Nico Rosberg (really took the fight to Hamilton his championship year) Jackie Stewart (for what he did for driver safety) If I could add more, Mika Häkkinen (awesome title fights with Schumacher) and Alain Prost (very tactical driver, very relatable) would be up there too. It's difficult to limit to just 10. All the best, Andrew.
There was an issue of F1 Racing years ago that showed Schumacher's throttle, brake and steering traces from a few corners. One of them was the hairpin at Montreal. Not the most interesting, you'd think. But here's the thing: he was on the throttle (maybe 10-15%) at the beginning of the braking zone, then gradually came off the throttle (and the brakes, of course) as he shed speed. Why the throttle at the start of a high speed braking zone? Not sure. The only thing I can figure is that this allowed him to keep the brake bias set too much towards the rears for high speeds, allowing better braking at lower speeds as the car lost downforce and generated less weight transfer. Then he compensated at high speed by using a little throttle to "fight" the rear brakes and effectively push the bias forward in real time. Don't know if anyone else does that. I've never heard of it. Such a different level from my abilities.
In John Barnards book he described how MS wanted the rear end to be loose so he could control the car thereafter. Driving the previous seasons car after only a handful of laps he was over a second a lap quicker than Berger or Alesi who had tested there all year!! he loved the engine braking which destabilized the rear end and said " I could have won the 95 championship in this car"
My list comprises those that raced in the 90s onwards because I never saw the other before race in period. I've watched quite a bit of the 80s too. 1) Michael Schumacher 2) Max Verstappen 3) Prost 4) Senna 5) Alonso 6) Hamilton 7) Nico Rosberg 8) Vettel. He'd have been higher up if it wasn't for his mid 2018 implosion that he never recovered from. 9) Raikkonen. Phenomenal racer but he could never adapt his style to the Bridgestones and Pirelli's. If they had the characteristics of the Michelin's he'd be top 3 easily and he'd be a highly decorated F1 driver, multi WDC with 2 fingers up his nose. **** he quite easily could've been a 3, 4 time title winner. 2003 reliability, 2005 piss poor reliability, 2008 Ferrari doing Ferrari things and not listen to their current WDC and take off the parts that he liked because reasons...by the time they bolted it back up again he was on the pace immediately despite on paper those suspensions being a significant downgrade...And lets not forget, one of if not the cleanest F1 driver in the last 40 years. 10) Hakkinen
My list of 10 is purely subjective since I am talking about my Favourite Drivers since I follow F1. I watched all of them racing and liked their personalities too, regardless of their success. Some weren't even WDC. Stirling Moss Jim Clark Graham Hill Dan Gurney Ronnie Peterson Nelson Piquet Niki Lauda Alain Prost Mika Hakkinen Nico Rosberg
Chronologically since I couldn't figure out whether I like blue more than red or green. Clay Regazzoni Niki Lauda Alan Jones Marc Surer Rene Arnoux Alain Prost Stefan Bellof Alonso Lance Stroll Max Verstappen + Michel Vaillant Obviously not a list of the best ten drivers, but my fav ten drivers.
Fangio Nuvolari Clark Moss Prost Lauda Schumacher Senna Andretti, Mario of course Stewart AND tied for 11th Ronnie Peterson & Giles Villeneuve
Prost Clark Fangio Hamilton Stewart Lauda Max Senna Schumacher Alonso, Kimi, Ascari, Farina OK, in 10th place I've cheated as there are so many worth drivers. For Max V, he will almost certainly rise up the list as time progresses, as he's still closer to the start than the end of his career at only 25. Undoubtedly the best driver on the grid at the moment. But when he was younger he was too erratic, and blamed others too often when his ultra low percentage passes went wrong. Great chance of being in the top three in a few years. but still making up for being a brat 3-5 years ago, and needs to prove longevity. His 21 title will always have a cloud over it like MSC in 94. Senna and Schumacher, no doubt both had more talent than some higher up the list, but both were, at times, such poor sportsmen, dangerous and demonstrated such disregard for others safety they hold themselves back. Oh, and the fact that MS had an illegal car in 94 and still had to drive Hill off the road to win. Note, I am talking about on track behaviour here. No one can complain about the wonderful caring things both did away from the track. Seena did so much for the poor kids in BRazil, and I'll never forget MSC donating $10mil to the Tsunami the same day as I (recall, could be wrong) Saudi Araba gave a paltry $1m. I also have to throw out a notable mention for Nigel Mansell. No one can argue that Prost, Senna, and Piquet had more natural talent, but through sheer bloody minded stubbornness and determination he put himself in contention with all of them, and had some outstanding drives.
Slight disgression here; The Triple Crown of Motorsport There is a distinguished club of only 19 drivers who have competed in the 3 prestigious races of the Triple Crown of Motorsport (the Monaco GP, The Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans), and have won at least one of those events. Most have one only one of these races: - Louis Chiron, Monaco GP 1931 - Jack Brabham, Monaco GP 1959 - Jim Clark, Indianapolis 1965 - Dan Gurney, Le Mans 1967 - Masten Gregory, Le Mans 1965 - Mario Andretti, Indianapolis 1969 - Mark Donohue, Indianapolis 1972 - Jackie Stewart, Monaco GP 1966, 1971, 1973 - Denny Hulme, Monaco GP 1967 - Danny Sullivan, Indianapolis 1985 - Vern Schuppan, Le Mans 1983 - Stefan Johansson, Le Mans 1997 - Michele Alboreto, Le Mans 1997 - Eddie Cheever, Indianapolis 1998 - Jacques Villeneuve, Indianapolis 1995 A few have won 2 of those races: Jochen Rindt, Monaco GP 1970, Le Mans 1965 Juan Pablo Montoya, Monaco GP 2003, Indianapolis 2000, 2015, Fernando Alonso, Monaco GP 2006, 2007, Le Mans 2018, 2019 There is only one driver so far who won the 3 famous races Graham Hill, Monaco GP 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969, Indianapolis 1966, Le Mans 1972
Brabham is the only man to build his own championship winning car, other than him there is only Nuvolari, who else turns up with a recording of his national anthem expecting to win when there is no hope
