While I'm familiar with the reputations of Fangio and Nuvolari, I never got to see them race. US TV coverage of F1 wasn't that common back then. So I'd have to rank the drivers I had a chance to root for: G.Villeneuve, Lauda, Hunt, Senna, Schumi, etc. One reason the Lauda/Hunt competition was such a big deal was that it was a notable shift in the drivers. Motorsports originated with the wealthy; those deemed "gentlemen". And we had "gentlemen drivers". But Lauda and Hunt were "commoners", and were out to win, not to be polite. The battle for 2nd at Dijon in 1979 between Villeneuve and Aronux was one of the last good example of good clean racing --- gentlemen racing. I wasn't really a fan of Senna, as I mostly saw the latter part of his career, when he was emphatically not a "gentleman driver". I saw one race where Senna held up the entire field with an underpowered car. (Senna may be why today we have rules against multiple defensive moves and weaving under braking. ) I also saw Senna, when 20 seconds ahead of the field in Monaco, stuff it into the Armco from sheer brain fade. Towards the end of his career, Senna had a tendency to crash into anyone he couldn't pass. Which might not bode well for Max Verstappen. Once a driver gets used to being dominant, it's hard for him to shift mental gears to go back to struggling in the mix. That's one thing I can respect about Mansell: after a dominant season, he went off to US racing to look for another challenge, rather than having to go back to battling in the mix.
Some where not the most entertaining but their abilities put them on this list. Fangio Nuvolari Schumacher Clark Stewart Hamilton Hill Alonso Lauda Senna Gurney G Villeneuve M Andretti. Max Prost
haha! all time favourites James Hunt Gilles Villeneuve Bruce McClaren Ayrton Senna Nicki Lauda Ascari Fangio, for long distance as well, like 1940 Gran Premio del Norte Nuvolari Big Al, until his crash w Senna, and the most outrageous DQ of all time.... Mike Hawthorne and replacing Big Al: M Albereto all time least fav. L Hamilton N Mansell
Prost Fangio Clark Steward Lauda Senna Max Nuvolari Schumacher ( not mick !) Alonso No hierarchy with this list but I tend to believe Prost is my subjective favorite.
My take on the best of all time: 1. Fangio - just clearly the best in cars that were crazy fast, dangerous, and he was in his 40's when he was winning. 2. Jackie Stewart - 3 x WDC, but also raced all other categories. but more so because of what he's done for racing off-track - Safety, popularity, etc... nobody so far has come close to his own impact on the track 3. Jim Clark - probably the best raw driving talent ever. If he did not win, he usually did not finish because of a mechanical issue. 4 Alain Prost - The fastest slow driver ever. never looked fast, or crazy or out of control. just pure smoothness and speed. 4. Niki Lauda - Technical, raw, and determined. He shows what you can do when you conquer the mind of matter. 5. Michael Schumacher - very fast, and pure raw driving talent. Sadly a bit "dirty" ... but still he only wanted to win. 6. Mario Andretti - Most likely the best all-round driver ever. variety of cars - and winning, length of career, and still very fast. 7. Ascari - Raw speed, and fearless. He is the only one so far to have won every race in a season ... granted it was a short season... but he was at the very top when he was killed. 8. Nouvolari - He drove cars that had wood and were wheels death traps, and won, and he drove high powered pre war cars and won and then drove post war and was still winning... 9. Gilles Villeneuve - more an emotional response, but he was a very talented driver. focused and determined. He was the very last gentleman driver ever. 10. Senna - Raw speed at the top. but overall driver, I think he was overrated. He simply made a lot of mistakes, and his willful crash into Prost in 90 - is a forever taint on his legacy. I saw him personally - met him a bunch of times and talked to him... very shy, and nice as a person, but as a driver his raw speed and arrogance got the better of him. He could have been the best, but is not.
