Bluejuice
Lazy as a rug on Valium
I must admit I find it very difficult to judge a drivers skill out on the track when it seems the cars are doing all the work
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jakarta
Well-known member
Montoya?
I happen to think that the drivers from the era before gravel traps, downforce and safety in general were different gravy.
3 drivers died during the '58 season and 10 drivers died in the the 10 years between '67 and '77. To drive a car on the ragged edge knowing that a mistake will possibly cost your life sets those drivers apart from todays overpaid corporate muppets. How many of todays drivers go a race let alone a season without making an unforced error.
Step forward Sir Stirling Moss
Agreed he is the greatest racing driver never to have won a World Championship....
I agree with the rest of your post - but since Jim Clark & Jackie Stewart drove in the 1960's & early 1970's I would wouldn't I?
Without doubt!
Knotty
Well-known member
It's an impossible call to make, especially for those who never saw some of these guys race. Of those I saw race I would put forward the following in no particular order
Fangio
Moss
Clark
Stewart
Lauda
Prost
Senna
Schumacher
If they were all at the peak of their powers and in identical cars at the same time, I couldn't choose the best.
I would smile if Schumacher came last, though!
There are drivers like Siffert, Peterson and Montoya who I preferred to watch than some of those above because they were 'seat-of-the-pants' racers, but you couldn't put them in the list of the real greats.
Fangio
Moss
Clark
Stewart
Lauda
Prost
Senna
Schumacher
If they were all at the peak of their powers and in identical cars at the same time, I couldn't choose the best.
I would smile if Schumacher came last, though!
There are drivers like Siffert, Peterson and Montoya who I preferred to watch than some of those above because they were 'seat-of-the-pants' racers, but you couldn't put them in the list of the real greats.
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I actually think this season's showing hamilton's true racing ability, he's managing to get some half-decent finishes out of what is clearly a staggeringly bad car. For me, the best drivers in the current field are him, Vettel and Alonso, with Button not actually that far behind.
All-time, Senna or Schumacher.
All-time, Senna or Schumacher.
JJ McClure
Go Jags
Trouble is I can't remember went he last actually had a good day. He just seems to be going through the motions since becoming world champion 2 years ago.
He certaintly is a strange one, seems like he relies heavily on confidence and when he gets in a rut he find it amazingly hard to get out of which is a shame really because I think he is a decent driver on his day
He's bloody quick when he wants to be, unfortunately he hasn't wanted to be since becoming world champion.
He will be 'retiring' at the end of this season, maybe earlier should a sutable replacement be lined up.
You heard it here first.
KZNSeagull
Well-known member
How can you tell though??
What this season has shown is that it is down to the car, not the driver. Button has always been a good driver in a bad car, it just so happens that this year he is currently in the best car. Hamilton is clearly a good driver in a bad car this year. Hamilton beat Alonso when they were team mates, so does that mean he is a better driver than Alonso or just had the better of the two cars within the team? How many championships would Schumacher have won in a Honda or a Jordan?? You could be the most talented driver in the world, but if you are in a bad car, no-one is ever going to find out.
To me this season just emphasises what a silly championship the F1 drivers championship actually is - if you have the best, most realiable car, and you keep it on the track, you will win. Does not mean that you are the best driver though.
What this season has shown is that it is down to the car, not the driver. Button has always been a good driver in a bad car, it just so happens that this year he is currently in the best car. Hamilton is clearly a good driver in a bad car this year. Hamilton beat Alonso when they were team mates, so does that mean he is a better driver than Alonso or just had the better of the two cars within the team? How many championships would Schumacher have won in a Honda or a Jordan?? You could be the most talented driver in the world, but if you are in a bad car, no-one is ever going to find out.
To me this season just emphasises what a silly championship the F1 drivers championship actually is - if you have the best, most realiable car, and you keep it on the track, you will win. Does not mean that you are the best driver though.
In a way though, that's part of it because it's a team sport. It just shows that the efforts of the designers/engineers/mechanics/pit crew etc are just as if not more important than the driver, who is part of the team.
KZNSeagull
Well-known member
I agree. It is a team sport. So the accolades should go to the team and not to the driver.
I just dont see how people can say that so and so is a better driver than someone else - had Button driven for Ferrari for the last 10 years and won loads of championships, then people would now be saying that he is the best ever, since this year has shown that if you put him in a good car, then he is an excellent driver.
SeagullTim
Boomer Sooner
Alonso out of the current crop. Never got to see the likes of Senna, Prost and the like, so Schumacher and HHF top my list.
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
You didn't see the pathetic attempts of the Hamster on Top gear trying to just drive the Renault F1 car then obviously. This is a guy who drives Porsches and Morgans for fun. I think he managed full throttle for 4/10ths of a second in the whole session he had.
Formula One drivers have awesome reflexes and driving skills, even those that are are the back of the grid.
Driving a Formula One car is beyond the abilities of 99% of the population so I'm not sure where you get this idea that they drive themselves..
On the other hand clearly the driver is important - Renault is probably the best example of this at the moment. Alonso gets good results and even got a couple of wins last year, whereas Piquet is lucky if he gets into Q2.
Good post
People dont seem to realise the physical prowess and mental ability you need to be able to drive F1 cars they go in excess of 250MPH and you lose on average 10-15 pounds when driving 60 laps in an F1 Car.
Its not just a car its more like a spaceship you only have to look at the precision of the airo-dynamics and the cost of certain parts of the car to realise them things are super machines, not cars.
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
As for the thread title I'd go for Senna from the drivers I've seen. Not only could he dominate from the front but he often stayed in front of quicker cars by taking a legal line that stopped them overtaking him. I can remember a crocodile of cars behind him when his car was not competitive. I never saw Fangio but I doubt he had the level of competition in both cars and drivers that today's drivers have.
Of today's drivers I go for Alonso as he is more consistent than Hamilton, although on his day Hamilton is unbeatable and may yet mature to be considered the best. What he and Alonso are doing with shit cars this year is pretty impressive imo.
Of today's drivers I go for Alonso as he is more consistent than Hamilton, although on his day Hamilton is unbeatable and may yet mature to be considered the best. What he and Alonso are doing with shit cars this year is pretty impressive imo.
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,278
Sterling Moss never won the F1 Driver's Championship so it's not him.
Over the last 30 years I'd say the best driver was between Senna and Michael Schumacher.
Over the last 30 years I'd say the best driver was between Senna and Michael Schumacher.
cheeseroll
New member
Not wanting to speak ill of the dead but he had some disgusting racing principles.