While Schumacher has the most wins I'd have to vote for Ayrton Senna. The car danced when he drove.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t8QMyuGhdE&feature=related

Senna always drove just over 100%.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrbJPsPtTyU
Trailer for the new movie.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I might agree with Senna, but I would have to put Niki Lauda in the same class from that era.

Schumaker was a fast driver but perhaps the best car developer of all time. He also happens to have hit his stride when the cars were becoming very safe. He has an uncanny ability to select the correct tire to have on the car when rain is coming or might come. He always seemed to win a race or two each season with this skill.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Niki Lauda. He had a tremendous sense of what the car was doing mechanically and the ability to communicate everything to the team so the crew could make the right adjustments. Engine, transmission, suspension, tires; he was at one with all of them.
Also Jackie Stewart. Incredibly smooth driver. Kept the car balanced no matter what it was doing or he needed it to do.

It's difficult to compare drivers from different eras, the sport has changed too much. MS was great (he should have stayed retired), but I don't know if he would have done as well back in the 70/80s; things were pretty wild back then.

IIRC the top gear video pointed out that Senna used to kick the crap out of Schumacher in the early days. Keep in mind that Schumacher more or less just starting out/learning at that time. I think, as mentioned, that the newer safer cars made the workload on the driver much easier. As such i'll put the older drivers much further ahead In terms of skills.

I'm reminded of a saying amongst Mig pilots
'A fly-by-wire system will make an average pilot better but an exceptional pilot can get more out of his aircraft without it'

(That's not the exact line but it's along those lines)

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

There should be a distinction between dead and alive.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Why? I always thought being retired and being dead were interchangeable conditions.

I still remember the day Aryton Senna died. I woke up early in the morning, turn on the TV and the race was just starting. I watched for a bit and then the crash happened. I remember the race was put on hold for a while and the news feeds replayed the crash over and over again. I turned off the TV and went on with my day. Later I was shocked to hear he had died.

About 6 years later, I had a conversation with my Brazilian co-worker. She was telling me when she was living in Brazil how devastating it was for everybody in her country to loose their national hero.


This would be a interesting movie to see.

.

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

Lauda

Jackie Cooper

Emmerson Fittapaldi

Tasio Nuvarli

I guess thats not one, but what the hey?

The kid from "Our Gang?"

No mention of Jimmy Clark or Juan Manuel Fangio, so I'll add those

Wasn't jacki cooper a movie star? I bet you mean jackie stewart....one of the greats.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

It'd be hard for me to not put Fangio at the top of the list. He didn't start driving F1 til he was about 40!

Andretti was great too and started pretty late in life. and Phil Hill was great and retired because he did not want to die in a red car.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The guys who drove front engine cars were in a completely different sport. Andretti might have been great if he had enough years to drive F1 before he had to retire to Indy cars.

I believe Andretti only drove about three full seasons in F1. It was stressful I imagine with all your family in the US. Mario was a very hard working driver who tested and tested and tested and made adjustments and got the Lotus's working very well.

He was also hands on to some extent. There is a picture of him in his Autobiography bending over one of his champ cars adjusting the front sway bar preload. He said it was difficult to explain to the mechanics how he wanted it so he did it himself.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.