Best F1 driver ever?
 

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.

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.;)

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)

There should be a distinction between dead and alive.

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

Lauda

Jackie Cooper

Emmerson Fittapaldi

Tasio Nuvarli

I guess thats not one, but what the hey?

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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The kid from "Our Gang?"

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNmqn3heGgE

I don't know I agree with Top Gear, I think he is still the best.

F1 cars were also more of a handful back than as well, remember the drivers had to take one hand off the wheel to shift, and they didn't have traction aids, etc.

Its pretty hard to compare F1 drivers from different eras because the cars and circuits have changed so much. I think Senna is definitely up there, Schumacher has obviously proven his skills as well. How about best WRC drivers? Colin McRae?

I think we all agree he was one of the best, and those cars were real beasts. MS also deserves lots of credit for what he's done in his era. I don't know who these "top gear" guys are (I've never seen their show); I'm not sure if they know anything about F1.

You're missing out! Top Gear (the UK one) is the most entertaining TV show I've ever seen. If you have netflix, all of the episodes from the 2nd-15th seasons are on there, I definitely recomend checking it out, a lot of us on here are big fans