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.

.

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

I try to avoid watching anything on TV (especially anything with commercials). I watch live F1 races and the occasional HBO movie/show; everything else is either online or "on demand." I take a look for them on netflix next time I'm stranded in a hotel room.

You haven't seen Top Gear? Its one of the most watched car shows around, I think their world wide viewership is more than the population of this country,

Sorry, I really don't watch TV.

Understandable, just because its on TV isn't a reason to dismiss it - its actually a BBC show and hasn't even come to the US unless you've got one of them fancy cable packages. Its worldwide audience is upwards of 300 million viewers (!!), is the most pirated TV show in history, and as of at least a couple years ago had the biggest budget of any BBC show. It definitely appeals to car guys but the humor is pretty good too

I don't watch TV either, its the 21st century I stream/download.:D

Top Gear is on the BBC so unless you pay extra you don't get it with cable.

I'm sure I can find it on netflix (without commercials), I'll check it out sometime.

Yup, they've got it all instant/streaming thankfully!

Fifty one tries and twety three wins. Juan Manuel Fangio

http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/hall_of_fame/268/

I think Jackie Stewart should be on the list.

But you are a regular on this forum and we post Top Gear youtube clips ALL the time. ;)

Are are we posting relevant clips in vein?

Leave the old guy alone ! :D

Sorry, not a big youtube guy either. I read a bunch of F1 blogs, listen to a few F1 podcasts, and try to watch the races live (practice and qualifying too, if I'm motivated). I don't really like talking head shows, political or sports.

LOL :D

Agreed, but from yet another era. You really need to look at each decade separately.

Come on give it a shot. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkO8y3AxRps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWoo82zNUA

Interesting cars, silly host. Worth watching if you skip over the "clever" dialog.

Perhaps you'll like one of the more serious reviews from one of the more serious hosts ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4imcsPPqcpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvI3JHoKZOo

He's better than the other guy.

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

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.

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.

Now your getting it :D:D We'll make a fan out of you yet. :)

I'm still not about to actually watch a TV. If you guys want to dig through all the noise and post links to the interesting bits, I'll take a look at the links. :D

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.

You listen to F1 races on the radio;)?

I've got the Turkey GP on as this is being typed. When did they get the new style rear wings?

To the original question - Lauda.

I watch live races on TV, just not TV shows. I just watched the GP too. They have had the movable wings all season (a silly gimmick, IMO).

Didn't the wing used to be a single plane device that extended out to the edge of the rear tires. It looks like it is now a double plane and has been shortened.

They reduced the size of the wing and now have a system where the driver can flatten it out to reduce downforce. But the system can only be engaged while passing another car on a specific part of each track. it's intended to create more passing; a real BS (NASCAR) type rule change.

Who watched racing this morning? Who saw Weber pass Alonso in that series of S turns? It was pretty cool. Three cars side by side battles and all.

I saw it, there was some pretty good racing back in the middle.

He could also drive anything with wheels:

I saw that. They were earning their money through there.

Looks like he competed in most of five full seasons in F1.

Time flies when you are having fun!

Interesting debate. I'll say Fangio, then Shumaker. Stewart up there to. Stewart only started racing at 24. He was a skeet shooter before that. By 28 he was racing F1.
Mansell, might be on my list too. It s a bit of a steatch though. Also Prost.

Now my knocks against Senna. First I think he only won with McKlaren Honda. I remember not to many other makes winning during that time. It wasn't until Ferrari came out with their semi-auto gear box and some other rule changes. I think Prost won a championship during that time. Shumaker won with Bennaton Ford. I think that is when Senna switched to Renualt. I don't respect the way he did that.
A few years earlier, he said he wouldn't drive for less than $17 mil per yr. Mansell was making less than him at Renualt. Mansell had just won the Championship. Senna said he would drive for less. Well bad karma.
Stewart won with two different teams. He jumped ship after just winning the F1 Championship. He gaged it right. Didn't see the next car developing right.
I do wonder about different eras, in all types of racing. I think Dale Earnhart said something to the effect that most of the newer drivers (Gordon) wouldn't survive the racing in the 70's and early 80's.
Tom