Most "deserving" F1 WDC

[tommunster10]

coppice said:

Oops - Sorry - not been following every post in this enormous and often bizarre thread. Sometimes wonder if I follow the same sport ...

Yes will be interesting to see which driver becomes the object of peoples hate next season when they announce Nico's replacement.

[hora]

Damon Hill. A family man who witnessed Senna's death, knuckled down and came back from the cheated title stolen from him and won.

Top bloke.

[Vaud]

Button and Schumacher for me from the modern era, though I tend to be of the belief that aside from proven cheating (i.e. proven and disqualified) they are all deserving for different reasons.

Button as he stuck with what was a massive risk and capitalised on it as well as being a top bloke.

Schumacher for building up a team with Ross, etc

[sandman77]

What about drivers who won the WDC when their team didn't win the WCC? The list of those drivers for the last 30 years is:

Lewis Hamilton 2008
Mika Hakkinen 1999
Michael Schumacher 1994
Alain Prost 1986

[London424]

sandman77 said:

What about drivers who won the WDC when their team didn't win the WCC? The list of those drivers for the last 30 years is:

Lewis Hamilton 2008
Mika Hakkinen 1999
Michael Schumacher 1994
Alain Prost 1986

And for me, I think the above is the best answer.

[Muzzer79]

London424 said:

sandman77 said:

What about drivers who won the WDC when their team didn't win the WCC? The list of those drivers for the last 30 years is:

Lewis Hamilton 2008
Mika Hakkinen 1999
Michael Schumacher 1994
Alain Prost 1986

And for me, I think the above is the best answer.

Except Schumacher ran Hill off the road in '94 and should have had his car banned (I'll concede he was the faster driver however)

Prost was gifted the title in '86 due to Mansell's tyre exploding in the last race and Williams erring on caution and pitting Piquet as a result. I don't think you can say Prost really 'deserved' it that year


Hakkinen is a good shout. He came back from a life-threatening crash and was the only one to really give Schumacher in his prime a run for his money.

[Vaud]

Muzzer79 said:

Hakkinen is a good shout. He came back from a life-threatening crash and was the only one to really give Schumacher in his prime a run for his money.

And a driver that Schumacher had a massive amount of respect for.

[vonuber]

Vaud said:

And a driver that Schumacher had a massive amount of respect for.

Yup. That was a great rivalry.

[sandman77]

Muzzer79 said:

Prost was gifted the title in '86 due to Mansell's tyre exploding in the last race and Williams erring on caution and pitting Piquet as a result. I don't think you can say Prost really 'deserved' it that year

McLaren lost the WCC by 45 points to Williams yet Prost still won the WDC driving for them. I don't think it is fair to say he was gifted the title. He worked bloody hard for it.

[Vaud]

vonuber said:

Vaud said:

And a driver that Schumacher had a massive amount of respect for.

Yup. That was a great rivalry.

3 abreast at the top of Kemmel... Zonta must have thought "WTF". One of the great overtakes.

[Halmyre]

sandman77 said:

What about drivers who won the WDC when their team didn't win the WCC? The list of those drivers for the last 30 years is:

Lewis Hamilton 2008
Mika Hakkinen 1999
Michael Schumacher 1994
Alain Prost 1986

Going back to the start of the WCC (1958), you can add:

1958 Mike Hawthorn
1973 Jackie Stewart
1976 James Hunt
1981 Nelson Piquet
1982 Keke Rosberg
1983 Nelson Piquet

[Muzzer79]

sandman77 said:

Muzzer79 said:

Prost was gifted the title in '86 due to Mansell's tyre exploding in the last race and Williams erring on caution and pitting Piquet as a result. I don't think you can say Prost really 'deserved' it that year

McLaren lost the WCC by 45 points to Williams yet Prost still won the WDC driving for them. I don't think it is fair to say he was gifted the title. He worked bloody hard for it.

Prost had a retiring Keke Rosberg as team mate, who only got one podium and had 8 retirements to Prost's 2.

The records show Prost won the title and nobody is 'undeserving' of a WDC but in the pantheon of "Most deserving WDC", which this thread is about, I don't think you can put Prost's '86 win in there.

[_Leg_]

Eric Mc said:

You are obviously of "the end justifies the means" camp.

I'm not.

But the means were within the rules, if they hadn't been, they would have been penalised. Ergo, their means were perfectly acceptable unless you're judging their means by something other than the rules and that would be wholly irrelevant as they weren't playing your game, they were playing the game set out by the governing body of the sport.

[Eric Mc]

Are you sure?

Rules are there to be interpreted. Teams will hope to interpret and exploit a rule to their advantage - but often their interpretation may end being deemed illegal (and that's not just in motor sport - or even just sport).

[ZX10R NIN]

Megaflow said:

Smollet said:

Anyone who scores most points and doesn't drive others off the track to win it.

That rules out Rosberg then...

• Lights touch paper*

& Senna/Prost/Schumacher etc

[S0 What]

Vaud said:

vonuber said:

Vaud said:

And a driver that Schumacher had a massive amount of respect for.

Yup. That was a great rivalry.

3 abreast at the top of Kemmel... Zonta must have thought "WTF". One of the great overtakes.

I still take a sharp intake of breath at that move especialy Zontas onboard shot WTF indeed!
It was a wierd relationship wasn't it, Michael seemed to respect so few drivers yet Mika he almost reverd, i think it may have been Mikas one on one attitude to issues he had with Michael, he (as far as i recall) allways went up and said what he had to his face and didn't use the press to do it ? mind you Mika was so laid back could you get irate with him ?

[tommunster10]

Vaud said:

Muzzer79 said:

Hakkinen is a good shout. He came back from a life-threatening crash and was the only one to really give Schumacher in his prime a run for his money.

And a driver that Schumacher had a massive amount of respect for.

I'd go as far as to say Miki was the best F1 driver ever, for his success's yes, for his human reaction to moments, very much yes. But he just seems to be so different to other F1 drivers, i never remember him being a dick or dangerous.
A great representative of F1, so not the best driver ever but certainly one of the best as an example of how to carry yourself.

[Eric Mc]

tommunster10 said:

I'd go as far as to say Miki was the best F1 driver ever, for his success's yes, for his human reaction to moments, very much yes. But he just seems to be so different to other F1 drivers, i never remember him being a dick or dangerous.
A great representative of F1, so not the best driver ever but certainly one of the best as an example of how to carry yourself.

EVER?

Are you dismissing people like Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart etc?

[JNW1]

tommunster10 said:

I'd go as far as to say Miki was the best F1 driver ever, for his success's yes, for his human reaction to moments, very much yes. But he just seems to be so different to other F1 drivers, i never remember him being a dick or dangerous.
A great representative of F1, so not the best driver ever but certainly one of the best as an example of how to carry yourself.

I always quite liked Hakkinen but never dangerous? This is the same bloke who caused accidents at consecutive GP in 1994 (Britain and Germany) and got a one race ban as a result! In fairness I think those accidents were more a result of the enthusiasm of youth as opposed to anything malicious - he was never a dirty driver - but the best F1 driver ever? Gilding the lily ever so slightly IMO!

[robemcdonald]

Not going to be popular this, but Nigel Mansell. He made a lot of personal sacrifices and used his own money to start out.
Although he's not as successful as some and arguably not as talented he was in a way a people's champion and very popular amongst the general public in a way that no subsequent British driver has managed.