Best ever racing drivers.
Best ever racing drivers.
Author
Discussion

loneranger

Original Poster:

876 posts

236 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
This is always good for a laugh. I know the different ages/differnt cars stuff, but still........

1) Tazio Nuvolari.
2) Jim Clark.
3) Gilles Villeneuve.
4) Juan Manuel Fangio.
5) Ayrton Senna.
6) Michael Schumacher.
7) Alain Prost.
8) Nelson Piquet.
9) Jackie Stewart
10= Stirling Moss.
10= Nigel Mansell.
10= John Surtees.
10= Jochen Rindt.


Edited by loneranger on Tuesday 6th March 11:21

p490kvp

728 posts

277 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
Interesting how your "best ever racing drivers" are limited to F1!

Not sure of order but obviously Senna, Schumacher, Prost and Mansell. But then I'd say Bellof, Clark, H J Stuck, Ludwig, Rodriguez, Siffert, Petterson, Aiello.

Top drivers outside of F1, still racing, in terms of speed - Minnasian, Alzen, Tomceyk (spell?),Green and Luhr.

flemke

23,481 posts

266 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
p490kvp said:
Not sure of order but obviously Senna, Schumacher, Prost and Mansell. But then I'd say Bellof, Clark, H J Stuck, Ludwig, Rodriguez, Siffert, Petterson, Aiello.


You can't be saying that Mansell is a lock for the top four, but Clark isn't, and Nuvolari, Fangio and Moss are not even in your top ten?

muzzer79

3,814 posts

250 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
p490kvp said:
Interesting how your "best ever racing drivers" are limited to F1!

Not sure of order but obviously Senna, Schumacher, Prost and Mansell. But then I'd say Bellof, Clark, H J Stuck, Ludwig, Rodriguez, Siffert, Petterson, Aiello.

Top drivers outside of F1, still racing, in terms of speed - Minnasian, Alzen, Tomceyk (spell?),Green and Luhr.


As in Laurent Aiello??

flemke

23,481 posts

266 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
loneranger said:
This is always good for a laugh. I know the different ages/differnt cars stuff, but still........

1) Tazio Nuvolari.
2) Jim Clark.
3) Gilles Villeneuve.
4) Juan Manuel Fangio.
5) Ayrton Senna.
6) Michael Schumacher.
7) Alain Prost.
8) Nelson Piquet.
9) Jackie Stewart
10= Stirling Moss.
10= Nigel Mansell.
10= Jim Surtees.
10= Jochen Rindt.



muzzer79

3,814 posts

250 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
flemke said:
loneranger said:
This is always good for a laugh. I know the different ages/differnt cars stuff, but still........

1) Tazio Nuvolari.
2) Jim Clark.
3) Gilles Villeneuve.
4) Juan Manuel Fangio.
5) Ayrton Senna.
6) Michael Schumacher.
7) Alain Prost.
8) Nelson Piquet.
9) Jackie Stewart
10= Stirling Moss.
10= Nigel Mansell.
10= Jim Surtees.
10= Jochen Rindt.





Well spotted laugh

loneranger

Original Poster:

876 posts

236 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
flemke said:
loneranger said:
This is always good for a laugh. I know the different ages/differnt cars stuff, but still........

1) Tazio Nuvolari.
2) Jim Clark.
3) Gilles Villeneuve.
4) Juan Manuel Fangio.
5) Ayrton Senna.
6) Michael Schumacher.
7) Alain Prost.
8) Nelson Piquet.
9) Jackie Stewart
10= Stirling Moss.
10= Nigel Mansell.
10= Jim Surtees.
10= Jochen Rindt.





Oops sorry, and I have his autogaph!
Now fixed.
Apologies to John.

flemke

23,481 posts

266 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
One name that is conspicuous by its absence from your list is Mario Andretti.

Another is Walter Rohrl. I don't know enough about rallying to have an opinion on top rally drivers; Rohrl himself nominated Juha Kankkunen as the greatest-ever rally driver.

loneranger

Original Poster:

876 posts

236 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
flemke said:
One name that is conspicuous by its absence from your list is Mario Andretti.

Another is Walter Rohrl. I don't know enough about rallying to have an opinion on top rally drivers; Rohrl himself nominated Juha Kankkunen as the greatest-ever rally driver.


And almost certainly the best current competetive driver is Sebastian Loeb. His split times on stages reveal that he is in a different world to the competition. His career record is outstanding and it isn't because he has the best car. Ford have that.
Seb is also very good in a Le Mans car.

GTWayne

4,595 posts

246 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
This is virtually unanswerable as different drivers / races / cars etc. mean so many different things to different people not to mention at what point in history, if you actually got to see these drivers live or followed their progress from your arm chair.
Personally, I gauge such things by how exciting a particular race may have been and obviously some of the more prominent champions have been more often engaged in such types of races than others. I would also like to add that I have witnessed races with some relatively unknown drivers and have come away with a new set of personal heroes as a result.

andy tims

5,605 posts

275 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
Jacky Ickx should surely feature.

lazyitus

19,931 posts

295 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
rotate James Hunt rotate





OK, OK, only a nitwit would say that he was the best driver we've ever seen but for sheer entertainment, old school charisma and racer boy mentality, surely as a package he has to be considered? Depends what we are classing as best, I suppose.

Imagine an F1 grid packed full of characters/drivers like Hunt.. How good would the circus be then?

bow James Hunt - you are a legend.


Edited by lazyitus on Tuesday 6th March 14:12

lord summerisle

8,173 posts

254 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
Gerry Marshal.

ettore

5,076 posts

281 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
Boillot, Nuvolari, Caracciola, Rosemeyer, Wimille, Ascari, Fangio, Moss, Clark, Surtees, Brabham, Gurney, Stewart, Fittipaldi, Andretti, Lauda, Villeneuve, Prost, Senna, Schumacher.

Impossible to put in any order because of the profound differences in the sport.

Rallying would probably be - Makinen, Vatanen, Rohrl, Kankunnen and Loeb

Honourable mentions to Foyt, Fittipaldi, Mears, various Unsers, Ickx, Stuck, Earnhardt, Petty, Alonso, Mansell, Moll and Amon.

p490kvp

728 posts

277 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
flemke said:
p490kvp said:
Not sure of order but obviously Senna, Schumacher, Prost and Mansell. But then I'd say Bellof, Clark, H J Stuck, Ludwig, Rodriguez, Siffert, Petterson, Aiello.


You can't be saying that Mansell is a lock for the top four, but Clark isn't, and Nuvolari, Fangio and Moss are not even in your top ten?


Fair comment re Clark/Mansell although with the type of car of the day Mansell could give anyone a run for their money. Moss/Fangio/Nuvolari - I'm not sure I really like that era of racing given it was so far back to really know who really was a talent.

Like the thought addition of Rohrl and Andretti..

sdw2003

1,143 posts

282 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
I can only go on drivers I have seen race as I grew up so on the track it has to be Senna without a doubt, at least he had to race against champions to win his three titles, where as a certain recent multi-winner never really had any true competitors to fight.

Off the track it has to be James Hunt - the ultimate racing driver and playboy, a character that this modern age of F1 would never be let loose in a car, let alone a post race press conference.

Both were masters of their craft in very different and entertaining ways

Eric Mc

125,606 posts

294 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
I think Innes Ireland might have given Hunt a good run for his money - off track.

As always, one major difference separates drivers from pre 1980s and post 1980s - mainly that pre-1980s, most top flight drivers competed in alternative forms of motor racing and didn't just limit themselves to F1 or sports cars or rallying only. For that reason, I hardly rate ANYONE post 1982 because it's impossible to tell how good they really were/are outside of the narrow range of classes they have raced in. Moss, Fangio, Clark, and all the earlier drivers competed in everything - and the great ones tended to be good in all classes.

TimmyArt

1,425 posts

247 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
loneranger said:
This is always good for a laugh. I know the different ages/differnt cars stuff, but still........

1) Tazio Nuvolari.
= Stirling Moss
3) Jim Clark.
4) Juan Manuel Fangio.
5) Ayrton Senna
6) Mightcheattoday Schumacher

Edited by loneranger on Tuesday 6th March 11:21


I agreeyes

With Villeneuve, Rodriguez, Ascari and many more

Actually not that fond of Senna or Schumacher but can't suggest that they were anything other than brilliant at times. Schumacher proved that in his last race.

Edited by TimmyArt on Tuesday 6th March 15:57

rcarr

944 posts

239 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
If its "racing drivers" Jim Clark, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher, from "modern Formula 1".

Walter Rohl, Laurent Aiello, Sebastian Loeb, Gerry Marshall, Tom Kristiensen, Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell, Mario Andretti, Hans Joachim Stuck, Klauss Ludwig etc are all worth a mention as non-F1 people. Before you all jump on me, I know Mario Andretti, H-JS, Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell were in F1 but they are so much more than that!

Of course Tazio Nuvolari and Rudolf Carraciola were "racing gods".

TimmyArt

1,425 posts

247 months

Tuesday 6th March 2007
quotequote all
I do Believe that Nuvolari, Moss, Fangio and possibly Clark were/are all Racing Gods. The first two particularly so.