Comments on: The Top 100 F1 Drivers of All Time – Alan Henry, 2008 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/ F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog with F1 news, pictures, video, comment and analysis Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:34:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ADRIANA http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-666658 ADRIANA Fri, 29 Apr 2011 17:23:50 +0000 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/#comment-666658 Mine would be (after some serious thought): 1- Fangio 2- Clark 3- Ascari 3- Senna 4- Prost 5- Schumacher 5- Moss 7- Stewart 8- Lauda 9- Piquet 10- Brabham I left Caracciola, Nuvolari, Rosemeyer, etc out because they didn't race in "proper" Formula 1. This was after their time, so..... Piquet and Brabham were very difficult decisions, because none of them were too spectacular and didn't have too many fans around but, hey, no-one can't say 3-time world champions aren't really good!. After my top-ten, the positions start to become more blurry..... Alan Henry's list makes me laugh, not because I don't consider Moss a great great driver, but because his choices are quite capricious..... But I want to thank him for putting Patrick Tambay in no.66: I always loved Patrick and thought he could have been champion without so much luck and bad decisions. 1983 should have been his if not for his Ferrari breaking-up while leading at Germany, Austria and Britain, plus other problems in Holland and SouthAfrica and Rosberg taking him out of the lead at Long Beach. A truly underrated (gentleman) driver........ Getting back to the Top Ten, there's no doubt for me: Fangio all the way...... Mine would be (after some serious thought):

1- Fangio
2- Clark
3- Ascari
3- Senna
4- Prost
5- Schumacher
5- Moss
7- Stewart
8- Lauda
9- Piquet
10- Brabham

I left Caracciola, Nuvolari, Rosemeyer, etc out because they didn’t race in “proper” Formula 1. This was after their time, so…..
Piquet and Brabham were very difficult decisions, because none of them were too spectacular and didn’t have too many fans around but, hey, no-one can’t say 3-time world champions aren’t really good!. After my top-ten, the positions start to become more blurry…..
Alan Henry’s list makes me laugh, not because I don’t consider Moss a great great driver, but because his choices are quite capricious….. But I want to thank him for putting Patrick Tambay in no.66: I always loved Patrick and thought he could have been champion without so much luck and bad decisions. 1983 should have been his if not for his Ferrari breaking-up while leading at Germany, Austria and Britain, plus other problems in Holland and SouthAfrica and Rosberg taking him out of the lead at Long Beach. A truly underrated (gentleman) driver……..

Getting back to the Top Ten, there’s no doubt for me: Fangio all the way……

]]> By: Rasmus http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-257582 Rasmus Wed, 20 May 2009 10:47:00 +0000 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/#comment-257582 Its the same **** every time. It DOESNT MATTER who was the best. It cant be measured unless they drove in the same era and in the same car etc, but they never did. Therefore its all opinions and its fine that ppl have theirs, but some dude writing a book about it and not including "in my private opinion" in front of it, is just plain propaganda. Hope it wont sell at all. My top10 would be Caricciola, Fangio, Senna, Nuvelari, Schumi, Moss, Clark, Stewart, Mansell and Lauda. In no particular order though my alltime favourite was Caricciola. Its the same **** every time. It DOESNT MATTER who was the best. It cant be measured unless they drove in the same era and in the same car etc, but they never did. Therefore its all opinions and its fine that ppl have theirs, but some dude writing a book about it and not including “in my private opinion” in front of it, is just plain propaganda. Hope it wont sell at all.
My top10 would be Caricciola, Fangio, Senna, Nuvelari, Schumi, Moss, Clark, Stewart, Mansell and Lauda. In no particular order though my alltime favourite was Caricciola.

]]> By: kurtdaniel http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-237386 kurtdaniel Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:31:13 +0000 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/#comment-237386 There’s no doubt that Schuey had some amazing skills back in the day. Senna still gets my vote for top though!.<a href="http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk" rel="nofollow">.</a> There’s no doubt that Schuey had some amazing skills back in the day. Senna still gets my vote for top though!..

]]> By: Andres http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-235379 Andres Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:58:04 +0000 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/#comment-235379 Eugenio has the right top five list. That list shows what made them the best drivers in the world. I would also include Tazio Nuvolari, Alberto Ascari, Rudolf Caracciola, and other drivers fro the era. Eugenio has the right top five list. That list shows what made them the best drivers in the world. I would also include Tazio Nuvolari, Alberto Ascari, Rudolf Caracciola, and other drivers fro the era.

]]> By: Keith Collantine http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-228180 Keith Collantine Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:48:27 +0000 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/#comment-228180 That's a very thorough top five, Eugene! I agree with you about Prost's best drive though I think that's a real under-rated gem of a performance. It's easy to get distracted by Mansell and Berger's battle for second when you think of that race though! That’s a very thorough top five, Eugene! I agree with you about Prost’s best drive though I think that’s a real under-rated gem of a performance. It’s easy to get distracted by Mansell and Berger’s battle for second when you think of that race though!

]]> By: Eugenio http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-228177 Eugenio Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:39:05 +0000 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/#comment-228177 To my opinion, the top 5 five are: 1.- FANGIO: 5 times world champion with 4 different teams in 7 complete seasons. Won in almost 50% of the races he started. He had very hard competition: Farina, Moss, Brooks, Hawthorne, Ascari, Fagioli, all of them excellent drivers. He stunned the racing world with his win in Nurburgring 1957 in spectacular fashion. Cars at that time did not were much different one to another and had no safety devices (neither did the tracks). They did not produce high g-forces but were extremely hard to control and to walk out of them alive after a spin, contact, collision or mechanical failure. GP races lasted more than 3 hours.. for those who think they were not demanding. Fangio was 39 in his first F1 season. He retired at 47. 2.- CLARK: Made pole in 45% of his starts. Could have won much more GPs if it wasn't for his Lotus reliability problems. He won 4 races in 1967, Hulme won only 2 to claim the championship that year. Won 3 times in 1966 vs. Surtees championship 2 wins. He would've been 4 times WC under the so called "Medal System" recently proposed by Ecclestone. In his 72 starts he scored points in 40 races with 22 DNFs.. Only 2 of these DNFs were due to accidents or spins. He droved like a surgeon would operate. Raced "beast" cars, with no down force and powerful engines used for years to come. The best car-control driver in history. Best races: Monza 1967 and Indy 500 1965 (among many others). He died prematurely at the prime of his career. 3.- SENNA: His level of driving reached spiritual heights, as described by himself. He was a machine programmed to win no matter what. His mission: to defeat the best driver at that time: Prost!. At the start of races, you can see drivers wondering around their cars in the starting grid, giving interviews, talking with their engineers. Senna always stayed in his car with his eyes closed focusing on his next masterpiece. His pure desire of winning at all cost is his most powerful strength, thou his most criticized aspect. He claimed to have a sort of 'divine right' to win. That made him very determined, but very careless towards his other drivers in the same track. He had a lot of contacts, some of them unfair, like the one with Nannini in Hungary 1990 for 2nd place. Or the one with Nakajima while being on the lead and trying to lap him in Brazil 1990. Not to mention his WC-deciding contacts with Prost. Once interviewed by Stewart, the Scot questioned his aggressive driving. Senna responded with irritation saying that it's part of racing if you have the determination to win. He would've been my #1 driver if it wasn't for his selfishness. A WC driver cannot be #1 after claiming he collided an opponent in purpose to win the title, despite of the past circumstances (at least Schumacher said his accident with Hill in Adelaide '94 was unintentional). Being interview by ESPN about his 1990 title minutes after his collision with Prost, Senna said: "It's not the best feeling at all, is it?".. He worn himself out so much by his conflict with Prost that it may seem that he was not enjoying driving anymore, in fact it made him almost bitter. But that conflict also made him faster and fueled his success hunger. Senna had a hot head, but also had the best pair of hands any steering wheel has ever been embraced with. Would have been 5+ WC if it wasn't for his shocking death that made him an instant legend. Best drive: All his poles and GP of Europe 1993. 4.- SCHUMACHER: Very fast, very lucky. He finished in the podium in 2 out of every 3 races he started and won in more than a third of his starts. Well, he has all the records, enough said.. He did his job with excellence and race to perfection cars that were really a privilege to race with. But when he was under pressure, he did not was at the heights of expectations. Villenueve, Aloso and Hakkinen proove this point. He was not the cleanest of drivers either.. Ask Damon Hill in Australia 1994 or Villennueve in Jerez 1997 or any other driver in Monaco 2006. I don't recall seeing a really good overtaking maneuver from his part (maybe until Brazil 2006) but boy do I remember him being passed in the most spectacular fashion by Villenueve, Montoya and Hakkinen (!!!!).. Schumacher knew how to take advantage of his opportunities, but any winning driver may have done the same. Yes, he was very fast and very consistent. His biggest strength: Concentration and physical fitness.. not to mention an indestructible Ferrari that did not know how to fail. An automatic winning combination. He's biggest accomplishment was getting the job done. He does have the credit of making Ferrari WC after 20 years of failures. But, was Ferrari successful thanks to his driving?.. or was Schumacher successful thanks to the Ferraris he drove?? Heyday: When Gachot was thrown into jail and Eddie Jordan requested Schumacher services for the Belgian GP in 1991. 5.- PROST: The brain. He could do with his brain what he could not accomplish with his hands. And by the way, he had a lot of talent in his hands. He had non-driving skills that, for starters, would give him the fastest car in the grid thanks to his setups and strategy. Excluding the pre-MP4 McLaren, he won races for every team he drove for. He had a perfect communication with the car, he knew exactly how to read its behavior in the track and how to translate it to his mechanics. He was not the most skilled driver in history, not a Clark nor a Senna talent by all means. But he knew how to take advantage of his intelligence to have results in races.. yes races, not qualifying, not fastest lap of a race, entire races!! A concept he understood only to the same level as Fangio and Stewart. A mature-controlled driver. He had the capacity not only to know what was going on with his car, but also what was going on with his competitor's cars and strategy. His dark side: Not wanting to race in unfavorable conditions, like when he waved his hand asking for the race to be finished in a soaking GP of Monaco 1984, or when he withdrew from Australia in 1989 under similar conditions. Not to mention his contact with Senna in Japan 1989 or when he declared that he could not be as fast as Senna in 1988. Pity! His greatest drive: Mexico 1990. To my opinion, the top 5 five are:
1.- FANGIO: 5 times world champion with 4 different teams in 7 complete seasons. Won in almost 50% of the races he started. He had very hard competition: Farina, Moss, Brooks, Hawthorne, Ascari, Fagioli, all of them excellent drivers. He stunned the racing world with his win in Nurburgring 1957 in spectacular fashion. Cars at that time did not were much different one to another and had no safety devices (neither did the tracks). They did not produce high g-forces but were extremely hard to control and to walk out of them alive after a spin, contact, collision or mechanical failure. GP races lasted more than 3 hours.. for those who think they were not demanding. Fangio was 39 in his first F1 season. He retired at 47.
2.- CLARK: Made pole in 45% of his starts. Could have won much more GPs if it wasn’t for his Lotus reliability problems. He won 4 races in 1967, Hulme won only 2 to claim the championship that year. Won 3 times in 1966 vs. Surtees championship 2 wins. He would’ve been 4 times WC under the so called “Medal System” recently proposed by Ecclestone. In his 72 starts he scored points in 40 races with 22 DNFs.. Only 2 of these DNFs were due to accidents or spins. He droved like a surgeon would operate. Raced “beast” cars, with no down force and powerful engines used for years to come. The best car-control driver in history. Best races: Monza 1967 and Indy 500 1965 (among many others). He died prematurely at the prime of his career.
3.- SENNA: His level of driving reached spiritual heights, as described by himself. He was a machine programmed to win no matter what. His mission: to defeat the best driver at that time: Prost!. At the start of races, you can see drivers wondering around their cars in the starting grid, giving interviews, talking with their engineers. Senna always stayed in his car with his eyes closed focusing on his next masterpiece. His pure desire of winning at all cost is his most powerful strength, thou his most criticized aspect. He claimed to have a sort of ‘divine right’ to win. That made him very determined, but very careless towards his other drivers in the same track. He had a lot of contacts, some of them unfair, like the one with Nannini in Hungary 1990 for 2nd place. Or the one with Nakajima while being on the lead and trying to lap him in Brazil 1990. Not to mention his WC-deciding contacts with Prost. Once interviewed by Stewart, the Scot questioned his aggressive driving. Senna responded with irritation saying that it’s part of racing if you have the determination to win. He would’ve been my #1 driver if it wasn’t for his selfishness. A WC driver cannot be #1 after claiming he collided an opponent in purpose to win the title, despite of the past circumstances (at least Schumacher said his accident with Hill in Adelaide ’94 was unintentional). Being interview by ESPN about his 1990 title minutes after his collision with Prost, Senna said: “It’s not the best feeling at all, is it?”.. He worn himself out so much by his conflict with Prost that it may seem that he was not enjoying driving anymore, in fact it made him almost bitter. But that conflict also made him faster and fueled his success hunger. Senna had a hot head, but also had the best pair of hands any steering wheel has ever been embraced with. Would have been 5+ WC if it wasn’t for his shocking death that made him an instant legend. Best drive: All his poles and GP of Europe 1993.
4.- SCHUMACHER: Very fast, very lucky. He finished in the podium in 2 out of every 3 races he started and won in more than a third of his starts. Well, he has all the records, enough said.. He did his job with excellence and race to perfection cars that were really a privilege to race with. But when he was under pressure, he did not was at the heights of expectations. Villenueve, Aloso and Hakkinen proove this point. He was not the cleanest of drivers either.. Ask Damon Hill in Australia 1994 or Villennueve in Jerez 1997 or any other driver in Monaco 2006. I don’t recall seeing a really good overtaking maneuver from his part (maybe until Brazil 2006) but boy do I remember him being passed in the most spectacular fashion by Villenueve, Montoya and Hakkinen (!!!!).. Schumacher knew how to take advantage of his opportunities, but any winning driver may have done the same. Yes, he was very fast and very consistent. His biggest strength: Concentration and physical fitness.. not to mention an indestructible Ferrari that did not know how to fail. An automatic winning combination. He’s biggest accomplishment was getting the job done. He does have the credit of making Ferrari WC after 20 years of failures. But, was Ferrari successful thanks to his driving?.. or was Schumacher successful thanks to the Ferraris he drove?? Heyday: When Gachot was thrown into jail and Eddie Jordan requested Schumacher services for the Belgian GP in 1991.
5.- PROST: The brain. He could do with his brain what he could not accomplish with his hands. And by the way, he had a lot of talent in his hands. He had non-driving skills that, for starters, would give him the fastest car in the grid thanks to his setups and strategy. Excluding the pre-MP4 McLaren, he won races for every team he drove for. He had a perfect communication with the car, he knew exactly how to read its behavior in the track and how to translate it to his mechanics. He was not the most skilled driver in history, not a Clark nor a Senna talent by all means. But he knew how to take advantage of his intelligence to have results in races.. yes races, not qualifying, not fastest lap of a race, entire races!! A concept he understood only to the same level as Fangio and Stewart. A mature-controlled driver. He had the capacity not only to know what was going on with his car, but also what was going on with his competitor’s cars and strategy. His dark side: Not wanting to race in unfavorable conditions, like when he waved his hand asking for the race to be finished in a soaking GP of Monaco 1984, or when he withdrew from Australia in 1989 under similar conditions. Not to mention his contact with Senna in Japan 1989 or when he declared that he could not be as fast as Senna in 1988. Pity! His greatest drive: Mexico 1990.

]]> By: Phil http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-149531 Phil Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:41:51 +0000 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/#comment-149531 Got to agree with Steve, Jim Clark should be in there. Even Jackie Stewart thought of him as a hero, and he's no mug. Don't forget, he won at the Indy 500 as well as in F1. Glad Schumacher is not in the 10, too many instances of cheating, starting with deliberately crashing into Hill in Australia to win his first title. Not a very pleasant man, despite being a very good driver. Got to agree with Steve, Jim Clark should be in there. Even Jackie Stewart thought of him as a hero, and he’s no mug. Don’t forget, he won at the Indy 500 as well as in F1. Glad Schumacher is not in the 10, too many instances of cheating, starting with deliberately crashing into Hill in Australia to win his first title. Not a very pleasant man, despite being a very good driver.

]]> By: steve http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-147816 steve Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:41:13 +0000 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/#comment-147816 I dont really know much about this stuff but from what i do know, Jim Clark, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Schumacher and Hakkinnen would have to be mine. I dont really know much about this stuff but from what i do know, Jim Clark, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Schumacher and Hakkinnen would have to be mine.

]]> By: Andy Wolf http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-147529 Andy Wolf Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:59:10 +0000 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/#comment-147529 And a bit of a cheat, too..... And a bit of a cheat, too…..

]]> By: Jolene http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-147512 Jolene Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:14:41 +0000 http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2008/03/02/the-top-100-f1-drivers-of-all-time-alan-henry-2008/#comment-147512 Oops, typo error! Schumi is in the top 100 but not in the top ten. He is only the greatest, ever! Oops, typo error! Schumi is in the top 100 but not in the top ten. He is only the greatest, ever!

]]>