F1 Fanatic

Peterson does often get overlooked, he definitely deserves the mention @debaser91 . From the modern era I’d say JPM, he was certainly good enough to win a championship even though his own antics held him back a lot of the time, and Kubica obviously.

To pick a couple of oldies out of my memory, Jackie Ickx is definitely near the top of my list, Carlos Reutemann and perhaps Rene Arnoux on there too.

Nick Heidfeld would be rather (or first) on the list of the best pilots never to win a GP…

Gilles Villeneuve. If it was a specific year I still believe Massa was electric in 08 however, overall it has to be Gilles. Cevert gets a big nod too. Oh, and Alesi definitely. I think Arnoux and DC are underrated but they don’t quite make this list for me.

I wouldn’t mention Kubica because to be brutally honest, I never rated him as much as many seemed to. He was good but in 09 the only performance I can remember from him was Brazil and Heidfeld impressed me much more and I think a great driver is determined by how well they do in the bad years plus in 08 he did a good and consistent job but I have no idea how quick he really is as he was beaten by Nick and then ended up with the inconsistent crashtastic Petrov as a team mate.

A few names I would throw in for consideration who have not been mentioned in posts so far.
They failed to win titles for various reasons but if things had been different I think they had the talent
Castellotti, Musso, Brooks, Von Tripps, Gurney, certainly Amon & Bellof.

Rubens is tough because he was dominated by Schu (although he did put in some truly astounding performances when the mood took him) but I felt did a pretty decent job in 09. I don’t think he deserved that title and maybe he hasn’t ever been WDC material but I still rate him as a great driver to never win but with the others mentioned I always felt that they could/should have won a WDC and that’s the difference for me.

Oops. I forgot Bellof. I’m not sure he was around long enough for me to be convinced of him but he seemed like he could have been a super talent. I know many love the late 80s because of the mighty Prost vs Senna but it didn’t quite hit the spot for me particularly when it was obvious Mclaren would win everything. When I think of the late 80s I can’t help but think of what could have been: Gilles was dead as were Bellof and Elio, Pironi was out, Lauda really did go, Piquet was never in a decent car and Mansell barely had a chance either. Prost and Senna was enthralling but the stories could have been so much better.

Moss and Villeneuve seem to be the obvious choices. I would say, from what I’ve read or seen (retrospectively), Ickx, Peterson, Reutemann and Peter Collins were very good drivers who didn’t quite get there either. Ickx in particular was racing during a period of some pretty good drivers, but was often in a clearly inferior car.

Of those I’ve seen, maybe Montoya or Alesi would be the drivers who were the best not to win the championship.

Some time ago I’d have said Massa. In 2008 he deserved to win (I’m not saying he deserved the title more than Hamilton – just that based on that year’s performance, he deserved to win a title), but he has not always been consistent. I still think that without the crash he’d have been better, so I can say that when he was at his peak, Massa deserved at least a title.
Gilles Villeneuve definitely was a great racer, and it has always made me sad to think he hasn’t won a title.
Bellof as well could have proven himself as a good driver in Formula 1 had he had more luck. I think (although we can’t predict how someone would have performed – it’s more of a personal convinction) we were robbed of a future world championship.
Alesi, Berger and Capelli were three drivers who performed incredibly at times, but that for wrong decisions/bad luck could never prove themselves. Before Alesi and Capelli went to Ferrari, they were judged as future winners of the title and I think there were all the signs to believe so, and that they would’ve won eventually had they followed a different route. Berger had chances to prove himself with great cars, and although he was worse than Prost and Senna he was a good driver who could’ve won if he had not found these two great champions on his way. Barrichello could’ve done the same, and also Coulthard, although I rate Rubens higher than David for personal preference. Patrese as well, and I think he was better than both Barrichello and Coulthard.
Ricardo Rodriguez died too young before he could prove his talent, but his few races showed he had incredible speed considering his age.
Fagioli was already old when F1 started, but he was consistently second-fastest in the 1950 season, and he won a race in 1951, sharing the drive with Fangio, for which he holds the record as oldest race winner. Also, he finished 2nd in the 1935 European Championship.

Most of the names mentioned already are pretty on the mark. I go with Ronnie Petersen or Carlos Reutemann personally but a few other names who spring to mind include Tony Brooks, Jacky Ickx, Jacques Laffite, Didier Pironi, Michele Alboreto.