Who Was The Fastest F1 Driver Ever!

[stopkidding 0]

Never have falser words been spoken. Nah your opinion is fine, I couldn't disagree more of course! In my opinion he would destroy Mansell if they were team-mates, and I believe he would have the measure of Piquet too, to a lesser extent though. Prost and Senna were the best of their generation in my opinion, and what a great generation it was.

A perfect excuse to post some Senna videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_5DB91pM-U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeuegZsK4tg

I know those vids are unlikely to change your opinion, and technically don't prove anything, but who cares...

love those videos! every time i see those i cant help but wonder how much tamer the cars have become these days....the current cars might be quicker, but they are a lot easier to driver....great stuff!

[Elizabeth Sterling 0]

Senna. I thought so before his death, I think so now.

[Bro. 0]

Well its extremely hard to compare era's isn't is but the calibre of Racers in the 80's would have to go down as the best ever era.

You Had Jones, Schecter, Villeneuve, Pironi, Laffite, Arnoux, Tambay, Piquet, Prost, Watson, Daly, Andretti, Fittipaldi, Senna, Mansell, Bellof, Brundle, Berger, Warwick, Alboreto, Johnasson, Lauda, Rosberg, Cheever, De Chersis, De Angelis, Alesi, Palmer, Martini, Herbert, Pirro, Patrese, Nannini, Boutsen, Gulleman, Capelli, that was cut throat in those days and you had Pre Qualifying and Qualifying.

Thats 36 of the best,

Hey, why Would Senna want to block Warwick from joining the same team, was Warwick was one of those, Oh what may have been? drivers - Like Mark Webber?

[suomenpankki 0]

1. Keke Rosberg

2. Mika H

[Bro. 0]

Australia 93 Mika Hakkinen.

[Elizabeth Sterling 0]

Never have falser words been spoken. Nah your opinion is fine, I couldn't disagree more of course! In my opinion he would destroy Mansell if they were team-mates, and I believe he would have the measure of Piquet too, to a lesser extent though. Prost and Senna were the best of their generation in my opinion, and what a great generation it was.

A perfect excuse to post some Senna videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_5DB91pM-U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeuegZsK4tg

I know those vids are unlikely to change your opinion, and technically don't prove anything, but who cares...

Just gone through these videos. I never got tired of the way Ayrton drove the car, it's an absolute thrill. Notice that in slow corners he boots the power down and gets the rear end to swing around, especially evident in Lowes. He's just so adept at using the power to extract the maximum available from every corner. It's such a brilliant display of skill and just heightens the arguments against TC in F1.

[Medilloni 6]

All influenced by our (individual) age, experience, exposure to media (more now than the past for example) - so fun to do, but who knows?

But for me, if all of the top drivers over time were a pint of Guiness, then the 'seriously quick' guys are the dark bit. The gorgeous, to be savoured, white bit at the top is the Senna, Schumi, Ronnie Peterson, Gilles and so on, and so on, ALL magic drivers in other words. So freakin good they make your skin crawl when watching them.

What's above the white top of the Guiness? The teensy-weensy bit called 'surface tension'. That's another name for Jim Clark. Whatever he drove (and he drove many cars and classes all at once), whenever you watched him, you knew you'd weep when he was gone, you knew you'd never be able to see enough of his driving even if you saw him in every race he did. You'd seen something above special, Senna was the closest (only my opinion), but the serenity of Clark was missing.

Wonderful guys - all of them.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

All influenced by our (individual) age, experience, exposure to media (more now than the past for example) - so fun to do, but who knows?

But for me, if all of the top drivers over time were a pint of Guiness, then the 'seriously quick' guys are the dark bit. The gorgeous, to be savoured, white bit at the top is the Senna, Schumi, Ronnie Peterson, Gilles and so on, and so on, ALL magic drivers in other words. So freakin good they make your skin crawl when watching them.

What's above the white top of the Guiness? The teensy-weensy bit called 'surface tension'. That's another name for Jim Clark. Whatever he drove (and he drove many cars and classes all at once), whenever you watched him, you knew you'd weep when he was gone, you knew you'd never be able to see enough of his driving even if you saw him in every race he did. You'd seen something above special, Senna was the closest (only my opinion), but the serenity of Clark was missing.

Wonderful guys - all of them.

ok, after this post of yours I gotta go check some Jim Clark youtube vids, if there is....

[Max Mosley 2]

A driver can only be compared against his peers, that is why comparing drivers of different eras is pointless. To say that Michael had less competition than Senna is plain rubbish and only serves to prove how supremely talented Michael was. If Michael had competed with Prost, Senna et al he would have dominated them in the same way that he dominated his peers.

I am inclined to agree that Jim Clark is the only driver that is consistently rated as the best regardless of era.

It's hard enough comparing drivers of the same era. Observe the Kimi vs Nando vs Lewis vs etc debate... I'm interested in the idea Senna wasn't as amazing as he's often said to be.

I agree, Michael changed the sport a lot. Senna was probably as dedicated in my opinion, there's a story of him working on his own car at about six in the morning before anyone else had entered the pits. Like I said, I think they are quite similar, what I will say is I think Schumacher was the only driver who maintained his dedication throughout his career. As for fitness affecting speed, I'm not sure, Kimi is supposedly unfit (relative to other drivers) yet he's pretty quick!

Oh? I think he's unfit. Do you know who else has said it? I'm interested in driver fitness, you see...

[BradSpeedMan 6]

It's hard enough comparing drivers of the same era. Observe the Kimi vs Nando vs Lewis vs etc debate... I'm interested in the idea Senna wasn't as amazing as he's often said to be.

Oh? I think he's unfit. Do you know who else has said it? I'm interested in driver fitness, you see...

You do not actually wanna see Kimi really fit.....destroy is too subtle a word to what he'll do to the competition!

[Argento Reloaded 1]

1. Keke Rosberg

2. Mika H

[Max Mosley 2]

Quite possibly Bradley! Quite possibly!

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Quite possibly Bradley! Quite possibly!

it sounds like you don't believe me.... it's a shame...

[LabradoRacer 2]

Michael Schumacher.

Michael , please come back on the track & blow this debate out of the water. I beg you.

[Max Mosley 2]

it sounds like you don't believe me.... it's a shame...

I'm not disagreeing. I'm too tired to think much about it right now, that's all. Maybe he would, for all I know!

[Rainmaster 7]

ok, after this post of yours I gotta go check some Jim Clark youtube vids, if there is....

Don't know if you've seen but this is one of my faves, Clark was very special.

[DOF_power 0]

You know, I remember the days when F1 drivers just jumped in their cars and raced - Racing in those days was mainly down to instinct, guts, determination and skill. At the end of the race the guys would slope off with a gorgeous woman for more racy stuff in the bedroom - F1 drivers were playboys and that was the attraction to many a young man.

It all changed around about the time of Michael - This guy would look fresh as a daisy after a grueling 70 lap race of Monaco and would be all smiles and energy. Michael brought skill coupled with supreme fitness and dedication - F1 drivers were now referred to as athletes - The playboy days ended with the likes of Berger, although Jenson did his best to revive them and promptly lost his Benneton drive to the supremely dedicated Nando.

Like Jesse Owens would not have been able to compete with Carl Lewis, the older generation would not have been able to keep up with the current generation of drivers.

F1 is not what it was thanks to Michael

I agree.

But it goes both ways. Give today's drivers the fragile/unreliable/death-traps of the past, and you'd have to hope/pray for the drivers to safely wreak the cars before they'll suffer fatal accidents.

[DOF_power 0]

Just gone through these videos. I never got tired of the way Ayrton drove the car, it's an absolute thrill. Notice that in slow corners he boots the power down and gets the rear end to swing around, especially evident in Lowes. He's just so adept at using the power to extract the maximum available from every corner. It's such a brilliant display of skill and just heightens the arguments against TC in F1.

And his death heightens the argument for TC.

As well as the fact that in 1993 he drove an active ride racer with TC and in Senna was at its very finest.

[Fed up 0]

I agree.

But it goes both ways. Give today's drivers the fragile/unreliable/death-traps of the past, and you'd have to hope/pray for the drivers to safely wreak the cars before they'll suffer fatal accidents.

An F1 driver drives the car regardless of the perceived safety net that the current cars benefit from - If a driver is about to crash he doesn't feel reassured of the huge strives in safety over the years, he expects pain and is only relieved if/when he comes to with no damage or injury. An F1 driver would take the same risks regardless of era - It is only the consequences that are less severe.

I therefore don't buy into the argument that the current crop of drivers would wince at the risks of driving an F1 car of old - A car's a car's a car.

[DOF_power 0]

An F1 driver drives the car regardless of the perceived safety net that the current cars benefit from - If a driver is about to crash he doesn't feel reassured of the huge strives in safety over the years, he expects pain and is only relieved if/when he comes to with no damage or injury. An F1 driver would take the same risks regardless of era - It is only the consequences that are less severe.

I therefore don't buy into the argument that the current crop of drivers would wince at the risks of driving an F1 car of old - A car's a car's a car.

When Villeneuve drove the Lotus 72 he said it didn't provide him with the safety feeling the c#ckpit of a modern F1.

And that plays a major part.

Pushing the limits even by 0.001 in old car could mean death.

Not pushing the limits today on the other hand would get you fired. Pat Symonds of Renault F1 said in podcast the they must a car that is friendly and predictable so that the driver can take it to the limit and beyond it. And Nico Rosberg said he knows he makes mistakes but the gains outscore the losses.

So it's quite different.

But tough today's drivers would have to change their driving style, aproach and pshycology to drive something like those old cars, in the end they'd still do it (race in F1).

Why ?!

Because the atraction is the same regardless of era. Grand Prix, it's highest Formula was and is seen as the pinacle, and its machines are seen as Jos

[goferrarigo 0]

When Villeneuve drove the Lotus 72 he said it didn't provide him with the safety feeling the c#ckpit of a modern F1.

And that plays a major part.

Pushing the limits even by 0.001 in old car could mean death.

Not pushing the limits today on the other hand would get you fired. Pat Symonds of Renault F1 said in podcast the they must a car that is friendly and predictable so that the driver can take it to the limit and beyond it. And Nico Rosberg said he knows he makes mistakes but the gains outscore the losses.

So it's quite different.

But tough today's drivers would have to change their driving style, aproach and pshycology to drive something like those old cars, in the end they'd still do it (race in F1).

Why ?!

Because the atraction is the same regardless of era. Grand Prix, it's highest Formula was and is seen as the pinacle, and its machines are seen as Jos

[Elizabeth Sterling 0]

And his death heightens the argument for TC.

Care to explain how?

As well as the fact that in 1993 he drove an active ride racer with TC and in Senna was at its very finest.

Extremely debatable, not to mention attributable to co-incidence.

[clay 0]

with schumacher he never had a quick teammate, except for massa, but even massa was still learning then and wasnt at his best. schumachers teamates were PK past his prime, brundle, patrese past his prime, lehto, verstappen, herbert, irvine, barrichello, massa. it makes it very hard to compare him to other greats. with senna, he was teamates with prost, hakkinen and hill, thats 3 world champions, and berger was not too shabby. its gotta be senna. mika outqualified senna in portugal but a whisper, then senna replied by qualifying on the front row at suzuka and pole at adelaide winning both races. mika 2day is still considered quicker than schuey. its definately senna by a long way

[schumi4ever 0]

His death has created an almost superhuman type myth that wasn't borne out when he was competing. Admittedly, he had some excellent races, but so have Prost, Nando, Kimi, Mansell, Piquet, Gilles, Michael etc etc

Without being disrespectful to senna or senna fans i tend to agree with you on this. I still think senna is clearly one of the all time greats of the sport, but I think you're right about his death and that it changed peoples perception of him. I think thats just human nature though. After something as tragic as death, it forces people to look back and remember the greatness of someone, and this greatness is often heightened in peoples minds after someone has gone.

I must admit though, I probably was a bit too young at the time to fully appreciate senna's ability. However seeing videos of him and reading some incredible quotes by him certainly makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I just wonder if these things would have the same affect on me had he still been alive today?

having said all this, I think its near impossible to ever figure out who the fastest f1 driver of all time is. There are way too many factors, opinions etc... Unless you had all those people on the list racing together at the same time in exactly the same cars, you're not going to find out. But of course people will always have their opinions

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Don't know if you've seen but this is one of my faves, Clark was very special.

I now see what the fuss is about...... the guy had balls on fire!!!

I thank thee for the footage the rainmaster