Poll: Who do You Rate as the Greatest World Champion of All Time?

[Caton XII]

I've gone for Fangio. No fancy electronic gimmicks in the cars he has driven. Just pure Power. I don't think the *modern drivers* could race those cars like he did.

I thought the same for my poll !

 

[Erwin Greven]

I would say the same other way around.

 

[Martin Maaskant]

I've picked Senna. The main reason was his lasting influence on the sport and for his behaviour off track.

 

[grahamw]

I would say that it's a bit of a non question in actuality a bit like who is the greatest in any sport as there are so many factors which change with age, technology, the whole ethos of the sport which has been massive in GP.

The best the records show that is Shumi but was he the greatest person in F1 probably not but then people like Ruben's could be nominated in that category yet doesn't even hold a world title.

For entertainment you can't rule out any of the winners as at the time they won even the seldom mentioned Jochen Rindt achieved as much as any other winner in his fight for improved safety of the sport and was ironically the only winner to be awarded the title after his death.

If you like the greatest could be who won against the odds who is the Leicester City of F1 surely that is not something you can forget about. Surely the biggest achivement (not necesarily the greatest) is that winner as to who that is may be we should ask that question as well it would making interesting reading.

Senna brought so much skill and entertainment to his era but comparing greats in any sport is more opinion and younger people have little or no knowledge of those who came before so are only influenced by others and things have changed massively in what is now a technical world which quite simply would be alien to many of the drivers of yester year.

I have been watching F1 re runs of the 1970's with sound off (as my understanding of German makes the commentary some what meaningless) and whilst facinating I find them harder to compare than say the late 80's and 90' s. If you get a chance watch some of historical video's and see if that colours your judgement is your opinion based on what you have been told or personal observation?

 

[Enagee]

Knew Schumacher would have the most votes, personally i feel during that era Ferrari had something secret advantage going on which never got found out, and there was also preference from the team to win, asking his team mates to move aside for him....team mates were too obedient and would let him pass.

Voted Alonso because he won his championships with a less faster car and pushed to the limit always. Would have voted senna but that wasn't my era so voted who;s relevant to me.

 

[xnorb]

Senna, although i kept watching F1 a few years afterwards, this sport basically died for me with Senna.

Of course many others on this list would also deserve my vote, but well, guess it's influenced a lot by which F1 era you claim yours.

 

[Erwin Greven]

Voted Alonso because he won his championships with a less faster car and pushed to the limit always. Would have voted senna but that wasn't my era so voted who;s relevant to me.

Even today Alonso gets more out of a car than it allows to. What he did with that notorious bad McLaren - Honda, is beyond me. 54 points seems to be ridiculous low. But when you look how many times his car failed him.

 

[Deleted member 130869]

I am quite set on my top 3, but this topic is so hard. I ranked the drivers in a previous page (here) but that list from 5th onward can be so volatile depending on the day of the week. For example, Brabham may be an over-reach but he built his own team, and won. Ascari is based of nearly non-existing footage but on words of his peers in describing him, and his pioneering. Schumi was a numbers monster but it wasn't just him, plus how he performed under certain adversity definitely moved him lower than he could be - in my list. Alonso, Vettel, and Hamilton would come immediately after those guys.

 

[Erwin Greven]

Ascari was a driver who, when he was in front, was unbeatable. Even for Fangio. But Enzo Ferrari also stated that Alberto had difficulties when he wasn't in front. He was not great in overtaking others. Farina was much better in that. But in contrary Farina was a very dangerous driver who had no respect for his competitors while racing.
Brabham could have won a fouth title in 1967. But as he was the leader in Brabham, he would get every updated engine or car earlier than Denny Hulme. That cost him a lot of points because the Brabham would fail on him many times, while Hulme drove the more reliable older cars to victory.

 

[Deleted member 130869]

I do wish there could be more on Nuvolari. Reading about him is almost folkloric. I am sure he was an inspiration to a few 50's and 60's racers.

 

[fortyfivekev]

I do wish there could be more on Nuvolari. Reading about him is almost folkloric. I am sure he was an inspiration to a few 50's and 60's racers.

There are some other great guys from before the championship started. I've always been a big fan of Bernd Rosemeyer and the Chris Nixon biography is well worth reading if you want to get some insight into racing in the 1930's.

 

[fastfab]

I voted Prost.
But it was a huge (huge) tie with Senna.

If you take the point of view of the stats, and the F1 as a sport, Shumi is the natural winner of this poll. Probably the most efficient and regular driver. The guy was the dream of ANY team owner. And his carrer and tragic end commands respect.
But...
But if you take the point of view of us, the crowd.
The people that don't see the paddock often.
The people that have a hard time to picture all the sacrifices, efforts and work those teams and drivers have to do in order to keep the F1 circus running...
The people that thrills on a 2h time span that transfigure the sport, where F1 become much more that the sum of his parts like metrics, engineers, drivers, sport, cars, track, apex... When the connection is done and the passion start to rise. When from pure rational science efficiency emerge anger, revenge, stupidity, self-control, daredevil, guts, torn steel, flesh, fire, flamboyance, magic, myth and... death.
Well, only one was the good, the bad and the ugly all in one person.
Only Senna in my eyes represent the quintessence that a Grand Prix victory is, and its price.


So why Prost?
Damn i'm a french *ah* and that guy manage to be on par with Senna and to earn his respect... ^^

 

[Robert_S]

Ayrton Senna

 

[nangu]

It's really hard to make a choice between great champions from so different F1 eras, techs, "fear factor" and circuits.

I voted Fangio because He won 5 WDC in a very very dangerous F1 era, with a fierce competition, and because I'm from Argentina too

But, If I base my vote on the drivers I watched drive, my choice would be for Ayrton Senna. It's sad Gilles never won a championship, I still remember how hard I cried when He died :-(

 

[Jempy]

Very difficult choice for just 1 answer
Different times, different safety conditions, different rules .... so I had to do the choice of the heart .. for Jim Clark.

I still remember those years when I was a kid and seeing all those intrepid drivers driving at Francorchamps ( name for long Spa at the time ) in the pouring rain ... when my dad took be to the GP Races at this nearest track.... 1962 when he won the Belgian GP I think ( it must be that one as it's the one with the lowest average speed ).
Jim Clark was also a very eclectic driver ... F1, F2, Indy and even Touring cars ( Cortina Lotus ).

Difficult choice also .... because there are in the list so many great drivers.
2nd choice for Fangio and third for Senna.
And a special mention for Rindt, Gilles Villeneuve, Keke Rosberg, Mansell and Raikkonen for their fighting spirit whatever the quality of the car they were driving.
No ...I don't forget Schumacher ... great champion also of course ...surely the greatest Ferrari team for years at this time.

 

[Deleted member 130869]

So I was trying to gather videos on a lot of the champions, especially my top 10, but sadly the quality of the "Legends of F1" video uploads varies wildly. While I failed to get that done, and thus get a similarly-made program about each driver, at least these videos of 3 of my top 4 are of great quality.

Ayrton (other parts in description):

Jimmy (it never ceases to amaze how a farmboy had such gift):

Jackie:

 

[formidable]

For me: first, two drivers: Fangio and Senna.

And third, Alonso with Stewart.

 

[Jimlaad43]

I voted Hamilton, just for the hate I'll receive

 

[Luke Maney]

Mario was the best!
Senna, Jackie,Graham Hill and are a close second.

Mario was not only a F1 champion, but a Indycar champ, winner of the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500 as well as the Le Mans 24 hrs. He raced sprint cars and did the Pikes Peak hillclimb. Nope, all the other racers were chumps compared to Mario Andretti. Mario is what is called an 'All Arounder', he can go fast in anything and win! Mario is still alive and well, he was no fool. He knew when to push and when to backoff (unlike many greats that died like Rindt/Clark/Rodriques/Siffert/Bandini/etc...........). So, as you can see from my post he is my favorite.

But for pure Formula One prowess, I would say Senna and Jackie are tied for 1st.

(This post is just my opinion, so don't trash me please?)

 

[Gringo]

@Gui Cramer

I just noticed after many years studying these guys, JC and AS both describe the racing limits in remarkably the same way, in there own words, separated by decades of time.

JC describes it as never pushing the car, but instead intense concentration could make him faster... where AS stated that he believed you could intensely focus on "something" and extract even more out of it.

... just great.