Best pilot EVER!!

[a007apl]

Senna its Crazy in your drivers and in old time dont have much tecnology, have very good pilots 8)

[stracing]

i'd loked at ech era and see what equipmen they had and what excitement they brought. i think the early days of f1 would be great to watch, aerodnamics and electronics were virtually nil. it really relied on skill and the whatever grip you had in your tires. so my choice would have to be another. i'd pick schumacher because he is my favourite driver but i reckon modern cars are just too easy for him.

[kteo2003]

there is nothing to compare...the father of jack villeneuve and senna are the top...

[Caplax40]

Best pilot ever? Easy! Chuck Yeager!

[a007apl]

F1 dont have more fighters.
One race begin Schumacher,Schumacher,...
If he goes to McLaren?

One race begin Schumacher,Schumacher,...?
Ferrari at this moment have the better car of F1
in years 80 Mc Laren(Senna & Prost) wins.
Car + best pilot = winner
Remeber in Monaco Senna in the rain?(2º place)
no good car but the best Pilot 8)

[astonmartinandy]

If you look at the facts, Schumacher is the best driver (as with my personal opinion). However, even withstanding the six world championships, there will never be a definitive argument either way as to the best driver as too many of the drivers are no longer here today for a direct comparison! Unless somebody can come up with an objective means of comparison?!

[speedyPete]

Cmon...no contest. :fist: Ayrton Senna was the greatest ever. EVER :!: If you look at the competition he had to go up against (prost, piquet, mansel among others) and he still dominated the sport. Shumacher although very good has NO...repeat NO... competition going against him. The only competition he did have was Mika Hakinnen and when Mika put his mind to it he was better than shumacher.

Besides... WRC drivers are the best drivers out there today

[SPAD]

Have u ever thought that der is a reason he has no competition?And besides schumie was beating senna in a slower car.

[speedyPete]

If your referring to the williams renault senna was driving in 94 that car was definately not quicker than shumie's benneton at that time. Williams had all kind of problems setting it up properly and if you remember senna's teamate damon hill (who by the way beat shumacher a couple years later for the drivers title) was consistently lapped by senna.

[PATo355]

Senna might be good but i thinked a little and i think its Schumacher

[sameerrao]

This is a tough one ...

I guess the responses here would be by the best pilot that you have been exposed to - people watching racing in the 60s would plump for Clark while today's generation would give Schumacher the nod ... All worthy choices but extremely subjective to choose between...

For the fun of it, I would like to think about it from analyzing the parts as well as taking the whole...

Raw Speed - Qualifying
1. Ayrton Senna
2. Jim Clark
3. Mika Hakkinen

There will never be another Senna - the man was magic when it mattered - the dying minutes of qualifying when Senna would pop out for the final run and everyone would hold their breath waiting for the inevitable pole position. Jim Clark was also supremely fast frequently starting from Pole. Mika was dynamite when the car was supreme.. he was rarely out-qualified by David. Michael also deserves a place here for consistently fast qualifying

Raw Speed - Race
1. Jim Clark
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Bernd Rosemayer

Jim Clark would virtually lead his races unless there were car related problems. Michael has had several epic drives and has the most # of fastest laps ever. Bernd Rosemayer drove Auto Unions for a brief period in the 30s before his untimely death. His raw speed had an unearthly quality about it.

Wet weather Skills
1. Rudolf Caracciola
2. Ayrton Senna
3. Michael Schumacher

Caracciola (drove for Mercedes Benz in the 30s) was the original "regenmeister" (Rain master) - he had that special feel that made him truly special in wet conditions. Senna and Schumacher are also exemplary in the wet. Ranking Caracciola above these two masters just indicates the quality of Caracciola

Race Craft
1. Alain Prost
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Niki Lauda

Le Professor Alain Prost waas the consummate thinker - he would win at the slowest possible speeds like Jackie Stewart a decade before. And he was only a little bit slower than Ayrton was.. Michael was the master of thinking strategically while racing at ten-tenths - he could adapt to any problem or any strategy. Niki

Bravery
1. Gilles Villenueve
2. Ayrton Senna
3. Nigel Mansell

Villenueve demonstrated tremendous bravery in taking it to the 11/10s very often. He was always on the edge of disaster. Senna and Mansell were extremely brave drivers who drove with no fear and balls out always...

Car control
1. Gilles Villenueve
2. Tazio Nuvolari
3. Ayrton Senna

Villenueve could recover from slides like no one else .. perhaps his snowmobile racing helped hone his skills in this regard. Nuvolari was able to do stuff in cars that others could only dream about. Senna was famous for his throttle control and feel during the wet

Physical Fitness
1. Michael Schumacher
2. Ayrton Senna (in the 90s)
3. Juan Manuel Fangio

Michael comes out as fresh as a daisy while the opposition would look as if they ran the half-marathon. Senna was a weakling but worked himself into one of the fittest ever. Fangio raced in a time when the drivers were fat but the tyres thin - but the man was indefatigable - practice from endurance racing in south America before his GP career.

Determination/Will power
1. Ayrton Senna
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Tazio Nuvolari

Senna was the most intellectual of the lot and his determination to win at all costs was frightening to witness sometimes. While Senna could be classified as obsessive (aprticlurlarly w.r.t. Prost), Michael was determined and thoughtful - he works harder than the rest and does not just depend on his considerable driving talent

Best Driver - overall

I would give my vote to Tazio Nuvolari (Nivola)
- for his car control
- for his bravery
- for more than 30 years of racing at the top drawer level
- Epic Nurburgring and Mille Miglia drives - stuff of legends
- Rated by Enzo Ferrari as the best ever....

[5vz-fe]

Damn sameerrao, very very good category break down.

[EthanGilles]

Gilles Villeneuve

No arguments, please :lol:

[yg60m]

This is a tough one ...

I guess the responses here would be by the best pilot that you have been exposed to - people watching racing in the 60s would plump for Clark while today's generation would give Schumacher the nod ... All worthy choices but extremely subjective to choose between...

For the fun of it, I would like to think about it from analyzing the parts as well as taking the whole...

Raw Speed - Qualifying
1. Ayrton Senna
2. Jim Clark
3. Mika Hakkinen

There will never be another Senna - the man was magic when it mattered - the dying minutes of qualifying when Senna would pop out for the final run and everyone would hold their breath waiting for the inevitable pole position. Jim Clark was also supremely fast frequently starting from Pole. Mika was dynamite when the car was supreme.. he was rarely out-qualified by David. Michael also deserves a place here for consistently fast qualifying

Raw Speed - Race
1. Jim Clark
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Bernd Rosemayer

Jim Clark would virtually lead his races unless there were car related problems. Michael has had several epic drives and has the most # of fastest laps ever. Bernd Rosemayer drove Auto Unions for a brief period in the 30s before his untimely death. His raw speed had an unearthly quality about it.

Wet weather Skills
1. Rudolf Caracciola
2. Ayrton Senna
3. Michael Schumacher

Caracciola (drove for Mercedes Benz in the 30s) was the original "regenmeister" (Rain master) - he had that special feel that made him truly special in wet conditions. Senna and Schumacher are also exemplary in the wet. Ranking Caracciola above these two masters just indicates the quality of Caracciola

Race Craft
1. Alain Prost
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Niki Lauda

Le Professor Alain Prost waas the consummate thinker - he would win at the slowest possible speeds like Jackie Stewart a decade before. And he was only a little bit slower than Ayrton was.. Michael was the master of thinking strategically while racing at ten-tenths - he could adapt to any problem or any strategy. Niki

Bravery
1. Gilles Villenueve
2. Ayrton Senna
3. Nigel Mansell

Villenueve demonstrated tremendous bravery in taking it to the 11/10s very often. He was always on the edge of disaster. Senna and Mansell were extremely brave drivers who drove with no fear and balls out always...

Car control
1. Gilles Villenueve
2. Tazio Nuvolari
3. Ayrton Senna

Villenueve could recover from slides like no one else .. perhaps his snowmobile racing helped hone his skills in this regard. Nuvolari was able to do stuff in cars that others could only dream about. Senna was famous for his throttle control and feel during the wet

Physical Fitness
1. Michael Schumacher
2. Ayrton Senna (in the 90s)
3. Juan Manuel Fangio

Michael comes out as fresh as a daisy while the opposition would look as if they ran the half-marathon. Senna was a weakling but worked himself into one of the fittest ever. Fangio raced in a time when the drivers were fat but the tyres thin - but the man was indefatigable - practice from endurance racing in south America before his GP career.

Determination/Will power
1. Ayrton Senna
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Tazio Nuvolari

Senna was the most intellectual of the lot and his determination to win at all costs was frightening to witness sometimes. While Senna could be classified as obsessive (aprticlurlarly w.r.t. Prost), Michael was determined and thoughtful - he works harder than the rest and does not just depend on his considerable driving talent

Best Driver - overall

I would give my vote to Tazio Nuvolari (Nivola)
- for his car control
- for his bravery
- for more than 30 years of racing at the top drawer level
- Epic Nurburgring and Mille Miglia drives - stuff of legends
- Rated by Enzo Ferrari as the best ever....


Ok, it's a big quote but i wanted to thank you for this detailled review. Very accurate. In F1 mag they made a rank with more than 70 people (drivers/ journalists ...) and the winner is ... Ayrton Senna :D He really put his mark on minds for his spirituality, his involvment ... I can't forget it too. :(

[astonmartinandy]

Full marks for the analysis there. I have serious respect for Senna as I think in a race his overtaking style was incredible, but for overall title as the finest driver the precision and skill of Schumacher, to dominate for so many years, cannot be ignored. Oh I like the final conclusion of Nuvolari at the end of it all!

[SPAD]

No doubt senna was an amazing driver but i think that the the juornalists are going to be a bit bias because senna was one of the first talented and succesful driver of there time.But i have not seen senna race that many times and i did not grow up with the passion he brought to formula one at the time so mabe if i had i might be thinking differently. :?:

[szumszer]

schumi had no peers, except for mika, only briefly and at best nowhere near the competition senna had, so there is no question in my mind that both senna and prost were as good or better drivers than schumi, however he has broken almost all records, and it is hardly his fault that he has no equal to challenge him, schumi stands alone in that regard, however given proper competition he would not be today where he is, at the top of f1 racing, senna was probably the best f1 driver ever, but schumi will always be the greatest and most accomplished

[astonmartinandy]

Isn't just as much an indication of success that Schumacher actually has no peers when he races today? As in not one racing driver can currently challenge him consistently but Senna had regular competition in very race?

[a007apl]

Guys, remember In Japan prost crash senna, senna return to race and wins but FIA fall Senna.
NEVER another piolt made one race equal!
eh eh in the yera later, Senna crash prost too and wins the competition , eh eh

[a007apl]

hey, rembember that race in the rain (england if i correct) :?:
Senna in the first lap wins 6 cars , eh eh

[stradale]

Until sameerrao came along with his excellent post I wondered why Nuvolari wasn't mentioned. He definately belongs up there.

I'm not going to pick a winner though. It's impossible to compare them. What I can do is name a couple of what I think are the greatest drivers ever. In that case I come up with Tazio Nuvolari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jackie Stewart, Stirling Moss, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

[tekwar]

I think its impossible to compare, they all belong in their own era.
But if i had to pick my "favorite", it would definitely be Senna.....

[a007apl]

Think in one nice race, nice laps, who wins that race :?:

[stradale]

^^ Then the problem is determining in what kind of car...

[astonmartinandy]

The trouble is actually finding a means of fair comparison between all of the great drivers that have been mentioned. To be honest I don't think we will ever agree on any of these drivers being proved any better than any other!

[a007apl]

the question its if you remember one great racer, who whins that:] :?: :mrgreen:

[szumszer]

he has no peers because currently there is no one driving at that level, most drivers are young and inexperienced, some are old and were never that good in the first place, both senna and prost, were as good as schmi is now, if he had to compete against someone like that during every race, all season long, he would be sweating a lot more at the end of each race, and would not win as many world championships (mika was a mere distraction, he was not a driver of senna/prost's status or skill level); another component is that schumi's ferrari is more reliable and much safer than cars other great drivers drove (technical aids matter here a lot less, as schumi, prost and senna are on same pinnacle of driving skills), drivers used to get hurt and die much more frequently in f1, as recently as a few years ago, last few championships were won by schumi while driving under super safe conditions (when was the last time someone died in f1, did i miss something?), with clearly the best car/tire combo, wealthiest team in f1 and no one even close to his skill/experience level, both prost and senna had it much tougher, they had to compete against each other and other world champions: one question, when was the last time schumi had to compete against more than one world champion??? another question, when did he compete even with one single world champion who was as great as senna and/or prost??? i love schumi and he is great, perhaps the greatest, but there needs to be some measuring stick used to gauge greatness, number of championships is not the best indicator, who you compete against to get the championships seems like a better way to judge

[SPAD]

now that schumi has the 6th championship and i think will get a 7th.I would like to see drivers like mika and jacques come back and give him a challenge.Or get kimmi in a better car.

But i do agree u will never be able to trully say who is better.all different arras had different challenges.

[3D_CARD]

Senna may well be the best qualifier of all time or the fastest over a single lap, but Schumi is certainly the best driver in a race -- he is a combination of superman speed, unparalleled understanding of strategy/car mechanic, multi-lotto winning luck and ice-cool head. :lol: :lol:

[Ford Capri 2.8i]

I dont mean that Michael Schumacher doesnt deserve the 6 world championships, but for me we are comparing two different periods and for me the period that Senna drove was for me much more difficult...for instance in that period there were 5 drivers capable of wining a world championship in each season such as the same Senna, Alain Prost, Gerhard Berger, Nigel Mansell, and Nelson Piquet as well.....so.....for me its difficult to make a comparison about Michael Schumachers championships vs Ayrton Sennas trajectory in the Formula 1

[pengajim]

Jim Clark

[X-ale]

there is nothing to compare...the father of jack villeneuve and senna are the top...

An educated opinion!!! Amen.

[X-ale]

jacques come back and give him a challenge.

Put Jacques in a Renault for pete's sake!!!

[TopGearNL]

How much I like Schumacher, its Senna for me, if I could just imagine in todays F1 cars, he would blitz the whole field and fight wits MS :)

[vwstormshadow]

Senna is magical... Yes, he still IS... That Europe GP... with all that rain... Schummy tried to close the door for Senna, but that would never be enough to stop that crazy guy! From 5th position to the first on the first lap, and that with that already awful McLaren, even worse than Schummy's and Briatore's Benneton. Those Monaco races... Schumacher is a driver of numbers. A good one. Senna was a driver of emotions. A driver of crazy beautiful scenes and battles against other giants. He was a knight holding his sword and a much more complicated car to drive than today's. Those people who have first watched Senna driving his McLaren in Monaco and after Schummy with his Ferrari, nowadays, know what I mean. Senna didn't care that much for strategy. What moved him was a strong will to go beyond all, above himself and his limits, no matter who was in front of him. No matter if it was Lauda, Prost or anyone else.