Filed under: Motorsports
Autocar ranks 100 top F1 drivers of all time
Autocar has listed the top 100 Formula 1 drivers of all time, as declared by British motorsport journalist Alan Henry. We won't spoil the top-of-the-list surprise for you, but of course, as with all of these things, some of the placings could be a little controversial. At least until one realizes that there haven't really been that many F1 drivers in the 62-year history of the sport. Still, Mika Hakkinen at #10 in front of Michael Schumacher at #11 strikes us as somewhat odd. And Barrichello and Button ahead of Bruce McLaren? Hmmm. Autocar has the top 30 listed, you can get the full list here.
Thanks for the tip, Darren!
[Source: Autocar via Bruce-McLaren.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tragedy 7:50PM (3/21/2008)
The godfather of the Honda NSX is number 3. Woot!
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bob d 7:58PM (3/21/2008)
No way Alain Prost ahead of Fangio. That's impossible. Putting Clark and Moss 1a and 1b would seem appropriate.
No slam against the modern drivers but the machines these guys drove prior to the 80's were simply death machines. No brakes, poor tires, zero safety equipment in the cars or tracks, and exposed gas tanks. Any one who could put their fear in their back pocket and drive 10/10ths has to be given more credit than the modern era.
I once had the great opportunity to crew for Denny Hulme at an historic racing event many years ago. He could drive the pants off anyone. You get a much better appreciation of a racer's skills when you see how well a veteran driver can handle a classic machine. Denny won that race, of course!
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Temple 7:59PM (3/21/2008)
A British publication putting a Britain as the best two F1 drivers in history isn't surprising. Not to belittle the achievements of Sterling Moss or Jim Clark. But right after the Britons are great names like Senna, Prost, Fangio. Not even making the ton ten is Michael Schumacher- statistically the best driver in F1. Also find it interesting that Lewis Hamilton places above two-time World champ Alonso (we still need to see what legacy Lewis establishes).
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dtm 8:24PM (3/24/2008)
Very good points. Schumi not even making top ten?? Are you serious?
Neil 8:03PM (3/21/2008)
This list is complete junk! How can Lewis Hamilton be number 30 of all time? The dude has not even been in F1 two years yet. Don't get me wrong, the dude has mad skills, and with a bit of luck would have one the championship last year, but its way too early to have him on the list....his story is far from written yet....and the same could be said for a couple other drivers on the list.
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Michael 1:05PM (3/22/2008)
I agree that this list is junk. But if you consider how much Hamilton has accomplished in his short career, I'm not surprised that he's on the list.
Nichole 7:04PM (3/26/2008)
utter rubbish, imagine jackie stewart been 3rd, he is such a snob, MS should be at least there, by far he is the best, and will always be my number one driver. Lewis should not be on the list at all, best drivers are those who have achieved in f1, seven c/ships should speak for something, you think rubens would have won even one c/ship without MS, dont forget his bad luck, never won his home race. DC should be ahead of rubens, DC has won several races. As for Mika just two c/ships,how could he be before MS. An idiot has compiled this list.
Argent 8:04PM (3/21/2008)
it's cool that they actually included drivers from the pre-WWII era, but in all honesty, if you want to be subjective about it, caraciola was at least rosemeyers equal -- if not superior. dumping him down into 33 just seems absurd.
chris amon at 13 is another pick that makes you go 'wtf?'. he deserves to be on such a list. i'd even say in the top 75 or so, but 13?
i wouldn't quibble much with the top 3, though. i think a good argument could be made for swapping 1 and 2, but that's about it.
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Richard 8:43PM (3/21/2008)
Chris AMon had terrible luck his entire career. 13 my be appropriate here.
Kimi and "Louise" as Hoobs refers to him don't belong on this list at this time in their careers.
Mika ahead of Schumacher?
Actually, almost anyone ahead of Schumacher other than Fangio is questionable - although Shumacher hasn't shown the versatility of some of these guys...Andretti, Clark, Foyt, Gurney, Stewart
Argent 12:00AM (3/22/2008)
as i said, he deserves to be in such a ranking. but ahead of lauda, fittipaldi and even jochen rindt (a contemporary, who really had far better pace than he had in much crappier gear)?
well, ipersonally would say 'no'. :)
pmiddle5 8:06PM (3/21/2008)
Isnt this list completely pointless considering that he who holds the greatest amount of world titles should be number 1 automatically. Like isnt that the point of racing to determine who is best through racing? I do not care the other variables because it doesnt matter, it is how it is
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Golfa 8:15PM (3/21/2008)
To second what Temple said: Hamilton in front of Alonso? You have got to be beyond joking.....talk about British Bias!
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hashiryu 9:25PM (3/21/2008)
Hamilton did hand him his ass in the same car :P
Temple 11:48PM (3/21/2008)
Hamilton still lost the Driver's World Champion, when in all circumstances he should have won - driver errors on the 7th lap in Brazil caused him to lose to Kimi, when all he needed to do was get into the top half of the race. Not to mention in a car which was definitively proven and found guilty of cheating and to have stolen technology from Ferrari, which was disqualified from the constructors championship with a $100 million fine.
Regardless, its far too early to find Hamilton above proven world champions at this point (maybe in the very near future). Damon Hill, for all his early success, hype, and WDC championship, turned out to be a dud in the long history of F1. As much as the Brits love Sterling Moss, he never was a champion. From a personality standpoint, James Hunt was far more inspiring. Regardless, the ye olde F1 drivers are really aren't in the same sport as the modern F1 drivers to begin with.
HotRodzNKustoms 9:44PM (3/21/2008)
This list is obviously BS Nigel Mansell is 31. I think they forgot a zero at the end. And Montoya at 54?? Did they start running out of drivers to add to the list?
Ok so I'm kidding about the Mansell and Montoya parts but this list is so wrong it's hilarious.
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ma1210 11:13PM (3/21/2008)
why my idol Michael Schumacher at #11 ? T_T
Btw, i also insert the full list at my new blog http://shourainocar.blogspot.com
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gary 11:23PM (3/21/2008)
Moss should be rated #1 because he was fast in any type of racing car, but after that it's simply a list of some great and not so great F1 drivers.
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Argent 11:57PM (3/21/2008)
the same could be said for clark, really. he was fast in anything on 4 wheels. even drove rallys a few times and impressed the heck out of that crowd. i really can't quibble with any ranking that has clark and moss 1-2, but who is first and second i suppose is something we could debate all day long. :)
personally, i always thought of clark as the more naturally gifted/amazingly fast driver, whereas moss was the more technically inclined/steady driver. if you want a modern analog, thing ayrton senna vs. alain prost.
Luis 12:37AM (3/22/2008)
Three I would have moved up: Senna,Fangio and Mika.Oh and Andretti, four...
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davido 12:45AM (3/22/2008)
Fangio and Moss were contemporaries and with Mercedes, teammates. Fangio won five world championships, Moss none. No way that he's is behind Moss or Clark. Fangio is number one, Nuvolari is second, ya'll can argue about the rest.
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