Here Are 7 of the Best Formula 1 Drivers Ever
I have been a huge F1 fan since I was a young kid - I just really enjoy watching the talented drivers show off their driving skills in some of the most beautiful cars in the world. If you happen to be new to this entertaining sport, then you might sit there thinking that only the drivers get some type of adrenaline rush, but those of us who are familiar with this sport can tell you that even spectators can get a great adrenaline rush. Over the years, there have been many great drivers, and in the following article I am going to have a look at some of the best F1 drivers ever.
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio
F1 Championship wins - 5
Podium finishes - 35
Career wins - 24
The Argentinian, known affectionately as El Chueca, was the first greatest F1 champion of the world. Fangio made his debut back in 1938 and won the Grand International Championship that same year.
He broke a record that was held for nearly half a century by winning the most Championships - he won it for the first time in 1951 and then four times in a row from 1954 until 1957. He is the only Argentinian to win a Grand Prix four times. He died in 1995, but he will forever be remembered as one of the best F1 drivers ever.
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
F1 Championship wins - 7
Podium finishes - 155
Career wins - 91
Schumacher was so good at what he did that he actually became the first billionaire athlete in the world. Schumi raced his first race at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1991, where he finished 7th. In the exact same race in 1992, he picked up the Drivers' Championship title for the first time. From 200 until 2004, he won the Grand Prix, making him the first driver to finish first five seasons in a row.
The last race he won was in 2006, and that was the Chinese Grand Prix. There can be no doubt that he is one of the greatest F1 drivers the world has seen. Unfortunately, in 2013 he picked up a serious head injury in a skiing accident and has been in a coma ever since.
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
F1 Championship wins - 7
Podium finishes - 164
Race wins - 95
Hamilton first came on the F1 scene back in 2007 and he has been the best driver on the circuit ever since. In his debut season he only missed out on the title by a solitary point. The following season, he became the youngest driver to win the Championship, and he has since cemented himself as one of the sport's true greats. He won the Championship in 2020 to equal the number of titles won by Schumacher. There are not many F1 fans who would bet against him going past Schumacher at the end of the 2021 season.
Hamilton is my favourite F1 driver ever. Not only do I like him because he is such a talented driver that is amazing to watch, but he has also won me a nice sum of money over the years thanks to his driving skills. Yeah, that’s right, I enjoy betting on F1 as well as watching it. F1 is really entertaining to watch, but it gets even more exciting if you have a bit of money on it as well. However, due to his dominance, the odds for Hamilton to win are often quite low, which is where odds comparisons sites come into play. I make use of https://www.mybettingsite.uk/ as a friend introduced it to me and it has served me well for a while now.
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
F1 Championship wins - 4
Podium finishes - 120
Career wins - 53
Vettel's first race came back in 2007 during the US Grand Prix - he came in 7th place, which was a very solid start to his career. The following year, he was voted as Rookie of the Year, with his very first GP title coming in the season's 14th race. In 2009, he signed for Red Bull and came second.
He went on to win the Championship four times in a row between 2010 and 2013. When F1 fans are having a discussion about F1 greats, it will not be much of a surprise to hear Vettel's name pop up.
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
F1 Championship wins - 3
Podium finishes - 80
Career wins - 41
Senna made his F1 debut in 1984 and finished in 17th place in the Brazilian Grand Prix. in 1985, he participated in the Portuguese Grand prix and picked up his first points. He would have to wait three more years for his first F1 World Championship title, and then he won another one two years later in 1990. He was not done yet though, as he made it a hat-trick of wins when he won the title again in 1991.
The last ever race that he won was in 1993 at the Australian Grand Prix. The following year he was involved in a track accident and was killed. If you were to go up to a random F1 fan and ask them to give you the names of the best F1 drivers, we are certain that many will mention Ayrton Senna.
Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda
F1 Championship wins - 3
Podium finishes - 54
Career wins - 25
No true F1 fan can doubt Lauda's talent, and the Austrian driver will always be a Ferrari hero due to the fact that he helped them to win their first team title in 10 years. However, there is one thing that he will be remembered for the most and that is his crash at Nurburgring-Nordschleife in 1976 that left him with broken bones, lung damage, and burns.
Many medics believed that he would not make it, but just six weeks later he was back racing again and finished 4th at the Italian Grand Prix. Lauda still had a chance to win the title that year, but he pulled out of the Japanese Grand Prix due to dangerous conditions. The following year he picked up his second title and then retired from the sport. He came out of retirement and picked up his third Championship title. He passed away at the age of 70 in 2019.
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
F1 Championship wins – 2
Career wins – 32
Podium finishes – 97
When Alonso sat behind the wheel of a F1 car to participate in his first race, he did so as the third youngest driver ever. During his first season driving for Renault, he was the winner at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
In 2005 and 2006 he lifted the Championship title. In 2013, he came close to winning his third Championship, but came second with 242 points. Alonso can certainly class himself as one of the best F1 drivers ever.
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Mark my words, Lewis will be at the top of this list by 2023 the latest.
Jax, your words are marked, but part of being the BEST is jumping into a average or sub-standard car and going fast. Possibly, HAM will never have that opportunity to prove his real status. Of course identifying the GOAT is always a good bar argument and he is certainly in the mix.
@ReallyOldRacer: He already did that at McLaren; which I will not be arguing again. No buts!!
Jax, McLaren was never "an average or sub-standard car" for the 35 years prior to 2015. HAM's '08 WDC was outstanding and but for a silly mistake he would have won as a rookie in '07, but he was in an outstanding race car at McLaren.
It is an anomaly to consider number of race wins and podiums in making an assessment on the greatest drivers, because in the early years there were just 7 or 8 races compared to the current year's 23 races. You must consider the percentage of race wins and podiums to gain an accurate assessment of drivers.
Other considerations must also be the dominance of a particular car ~ in the 1990's it was Ferrari, in the past decade it has been Red Bull and Mercedes. The evidence shows that great drivers in an off-the-pace car will not shine, as has been the case in the recent past with Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.
Three of the truly great drivers who were sadly killed before their full potential was realised are Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt and Ayrton Senna.
Spot on, Smokey, and kudos for the Jimmy Clark shout-out. He is too often overlooked in GOAT debates. Rindt?...not so sure. Many racers could have won in the Lotus 72. Maybe a great case of an average driver in the absolutely best car.
I will quote Nigel Roebuck (if I remember correctly) "Fernando Alonso is the best race car driver in the world PERIOD"
Where is Alain Prost? He won 4 F1 championships. He held the record for total F1 wins until surpassed by Michael Schumacher. He deserves to be ranked above Senna.
@ReallyOldRacer: Go tell Alonso, who was supposedly the best driver at the time, that the McLaren was outstanding Lol.
What part of "prior to 2015" confuses you?
@ReallyOldRacer: What part of "Alonso at the time" confuses you? Clearly I'm saying the 08 McLaren was NOT outstanding; hence not the confused party here. Outstanding equipment has both cars finish in the top 3, maybe 4! Where did Lewis's team mate finish in that year? Where did both Ferraris finish?! Alonso wouldn't have left a team with an outstanding car after tieing with a rookie in 07. He would've likely viewed it as a fluke.
I did say I wasn't gonna highlight this again, but some folks are hard headed.
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