Formula 1 drivers

[The_Kincardine]

Not sure if this has been done before but I know a fair few posters enjoy motorsport. I've limited my list to drivers in my life so Fangio is excluded since I never saw him race.

1. Michael Schumacher. Teutonic beast.

2. Ayrton Senna. Gallus as f**k

3. Jim Clark. Possibly the coolest bloke ever.

4. James Hunt. Maybe not a great driver but such a cad.

5. Stirling Moss. The name says it all.

[ebbes20silkcut]

Jean alesi, as Eddie Irvine once described him, an excitable little bbbbbbbbb person!

Nigel Mansell,

Schumacher,

Johnny herbert,

Mark Webber

Top 5 I disliked

Thierry boutsen,

David coulthard,

Ricardo patrese,

Austin senna

Seb vettel

[BigMartyn86]

Micheal Schumacher

Fernando Alonso

Mika Hakkinen

Nick Heidfield

Lewis Hamilton

[thepundit]

Since I've been a fan of the sport...

Hamilton

Coulthard

Shuey

Button

Hill

Not really a fan of Senna, Vettel, Alonso and people who buy their way into the sport annoy me as well because they don't deserve to be there, such as Maldonado for example.

[Mr. Brightside]

1. Michael Schumacher

2. Sebastian Vettel

3. Fernando Alonso

4. Robert Kubica

5. Alex Yoong

[doulikefish]

1,Ayrton

2.Kimi

3.Schuey

4.Hunt

5.Jordan

[ScotlandGer]

1. Fernando Alonso - It was probably Alonso who first got me hooked into F1. I was clicking through the channels and started watching the Monaco GP. Alonso entered the tunnel in his Renault catching up on Ralph Schumacher in a Williams. Alonso tried to over-take inside the tunnel, while Ralph seemed to move over and slow his car which forced Alonso closer to the barriers. The camera switched to the tunnel exit and Alonso slid out backwards with his car in a state after swiping the barrier. In a slow-motion replay, Alonso (facing the wrong way at over 100mph and in a crashed F1 car) gave Schumacher the finger as Ralph drove past. Top dude.

2. Kimi Raikkonen - There's a story I read about Kimi's first private test for Sauber (iirc) at Silverstone. His times for the first morning were passed-on to Peter Sauber who was away. Sauber read the times and phoned the team and basically said, 'Sure, he's fast, but put him out on the full track [rather than the intermediate]. The team replied that the times were from the full-track and that he had indeed been posting these consistent times on the full Silverstone track, in a Sauber, which were comparable to the top few established F1 drivers. I'll also never forget his last-lap victory in the Japanese GP when he overtook Fisichella like a boss.

3. Mark Webber

4. David Coulthard

5. Lewis Hamilton

[Mark Connolly]

No love for Sir Jackie?

I'm too young to remember him as a driver, bu my grandad was a massive F1 fan, and had him up there with Fangio. Plus his impact on driver safety issues would rank him as one of the most important personalities in F1 history.

My 5 favourites:

1. Senna

2. Coulthard

3. Button

4. Alonso

5. Raikonnen

[Jupiter Jazz]

Went current;

Grosjean

Alonso

Raikkonen

Ricciardo

Button

[Jan Vojáček]

Senna

Hunt

Stewart

Our Nige' (as he seemingly became known)

Chilton (Met his brother a few times when he was racing BTCC)

[SuperTon]

My favourites since I started watching the sport:

1. Hamilton

2. Button

3. Riccairdo

4. Alonso

5. Vettel

[CooCoothenoo]

Since I started watching;

1. Ayrton Senna.

Standing at the old Bridge corner at Silverstone and watching him drive around the outside of someone in the wet is an image that will stay with me to the grave. Seemed an immensely complex character but I reckon he was basically a very decent human being, albeit ruthless on the track. Eric Comas credits Senna with saving has life at Spa when he stopped his car and ran to help the Frenchman who had crashed heavily and was unconscious with his foot on the throttle. Senna switched off the engine and administered basic first aid he'd learned from Sid Watkins until help arrived (this incident is shown during the closing credits of the Senna movie). Did a huge amount to help and raise awareness of poverty in Brazil. I know many didn't, but I really liked the guy.

2. Jean Alesi

Seems unfathomable that he only won a single GP. Talent to spare and a nice guy to boot. If only he'd chosen Williams over Ferrari in 1991.

3. Riccardo Patrese

Always had a soft spot for Patrese, which may have had something to do with disgusting bile spouted about him by James Hunt on occasion, who blamed him for causing Ronnie Peterson's fatal accident. On his day he could be as fast as anyone. In 1991 he had the upper hand over team-mate Mansell for much of the year.

4. Michael Schumacher

What some saw as arrogance I believe was extreme confidence. He was a machine and rebuilt Ferrari.

5. Mika Hakkinen

For a while the only driver who could challenge Schumacher. A remarkable career, coming back from a near fatal crash in 1995 to take two world titles. Always seemed very humble and who could forget him crying in the bushes at Monza.

Top 5 of all time;

1. Gilles Villeneuve

My dad used to show me videos of Gilles which is what got me interested in the sport. Apparently fearless and completely unwilling to give up, even with a wheel missing! At Watkins Glen one year during wet practice he was 11 seconds a lap quicker than anyone!

2. Dan Gurney

The only man Jim Clark feared, 'nuff said. A complete gentleman and went on to create AAR. My son is named after him.

3. Ronnie Peterson

I've never heard a bad word about him. Unbelievable car control, had plenty of flies on the side of his helmet : ) Agreed to play second fiddle to Andretti in 1978

, otherwise could have been world champion. His death at Monza was an avoidable tragedy which his wife never really recovered from.

4. François Cevert

Effortlessly stylish, on and off the track. Also a concert standard pianist (like Elio de Angelis). Would have finally emerged from Stewart's shadow in 1974, possibly with a world title.

5. Bob Anderson

A character who fascinates me. Was a very competent bike racer in the 1950s before, like Surtees, switching to cars. Recruited a couple of mates from his local pub as mechanics, loaded his Brabham onto the back of a VW transporter and joined the F1 circus. Incredibly, he actually made it onto a world championship podium with 3rd place at the 1964 Austrian GP. Ran his operation on a shoestring with the Brabham becoming increasingly obsolete. Deserved a better fate than what befell him while testing at Silverstone in 1967. His mechanic's account of the 'rescue' operation is one of the most harrowing things I have read regarding the sport.

Edited December 23, 2014 by CooCoothenoo

[PrestersKTID]

Jarno Trulli

Damon Hill

Giancarlo Fisichella

Heinze Harold Frentzen

David Coulthard

Adopted Jordan as my team to follow in the F1 for whatever reason in the late 90s early 00s so always wanted these guys to do well. Then coulthard for the Scottish connection.

[keyser_soze]

Ayrton Senna

Rubens Barrichello

Felipe Massa

Nelson Piquet

Emmerson Fittipaldi

Just like Brazillians

[Raidernation]

Keke Rosberg

Ronnie Petersen

Jackie Stewart

Gilles Villeneuve

Rene Arnoux

All DRIVERS, driving CARS, that needed driving! Not like todays computer pilots (albeit very damn skillful computer pilots, f**k knows I couldn't do it).

[lionel hutz]

1. David Coulthard - Retired one year too early, if he stayed a RB for 2009, he could have won the championship.

Paul di Resta - Again had bad luck, was treated poorly by Force India

Mark Webber - Always hoped he would win the title, treated as No.2 when he should've been #1.

Jenson Button - Always liked him, dunno why.

Kimi Raikonnen - Very Funny guy, in the way he brushes off everything.

[Hawk89]

1. Paul Di Resta

Mika Hakkenin

Mark Webber

Jenson Button

Toss up between Jacques Villeneuve, Fernando Alonso & Felipe Massa

[IainMorton]

Since I started watching in 1997 -

1. Lewis Hamilton

2. David Coulthard

3. Mika Hakkinen

4. Heinz Harald Frentzen

5. Rubens Barrichello

Haven't included Schumacher as I didn't like him when I started watching. He seemed way to arrogant and one of my earliest memories was him trying to punt Villeneuve off at Jerez, and then deliberately spinning during Monaco quail to deny Alonso a clear pole position. Had a soft spot for him when he came back to drive for Mercedes, and he is obviously the best driver the sport has ever seen.

[gruppenfuhrer]

senna

kimi raikonnen

gilles villeneuve

hakkinen

berger 

 

[scottsdad]

I started watching in the mid-90s, after Senna's death. I'm restricting my list to those I've watched since, so no Prost, Senna, Lauda, etc. 

1. Michael Schumacher. Ruthless, brilliant and never, ever gave up. He could be running in 16th with 15 laps to go and you'd still fancy his chances. The English hate him because he collided with Damon Hill in 94. But he was the best I've seen, including...

2. Lewis Hamilton. Only in the last couple of seasons have I warmed to him. He has always been talented but now is in his peak. It would be wonderful to see 2019 Hamilton vs 2002 Schumacher. One difference though - Schumacher was never beaten to a world title by a team-mate. 

3. Fernando Alonso. The man makes the worst ever career choices, and denied himself countless titles by moving teams to the wrong ones. That he has 2 titles while Vettel has 4 is unbelievable. But he can drive. 

4. Mika Hakkinen. He ran Schumacher closer than anyone. My favourite ever season is still 2000 - Hakkinen and Schumacher both going for their 3rd titles, in fairly even cars. And my favourite race - Belgium 2000. The overtake itself always generates excitement but there was lap after lap of Hakkinen catching him until he made the pass. He had a kid in 2001 and it just took something from him. He lost half a second a lap and retired.

5. I thought about Raikkonen, Rosberg and Vettel, but I'm going for Jacques Villeneuve. Came in in 1996 to a good Williams team, and won the title in just his second season (like Hamilton). Williams changed engines in 98 (from Renault to a sewing machine I think) but he still out-drove it. He helped set up the BAR team and started off out-driving that as well. But with him you look before and after 2001. At Australia in 2001 he was in a bad accident with Ralf Schumacher. Part of his car came off and hit a marshal, killing him. After this race, Villeneuve never recovered and lost about a second a lap and his career fizzled away quickly after this. Until that, he was a very fast, very dangerous driver.