Formula One is coming back – in sorts – and that is great. Genuinely, I’m thrilled at the prospect of live F1 action playing a role in my life once again. The trouble is, the 2020 campaign has been speculated about so much that there isn’t much more to say. Thankfully, I’m here to bring you like minded folk a different read. Here we look at five of the best drivers in F1 history.
Number 5. Niki Lauda
Nailing down fifth spot on this list was perhaps the most difficult but Lauda deserves it in my mind. He had done a few years in the sport before really exploding into life with his first championship win in 1975. A second title looked set to follow the next season but a horror crash at Nurburgring left Lauda thanking his lucky stars that he survived.
Many would have switched career after such an incident but not Lauda. He came back in 1977 and reigned supreme. His third championship came some seven years later after a two year break to make him the only driver to win championships for the two most successful constructors – Ferrari and McLaren.
Numbers 4 & 3. Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost
Okay we’ve combined positions four and three. Senna was making waves through his personality and racing style before he joined McLaren-Honda to race alongside Alain Prost, who already had two championships to his name.
The pair formed a dominant team for two years taking a title a piece. Despite being teammates, there was a friction amongst them – as there often is with two top drivers – and when Prost switched allegiance to Ferrari the fans were offered an enthralling period of head-to-head action.
Senna emerged victorious in 1990 and 1991 taking his career total to three Championships ensuring he edged out his former teammate who only managed the one title win, which came in his last season (1993). Prost of course, would point to his overall record of four successes.
Whatever way you try to split the pair, it can’t be done easily. They were both sensational, both entertaining and, quite frankly, without each other the chances are neither would have been as good as they were.
The pair both have different legacies with Prost the proud owner of an OBE and Senna the man whose career and life were tragically cut short after an incident during the Monaco GP in 1994. At the peak of their rivalry, it was one of the greatest we’ve seen.
Number 2. Lewis Hamilton
Can Hamilton feel hard done by not to be top of this list? He certainly has the statistics behind him to make a compelling case. If he packed it in tomorrow, then he’d do so as a record holder in several respects with an accumulated points haul bigger than anyone else in history just one of those that he boasts.
Six Championship wins is mighty impressive too and given he’s still going strong at the top, it would be a bold call to bet against him adding more titles to his name.
Lewis Hamilton belongs in this list the same way LeBron belongs in the top 5 best small forwards in the history of NBA. Maybe people are just too afraid to admit that one of the current competitors can be already compared to one of the legends of the sport.
There does seem to be some bias against Hamilton, which almost sees his achievements played down but we fully expect him to blow any debate away in the next year or two in the one way he knows how. Winning races.
Number 1. Michael Schumacher
At number one, of course, it is Michael Schumacher. His standalone record of seven world titles means the Ferrari legend all but picks himself at the top of any racing icons list. The German collected back to back titles in 1994 and 1995 when racing for Benetton before he jumped ship to Ferrari. Four years followed without glory but then came five consecutive titles. He called time on his career in 2006 a global hero. Not even an underwhelming return to the sport in 2010 could dampen this legend. Rightfully, the number one.
There you have it, five of the best drivers to have ever graced the track. Disagree with our picks? What would you change?
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