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[omegadan67]

well lets open up a can of worms, and ask the un-askable Who was/is the greatest F1 driver ever?

I have several possible answers depends on you knowledge of the sport.

1 Juan Manuel Fangio between 1951 and 1957 he won
   the championship 5 times in 4 different cars
2 Graham hill the gentlemans racer

3 Sterling moss greatest driver never to have won the
   F1 crown
4 Ayrton senna need i say anymore

I dont know how to start a POLL otherwise i would

[TheBoy]

The old great, I'm too young to know.  In my era (80s onwards), it would have to be Senna for me.  In modern times (last 15yrs), it has to be Shithead Schu or me...

[Kevin Wood]

Sterling Moss nearly ran me over on a twist-and-go in the pits at Silverstone, so he's out.

Senna was the last of the true greats IMHO. There were plenty before him.

The game has changed since then so, short of putting all the current "greats" in a proper car, on a proper track, without any team orders or interference from the poison dwarf and his meddling, it's hard to say how good they are.

Kevin

[Varche]

Plenty of contenders but we have to go back to Senna or before. Sure Schumacher has won a lot of races and titles.

In the olden days (showing my age now) the cars had very little in the way of driver aids. No traction control, auto gearchanges and so on.

Of the current lot, Hamilton impresses me the most. He may just turn out to be on the all time great list in a few years.

Jackie Stewart, Fangio, Ronnie Peterson and G.Villeneuve would have to be on my list. Lauda, Mansell, Prost would not be. It pains me to exclude Nigel Mansell as he was a true racer and always gave it rock all.

I would still plump for Ayrton Senna as the all time greatest. Tragic day for the sport when he died.   

[albitz]

My own personal greatest will always be Gilles Villeneuve, the fastest and most naturally talented driver ever to sit in a car imo, but the greatest F1 driver in terms of the perfect balance of all the attributes required (of which natural talent is only one) it has to be Senna, I dont really see how anyone could think otherwise tbh.
What people often overlook is the fact that in the period that he was winning his championships/poles/races, he was competing against the likes of Prost, Mansell and Piquet.They already had a load of world championships and god knows how many grand prix wins between them when Senna arrived in F1 as a rookie. He didnt have it relatively easy like Scummy did.
When Senna moved to the F1 big time by joining mclaren as Prosts team mate, Prost was already the most succesful driver in the history of the sport - then Senna destroyed him, he was simply on a totally different level to Prost and everyone else really.
The only one who really gave him any serious trouble was Mansell, because he was so brave and gutsy he never backed down from anything or anyone.

[Omegatoy]

strangely enough, many were great but i would have to nominate nigel mansell for sheer bravery!!! the sight of him coming ful bore out the tunnel at monaco alongside another car takes some beating, he was the driver who first took supposedly the wrong line at spa but ended up the quickest for using it now they all do, him and piquet battling wheels along the striaght,pushing his car over the line after running out of petrol and many many more I know he dont come across well in interviews but his bravery determination, and sheer guts does it for me, he was never afraid to have a go, unlike todays lot!! 

and he is still winning in the grand prix masters series!! great entertain ment

[albitz]

Mansell would be near the top of my list. He had gonads the size of water melons. He is often overlooked imol because he only won one championship, but the amount of wins he had was only bettered by people who won 3 or more championships.And he was probably second only to Villenueve snr. for sheer bravery and excitment.
I think part of his problem was/is that he gives a very good impression of a total dickhead when he isnt in the car. A bit like Carl Fogarty on 2 wheels, stunning with a crash helmet on doing what he does best - annoying as hell when the helmet comes off and the mouth opens.

[henryd]

I was never a great senna fan but he would have my vote as he lived and breathed F1,I would have loved to see him race some of todays hotshots

[Kevin Wood]

Ahh, Mansell. :-/ Part of the skill of any racing driver is in preserving your car to take you to the end of the race. I think Mansell was perhaps just a little too far over the other side of the curve. No point being in pole position if you're sitting in a pile of wreckage.

Kevin

[Psychoca]

I would have to say

1. Senna
2. Mansell
3. Prost
4. David Purley (Purely for his actions attempting to rescue Roger Williamson)

[omegadan67]

Mansell or el lion as the tofosi called him was indeed a rare breed yes only 1 F1 championship finishing runner up several years prior to his win but total dominance even over his team mate in 1992 and then to do the impossible and win the indy car series in his rookie year and the only man to hold both titles at the same time all be it for "only" 73 days.

Mansell is i think the only person to win BBc sports personality of the year twice 1986 and 1992 iirc

[Psychoca]

My own personal greatest will always be Gilles Villeneuve, the fastest and most naturally talented driver ever to sit in a car imo, but the greatest F1 driver in terms of the perfect balance of all the attributes required (of which natural talent is only one) it has to be Senna, I dont really see how anyone could think otherwise tbh.
What people often overlook is the fact that in the period that he was winning his championships/poles/races, he was competing against the likes of Prost, Mansell and Piquet.They already had a load of world championships and god knows how many grand prix wins between them when Senna arrived in F1 as a rookie. He didnt have it relatively easy like Scummy did.
When Senna moved to the F1 big time by joining mclaren as Prosts team mate, Prost was already the most succesful driver in the history of the sport - then Senna destroyed him, he was simply on a totally different level to Prost and everyone else really.
The only one who really gave him any serious trouble was Mansell, because he was so brave and gutsy he never backed down from anything or anyone.

I don't think I will ever get the image of Villeneuve's fatal crash out of my mind...

There are many drivers who are great drivers who deserve a mention, some who have never scored 1 point.  When you look at some of the cars they raced such as those with Magnesium chassis which killed the likes of Jo Schlesser...

[omegadan67]

My own personal greatest will always be Gilles Villeneuve, the fastest and most naturally talented driver ever to sit in a car imo, but the greatest F1 driver in terms of the perfect balance of all the attributes required (of which natural talent is only one) it has to be Senna, I dont really see how anyone could think otherwise tbh.
What people often overlook is the fact that in the period that he was winning his championships/poles/races, he was competing against the likes of Prost, Mansell and Piquet.They already had a load of world championships and god knows how many grand prix wins between them when Senna arrived in F1 as a rookie. He didnt have it relatively easy like Scummy did.
When Senna moved to the F1 big time by joining mclaren as Prosts team mate, Prost was already the most succesful driver in the history of the sport - then Senna destroyed him, he was simply on a totally different level to Prost and everyone else really.
The only one who really gave him any serious trouble was Mansell, because he was so brave and gutsy he never backed down from anything or anyone.

I don't think I will ever get the image of Villeneuve's fatal crash out of my mind...

There are many drivers who are great drivers who deserve a mention, some who have never scored 1 point.  When you look at some of the cars they raced such as those with Magnesium chassis which killed the likes of Jo Schlesser...

Gilles Villeneuve was a great driver and had safety standards been as high then as they are now he would never have died he died because he was thrown out of the car as it rolled poor design by ferrari

[Mr Skrunts]

Senna - Mansell - Villeneuve

For me.

Mika Hakkinen I was quite impressed with as well.

[redelitev6]

  What? no jim clark ? he has to be up with the very best,also jacky ickx on his day could beat stewart , rindt ,and the rest ,no one better in the wet, with a bit more good luck he could have been world champion