I voted Schuey because he is the most "successful", however I think Senna could have been had a concrete wall not been his downfall.

I guess it depends what criteria you judge the greatest by.

Voted Schumacher even though I don't like him - still reckon he has the most "all round" skill of any driver there has been.

Drivers I have the most respect for, and are close to my vote, are:

Gilles V - brilliance personified, natural talent everywhere and a great personality;

Surtees - can't argue with his achievements even if its a different era; and

Fangio - total great who from what i've seen, and been brainwashed into by my grandpas (who all raced), was the master of control in cars which were lethal.

Re: Mansell - rolleyes:

I am surprised there are no votes for Prost. Although I chose Senna, Prost was not far behind IMO.

It is interesting and no votes for Lauda either, he was certainly no slouch. But

If you want characters then why as no one mentioned thre late great James Hunt?

If you want characters then why as no one mentioned thre late great James Hunt?

I had him on my original shortlist, but he wasn

'Hunt the Shunt' with the possible exception of Irvine, must be the last of the 'playboy' racers. If you consider the 40 fags a day and the amount of champagne consumed the night before a race, not to mention the personal fears he had to overcome just to get into a car then yes James must be classed as one of the greatest racers, a shame he didn't concentrate on his racing, then he could have been the greatest.

I grew up with the likes of Nigel Mansell, Johnny Herbet, Damon Hill etc.

There was only ever one King of Formula 1, and that was Ayton Senna; lets face it, the man was a legend and died well before his time.

Had arguments with loads of people about who was better, Shcuy or Senna, and the only argument I have is "yes" schuy is a good driver, maybe the best ever, but the fact that he wins all the time doesn't make him the greatest... it makes him boring.

In Senna's days, the cars had none of the equipment that the cars have today, meaning that he actually had to drive the car.

When they took all the gizmos out of the formula one cars in the last few seasons, Schumacer (however ya spell it) stopped winning every race, and began loosing points.

Senna was a driver, and the sport needs another like him to breath the life back into it again!

Rant over!

Senna died in 1994, schumacher won his first F1 GP at Spa in 1992, your point is? :confused:

Senna died in 1994, schumacher won his first F1 GP at Spa in 1992, your point is? :confused:

The point is that Schumacher has driven against arguabley 'mediocre' drivers at best. All of which Senna would have trounced.

Senna was head and shoulders above anybody in any weather. Schumacher included. In 1994, only a poor car let Senna down and he was pole again and again.

If you read some of Schumachers books or statements he openly says that Senna was the greatest. Schumacher knows more about F1 than anyone on any forum so I guess we'll have to take his word for it.

The point is that Schumacher has driven against arguabley 'mediocre' drivers at best. All of which Senna would have trounced.

I was pointing out that MS had beaten Senna at arguably the most technical drivers track, in only his second year of F1 racing, driving a car with the same diver aids etc allowed at the time. A lot of emotion surrounds Senna, his style personallity was a pole opposite to MS so it is understandable that a lot of people will like one considerably more than the other, what would have happened had he lived..who knows.. bet it would have been exciting and controversial racing. Sorry you can't say that all the other drivers have been mediocre during MS reign. He may have made them look it but it is insulting them to say it. As for Schumcher saying Senna was the greatest driver, He was when MS was coming threw the ranks, and it prooves Schuey is not arrogant saying I am the greatest!:P

Because the entire arguement is being made subjectively then people will never agree/ change their minds, however objectively in black and white print Schumacher is the 'documented' greatest driver.

I have only got stuck into this thread cos I have been having the same argument with my father, but then he his biggoted against the damned Germans:P

I hear a lot of older people saying Jim Clark was the equal of people like Senna/Schumacher etc, but tragically was killed rather earlier in his career.

Senna always made the best of a **** car!

he's one of my idols, F1 became boring after he tragicaly left us.

Senna always made the best of a **** car!

he's one of my idols' date=' F1 became boring after he tragicaly left us.[/quote']Absolutely spot on.

I'm not saying that Schumacher wasn't a good driver, and he clearly does have and excellent record considering how many races he won during his career.

If Forumla 1 would have stayed at the same technology level that was in use when Schumacher won his first Gp in 1992, i.e the traction control, launch control systems had not been introduced, I have very little doubt that Schumacher would probably be cast in the same mould as Senna!

Senna had been racing for years before 1992, before F1 essentially became computerized, and he became a legend long before Michael Schumacher even won that first race - hence the reason that he undoubtadly winning this poll.

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose." - Aryton Senna

"Racing, competing, it's in my blood. It's part of me, it's part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out above everything else" - Aryton Senna

The Man was a Legend!

Fangio nearly got my vote. Think he won 3 world titles and that was in a time when you where lucky to live for the year. Mad

But started watching F1 when Senna arrived.

Pure class. Still miss him to this day.

All the drivers now will not say boo about anything. Just robots for the teams. Hope Rossi stays in MotoGp as F1 will kill his spirt.:eek:

Senna had the ability to destroy good drivers in better equipment, monaco 84, then yrs later in the same car qual over a second quicker than prost at monaco. it's a team sport and can't be judged purely by results.

I grew up with the likes of Nigel Mansell' date=' Johnny Herbet, Damon Hill etc.

There was only ever one King of Formula 1, and that was Ayton Senna; lets face it, the man was a legend and died well before his time.

Had arguments with loads of people about who was better, Shcuy or Senna, and the only argument I have is "yes" schuy is a good driver, maybe the best ever, but the fact that he wins all the time doesn't make him the greatest... it makes him boring.

In Senna's days, the cars had none of the equipment that the cars have today, meaning that he actually had to drive the car.

When they took all the gizmos out of the formula one cars in the last few seasons, Schumacer (however ya spell it) stopped winning every race, and began loosing points.

Senna was a driver, and the sport needs another like him to breath the life back into it again!

Rant over![/quote']

And that is a rant rather than anything based on fact or knowledge. Senna was a great but I do think there is an awful lot of bull based on the fact fact that he is no longer around and Schumacher is (a) a German ( dull and © is a tad controversial / a "cheat":rolleyes:

Schumacher really made his name driving an uncompetitive car (Benetton ) in the early 1990s and despite the fact that he was a novice he did challenge the established heirachy (incl. Senna) - especially in the wet which is usually a good marker as to who is a quality driver.

Anyway its all opinions

Schuey once finished second in his Benetton and it was stuck in 5th gear for a large part of the race.

Also some of the arguments about technology levels being different aren

Alain Prost without doubt, he wasn't called the professor for nothing, he raised the bar in the 80's and everyone else including Senna had to follow suit!!

My two penneth

Schuey once finished second in his Benetton and it was stuck in 5th gear for a large part of the race.

Senna drove in an era with the now banned active suspension' date=' [/font']

Had that not just come in around the time when he moved to Williams ?

Had that not just come in around the time when he moved to Williams ?

I think Lotus had it in 87 when Senna drove for them. Interestingly enough (well I think so) Lotus where the only F1 team to use true fully active suspension (ie no springs or dampers), Williams only used semi-active when they were super successful. I read somewhere that the Lotus system worked so efficiently they had trouble getting enough heat into the tyres.

Oh and the F1 cars were starting to show Traction andLlaunch Control as well as anti-lock braking.

Mansell was and still is an awesome driver.

It's noticeable that there's a bit of an "age divide" in the results :)