Talking point: Ferrari's greatest driver

Eurosport - Tue, 02 Dec 14:16:00 2008

Who is the greatest Ferrari driver of all time? Every week during the off-season Eurosport will offer a point of discussion for Formula One fans, in conjunction with our online poll. So let us know what you think.

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The shortlist:

Alberto Ascari

One of only two Italians to have won the drivers' championship (the other was inaugural Formula One champion Giuseppe Farina), Ascari was one of Formula One's true greats. After coming fifth and second for Ferrari in 1950 and 1951, he began 1952 with a retirement at the Indy 500, then part of the F1 calendar. Howeer, after that disappointment Ascari was unstoppable, and won the next six races to take the championship in style. Five wins out of eight the following year secured him consecutive titles before Fangio re-established his grip on the sport. Ascari was tragically killed a year later while testing for Ferrari, despite being a Lancia driver by then.

Juan Manuel Fangio

One of the great names in motorsport, Fangio is a Formula One legend, despite the fact he was in his 40s when the championship was first staged in 1950. The Argentine competed in 51 grands prix between 1950 and 1958, won 24 races and finished on the podium 35 times. In the process he won five drivers' championships and finished runner-up in another two. Yet most of his success came with other teams, notably Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Daimler Benz. Only in 1956 was Fangio a Ferrari driver, during which time he recorded three victories and two second places on his way to a fourth drivers' title.

Mike Hawthorn

Yorkshireman Hawthorn drove for Ferrari on and off throughout the 1950s, and with the Italian team never finished lower than fourth in the drivers' championship. His greatest season was his last, in 1958, when one victory, five second places and a third was enough to win the championship at the sixth time of asking.

Niki Lauda

The Austrian spent four seasons with Ferrari from 1974-77. He joined as an unproven driver and at a time when the team's glory days of the 1950s and 1960s had fizzled out into a title-less decade of underachievement. Lauda revitalised the team. During his time with Ferrari he won 14 races and registered 31 podium finishes, enough to win him the 1975 and 1977 titles. He also finished second in the 1976 championship, one point behind James Hunt, despite missing several races with injury. Bernie Ecclestone, then Brabham team boss, poached Lauda for the 1978 season by offering him a $1 million salary, and Lauda would never again race with the prancing horse on his car.

Kimi Raikkonen

The Finn arrived at Ferrari in 2007 having been one of a few drivers to run Schumacher close in his peak. Raikkonen lost the 2003 championship to the German by just two points. Yet after a flying start to the season with victory in Australia, the team struggled with reliability problems and Raikkonen was overshadowed by his McLaren rivals. Back-to-back victories in France and Britain got him back in the title race, and after winning three of the season's final four races Raikkonen did just enough to earn Ferrari their first championship since 2004.

Jody Scheckter

South African Schekter spent two years driving for Ferrari, and won the drivers' championship for them in 1979 before being plagued by problems in 1980 and retiring from the sport. He was the last man to win a title for the team for over two decades.

Michael Schumacher

What can you say about Michael Schumacher that hasn't already been said? The greatest driver of his era won titles in 1994 and 1995 with Benetton before moving to Ferrari, where he spent the remainder of his career. Despite having an inferior car, Schumacher also came close to winning the 1997 and 1998 titles. But when Ferrari's technology caught up with their rivals he was unstoppable. Five consecutive titles from 2000-2004 followed, making the German the most successful Formula One driver of all time. His finest hour is a toss-up between the 2002 season - 11 wins, five second places and a third - and the 2004 season, when he won 12 of the first 13 races of the season. Critics might point to a relative lack of competition when he was at the height of his powers, but the truth is that Schumacher had the strength of will and commitment to make great drivers look ordinary.

John Surtees

The only man to have won world championships on two wheels and four, Surtees moved to Ferrari three years after making the switch to Formula One. After a fourth-placed championship finish for the team in 1963, he had a stunning 1964 season in which he secured a podium place in every race he finished. The following season he remained with the team, but a crash robbed him of any championship aspirations.

So vote now in our online poll and let us know your thoughts on the discussion board below.

Eurosport

Comment 67 - 86 of 126

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  1. From Grumpy old man!, I believe you omitted the 100­ from the speed claims for the 50s and 60s­ cars...170-190mph is more like, and on tyres that were­ in many cases less than 6 inches wide, Fangio claimed­ that the BRM v16 would spin its wheels in top gear if­ you were careless, and with some 585 bhp from the 1.5­ litre engine I am not surprised...
    the cars of the­ early days were about the drivers 'feel'(manual­ box/clutch pedal etc, and today is about the drivers­ ability to work the technology...I think that­ Schumacher successfully bridged the two and therefore­ gets my vote, I'm not a Shumi fan but his overall­ ability is astounding.

    From Peter c, on Tue 2 Dec 1:19PM

  2. Now romcom38 please don't think I am having a pop­ at you but I can't remember Jim Clark driving for­ ferrari. I am sure if I am wrong someone will correct­ me.

    From BigBill, on Tue 2 Dec 12:58PM

  3. No contest! The flying Scot, Jimmy Clark. There never­ has been and never will be, anyone more cool,­ collected, skilled or braver.

    From FrankR, on Tue 2 Dec 12:45PM

  4. meek_engineer, you think that record books prove who is­ the best driver??? you think schumacher is­ infalible..... take a look at the 2 seasons where he­ was really under pressure in the last race of the­ season.... 1984, he took Damon Hill out of the race in­ adelaide.... 1997 he tried exactly the same on Jacques­ Villeneuve.... so let's not try and prove that he­ (schumi) is above and beyond every other driver in­ history. I have seen Michael Schumacher drive some­ absolutely outstanding races, but I also saw several­ drivers outdrive him at certain races whilst he was­ with Ferrari but they were not allowed to win the race,­ they had to let him pass..... that to me does not make­ him the best driver ever to drive at Ferrari. My vote­ too goes to Niki Lauda. (And no, I aint a ferrari fan­ either) :P

    From morefious, on Tue 2 Dec 12:38PM

  5. Michael Schumacher without doubt. I saw Fangio and all­ the other drivers in the 50's and 60's and­ thought they were all fantastic with probably Fangio­ as the best but Schumacher is in a league of his own. ­ Remember, in Fangio's day the top speed of cars was­ about 70-90mph, which was unbelievable back then but­ things have changed and the cars are now doing 200mph­ and it takes someone REALLY special to cope with all­ the stress of driving at that speed for an hour and a­ half and to win more races than any other driver in­ history is something that I don't think will never­ be beaten. All the others were good in the cars of the­ day but as thing improve and get faster the skill and­ fitness required is increased and that's why MS is­ the best driver of all time - SO FAR!!!

    From Grumpy old man!, on Tue 2 Dec 12:32PM

  6. Alberto Ascari

    From gap626, on Tue 2 Dec 11:47AM

  7. Its the mechanics business if he wants to leave a­ team,nobody DRAGS him..!

    From wizzo, on Tue 2 Dec 11:25AM

  8. meek: We can say who we like. And I couldn't give a­ fig who he took to Brabham, not a cardinal or any other­ sin to me or to any other sensible person I­ expect.
    Ferrari fans state that Hammy is arogant but I­ think Ferrari fans make Hammy look really meek. Have a­ look at your post, it is vomit inducing.

    From BigBill, on Tue 2 Dec 11:22AM

  9. meek: We can say who we like. And I couldn't give a­ fig who he took to Brabham, not a cardinal or any other­ sin to me or to any other sensible person I­ expect.
    Ferrari fans state that Hammy is arogant but I­ think Ferrari fans make Hammy look really meek. Have a­ look at your post, it is vomit inducing.

    From BigBill, on Tue 2 Dec 11:21AM

  10. meek_engineer: No, No, No. I am not a ferrari fan I am­ an F1 fan. Why can't I take part in this poll­ then?
    Now you ferrari fans only like the record books­ when they are in ferrari's favour. You won't­ much like the 2008 record books, for example.
    Lauda won­ 2 WDCs with ferrari at a time when ferrari were rubbish­ and pulled the whole team up by their bootstraps.
    Hence­ he gets my vote please don't criticise.

    From BigBill, on Tue 2 Dec 11:17AM

  11. @#$% you yahoo

    From RUSTYZIPPERSTUCK, on Tue 2 Dec 11:12AM

  12. I cant believe you are saying lauda, yes he nearly died­ but that is nothing to celebrate or add anything to his­ prowess or skill as a driver does it? terrible thing to­ happen and yes he did nearly win it but he committed a­ cardinal sin at ferrari (and as I take it your all­ ferrari fans) this is in-excusable, he also took­ perhaps the greatest race mechanic ermano cuoghi with­ him to brabham. Schumacher all the way as he­ ecompasses everything that is great about modern­ ferrari and that is why they are so popular, all the­ drivers have added something to the ferrari legend and­ none more than lauda but the record books state schumi­ as the most succesful ferrari driver ever, and as the­ debate is greatest driver ever then it is a no brainer­ no one remembers the losers.

    From meek_engineer, on Tue 2 Dec 11:00AM

  13. Bill Mac its now Lauda/Villeneuve in joint 1st for me I­ just dont see one person taking the accolade,the­ shoulders would be crushed!

    From wizzo, on Tue 2 Dec 10:56AM

  14. Schumi probably pips Lauda and Fangio to the post, he­ had a commitment (and skill) beyond anything anyone­ else has ever seen. His dominance was not just due to­ mechanical prowess and lack of competition, he'd­ have dusted anybody in those seasons when he was at the­ top. And he was close with sub-standard machinery a­ number of times...

    From ddubdrahcir, on Tue 2 Dec 10:51AM

  15. Wizzo ya know you couple guys put forward an intriguing­ argument for Niki that I am going to join you.
    It's­ Niki Lauda for me guys (wizzo and vinny), nuts to­ schummy.

    From BigBill, on Tue 2 Dec 10:38AM

  16. Good post vinnydawg67,no one has suffered more than­ Niki with his injuries at the old Nurb,burning, then­ being hit AGAIN its something that people do not want­ to think of but it happened and Hunt would maybe not be­ champ if he continued at Fuji.Seing Schumi taking it­ easy now looking at a screen in the Ferrari camp and­ Niki running an airline only strengthens the point.

    From wizzo, on Tue 2 Dec 10:20AM

  17. VINNEYDAWG how many times do you have to keep repeating­ yourself you plonker

    From U R SOLES, on Tue 2 Dec 10:04AM

  18. never my favorite bt it has to be schumi

    From U R SOLES, on Tue 2 Dec 10:03AM

  19. One word"MICHAEL"

    From michael s, on Tue 2 Dec 9:00AM

  20. Unbelievable what it takes to get past the­ "invalid Comment" error.

    From vinnydawg67, on Tue 2 Dec 8:18AM
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