Talking point: Greatest Lotus driver?

Eurosport - Mon, 29 Dec 17:01:00 2008

Who is the greatest Lotus driver of all time? Every week in the off-season Eurosport will offer a point of discussion for F1 fans, in conjunction with our online poll. So let us know what you think.

1978 Lotus Mario Andretti Ronnie Peterson - 0

Note: Drivers are considered only for their achievements at Lotus, meaning all-time greats such as Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet are not included on the shortlist.

Mario Andretti

One of only two drivers to win races in the four major motor racing categories: Formula One, IndyCar (USAC), World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR, Andretti joined Lotus in 1968 after a successful spell in IndyCar. The Italian-American only raced sporadically in F1 for Lotus over the next four years, before a full season in the sport with the American Parnelli team. However, he returned to Lotus in 1976 and played a major role in their rejuvination, going on to claim the 1978 world championship with six wins, clinching the title on Lotus home soil in Italy.

Jim Clark

There can be little doubt that Clark was the dominant driver of his era, winning two world championships, in 1963 and 1965, and at the time of his death, he had won more grands prix (25) than any other driver - and all the legendary Scot's performances came in a Lotus. His first world title in 1963 also sealed Lotus their first constructors' world championship. After a lean spell in the mid-1960s, Clark took a second world title when the manufacturer began a profitable partnership with Ford-Cosworth. His life ended prematurely in a crash in April 1968 when, during a Formula Two race at Hockenheimring he had only entered to fulfil contractual obligations, his Lotus 48 veered off the track and crashed into the trees.

Emerson Fittipaldi

Like Andretti, Fittipaldi was a versatile and ambitious driver who had success on both sides of the Atlantic, winning the world championships in both Formula One and CART, and the Indianapolis 500 twice. Fittipaldi was somewhat thrust into the limelight at Lotus but, armed with what was arguably the greatest F1 design of all time, the Lotus 72D, Fittipaldi proved unstoppable in 1972 as he won five of 11 races to claim the Drivers' Championship to become the then-youngest champion in F1 history at just 25 years-of-age.

Graham Hill

Father of Damon, Graham Hill is the only driver ever to win the so-called Triple Crown of Motorsport - winning the F1 World Championship, the Indy 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hour. His time with Lotus came from 1967 onwards, having previously won the world championship with BRM in 1962. He took over as leader of the team in 1968 after team-mates Jim Clark and Mike Spence were killed, going on to claim the title that same year. He returned from a bad crash in 1969 where he broke both his legs to race for Lotus for several more years, although he never repeated his success.

Ronnie Peterson

The Super Swede was loved by F1 fans, who appreciated the aggressive, attacking style that built him a reputation as being the fastest driver in all of F1 throughout the 1970s in terms of raw speed. He joined Lotus in 1973 as a partner for Fittipaldi, winning seven races over a three-year period, returning to the team after a spell with March. At the 1978 Italian GP at Monza, Peterson was involved in a crash at the opening bend, his Lotus crashing hard into the barriers and catching fire. Although his life did not appear in immediate danger, the Swede later died in hospital due to complications arising from surgery on the 10 fractures in his legs.

Jochen Rindt

Rindt is the only driver to win the F1 World drivers' championship posthumously, after being killed in practice for the Italian GP in 1970. It was during his second season for Lotus, the first having been a fourth-place finish in 1969. Before then, the German-Austrian had been noted for being an exceptionally fast driver with superb reflexes, but he had rarely had a car equal of his talent until he moved to the Italian team. Driving perhaps the greatest F1 car of all time, the Lotus 72, Rindt won five races on the way to building a huge lead with five races to spare - until he became the second Lotus team leader to be killed in two years when he crashed in practice at Monza.

Alex Sharratt / Eurosport

Comment 105 - 124 of 164

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  1. This poll is useless. Next tell put a poll about force­ india so that Sutil can be the best too.
    The list of­ 'Greatest drivers' is ONLY about 2 drivers­ really : Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. The­ remaining drivers were to complete the grid that's­ all.

    From mauricechlela, on Wed 31 Dec 12:29PM

  2. im afriad i have to say Senna was the best driver in­ their history...and the cleaveaer too...moved on to a­ team the gave him a real chance of winnig­ championchips...

    From NUNO, on Wed 31 Dec 12:19PM

  3. Emerson Fittipaldi the best Lotus driver!
    Lotus, the­ most beaultifull car of F1 history!

    From MARCELO, on Wed 31 Dec 11:57AM

  4. I wonder how many people would urinate on Marnio from­ peru if they saw him on fire??
    I would rather let my­ kidneys explode than help that fool!

    From f1junky1000, on Wed 31 Dec 11:44AM

  5. marnio from peru[not]
    do us all a favour @#$% OFF!!!!­ you no nothing about cars racing or otherwise!

    From dave..london, on Wed 31 Dec 11:03AM

  6. Jim Clark was an amzing Lotus driver, but the best,­ Ayrton Senna! Only he could have made that car go as­ well as it did.

    From loadswine, on Wed 31 Dec 10:51AM

  7. Sem dúvida Emerson Fittipaldi

    From lerycarvalho, on Wed 31 Dec 4:52AM

  8. Well, the consensus seems to be that the driver with­ the most victories is the best, regardless of overall­ achievement. This may speak to the future scoring­ system for F1.

    From pHilo, on Wed 31 Dec 2:59AM

  9. Sorry that's all in bits Invalid comments­ apparently

    From Mike, on Wed 31 Dec 2:10AM

  10. I may get shot down in flames here but I was told that­ the Elan was the first production car (in the UK maybe)­ to have Disk brakes all round, also electric windows.­ It even had little lights in the bottom of the doors so­ you could see where you were stepping out in the­ dark.
    Very advanced for it's time.

    From Mike, on Wed 31 Dec 2:09AM

  11. Major I've had 3 Lotus Elans and they were all­ great fun, but you had to look on them as a hobby.
    ­ They used to say LOTUS stood for Lots Of Trouble­ Usually Serious. They weren't tha bad but did­ require regular maintenance, and being fibreglass the­ electrics were a nightmare.

    From Mike, on Wed 31 Dec 1:59AM

  12. Just after I met my wife she was looking to buy a new­ car and was planning on getting an MR2. I eventually­ managed to persuade her to get an MX-5 (Miata) instead.­ She loved it so much that when they brought out the new­ model she traded in her existing model for the new 2.0L­ one. Its a great little car.

    From Mike, on Wed 31 Dec 1:56AM

  13. Major Domo, I believe when they were designing the­ MX-5, Mazda bought several early Elans and shipped them­ to Japan to strip them down. The only real difference­ in the design is the MX-5 is a monocoque body, the­ addition of modern materials and Japanese reliability­ has made it a real winner.
    Pity WE couldn't have­ made it.

    From Mike, on Wed 31 Dec 1:54AM

  14. Lewis Hamilton MBE
    Read and Weep.

    From MGA, on Wed 31 Dec 12:52AM

  15. I'm 53 years old. My first car was a 12 year old­ BN6 Austin-Healy 100-6. I've owned a 1962 Austin­ Mini, 1974 TR-6, 1991 Audi 90S 20v Quattro, 2001 Audi­ S4 Quattro, among others. I've never owned a front­ wheel drive car and probably never will.
    I grew up an­ hours drive from Watkins Glen NY and went to every USGP­ there from 1963 on. I liked the tv show "the­ Avengers", partially to watch Mrs. Peels'­ Lotus Elan. I always wanted one, but for a variety of­ reasons this was always unrealistic. Like price, lack­ of support (although there was a Lotus dealer in­ Rochester NY in the sixties and seventies) and the lack­ of realiability I would always read about.
    In 1989 I­ read about the then new Mazda Miata, and how it was­ designed by Japanese-speaking Anglophile American who­ convinced Mazda the world needed an updated British two­ seat sports car. He used the Lotus Elan as a starting­ point. Early Miatas even resemble an Elan. I test drove­ and bought one of the first ones. 19 years and 97,785­ miles later I'm still grinning everytime I drive­ it. Great bags of fun to drive, low cost, easy for me­ to do the work on, and bullet-proof reliability. It has­ all the soul of my Austin-Healy without ANY of the­ headaches.
    I drove a V-8 transplant Miata once. It­ moved like a scalded cat.

    After I'm gone to the­ next world, me and my '89 Miata, and Jimmy Clark in­ his '62 Elan Type-26R, are going for a drive in the­ Swiss Alps, into Austria. There we have a plan for­ lunch with Jochen Rindt driving his '97 Elise­ Type-115. We'll talk about how great the breakfast­ was at the Glen Motor Court in each early October.­
    After which I'll try really hard to keep pace in­ the twisty-bits...

    From Major Domo, Republic of Vermont, on Tue 30 Dec 11:45PM

  16. I believe this "Italian Lotus" thing is­ basically a typo.
    The sentence in the Mario Andretti­ section reads:
    "However, he returned to Lotus­ in 1976 and played a major role in their rejuvination,­ going on to claim the 1978 world championship with six­ wins, clinching the title on Lotus home soil in­ Italy."
    I think they meant: "...,­ clinching the title on HIS home soil in Italy."
    ­ Mario was born in Montona, Istria, Italy, which­ became part of Yugoslavia in 1948, and is now Croatia.­ He and his family emigrated to the US at his age of 15,­ in 1955.
    Mario is one of the most successful­ drivers of all time, especially considering the range­ of types of different cars. Not to slag him really, but­ in 1978 the Lotus 79 was miles ahead of the competing­ cars. Proof it was largely the car, is how poorly he­ did in 1979 in the Lotus 80, after the other teams­ figured out what Colin Chapman was up to in the Ground­ Effects department.
    My vote for greatest Lotus­ driver is Jim Clark.

    From Major Domo, Republic of Vermont, on Tue 30 Dec 10:48PM

  17. MGA, cheers for the info on TVR.
    I had a Griffith 500­ and it was an awesome car to drive but sadly I could­ not live with its poor reliability unlike my Skyline­ which is not as much fun to drive but is totally­ reliable.

    From TYGERZI, on Tue 30 Dec 8:03PM

  18. Just for you Bill
    On 22 February 2007 it was revealed­ that Smolensky is once again the owner of the company­ after being the highest bidder. On 28 February 2007,­ less than one week after reacquiring TVR, he has­ reportedly announced plans to sell the company to Adam­ Burdette and Jean Michel Santacreu, who intend to­ export TVRs to the United States market. On 8 October­ 2007 it was found that Smolensky was still in control­ of the company and was hoping to restart production,­ with a target of 2,000 cars to be sold in 2008. On 11­ July 2008 It was reported that TVR announced the­ relaunching of the Sagaris as the Sagaris 2, at its new­ centre near Wesham in Lancashire.

    From MGA, on Tue 30 Dec 7:42PM

  19. But EleanaV is the TVR still in production in Russia?

    From BigBill, on Tue 30 Dec 6:56PM

  20. JIM CLARK was the best Lotus driver with GH a very­ close second and unfortunately loosing Rindt (despite­ being dead when he won the championship) we never­ really got the best of him - goes 3rd

    From EleanaV, on Tue 30 Dec 6:03PM
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