bonsoir again peeps this is a subject that has allways puzzled me given englands deep vein of motorsport background and history , indeed england has spawned some of the greatest teams , designers , cars , engineers , motorsort manufacturing bases , i can only go back as far as mansell who"s career i watched and enjoyed in its entirety but to my knowledge with the possible exception of stirling moss england has never produced a true 100% bonafied all time great formula 1 racing driver that has ever been mentioned in the many all time great top 10 polls that we have all seen and read , and to be honest moss is rarely mentioned in the same breath as fangio , clark , prost , stewart , senna , probally because he never won a WDC - however i never saw moss so it is not fair of me to dismiss him willy nilly , as i said it has allways genuinely puzzled me why england has never produced a driver with that unique blend of razor sharp intelligence and breathtaking speed and ability to be ranked amongst the elite band of all time greats --- would welcome your thoughts and opinions --
you mean someone like Graham Hill, the only man ever to do the Triple crown, or John Surtees, the only amn to be WDC on bikes and in cars, or do they need to be triple WDC's to count? edit: lol there were no replies when i wrote mine, now 2 with the same 2 names, I look liek a copycat
has any experts poll ever ranked them alongside fangio , clark , senna , prost , stewart , etc , not to my knowledge sgt --
I'm pretty sure that Hill has been mentioned in the same breath as the ones you mention. Can I point them out... nope I can't I'm afraid. It's a very English thing to revere a driver that never won a title and then fail to give the same reverence to those that won and entered the history books. We're an odd breed.
Odd article, if you are talking about top 5 drivers ever list sort of thing, then not many countries do lol there are enough good english champions, 2 of the, are on the grid today
we know clark in general had the beating of hill when they were both teamed up at lotus ---- as charismatic as hill was as a person that is probally one of the reasons hill has never been thought of as from the very elite top drawer of the all time great top 10 drivers --
my point is england has such a deep vein of brilliant motor racing history , brilliant teams , brilliant designers , and a wonderful motorsport manufacturing base - i could never work out why with the possible exception of moss who i never saw , we have never produced an all time great driver that any poll of any note has ever credited as such --
Here's the way I see it. If Mansell (my all time favorite F1 driver) had a little more luck on his side and he'd managed to bag a couple more titles, he still wouldn't be counted among the greats because he's a Brummie with a normal name and wears (at the time... well some of it) a tash. If it's home grown, we diminish their achievements, if its foreign we lord them. Look at Button, '09. So many people bashing him and saying he was only winning so many races due to the car... even pundits were. Vettel does the same and he's the next Schumacher. Like I say, we're an odd bunch.
Mansell deserves to be mentioned more. Statistically he's got the 4th highest win total. Hamilton has a good 9 years left in him and already has a title & 16 wins. England is far from deficient in great drivers and thats without mentioning either Hill, Button or Sutees. We haven't had anyone reach Senna/ Schumacher levels, but there is no shame in that.
Absolutely. To me he IS one of the greats... He may not be multiple WDC but he holds some great records and to me was one of the most passionate drivers in the history of the sport. He drove with his heart on his sleeve... Enzo Ferrari called him his greatest signing and Colin Chapman loved him. Mansell almost had a curse though. Chapman died, Enzo died, Frank almost died while Mansell drove at their teams... Odd that.
I note you say english to corden off the Jackie Steward outcry. How about Stirling Moss? sure he didnt win a title but is still considered a great?
I wasnt aware of the specifics it seems. British<>English<>Scotish ? I better not take part in innerbritish discussions
Lol. Don't blame me, I didn't title the thread... As a Watson/Douglas I'm part of the Tartan Army myself... Though born and bred in England. Saved from years of following Coulthard, thankfully!
