http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20124557 please log in to view this image Number 4 - Michael Schumacher Number 5 - Alain Prost Number 6 - Stirling Moss Number 7 - Jacky Stewart Number 8 - Sebastian Vettel Number 9 - Niki Lauda Number 10 - Fernando Alonso Number 11 - Alberto Ascari Number 12 - Gilles Villeneuve Number 13 - Nigel Mansell Number 14 - Mika Hakkinen Number 15 - Lewis Hamilton Number 16 - Nelson Piquet Number 17 - Emerson Fittipaldi Number 18 - Jack Brabham Number 19 – Graham Hill Number 20 – Jochen Rindt Senna and Fangio left. My gut feeling will assume Senna is 1st, what do you think about JC in 3rd and the two drivers left? To me, I have to appreciate the situation JC was in, really poor safety and all. 25 race wins out of 73 entries. Fantastic. Best car or not, it takes a man with big balls to drive cars such as the Lotus 49 to the ragged edge. Something that makes Jim stand out as a true legend/great of the sport. What I have realised is that some drivers achieve greatness through perfection and consistency, and others through sheer magnificence in the situation they are in, so greatness is gained in many a situation.
That's wrong, Fangio was always given the best car and number 1 status, he has yet to prove himself in a lesser car...
Damn straight. Senna couldn't beat Fangio even in the best equipment and with team orders whereas Fangio did it on his knackered old tractor.
I do respect Clark, he would be my number 1 of all time in my opinion. But somehow Seb will always get the short end of the stick by doing the same thing with Newey and at an even younger age of Clark and Chapman! Yet boring in those days was still considered mastery of man and car, now it's just pure vile when the first whiff of domination comes around which is sad. I bet if we had the chance to look back at all the GP's in full we would look at ALL! these legends in a far different light and might start putting more drivers in a modern era far higher up and those of the history books far lower down...
Give it a rest silver, why do yu have to make everything about Vettel? you're starting to turn into Escm2
He's actually making me want to throw darts at Vettel's image as I'm starting to hold him personally responsible for the constant twoddle. Please stop this Victim Vettel thing, Silver... it's having the reverse effect on me for one.
I'm pretty sure this thread is about Jim Clark, not Sebastian Vettel Clark was a pretty amazing man to be fair, there are very few to be publicly acknowledged that they were the best at the time they were around (such as Fangio's nickname Maestro being given to him by other racers)
Guys you are all missing the point here, where is the ultimate GOAT Di Resta on this list? In a parallel universe he beat both Clark and Vettel in F3 so he must be number one!
It's all 'opinion' isn't it? I happen to disagree with this particular choice from this particular set of 'experts' â who, like so many, may have subjugated their expertise to themselves, in order to hand it out to the ignorant: those they wish to be seen by as 'informing'. Setting out one's reasoning is not always simple; but here goes. I ask that one looks beneath the surface of the following clumsy words, in order to sense an underlying rhythmâ¦- - -o0o- - - I've made a healthy living propelling wheels of one sort or another since I was big enough to reach pedals or handlebars. Since these earliest moments, I have taken a very keen interest in, and studied the techniques of, every driver/rider I heard of or met (almost literally). It has been a life's work: one of passion, dedication and determination; to borrow, adapt, experiment, discard or adopt; through comparisons valid for personal improvement or that of anyone with similar interest I could share it with â even direct competitors sometimes! It has been and still is an ongoing quest to understand why techniques vary and how these differences can coexist amongst the élite who all seek the same thing: perfection. And it is only through such diligence that any of the people we are discussing find their success. This is still true of even the most 'naturally gifted'*. After a while, such study allows one to perceive patterns emerging. For instance, Racers are made from the same 'stuff'; their DNA is essentially the same. However, the exact proportion and sequencing of it varies as much as any fingerprint. Factors common to all will always coexist but the precise proportions of these vital and essential ingredients will be different for every driver. Amongst the élite, perhaps the biggest common denominator is that a balance is found which produces its own harmonic. Invariably! There is never an exception. It is always there. Amongst those who sit atop all others, ingredients come together in various measure to strike a unique chord which pings so beautifully that 'it' takes on its own identity! It is literally a moment of 'creation' and is a very rare event when viewed from the perspective of the ordinariness below**. It is the 'something', always sought and sometimes captured â by and through â all true art. I can say without a shadow of doubt that in all of this time (which makes up about 50% of the years humans have used motorised vehicles to this end), no driver has come closer to my interpretation of one having the best balance of factors in any human being choosing this particular track through life, than the man we are currently discussing. Perfection is so rare in anything that it is probably a truism to say it is essentially elusive. But oddly enough, what I am saying now is a belief commonly held amongst the peer group of the man at the time â which is a whole magnitude rarer still! Anyone who met Clark sensed that this humble man possessed 'it'. Stranger still is that somehow it was perceived by all his peers at the same time, that he possessed it uniquely! This has not been the case for any driver before or since.*** Thus, when speaking of perfection amongst drivers⦠â Only one rather quiet, truly humble human being, who enjoyed the peace of his own solitude yet embraced all those around him, truly does approach it:Jim Clark. - - -o0o- - - *'Naturally gifted' warrants a discussion of its own. I therefore hope I'll be excused from exploring it in this post. **I have also noticed that these themes for perfection are not unique to driving. Wherever one may look, once again it is found that there are collections of factors amongst the people at the top. And amongst these rare people â who exist in all walks of life â it can once again be seen that a balance has been discovered/created with a unique resonance; a timbre which has become its own tool for success in the very place it is needed: at the very top. This 'something' is at once both internal and external. It is therefore something transcendent. It is contained within everything but contains everything. Yet it retains a quality all of its own. And it is this 'something' which approaches the very notion of perfection. So⦠⦠⦠⦠⦠â¦***It bears repeating: Anyone who met Clark sensed that this humble man possessed 'it'. Stranger still is that somehow it was perceived by all his peers at the same time, that he possessed it uniquely. This has not been the case for any driver before or since.
you know out of all the top 20 drivers, I couldnt wait for Cosicaves write up of JC! Thanks cosi (I am also more embarrased I left him out of my predicted BBC top 20)
Thanks, Bando. That is a truly nice thing to say. I appreciate it. Perhaps I should add that there is no other driver I could have included in a monologue daring to speak of perfection. None at all.
