IMHO .. agree with Sir Jackie Stewart ( I know I have mentioned this before ) . You can only ever be judged against people from your own era . There are far , far , to many variables .
Heidfeld reminds me of Frentzen . Both bloody quick but maybe needed a gentle arm around the shoulder ? Given the treatment some of this current mob get , they would have bloody well FLOWN !!!!!
In 1992 Senna only beat Berger by a single point. You can get a few odd results by just looking at the points standings in a single season. Hamilton was never outperformed by Rosberg over a season.
Slightly odd for the OP to put James Hunt so high. I mean, yeah, he was a laugh and that, but more Coulthard than Senna in terms of real ability. I wouldn’t put Mansell higher than Hakkinen either. Mika was the only driver Schuey feared, and all his team mates were perplexed by his turn of speed. Should have won the 2000 title as well, but for reliability (the US GP was painful in that regard). Added to that, he basically came back from the dead to do it all too.
The thing I liked about him was he was good . I think though he had a nasty streak , no problem with that as such .However He made it personal . He Called Mansell's wife ugly , and I have seen him behind Prost moving ( his own ) nose to imitate Prost's obviously broken one . That stuff is childish / vile beyond belief IMHO .
Oh he was happy to play the political game for sure. Him v Prost as teammates wpuld have been interesting- or Senna for that matter. Always felt Mansell maybe naive, lacked a brain at times to match his speed. Hakkinen was excellent, but did he have personal issues at the end as he did a less bad Damon in 1999 for a while. To be fair to Hill, he was honest with his thoughts and told the team.
I think Schumacher really shouldn’t have come back. Had neck issues by then which can’t have helped / age caught up etc.... What he achieved with that 96 Ferrari was magical. Surely the Benetton was a quicker package that year, and maybe even the McLaren.... maybe.
Piquet was a twat. There's no two ways about it. As for Mansell. People will always underrate him, call him a moaner, or suggest he was lacking somehow, but I really don't care. He provided me with years of excitement, drama, tears and joy. More than any other driver. Even when he went to CART. No other driver will bring about anything like Mansellmania. If he were Italian or South American rather than a brummie, he'd get a lot more credit.
Is all seriousness Sgt B . Keep this because I will only post this once... Nige. Was right up there with the very best . Also no pushover on a mental level , if you read what he went through to get into F1 ( inc second mortgage on his home ) , and the difficulties other drivers face , he did very very well. He is a very underrated driver , and a man well worthy of his F1 title . I’m off for a lie down .
Ha! Cheers! I don't mind a bit of poking of fun tbh. Occasionally though, I have to stand up for the big man. I feel It's the least I can do . He's a proper racing legend for me. There will never be another.
Thankfully * Some Welsh friends I used to go on holiday with To F1 races , said they once met Bernie himself ,( very briefly ) , he said he( Nige ) was the most exciting driver he had seen in a long time . Ah bugger . Need another lie down