Quite the opposite. Phil Hill was a great guy, one of the gentleman racers who could be quick in anything. SV is a likeable sort of guy and is unarguably quick in a taylor made Red Bull where, if he stays, he will win more world championships.
And Stirling Moss was one of the big rivals to Fangio and it was correct to put him in some of the best teams in F1 during the 50's just like Fangio and Ascari as he was a big talent for his age but you could say the same about Webber and Kubica against the likes of Alonso, Seb and Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton was by far the most prepared and complete rookies I've seen since Villeneuve and he did very well against the likes of Alonso during that period. If he stays with McLaren for his entire career I would be amazed if he doesn't win at least 2 more world titles even if the field stayed like this for another 6-7 years.
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised at their stupidity, after all they did give F1 to Sky... This bit is my favourite: Vettel went to Red Bull for 2009, so if the BBC rank Vettel higher than Alonso, surely Vettel would be the one winning the championships.
I don't see Vettel making the list at all now. Benson obviously hates him for beating Hamilton, thats why Alonso is only 10th.
That is just stupid. In 2008 Red Bull were struggling in the midfield and were even beaten by their own sister team. Moving there would have been considered career suicide, Alonso's a great driver but he's not omniscient
Hamilton - Check Alonso - Check Schumacher - Surely guaranteed Unless they throw in Raikkonen its got to be Vettel... hasn't it? This is the BBC though, but just to confirm this isn't Benson's list
Throwing in Raikkonen would be a real curveball. But when you consider his credentials (a very impressive effort in 2007 to snatch the championship from under the noses of the in-fighting Mclarens, running Schumacher close at Mclaren, erm... that's about it) against Vettel's (two WDCs, becoming the youngest WDC and double WDC, one in truly dominant fashion) I really am worried they plan to rank Vettel highly which he doesn't deserve IMHO.
If Seb was with: Renault 2006, McLaren 2007,2008, Brawn 2009...before joing Red Bull, Seb could of become the youngest single, double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, sextuple world champion and only 1 off Schumachers record!!!! And he would still only be 25!
I Do not think that it is that surprising to see Vettel possibly place above Alonso, the success that he has achieved at his age has never been seen before in the sport. I mean two world titles by the time the guy is 24 is ridiculous!
Indeed Vettel is by far the most special talent F1 has ever been given to grace it's circuits. I would know, I'm a race instructor after all!
I said this in the Hamilton thread and I’ll say it here too. I really don’t think that you can include current drivers in these types of lists, the only expectation is Schumacher. Now that being said I think that if you are going to include current drivers in the list it’s ridicules to have Alonso so low because at the moment he is head and shoulders above everyone else on the grid. I will be interested to see where Vettel comes on this list and how they justify putting him above Alonso. And I also agree that they have highlighted Alonso’s darker side in the article about him, but completely whitewashed Hamilton. Out of all the current crop of F1 drivers I think Hamilton has more to be ashamed off than anyone else on the grid, with maybe Schumacher again as the expectation.
I don't think Hamilton has anything to be ashamed of, neither does Vettel or Alonso. They've all had bad moments but who doesn't. In Britain we are subjected to the British media and as we all know the think the media love more than anything is bad news. I don't think its unfair to say Hamilton is the biggest name in F1 in Britain (to the general public overall) so therefore he will be bigged up just so when he does have a problem the media can lay into him for longer and drag out a story. Its the sad curse of life, the higher you get the further you fall, even if its undeserved people will do anything they can to shoot you down. It probably doesn't help that Hamilton is like marmite, some love him some hate him (strong words but you get the idea), there seems no middle ground. I already know I'm one of the weird ones who can like both Hamilton and Button at the same time but as it seems Im in the minority the media will again do anything they can to create a divide for a story. This sort of leads to Alonso and Vettel being shown in a bad light in this country from time to time. It creates more of a divide to single out Hamilton as the hero, who will become the villan if the opportunity presents itself. Hamilton's hype probably has a negative effect as it tends to hide what he has actually achieved so far in his career, a career far from over. At the same time the sly digs at Alonso and Vettel can create a image that is not far from the truth but is still fundamentally wrong which creates both greater support and a underlying dislike, making them more like good old marmite. Hope you enjoyed my waffle
I'm with BLS on this one. Drivers who are still racing should have been excluded from the list, bar Schumacher. We certainly could have some of the all time greats racing now, but I think you can only really analyze their careers once they've finished achieving all they can. Taking Hamilton as an example, if he fails to score another championship, would he make that list? Liked not, despite his early achievements. If he gets another 3 though (wishful thinking) he could be right at the pointy end.
What i find strange is how at first they tried to make out that they were not ranking the drivers but were merely 'listing' the greatest drivers, whereas now Benson and co are making it clear that it is ranked in which case Hamilton being ahead of Hill (Graham), Fittipaldi and Piquet remains a huge error
