The story about Jim Clark that has always stuck with me is from his engineers, they were talking about how easy Jim was on his machine. After a couple of races they changed his tyres and brakes, not because they needed changing but they felt guilty that they’re colleagues looking after Graham Hills car had to change them after every session, and they thought they better make themselves look busy. Don’t know why this story has always stuck with me, but it has.
There's no doubt that Senna is top 3 material... It would be pretty tough to deny his clearly incredible talent. Over the years though, I think that more people look back on him with a more romantic view. He's certainly one of the greats, but he was beatable and was vulnerable to the occasional red mist. It seems as time passes he moves closer to God status in the sport. He was certainly an F1 legend, just not sure that any F1 driver has reached God status yet.
Nobody will, they are all humans, pushing the boundaries of their flesh and bones. If you die or live, it shouldn't matter. They should be judged on how they did behind the steering wheel.
Yes, there are lots of little stories like this. Competitors and drivers alike all had the same thing to say: that what Clark was doing was uncanny. No-one could make sense of it. And in a way, that included Clark himself. He didn't think he was super-human; far from it. But everyone else did! Clark could not explain why he was so quick; but when he went out to help others improve their times (against himself!) he noticed that most chose slightly different lines to his. He would quietly suggest "try taking corner x like this", and they would. And he'd watch and they'd come back with a tiny improvement. But no-one could make sense of just how much faster Clark was at every point on the circuit. At every circuit. Every year. All drivers are human. But one seemed to have wings too perfect for this world.
