Michael Schumacher
As said by Formula One’s official website, Schumacher is “statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen”.
11 years ago he became the only driver in Formula One records to finish top three of every race in a season. He went on to break the record for the most successive podium finishes. His status is unique in that he shared the 1st and 2nd places positions in Montreal in 2001… with his own brother Ralf. He also ranks amongst the prestigious title of “Greatest” due to the millions and millions of dollars he has donated to charity over the years.
Ayrton Senna
Winner of 15 out of 16 Grands Prix in 1988 (plus the F1 World Championship) the legendary Ayrton Senna is consistently voted as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time by fans of the sport. He holds six wins at the Monaco Grand Prix and is in bronze position for the all time most successful driver in terms of race wins. Senna died at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994, in a fatal crash during the 7th lap. Dying performing the sport he loved, Senna remains an icon of success and dedication to fans of racing.
Alain Prost
Coming third behind Ayrton Senna and Juan Manuel Fangio for winning the most titles, Alain Prost won the World Sports Awards of the Century in the motor sport category in 1999. By 2001 he had racked up over 50 Grand Prix victories, after being in Formula 1 for 21 years, having begun at the age of 25 for McLaren. He was nicknamed “The Professor”, due to his commonsense and intellectual approach to racing. Retiring in 1993, he ran Prost Grand Prix for 5 until its bankruptcy in 2001 and is even now a competitor in the Andros ice racing trophy.
Stirling Moss
Ironically called “the greatest driver never to win the World Championship”, Stirling Moss remains one of the most internationally respected figures in racing. He drove in over 60 races a year, in his prime and has driven well over 80 different types of car. After a 1962 crash left him comatose for 4 weeks, he retired from professional racing, citing a loss of the necessary focus to remain at the level he had achieved. He was also famously a gentleman, defending rival driver Mike Hawthorn during the 1958 F1 World Championship. This meant Hawthorn was not docked points by the stewards and ultimately went on to beat Moss by one point overall.
Jackie Stewart
Known as “a great driver and one of the greatest figures of motor racing”, Jackie ‘The Flying Scot” Stewart remains a colourful and memorable character in Formula 1 racing. Becoming a careful champion of F3 in the 1960s, Jackie went on to race for Lotus in F1 in 1965. He competed for 8 years and won three World Championships. He famously became a very vocal advocate for racing safety saying that when he’d arrived in Grand Prix the safety conditions for drivers were “diabolical.” He later dryly noted that his attitude in this regard had made him unpopular and said “if I had always said what people wanted to hear. I might have been dead, but definitely more popular.”
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’][/author_image] [author_info]Cormac Reynolds writes for UK car leasing company First Vehicle Leasing and has written numerous articles on motor sports[/author_info] [/author]
