To drive an F1 car for a team nowadays, you have to be very good, which they all are. My opinion is based on comparing F1 drivers with F1 drivers. They simply don’t compare to the 80’s-90’s drivers with the far more basic cars and they feedback/research the drivers gave back.
I even remembered Senna being famous for being brilliant at timing going out on his qualifying laps. He used to sit in his car for ages whilst the rats scampered around the circuit, then wait for the cleanest run. Genius.
Strange to think that the same gene pool is suddenly incapable of producing drivers of similar talent. I blame global warming, or Putin, or Bill Gates.
Or perhaps nostalgia is alive and well… 
BBC Top Gear Ayrton Senna Tribute -
“I think Senna I will put him in number one” Fernando Alonso
“For me Senna is number one” Felipe Massa
“For me he was number one” Rubens Barrrichello
“I will put Ayrton Senna as number one” Jarno Trulli
“For me Ayrton Senna undoubtedly was the number one” David Coulthard
“I will put him number one you know he was definitely the greatest driver” Mika Hakkinen
“If you ask me I put Senna as well in number one” Michael Schumacher
“He had a God given talent that I haven’t witnessed anywhere else. A sixth sense of where the grip was before he turned into a corner” Martin Brundle
“You know I’ll be honest with you. I was never a Senna fan. I always thought Gilles Villeneuve was the greatest racing driver of them all. But to make this film I’ve watched hours and hours and hours of footage and the thing is Villeneuve was spectacular on a number of occasions, Senna was spectacular every single time he got in a car” Jeremy Clarkson
“I race designed to win”
“There is no compromise.”
“You give everything you have.”
“Everything.”
“Absolutely everything.”
Jodie Schecter was good he had wins in bad cars.
Jack Brabham was one of the best. He was a quiet family man.
Not drivers, just one would be good and not suddenly incapable either. Gene pool couldn’t do it before and I wonder with the way F1 has gone, will it ever do it again.
Senna was different.
Different - yes. A character - undoubtedly. But the Best? Well, as I mentioned above, I don’t believe there is a single Best covering all the generations. Murray Walker knew a thing or two about racing drivers and he was quite adamant if one driver had to be selected above all others it would have to be… El Chueco aka Juan Manuel Fangio. Murray was not alone in reaching this conclusion; but I just don’t accept there is a best driver of all time. There is a collection of greats. It’s too easy to lament Lewis Hamilton’s success because he has the fastest car; same with Schumacher - they are both brilliant drivers and I’m sure the same is true of Max V - his time will come.
Peter
There is one name that is not mentioned in this thread, in terms of ‘who is the best ever F1 driver’. I suspect it is because he raced in the sixties & that is going back too far for many.
I was born in Maidstone, 12 miles from Brands Hatch & was taken there for my first race, the 1965 British GP, just a couple of months short of my 10th birthday.
The race was won by Jim Clark, as were the majority of his races when his car held together. These were the days when it didn’t matter who you were or how good you were. Most drivers retired in 50% or so of the races due to mechanical failure.
Jim’s driving record still speaks for itself & I won’t quote it here as it is easy to look up if you want to.
Jim Clarke is up there with the Hamilton’s, Schumacher’s, Prost’s, Stewart’s etc. & I couldn’t argue one way or the other for any of them being the best of all time.
I think the one thing he was able to prove over & above all the others was his ability to jump into anything with four wheels & instantly drive it faster than anyone else. The British GP was a case in point. An hour before he raced in the GP he won the supporting saloon car event in a Lotus Cortina. I wonder how many of the other greats could have done that? Anyone who knew him said that he could literally drive anything better than anyone else.
So, I am not claiming he was the best (although I do feel he could be argued for as strongly as Senna, Hamilton & Schumacher), just please remember him along with all the usual suspects when ever the question of who is/was the best of all time is discussed.
I so wish we could drop all this GOAT nonsense. We all have our favourites in all sports, but meaningful comparisons across time are pretty much impossible. Why don’t we just celebrate them as wonderful exponents of their particular sport and champions of their era?
I agree there have been many great drivers throughout history, and it’s impossible to compare them. Cars were different in different eras, a driver doing well in one might have struggled in another. Also, define “best”. Above it was argued that modern drivers just drive, so obviously that person thinks there’s more to being a good “driver” than just driving ability. Others might disagree.
As we can’t agree on what makes a driver “a great”, there’s no definite list, even Hamilton holding plenty of records is disputed, so is Alonso. But AFAIK Fangio, Schumacher & Senna are the only ones that are undisputed.
I would add Jim Clark to that list. Fangio said Jim Clark was the best driver he ever saw.
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