Jackie Stewart always said Jim Clark was the best he’s ever seen.
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Well, being a gentleman and a sportsman, Senna & Stewart would hardly say themselves as being the best driver of all time would they? A bit of nostalgia and there’s a couple of ‘great’ drivers that is the diplomatic public statement to make when asked.
The greatest driver isn’t someone who just wins a number of races or made a great nostalgic win at some point. It’s about someone who consistently wins, in good and poor cars. It’s someone who joins a team and they use (and need) him to build and evolve the car. Using his expertise to make the team win. Being competitive throughout their career and someone where the whole of the F1 organisation listened to every word he said and changed circuits and safety because of him.
Racing went through a massive change from the 70s to the 90s and there will never be such an era again. Even if there is someone with the natural talent, it will never be compared to Senna. It can’t be. Modern racing is driven by the teams. The cars are more advanced than the drivers and they just get to a certain standard, then told to drive the thing.
The two greatest drivers were Senna first, followed by Schumacher, but by quite a margin behind.
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I believe it is very difficult to compare drivers from different eras.
Having said that, I do believe that Senna’s 65 pole positions in 162 races makes him at the very least, the fastest driver over one lap.
He beat in qualifying, Alain Prost 28-4 and Gerhard Berger 40-8.
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Yes, one has to have lived, loved and followed F1 racing throughout the Senna era to really appreciate what he was like compared to others. I never even mentioned his qualifying, where he was in a league of his own. Most other drivers were out as soon as the time started. Scrabbling around to get their fastest laps in. Senna was so cool and calculated, he’d patiently wait for the right time to get in his car. The cameras and commentary turned away from qualifying and instead watched Senna in the pits, where he silently waited with his helmet on, for the exact perfect moment to go out. He’d come out, get the pole position within a few laps and come in. This saved the car components and made the whole team more efficient. Genius.
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Jim Clark had as much natural talent as any F1 driver and competed successfully in a far wider range of competitions to back this up.
In terrible, wet conditions he won the Belgium GP by over five minutes!
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I have no idea where he stands now, but for a long time after his retirement, Alain Prost held the record for the most fastest laps during the race itself. Not as impressive as Senna’s qualifying record but very effective in doing it when it counted.
Senna was a fantastic driver but his major personality fault, in my opinion, was his selfishness on track which appeared to show little regard for other drivers. I don’t recall him ever causing harm to anyone else but his talk & on track actions occasionally suggested he would be prepared to take dangerous chances if circumstances presented themselves. Having said that, it is often suggested that this single minded mental attitude is often present in champions in all sports so it may be unfair of me to hold it against him.
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30 years on and Senna is still the master of Monaco
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Spot on 
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That is not provable.
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Great drivers undoubtedly, but not the most sportsman like, particularly Schumacher.
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Indeed it is
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