Who is the best racing driver ever?

Question

I say Michael Schumacher with Ayrton Senna a close second.

Answer 1

Without a doubt Michael Schumacher. There shouldn't even be debate over this, he has two more championships than anyone to ever race in the sport since the 1940's. I am too young (19) to know what kind of a racer Senna was, all I have to look at is the statistics. Schumacher has 7 driver's championships, would be 8 if not for his motor in Japan last year. He has 91 race wins out of Ferrari's 250. He accounts for more than 1/3 of Ferrari's wins and Ferrari have been racing since 1950. No one will beat those records in my lifetime.

Answer 2

Deciding the best ever driver is subjective, however, Tazio Nuvolari (The Flying Mantuan) has to rank at or near the top. He raced in an era when safety was an afterthough and the cars were very difficult to drive.
Of the drivers I personally say, Juan Manuel Fangio (I saw him at Jacarapagua, driving demonstration laps at a Brazilian GP), Jim Clark and Mario Andretti would rate as my best ever.
Statistically Michael Schumacher is way ahead of everyone else, but his poor sense of fair play and his many on-track transgressions blighted an otherwise brilliant career. Had he lived until retirement wound up his career, Ayrton Senna would probably rank among the truly greats of racing.

Answer 3

From an ignorant American: I'm torn between Fangio, Nuvolari, and Schumacher. I've seen most of Schumacher's career, and he is the most brilliant technical driver I have ever seen. Fangio and Nuvolari, however, did some amazing things when the world was much smaller and the competition was much stiffer.

Aw, the heck with it. I'll just go with my favorite- Tazio Nuvolari, then Fangio, then Schumi, followed by Jim Clark, Mario Andretti, Stirling Moss, Phil Hill, and then everybody else.

Answer 4

the easy answer is schumacher, with all his titles and records, but that is a very narrow view, because he never raced outside of f1

the true answer is Mario Andretti
he was an f1 champion and Indy car champion a nascar champion as well and an Indy 500 winner and i believe Daytona but i could be wrong there, the close second
would be AJ foyte or Dan Gurney both men who won races in more than one field

i would love to see schumacher join nascar champ car dtm or Le mans to prove he really is the greatest driver ever but until that happens he will only be the greatest f1 driver ever

Answer 5

I say Micheal Schumacher, however Phil Hill is a very close second. Not only does he hold the record of most consecutive world championships, but he dominated on almost every surface. Think about it. If it was dry and he was struggling, what did you do? Pray for rain. Once the rain came down he dominated the track.

Answer 6

Schumacher is the best ever. I give second to Fangio and third to Clark or Senna.

Schumacher has as many world championships (7) as Senna and Prost combined. He has one fewer win (91) than the second and third most successful drivers in history put together. Senna and Prost won 41 and 51 races, respectively.

I think drivers competing in races that are three-hour left turns (NAS - cough, cough - CAR) should not qualify to be included in responses to this question. . .

Answer 7

Honestly, this is an open-ended question.

There are so many 'great' drivers in a wide variety of different motorsports and from different era's.

For instance, if you asked an american who the best Indy Racer was, I'd almost say you'd hear A.J. Foyt's name mentioned a lot. If you asked an American who the best driver in NASCAR was, then you'd probably hear names like Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhart to name a few.

If you were from outside of N. America asking this question, then more then likely you'd hear either M. Schumacher or A. Senna's name mentioned, as the popularity of F1 is so massive to everyone else BUT the majority of Americans and both Schumacher & Senna's name come up so often in other discussions about F1 drivers, both past and present.

Senna has always been known as a 'gifted' driver, who could take almost any type of car and drive it to its limits with so much ease, it was almost Zen like. Schumacher on the other side, took "modern technology" and used it to his advantage. I'm not saying Schumacher doesn't have talent, which he does, but he's more methodical and mechanical in his driving. He knows how to hit his turns with extreme accuracy, know's how to hold a lead and rarely ever makes mistakes and because he won so often during his prime and because the popularity of F1 as a whole over the last few years, is my reasoning why many F1 fans rank him to be 'greater' then Senna.

Now, if you were a racing fan of rally racing, then you'd hear names like Tommi Mäkinen, or Sébastien Loeb come up, as they're the only two in the last 20 years to win three (3) consecutive "Driver's Championships" (NOTE: Mäkinen won 4 in row - 96' through 99') which, winnining one is very hard to do because you have to be 'consistent' over many races, on a wide variety of different 'surfaces', such as snow, mud, tarmac (Pavement) and/or a mixture of all three.

However, for me personally, the 'greatest driver', has got to be Mario Andretti! Since he has done so well in so many different types of race specific events, regardless of the # of 'wins' is why I give him my # 1 spot!

Just check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Andretti for more background on this amazing driver.


RME, Jr

Answer 8

Sterling Moss.

Answer 9

Juan Manuel-Fangio

Answer 10

1. Fangio
2. M. Schumacher
3. Senna

I would argue that those 3 are interchangeable considering what you mean by 'best'. History, era, style, wins, championships, competition, car, etc.....