Was Senna the greatest driver of all time?

Answer 1

This is what I put as the answer to a similar question yesterday:
No, but he was the best of his time. He's in the same bracket as the other "best of their time"s:

Fangio 50-57
Moss 57-61
Clark 62-67
Stewart 68-73
Lauda 74-79
Piquet 80-84
Prost 85-88
Senna 89-94
Schumacher 95-04
Alonso 05-07

Alonso is easily the worst of the group, but good luck getting anyone to agree on who is best out of the rest.



Nice to see gatorade being as consistent as ever:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ahm2j_DxDRfeqJInJ7UlqaLeBwx.;_ylv=3?qid=20070922233456AAYwRCp
one thing or the other, mate, you can't have it both ways. Either you can compare drivers and say one was the greatest or you can't.

Not arguing with you about Senna being the best driver through the mid-90s if he hadn't died, I personally think he was better than Schumi too...but they were comparable because they raced against each other. I just don't think you can say that any one driver was the greatest of all time, and you said the same thing on the question I've linked to.

Answer 2

Was Senna the greatest driver of all time?

I think that most professional drivers and team-managers would conclude that Senna was the best driver of his era; possibly of the last thirty-years, but "of all time" is quite impossible to answer.

But there others in history, such as Fangio, Jim Clark and Stirling Moss, who may well have been just as great, but driving very different cars on often very different circuits.

It's difficult to imagine a finer driver, or one with greater raw speed and nerve. He was often shockingly quick in sometimes terrible conditions. There was something strangely intense about Ayrton Senna; possibly the most private of people and one who was quite shy. The latter quality he shared with the late Jim Clark, who avoided public situations and the attentions of the press. It is difficult to imagine two people less suited to the high-profile world of formula one, or two people more perfectly suited to racing cars faster than any of the contemporaries.

I recall something said by the late Bill Blydenstein (team manager of Vauxhall Racing some years ago, who died last week).

He said something to the effect that he always looked for drivers who had a "complex."

I suspect that Ayrton Senna had that in abundance, but as to why, perhaps the truth will never properly emerge!

Answer 3

Greatest driver on and off the track. In monaco, he started at 14th in the rain and was able to drive all the way to 2nd place before the race was stopped. In a practice session back in 92, he jumped out of his car and put his own life at risk to help an unconcious driver who had crashed. He was always trying to improve the safety conditions of for the drivers. Sadly, the fia never took any action until after his death.

Senna also donated millions of brazilian money to charities for children, something that was not known until after he died.

I don't know of any modern driver or athlete of the same character as Ayrton Senna. It's ******* sad.


how many drivers would do this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaPgzhpEi9I&mode=related&search=






Rosbif, i meant what i said in the other question but senna IS the greatest ever. If he hadn't died, he would have been champ up till 96 maybe even 97.


Senna is the greatest of all time.

Answer 4

I don't think you can compare accurately across the years, but Senna is one of the best drivers ever. The best drivers from one era would probably have been quick in any era (although Fangio may have had trouble with an early-80s wing cars, given that he was in his mid-40s and those cars gave fit guys in their early 20s problems...).

Answer 5

Senna was to F1 what Pele was to football, he transcended the sport and was a damn nice bloke!

To say he would've been champ into the mid-late 90's is questionable, you have to remember the kind of cars he was used to driving in the late 80's -early 90's they were beast of technology! He struggled in the first few races in the Williams he lost his life in, a car prepared and tested by the reknowned 'Meister' Damon Hill.

Senna is gone but his skill is a joy all his fans can treasure in their memories
I think he would've been happy with that

Answer 6

He may have actually been, but the cost of alienation of family and friends to focus solely on becoming number 1(at ANY cost) reminds me of Alonso today who did what he had to do to stay in the limelight, and Senna also driving into Prost just to win a tile by default is an abomination as well.

"what profit a man who gains the world and loses his soul?"

Answer 7

Different years mean different technology, rules etc.. so there's simply no yardstick to measure which is greater than the other. Nevertheless even to this date it's obvious Senna is one of the most remembered and missed.

Answer 8

here we go again, the greatest grand prix driver? maybe that's debatable, but greatest driver period? nope,

in my book that's a title reserved for guys who have proved their merit in multiple fields of racing

mario andretti is the greatest of all time, he won in open wheels and fenders, road courses and ovals, on dirt and pavement, he won grand prix and endurance races, and if his ford gt 40 hadn't broken down he would have won le mans too,

1978-1979 (IROC VI) International Race of Champions series champion

1978 Formula One World Championship

1974 USAC national dirt track champion (U.S.)

1972 24 Hours of Daytona

1969 Indianapolis 500 winner

1967 Daytona 500 winner

Three time 12 Hours of Sebring winner (1967, 1970, 1972)

Four time IndyCar champion (1965, 1966, 1969, 1984)

Answer 9

For me... yes, but i didn't have the pleasure of watching Fangio, was too young for Clarkie, and all those in between.

Senna however, I had the fortune to watch throughout his carreer and, embroiled in all things surrounding him and his love for his sport, is the MAN for me!!

RIP x

Answer 10

Of his time yeah... But he probably could have walked away with the title of one of the best drivers off track...