All time greats and top 3 talents of 2001

Ok guys and gals your opinions please... Who do you see as the all time great driver(s) and who are the three most talented drivers currently in F1.

All time greats - 1. Senna
2. Fangio
3. Prost

This year - 1. M. Schumacher
2. Montoya
3. Villenueve

Let the sparks fly!! :)

For all-time greats, I can't say because I haven't seen all the greats race.

And for the three most talented, it's difficult to say because of the differences in their cars and their experience.

C'mon, RG, you can be a little bolder than that... ;)

I'll stick my neck out anyway, and answer this.

All time greats:
1. Clark
1. Senna
3. Fangio

This year:
1. Montoya
2. M. Schumacher
3. Villeneuve

1. Tazio Nuvolari
2. Ayrton Senna
3. Jim Clark

-----------------

1. Juan Pablo Montoya
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Olivier Panis

All time greats? I too would find it hard to answer as I haven't seen even Senna race.

My top 3 in 2001:
1. M Schumacher
2. Frentzen
3. Montoya

3 most IMPRESSIVE in 2001:
1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Nick Heidfeld

:)

Originally posted by R
C'mon, RG, you can be a little bolder than that... ;)


Okay then...I'm still leaving out the top 3 ever because I can't judge if I haven't seen all the greats race.

My top 3 of 2001...so far:

1. Raikkonen - for proving he deserves a superlicence)
2. Montoya - for overtaking TGF in his third race (no offence to you, Mr Button, but you never did that last year)
3. Heidfeld - hell, he got on the podium! He deserves a payrise for that! ;)

And I would put Ralf or Alonso in fourth. I'm pointedly leaving out TGF because he is just too boring for words. Oh, and:

22. Rubens Barrichello :p

Originally posted by Ralf's Girl
2. Montoya - for overtaking TGF in his third race (no

Absolutley, 2002 Champ you mark my words :)

Minardi fan, what do you mean you have never seen Senna race, don't yer have telly or somthing!!

Get some footage of Donington 1993 and watch the master at work.

All I have seen of Senna is the moments before his tragic accident and his stunning overtaking at Donington '93.

I think I will agree with R

All time greats:
1. Clark
1. Senna
3. Fangio

This year:
1. Villeneuve
2. Montoya
4. M. Schumacher

Although credit should be given to Moss, Hawthorn, Rindt Ickx and Ascari.

Simon

All time greats:

1. A. Senna da Silva
2. J. M. Fangio
3. Jim Clark


2001 top three:

1. TGF
2. Montoya
3. Alesi

Tough one, umm:

1. Fangio
2. Senna
3. Clark / Stewart

Almost in : Prost (wet weather?), Moss (unfortunate place in time), Brabham(3 WDC including one in his own car - do that Shumi :) )

1. TGF
2. Montoya
3. Ralf

Almost in : Alesi, Jacques (when he wants to)

1. Senna
2. Gilles Villeneuve
3. Fangio/Clark

1. Montoya
2. Raikkonnen
3. Heidfeld

I went with the youngsters, instead of the old guard. New talent, as opposed to old. :)

All times:
1 Senna
2 Gilles
3 Prost

This year

1 Juan Montoya
2 Heins Harry Frenzy
3 Ralf

Question : Why Villeneuve (what has he done this year...?)

All time greats:

1. A. Senna da Silva
2. J. M. Fangio
3. Jim Clark

Special mentions Gilles Villeneuve and Stirling Moss (no championships between them but deserved more than a lot of the ones who have won it).


2001 top three:

1. TGF
2. Montoya
3. Coulthard

I can only chose from when I started watching motor racing:

all (my time):

1. Ayrton Senna
2. Gilles Villeneuve
3. Nikki Lauda

Current:

1. JP Montoya
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Jacques Villeneuve

How about a list of drivers that you hoped would become champion. I loved Elio de Angelis.

All time greats:
1.Steve McQueen
2.Sandra Bullock
3.Evil Knieval

Current:
1.The TNT guy who delivers my wine order,
2.Sam the paper delivery man
3. The fellow who drives the Cleanways rubbish collection truck who nearly cleaned me up at the roundabout.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

That's easy...the greatest 3 talents in 2001 are

1) Michael Schumacher
2) Juan Pablo Montoya
3) Nick Heidfeld

the greatest three talents this year are
1. Ralf Schumacher
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Juan Pablo Montoya (though i hate to say it!!!!!)

Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso also deserve a mention!

Originally posted by Jeanburrasca81

2001 top three:

1. TGF
2. Montoya
3. Alesi

Alesi?! One win in a 12 season career, some of which have been spent in genuinley quick cars. He only has a drive this year cos he's mates with prost.

Damon...leave me my opinion. But anyway I think you don't know much about Alesi if you think he only got this seat for he's a mate of Prost. He's one of the greatest drivers I've ever seen and there were other discussions about this before. It's interesting that this year the discussions come up wether Alesi was ever great or not...and probably this is because the F1 fans who now are teenagers did never see him race with better cars.

Yeah....Jean is a really excellent driver...awesome and aggresive...but had a relatively unlucky career...and despite age isnt on his side anymore, he is still doing an awfully cool job!

Alesi was regarded in the early 90s as high as today are Ralf Schumacher and Montoya. The passing maneuvre he made on Senna in Phoenix in 1990 was as good as the one Montoya made on TGF in Brazil.

He would have been a contender for the championship if he had gone to Williams instead of Ferrari which was then a hopeless team. He choose with his heart instead of his head and he wasted his entire F1 career.

How to chose three all time greats. I agree completely with the posts above about Alesi. He is a class act. Carraciola, Nuvolari, Varzi, Chiron, Rosemeyer, Fangio, Farina, Ascari, Moss, Wimille, Clark, Stewart, Surtees, Hill(G), Gurney, Amon, Andretti, Lauda, Cevert, Moll, Peterson, Villeneuve(G), Brabham, Prost, Fittipaldi, Piquet, Mansell, Senna, Alesi, Schumacher(M), Hakkinen. How can I chose 3 from that lot?
This season - Schumacher(M), Montoya, Coulthard. So far.

Stick Jean in 'today's' Ferrari and he would do a better job than Barrichello and Irvine. Very exciting driver.

Originally posted by renault110
Stick Jean in 'today's' Ferrari and he would do a better job than Barrichello and Irvine...Stick Barrichello in 'today's' Safety Car and it'll be a "safe race".

:laugh:

1. nuvolari

sorry bout dat: nuvolari, senna, fangio; now: michael, mika, juan pablo

I have to go with Clark, Fangio and Senna.


I didn't have the advantage of seeing Fangio, but the legend and Nurburgring '57 are enough for me.

Clark was simply electrifying, a brilliant talent and a gentleman.

Senna was merely brilliant.

Best three today:

1) Montoya
2) Heidfeld
3) Coulthard

Of course TGF is the class of the field, but I think the chinks will appear in the armour soon.

Past (since I have been following F1)Racers would be:

1. Senna
2. Prost
3. Alesi in his best years thats why I include him in the past. I would love to see him in a McLaren or Ferrari.

Nowdays:

1. Schumacher M
2. Coultard
3. Hakkinen

The reason for Coultard above Hak is his stunning display in the wet, he overtook the 'rainmaster,' but we haven't seen the best of Mika yet. My jury is still out on JPM but I think it will be a while before he is a better F1 driver than the above three, but he is looking like he will be a future F1 champion - at the moment. Nice one Frank. Though I would have loved to see Button racing beside him.

All time greats:

1 Ricardo Rosset
2 Taki Inoe
3 Giovanni Lavaggi

This year:

1 Gaston Mazzacane
2 Tarso Marques
3 Enrique Bernoldi

;)

im not sure about the all time greats but till now in 2001

1 michael schumacher(the results speak for themselves)

2 Oliver panis[is that how you spell it?]
for constantly outpacing his more experienced team mate

3 ralf schumacher

he was fater than montoya in brazil and would have done pretty well if good old rubino knew how to use his brakes.

Originally posted by laxman
ralf schumacher
he was fater than montoya in brazil

Now, Ralf, how many times have I told you, do your exercises and eat your vegetables! ;)

Yes R good point,

I myself have called Ralf many things, but fat?

To include him in the 'best of' shows the results of severe hallucagenic abuse. Or abuse of self. :)

Originally posted by laxman
he was fater than montoya in brazilMontoya's before-race-jogging is better than Tae-Bo, confirmed !

Sorry for my Alsei jab people, I didn't realise how many family members he had :) I stand by my opinion though. Phoneix '90, impressive, downhill from there...

Originally posted by laxman

1 michael schumacher(the results speak for themselves)
that's true, but talent is another thing. When you've had only winning cars, and all the others have not, is too easy to have better results...

2 Oliver panis[is that how you spell it?]
for constantly outpacing his more experienced team mate
???? Panis HAS NOT outpaced Villeneuve.

Originally posted by laxman
his more experienced team mate


...to say that Panis is more experienced than Villeneuve, and is also five years older.

F1 then: Bellof, Peterson, Senna etc ...
F1 now: Montoya, Fisichella, Trulli

i donno the 3 greats..but ive been watching schui forever now...and when he retires he will be crowned THE GREATEST DRIVER OF ALL TIMES.

:rolleyes:

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Dino,

I would be interested in why you thought Trulli and Fisichella were the pick of the current field with JPM.

I am glad to see Ralf wasn't there. I can't believe anybody could, in all seriousness, pick Ralf. Where are the results? On this basis why not pick Wurz?

Originally posted by DancingMachine
i donno the 3 greats..but ive been watching schui forever now...and when he retires he will be crowned THE GREATEST DRIVER OF ALL TIMES.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I loved Fittipaldi when I was a child, then Lauda, and then Senna. But I think it's impossible to make a comparison between drivers of different eras.

IMO those are today's top three:
1. Jacques Villeneuve
2. Mika Hakkinen
3. Michael Schumacher

There are some very interesting rookies and young drivers, JPM above all, and time will show what they'll do.

All time greats:

Before 1950:

1.-Rosemeyer

2.-Nuvolari

3.-von Brauchtisch

(With special mention to Caracciola. All these 4 drivers seem 10 feet tall today, they must have been something special but it was another age, for sure)

After 1950:

1.-Fangio (5 WC's is THE Holy Grail still today)

2.-Prost (4 WC and a super quick AND smart bloke)

3.-Michael Schumacher (He'll get to #2, but number one, to my regret, may have gone begging when he decided to drive the red things before they could run straight)

(with special mention to Clark (a possible # 1 cut short) and Senna)

2001 greats:

1.-Michael Schumacher (yes, it'll be 4 WC's this year)

2.-Ralf Schumacher (Ralf der schnell will benefit from the pressure/media nonsense he's gotten from the CART guy before sending Juan to the Fisi, Button, Zanardi museum)

3.-David Coulthard (Yes, I never thought I would say it but he's come into his own, he'll run MS closer than we think)

(Special mentions to Panis, Heidfeld and Alonso)

Originally posted by DancingMachine
i donno the 3 greats..but ive been watching schui forever now...and when he retires he will be crowned THE GREATEST DRIVER OF ALL TIMES. :(:(:(:(:(:(:(

AM > Because of their driving style. So smooth, rounded and refined, really perfect. For the rest IMO DC comes close, JPM's great as well but learning still. Mika's edgy, Michael's ugly and Ralf hasn't got any, but you know that. ;)

Hello to everyone!!!

All time greats:
1-Gilles
2-Fangio
3-Francisco Landi (best brazilian racing driver ever! The best at the toughest race of all times - the GP from Rio de Janeiro at the 40's and 50's, Gavea circuit)

Nowadays:
1-MSchumacher
2-Jacques
3-there's no #3 for lack of quality, maybe one of the newcomers, Raikonnen or Montoya...

Top 3 of 2001

TGF(yes I hate him, but he is a good river)
Ralf
Montoya


As for the all time greats. I really can't say because I haven' been following f1 long enough.

Faster, welcome to the forum. Francisco Landi? Interesting. How much do you know about him, because I've not been able to find much info at all? I know he didn't make a great impact in F1, but then he never had brilliant cars at his disposal, or that much of a run.

Angst,

Landi was a mechanic and started his racing career in 1934, at the II GP Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, at Gavea Circuit. He was leading (his first race ever!) before his car broke down. Scored his first win a year later, at the Chapadao circuit in Campinas (Brazil, of course). Developed his driving skills during the II World War by winning sucessive races in the brand new Interlagos and in the Gavea circuit.
After the war, won again in Rio in 1947 beating Luigi Villoresi and Achille Varzi. Villoresi was so impressed that invited him to race in Europe that year. Landi's first race abroad was at the Bari GP, but once again had problems with his machine while he was third, eight laps to go.
In 1948, won the Bari GP with a rented Ferrari (not sure, but maybe this was the first victory ever from a Ferrari car in a Grand Prix, even before Ferrari was officially founded!). In this race, he defeated "only" his good buddy Juan Manuel Fangio, despite Villoresi, Bonetto, Taruffi and some other italian drivers.
Was hired by Enzo Ferrai in 1949, but had never the samer equipment as the italian drivers, and have quitted the team in 1953. At that time, il Commendatore rewarded him with a brand new Ferrari, what pretty much shocked the Maranello workers, as Enzo was not known for his benevolence. Landi had good fights with Fangio in south american races, dividing with the argentinian most of the victories.
Was the mais inspiration of a generation of brazilian drivers that includes the Fittipaldi brothers and Jose Carlos Pace. When Pace first landed at Ferrari at the beggining of the 70's, Enzo's first question was "How is Landi? He was a hell of a racing driver!"
He drove until 1973 (with 66 years old!), scoring a third place at the traditional 24 hs of Interlagos. Died in 1989.

If you want additional information, just ask me!
(sorry about my english mistakes) :)

Originally posted by Faster
3-there's no #3 for lack of quality...Welcome aboard Faster, but, let me tell you something, I think Ralf's Girl didn't like this comment at all... (LOL)

Ohhh, there's something else...
3-Francisco Landi (best brazilian racing driver ever!...What about Senna ???

That's a little bit funny, because I used to think all Brazilians thought Senna was the best driver ever. Not so...

A little bit refreshing really, though he's top of my list together with Jim Clark.

Speed,

It's just my opinion. There would be no Senna if there were no Piquet - no Piquet if there were no Emerson - no Emerson if there were no Landi!

It was Landi the one who prooved that a poor and savage south american country, with an absolutely ridiculous car industry, could produce amazing racing drivers. Therefore I take him as the best...

And, believe me, there are some brazilians that wouldn't rate Senna as one of the all time top ten drivers - myself included... I just agree with Mansell's opinion. ("Senna doesn't respect the ethics of racing" - told in 1988 to the brazilian journalist Nice Ribero).

But opinions are just opinions, they never are the naked truth.

no Landi if there were no Henry Ford, no Henry Ford if there were no Hennry's mom...... :laugh: (just kidding).

Ok, F, don't get me wrong, I know it's your opinion and I respect that; was merely curiosity.