ALL ABOUT FORMULA 1
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GREATEST NATURAL TALENTS IN F1
Senna in the 1st test in F1 (Williams on 07/19/1983)
The F1 car is considered the most difficult racing vehicle on the planet to drive. These cars have incredible braking, cornering speeds and acceleration. In addition to great reflexes, refined technique and the ability to drive it to the limit, the driver must withstand the G forces acting on his body.
Below is a list of those drivers who, since their first contacts with an F1 car, have already been on the limit, showing an incredible adaptation to the category and impressing everyone.
AYRTON SENNA:
Ayrton Senna made his first test with Williams in 1983, beating the time of the team's official driver Keke Rosberg (who is also on this list of natural talents) and the Donington Park record for naturally aspirated cars. On his debut in 1984, in the first official practice session with Toleman, he was 1.8 seconds faster than his teammate Jonnhy Cecotto, who was a two-time world champion in motorcycles. At the Monaco GP '84, a difficult and selective street circuit he had never raced on, in the rain he finished 2nd and set the fastest lap. He finished the year with 13 points, 3 podiums and 1 fastest lap for the small Toleman team. All these achievements were considered worthy of a driver with great natural talent.
Piquet himself, who was Senna's rival during his F1 years, confirmed in an interview with Reginaldo Leme on the Linha de Chegada program: "Senna was the greatest natural talent I've seen race." (Nelson Piquet)
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER:
Michael Schumacher in his first F1 practice em Spa, by Jordan team did the 7th time, managed to be 0.7s faster than Andrea De Cesaris. In the next race he switched to Benetton, and in the Italian GP, he managed to be 0.3s faster than the three-time champion Nelson Piquet (which is on this list of natural talents), an achievement considered impressive for a driver with no experience in F1, worthy of a driver with a lot of NATURAL TALENT, even though he lost nthe overall score in the 5 races he raced alongside Nelson Piquet.
In 1991 Schumacher was the same "stone in the shoe" of Piquet, that Piquet was of Niki Laudana Brabham in 1979.
JUAN MANUEL FANGIO:
the argentinian won GP Pau 1950 and received an invitation to race in F1 for the Alfa Romeu team about a month before the raceinaugural dF1 at the British GP 1950.Atsu In the first race he walked behind Farina and broke down, but from the second race in Monaco, he was 1.6s faster than Farina and started to walk in front of his teammate, winning 3 races. The only thing Argentine wasn't champion in 1950, why he broke his car in the last race of the year when he was in 3rd place in the position he needed to be the champion. Even so, Fangio's performancethroughout the year in a car that I had just met, was considered surprising and deserves to be on the list of NATURAL TALENTS.
ALAIN PROST:
In his first official training session in F1, Alain Prostwas 1s faster than his teammate John Watson e he scored 1 point in his first race at the 1980 Argentine GP for McLaren, which that season had a carpretty bad. At the end of the championship in starts was Prost 7 x 2 Watson and the Frenchman just didn't stand in front of the experienced english whydidn't run em 3 races(Afr, USA I and USA II). The Frenchman's performance caught the attention of Renault, who hired him for the 1981 season and at the 81st French GP, he won his first F1 victory, showing signs that he was a different driver with NATURAL TALENT.
LEWIS HAMILTON:
In his first race in the English F1, Lewis Hamilton walked ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso (he is also on that list of natural talents) and only after the team changed its race tactics did he come behind the Spanish. In its 6th run, at the Canadian GP, he took pole, won the race and took the lead in the world, a fact considered exceptional for a "freshman" in F1. Hamilton won 3 more races, led the championship until GP Brasil 2007, when he lost the title by 1 point to Kimi Raikkonen, but he still deserves to be on the list of drivers withNATURAL TALENT.
The pressure Hamilton put on Alonso in 2007 was the same as Schumacher put on Piquet at Benetton in 1991.
JACKIE STEWART:
Jackie Stewart held the record for 11 wins in a year in the British F Ford (a record broken by Senna in the F Ford 1600 in 1981 and the F Ford 2000 in 1982). In his first F1 test for a Cooper in 1964, he broke the official drivers' record.
He made a surprising F1 debut in 1965 with BRM, scoring one point in his first race (South Africa), finishing third in his second race (Monaco), second in his third race (Belgium), and winning in his eighth race (Italy). The Scotsman had an excellent season, performing at the same level as his teammate Graham Hill and finishing third in the championship standings, behind only Clark and Hill, two drivers who were already F1 champions. This already demonstrated his natural talent.
EMERSON FITTIPALDI:
Emerson in his 1st F1 test did 1m22s6 in a Lotus 49 C, beating by 1 tenth the time that Jo Siffert had done in the 1969 British GP practice with the same car. He debuted in F1 in 1970 in the Lotus 49C at the German GP and was just 0.2s behind John Miles, who used the Lotus 72 and was the team's main driver. This made Colin Chapman give him the chance to race in the Lotus 72, after the death of Jochen Rindt. The Brazilian did not miss the opportunity and in his first race with the Lotus 72 (his fourth race in F1), he won the US GP/1970 and gave the "post mortem" title to Jochen Rindt, showing that he has NATURAL TALENT. In 1972 Emerson would be the youngest world champion until then at the age of 25 and with only two full seasons in F1. This record of youngest champion in F1 would only be beaten by Alonso (who is on this list) in 2005.
KEKE ROSBERG:
In his second race aboard an F1 car, in a race not valid for F1, on March 18, 1978, for little Theodore, Rosberg drew attention for winning in a storm, the International Trophy at Silverstone, defeating drivers like Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti, James Hunt and Ronnie Peterson (video of this race on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJYen7mZvLM). In 1980 he transferred to the Fittipaldi team and in the qualifying rounds of the Argentinian and Brazilian GPs the Finn was 2.5s and 1.1s faster than Fittipaldi, demonstrating his great talent as a driver. Overall for the season Rosberg defeated Emerson 10 x 5 in training and on the leaderboard it was 6x5 points for the Finn, this feat caught the attention of Frank Williams who signed him for 1982.
NELSON PIQUET:
Piquet's first test on July 20, 1978, was in an outdated M23 (McLaren 1974) he did 1m19s95, and impressed the engineers with the way he set the car (Source: Jornal O Globo de 21/07/1978 pg 26). He was just 0.7s slower than Patrick Tambay who trained with the more modern McLaren M26 and used softer tires on the same day. The Brazilian received an invitation to race in F1 for Ensign, then raced in a McLaren M23 from a private team, and later received an invitation and signed a contract with Bernie Ecclestone to race alongside Niki Lauda at Brabham.
In 1979, in the first race of the season (his 6th race in F1), Piquet was 0.7s faster than Lauda. Overall in the season, the Brazilian beat the Austrian 6 times in 13 practice sessions and Piquet was often in front of the Austrian in the races. In fact, Piquet was the first teammate, after Lauda's good phase, who started to outperform him. At the end of the year, Lauda retired from F1 and Bernie Ecclestone gave an interview saying that Lauda left F1 because he was behind Piquet, which is still true.
JIM CLARK:
The Scotsman joined the Lotus team in the middle of the 1960 season and, despite having started 5 times in 6 races behind his teammate, Innes Ireland, he had surprising results for a rookie, achieving 5th place in his 2nd and 3rd races (the same as Senna in South Africa and Belgium in 1984) and a podium in his 5th race in F1 (the same as Senna in the Monaco GP in 1984).
In 1961, Jim Clark showed improvement as a driver, but did not have a good season. He lost points to Innes Ireland, and even fought with him and demanded his departure from the team, but Clark was already showing great speed, starting 5 times in 6 races ahead of Ireland. It should be noted that Clark's Lotus had problems during the season (breakdowns and accidents) and this affected his championship. But from 1962 onwards, Jim Clark "exploded" as a driver and became the "man to beat in F1".
JAMES HUNT:
James Hunt makes a 'meteorical' debut in 1973 with a March from the Hesketh team. In the second race he came in 6th place. In the third race he came in 4th place. In the fourth race arrived in 3rd place inhis sixth race came in 2nd place. James Hunt scored 14 points and became the big surprise of the 1973 season.In 1975, still with Hesketh, James Hunt proves his talent by winning the Dutch GP for the first time in F1and ends the championship in an excellent 4th place with 33 points. His NATURAL TALENT attracted so much attention that he was chosen to replace Emerson Fittipaldi at McLaren in 1976.
FERNANDO ALONSO:
Fernando Alonso in the first test in F1 in 2000, was very quick right off the bat and that caught Flavio Briatore's attention who hired him to be his pilot. In 2001 he raced for Minardi,he was always way ahead of Tarso Marques who was more experienced than him, but what was surprising is that he managed to qualify a few times in front of the Benettons who were a much better car than Minardi.
In 2002 he became a test driver for Renault and in 2003 a full-time driver. He took pole position in his second race for Renault and drove ahead of Jarno Trulli, a highly regarded driver in F1. The Spaniard, at 21 years old, won the 2003 Hungarian GP, lapping his teammate Jarno Trulli and Schumacher, a feat worthy of a driver with NATURAL TALENT.
MAX VERSTAPPEN:
Max Verstappen had good seasons in his F1 debut years (2015 and 2016), but it took him a while to show his natural talent. We have to consider that Max arrived in F1 very "raw," as after leaving karting, he only raced single-seaters for one year, lacking the experience necessary to compete in the top category.
After 2018, he defeated all his teammates in a devastating way rarely seen in F1. He defeated good drivers like Ricciardo, Gasly, Albon, Perez, Lawson, and Tsunoda. Remembering that he lost overall in the 2016, 2017, and 2018 seasons, he lost points to Ricciardo because he was involved in accidents and had a few breakdowns. If it weren't for that, he would have beaten his teammate.
Perhaps only Fangio, Clark, and Senna have produced performances of this caliber. For this reason, the Dutchman deserves to be on this list as one of the greatest natural talents in F1 history.
JEAN ALESI:
On your roadandIn F1, Jean Alesi arrived in a surprising 4th place in the GP France 89 for Tyrrell. From GP Germany 89 (his 3rd race in F1) he started to spend time in trainingin the official Tyrrell pilot (Jonathan Palmer), being sometimes 1 second faster than the Englishman. In 1990, still at Tyrrell, the Frenchman made spectacular races, leading the US GP 90 (finished in 2nd place) and arriving in 2nd place at the Monaco GP 90,only behind Senna, specialist in street circuits. IThis showed Alesi's NATURAL TALENT with only 15 races in F1, but unfortunately he never had a really competitive car to show his talent as a driver in F1, and everyone knows that without a GOOD CAR nobody can do miracles. He is the only one on this list that was NOT an F1 champion.
