WHO IS THE BEST OF ALL? | Tudo sobre fórmula u

WHO IS THE BEST EVER?

GREAT DRIVERS, even with different driving styles, share a very similar level of talent. What differentiates the career successes of these GREAT DRIVERS is undeniably being in the right place at the right time for as long as possible, and this doesn't depend on talent, but rather on luck.

Some drivers' fans even say that the driver developed the car alone and won races 100% on his own merits, but this point of view is quite mistaken, as there is a whole TEAM's work for the driver's success, but it is imperceptible to the eyes of F1 laymen.

Success, a driver depends on having a good CAR and a well-structured TEAM, and preferably, they should have underqualified teammates and/or OPPONENTS. These factors must be taken into account when evaluating the driver.

IMPORTANCE OF THE CAR AND TEAM

The car's design work begins around a year before, with the participation of hundreds of professionals in the design of the parts: engine, gearbox, suspension, chassis, aerodynamics and electronic systems, also going through the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and the Tunnel of Wind.

Once ready, the CAR goes through virtual simulators at the factory with or without the drivers, based on information previously collected on the season's tracks.

From this stage onwards, the Technical Team's work begins to develop the CAR on the track with the drivers, to identify problems that were not noticed in the wind tunnel and in the simulators. This is the reason why the driver depends a lot on the CAR and the TEAM, especially with the advancement of technology these days.

IMPORTANCE OF THE OPPONENTS

OPPONENTS make a big difference in any pilot’s career. If a great driver is competing for titles against opponents who are technically less qualified than normal, the talent of that great driver will be supersized. The history of F1 shows us that whenever a great driver competed against less talented drivers, there was practically no competition and the driver won with several races to spare. In other words, it was a massacre!

Albert Einstein's famous phrase fits perfectly with motorsport, changing a few words: "The true talent of a driver depends on the frame of reference of his opponents."

ABSOLUTE NUMBERS ARE NOT ALWAYS FAIR

It is very difficult to compare the absolute numbers of drivers who have raced with cars, opponents, teammates, in different regulations and seasons.

It is fair to compare Prost, who had three world champions as teammates (Lauda, Rosberg and Senna) in equal treatment, with Schumacher who always had treatment as the first driver in his teams and NEVER had a world champion within his teams , with the exception of Piquet in 5 races in 1991 ?

Of course.

DIFFERENT REGULATIONS

Another factor that makes comparisons difficult are the different times and regulations. Here are some examples:

Fangio war mit Abstand der beste Fahrer der 50er Jahre. Würde er in den heutigen F1-Simulatoren gut abschneiden?

Senna was the fastest driver in the history of F1 in qualifying, but every now and then he had a serious accident and the safety cell saved him. Would he do well in the 50s, 60s and 70s, when there was no security cell?

Hamilton today is the biggest driver in F1 numbers, would he do well in the 70s/80s, where the driver had to necessarily work on the set-up and develop the cars?

Schumacher was one of the fastest drivers in F1, but in his heyday it was possible to use unlimited sets of tyres, engines, fuel and refueling. Would he do well in the 70s/80s, a time when pilots had to save equipment and fuel?

We know that great drivers adapt to difficulties, but we cannot answer the above questions with certainty.

The F1 of the 2020s is much more technological than the F1 of the past. The pilot has to study telemetry, know how to work with dozens of steering wheel functions and test in simulators, hence the difficulty of comparing past pilots with current ones.

LUCKY TO HAVE THE WINNING EQUIPMENT

Another very important factor: the driver's success depends on having a WINNING CAR, for as long as possible and let's face it, none of this (absolutely nothing!) depends on the driver's talent, but on the LUCK FACTOR.

Let's take the example of Phill Hill, who was Ferrari's 4th driver in the 50s and 60s, but benefited from the death of four drivers from the Italian team (Musso and Collins in 58, Behra in 59 and Von Trips in 61) in a period of three years and he ended up being champion world at Ferrari in 1961.

Another example is Damon Hill, who didn't do well in the youth categories, but had a golden chance to drive Williams during the good times (1993 to 1996) and was champion in 1996 with a "rokkie" as a teammate (Villeneuve). Many drivers more talented than Hill never had this chance in their careers.

So to be fair to the talented F1 drivers, we will have to make a LIST OF THE BEST, and the choice of the BEST is up to each person's personal criteria.

TOP 10 IN HISTORY

PROST, HAMILTON AND SCHUMACHER

We will have to start the list with three of F1's greatest champions, with INCREDIBLE ABSOLUTE NUMBERS, three geniuses, who defeated almost all of their teammates, but all three raced for a large part of their careers in very competitive cars. We should point out that Alain Prost defeated three world champions in the team (Lauda in 85, Rosberg in 86 and Senna in 89) and is the only driver in F1 history to do so.

STEWART, PIQUET AND LAUDA

We will have to include these three exceptional drivers because of what they did in their time with their abilities to develop and set up cars, defeating almost all of their respective teammates. Only Lauda had a little more difficulty with his teammates losing to some of them (Peterson, Beltoise, Watson and Prost). Regardless, they were drivers who knew how to WORK THE CAR MORE, at a time with very little (or no) telemetry.

FANGIO, SENNA AND CLARK

Three drivers considered “points outside the curve” must be included in this list. In my humble opinion, they are even above the geniuses mentioned above and gave the most AMAZING performances in the CATEGORY (like Spain 51 and Germany 57- FANGIO, England 65 and USA 67-CLARK, Portugal 85, Japan 88, Europe and Australia 93-SENNA), taking into account equipment conditions, opponents and teammates.

VERSTAPPEN

I put Max Verstappen on this list for the fantastic performances he had in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, with a bold, aggressive style and a lot of speed, and in 2021 he was crowned world champion in a Red Bull that was reasonably balanced with Mercedes throughout the year.

In 2021, it was a title won thanks to Michael Masi's gross error at the end of the Abu Dhabi GP, without a doubt, but during the season Verstappen had a duel on equal terms with the greatest champion in the history of F1.

In 2024, he was champion having the best car for approximately 1/3 of the season, a situation very similar to Senna in 1991. Both knew how to manage their championships, something that only great geniuses can achieve, which is why he deserves to be on the list.

In 2025, he's competing for wins, even with a car that's inferior to the McLarens in most races. This situation reminds us a lot of Senna in 1993, when he finished runner-up in a season in which Williams was much better than McLaren.

WHY AREN'T BRABHAM, FITTIPALDI AND VETTEL IN THE TOP 10?

Jack Brabham was an excellent driver, one of the most complete in history and the only champion in history in the car built by him, but he was defeated in 9 seasons by his teammates (Moss in 58, McLaren in 61, Clark in 62, Gurney in 63, 64 and 65, Hulme 67, Rindt 68 and Ickx in 69), for this reason he is not in the TOP 10.

Emerson Fittipaldi in my opinion is a driver at exactly the same level as Niki Lauda, both were excellent car drivers, regular and consistent in races. Niki Lauda took a while to stand out and only "exploded" in F1 and in 1975, while Fittipaldi "exploded" in his first year, when he overtook the second Lotus driver (John Milles). On the other hand, in terms of speed in training, Lauda was faster than the Brazilian, this gives a small advantage to the Austrian driver, hence the reason why Emerson was left out of the TOP 10.

Sebastian Vettel is an excellent driver, but he was defeated by Ricciardo (2014) and Leclerc (2019 and 2020), two rookies in his teams in 3 seasons, and he still had difficulties with Stroll (2021 and 2022), which is why he also didn't is in the TOP 10.

Remembering that this list of the best is dynamic, at any moment other pilots can enter it, if they deserve it.