[Dushyanth]

LEWIS HAMILTON!
1. Winning the race and championship at the Turkish Grand Prix by starting 6th and managing to go all the way with just one pit stop.
2. Out-qualify the rest of the grid by over a second in the wet Styrian Grand Prix where the second best wasn’t even his teammate.
I could go on and on, but this clearly shows that it’s just not all about the cars these days. He may or may not win his 8th title, but he will and forever be the greatest one to ever embrace Formula One and someone whom I look up to, not just for his racing but him as a brilliant human being.
And that’s why he is a champion of the world!

PS: I’m a Ferrari fan!

[H0RSEPOWER]

For me it is Ayrton Senna, I am a huge fan of Michael Schumacher for all the days of his dominance during early 2000’s decade. I like Lewis Hamilton also for his consistency & great tire management! All F1 lover will always remember the 2020 British GP where he won by driving literally with three wheels in the last lap.
But Ayrton Senna is the greatest in my opinion. He is from a different era with so much less safety! And with a car with manual gearshift & no DRS, he did magnificent staff on the track especially under wet conditions. And in fact, if the controversial disqualification of Senna did not happen in the 1989 Japanese GP, he could have won 4 championship instead of 3! People remember the winners, but if we discuss about few races where he did not win, but still was at absolute brilliance such as in 1984 & 1988 Monaco GP, it would be regarded as one of the greatest performances. F1 fans will always remember the 1988 Japanese GP, where he went to position 14 due to the starting problem, but still ensured to win the race magically (and his first championship also) in wet condition. And how can one forget the 1993 European GP, where in the first lap, which is often called as ‘lap of gods’ ,in spite of having a technically inferior car than others, he overtook 5 drivers (including greats such as Schumacher, Prost, Daemon Hill!) to take lead in the first lap itself in rainy condition. Already Samba has shared a video of the same earlier in this thread.
Senna was the last person in the history of F1 to win a championship with a manual gearbox in his McLaren MP4/6 (One of my most favourite cars in F1). Once in an interview he told those epic lines to Jack Stewart - “ Being a racing driver means you are racing with other people and if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver because we are competing.” ; which sums up his attitude towards this sports during those comparatively far more dangerous days of F1.
This is my first post in this forum, kindly feel free to give any kind of feedback about my opinion.
Just adding a small video of some of his marvellous performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pIt...d_w&index=4163

[vibmat]

Originally Posted by Eshan Joshi

And I believe that prime Vette >prime Hamilton. I mean prime Vettel did not drive the most dominant car in history

That is not true Vettel’s Redbull was indeed the most dominant car at that time. It is Hamilton that won at least one race at every season since his debut.

[DarthVeda]

It is and always will be Schumi. Not only was he fast and winning races, he had the unique ability to turn a shitty car into a great one. Started with Bennetton Ford (Renault) then went to an awful Ferrari in 96 and turned into a monster of a team. Came back after a hiatus with Mercedes and look where it is right now.

I am such a fan of him that my password has his name in it

[BrakingBad]

I like Juan Pablo Montoya - in his Williams days... with that BMW engine and mediocre chassis (in comparison with Ferrari & Mclaren) he gave tough fight to the great MS.

I wish JPM and Daniel Riciardo in a team managed by Eddie Jordan or Bernie Ecclestone and it would be a riot in paddock.


In today's driver, I like Lewis & Leclerc. Somehow I feel Max need to tone down on thinking he is the best (may be rightfully so) and do best possible driving. we can see this year how good he is with a strong team mate. when he was driving alongside Daniel it was 50:50 and he was on the edge and making many silly mistakes (many thought it was his inexperience - i feel he was on the edge).

[Sudeep_Kimster]

I dont know since when everyone here started watching F1,

But each era has posed different kind of challenges in driving the F1 cars.

One person stood out, be it rain, dry, mixed weather conditions and in extremely powerful cars without any driving Aids.

So its AYRTON SENNA for me hands down.

Close next are Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton in the talent criterion.

Some newbies are impressive like Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris, but they have been blended as such.

[petro_phoenix]

Lewis Hamilton:

1. I started following F1 from 2007 and the sight of a rookie driver challenging the greats was inspiring as a 10 year old
2. He showed a penchant for taking strategic risks when necessary. Leaving McLaren for Mercedes is a masterstroke in hindsight but was fraught with risks at the time. Toto Wolff had not yet started working his magic by the time Hamilton signed and the move was extremely risky.
3. He won teammate battles with all his teammates. Alonso, Heikki Kovaleinen, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg are some of the finest ever drivers the sport has seen.
4. He has the most dominant car in the current era and hence I feel he has never been pushed ever since Rosberg left. But this does not take away from the fact that he has already done enough to put himself among the greats.

Among the current crop of young guns, I think George Russell, and Charles Leclerc are the drivers to watch out for. Both of them have demonstrated racecraft and driving prowess in cars which were not designed for them (Leclerc in 2019 and Russell at Sakhir GP 2020). They also come out as drivers who have cool heads and this would definitely help them challenge for the title, once they get a good enough car.

[wrongturn]

Michael Schumacher
He will always be an inspiration.


Jim Clark
Only the good die young.


Ayrton Senna
The irreplaceable.


Sebastian Vettel
Very talented, and very humble.


Jenson Button
Talented, hardworking and unlucky.

[StarrySky]

I started out as a Senna fan. I had never seen him race, but only read about him. So, I was excited when we got cable TV and I got the chance to watch him race on TV. But unfortunately, quite soon after I started watching F1 races on TV, he sadly passed away. I was watching it live when he had that fateful accident. I don't remember watching the other races in that season, except the last one. And I also remember Schumacher's "collision" with Damon Hill in that race. And with that, although I had no favourite driver racing in F1, I had a villain - M.Schumacher.

This was reinforced just a few years later with his "collision" with Villeneuve in the last race in 1997. Anyone who could beat Schumi was then my hero. So, starting from 1998 till he retired, it was Häkkinen.

Meanwhile, in 2001 Kimi Räikkönen made his debut. He had already generated some news before his first season - especially surrounding his eligibility for a superlicense. But, the young new driver making his debut after just 23 open-wheel races caught my fancy. And he was cool. So when Häkkinen retired, it was clear for me who to support.

Kimi won some races and lost many more, but my support for him has been like my support of the Indian cricket team. Win or lose - I'm with you

I have to admit that once he retired, I warmed up to Schumacher and was quite excited to see his second innings in F1. I also quite like Vettel.

I have never warmed to Alonso or Hamilton, although I don't deny their quality/superiority as racing drivers.