Who is the Greatest Racing Driver of All Time?

Tazio Nuvolari! Greatest driver of the past, the present, and the future.

Ayrton Senna, Jim Clark hard to choose one.. and Gilles Villeneuve for pure entertinment

For me Graham Hill, the getlemen of racing.

No one mentioned Graham Hill, seriously?
2 Times F1 World Champion
Indianapolis Winner
Le Mans Winner
5 Times Montecarlo Winner

Yoav,…

For pure passion Villeneuve.

For pure dedication Senna

For all humility in the face of greatness Clark

For pure Spirit in an age of unfettered daring Nuvolari

For the elegance of a grand champion and gentleman Fangio

But at the end of the day the man who scores highest in all these characteristics

SENNA.

Tazio Nuvolari – Enzo Ferrari identified Nuvolari and Moss. He related seeing Nuvolari demonstrate his method. He drove flat out – on entering a corner he threw the car into a controlled slide that ended as the car was aligned for maximum exit speed. Never lifted the throttle (well, almost never). Ferrari noted the ability of Moss to excel in anything he drove. Moss lives in my memory for the same reason, and because I lived during his era.

The choices are many, fangio, senna, Andretti, Donahue, seb loeb, Jim Clark, Stewart, gurney, moss. But for me there’s only one. Nuvolari. In cars, on motorcycles. By the time the F1 championship started in 50 he was too old. But prior, wow!

No mention of Rick Mears. He owned Indy until his career ending wreck.

Dan Gurney. He won in all types of vehicles, plus manufactured winning cars.

Tough call!! Let’s split by characteristics:
Most Skilled: Senna, Jimmy Clark, Pedro Rodriguez
Strategic: Walter Röhrl, Schumacher, Prost
Daredevils: Harry Toivonen, Colin McRaeSteffan Bellof, Johnny Ceccoto, Senna,

Senna, Stewart, Clark, Fangio

I am no where near an expert in this topic and I imagine that saying one driver is the best among all comes down to having personally seen many many drivers race and attain victory, as well as seeing various racers style on the track, demeanor, and the consideration the type and era of racing they were involved in. All that being said, I have been reading a brief biography of Tazio Nuvolari, and I have to say that this was a very impressive man indeed. The stories I have read about him defeating Mercedes and Auto Union on their own ground more than once in a decidedly sub par Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo is the stuff of legends.

So I guess I will put up my vote for Tazio Nuvolari

Without doubt, Prost would have to rate amongst the greats, however the man who beat him at Monaco by over 1.5sec in the same car, just considering that very achievement has to be considered the greatest. Think about that gents… 1.5 sec faster than Prost in the same car…
Senna, fastest, most dedicate, ruthless yet most human all drivers – the greatest by a considerable margin.

Juan Manuel Fangio. Connoisseurs know that. It´s a fact.

This is always so subjective.

For example:

If you ask who is the most successful F1 driver?
Then the answer is easy – MICHAEL SCHUMACHER as the record books speak for themselves and cannot be questioned.

If the question is: Who is the Greatest? Then it gets subjective and its down to personal choice and opinion.
In my opinion the greatest driver of all time is: STIRLING MOSS

If the question is: Who is my favourite? That too is easy: JEAN ALESI (Just narrowly beating Gilles Villeneuve)

The question depends on how you make the call. Is the question about speed only, or about sportsmanship?

If it is about speed only, tally up the number of wins and championships and the answers will be statistically correct.

If it is about sportsmanship, with the concomitant issues of character, then I would suggest the following:

1) Jackie Stewart
2) Ayrton Senna
3) Phil Hill
4) Sterling Moss
5) Mario Andretti

Why that order?

Stewart’s contributions to safety place him at the top. His other qualities and attributes are well known and obvious.
Senna’s bravery, meticulousness and strength of character in spite of Prost’s pettiness, his faith, his decency and compassion for others, especially in founding a very successful children’s educational charity in Brazil.
Hill shared many of the personal qualities of these two previous men and a great love of the art and sport.
Andretti is a great all-rounder, and has contributed mightily to the sport and to worth causes.