Formula One Drivers, F1 Drivers, Auto Racing Drivers

The car was reasonably competitive there, so we expected to have a good race, but Ayrton spun early in the race. He then found his way back through the field in a quite effective way and we were looking for a pretty good finish, but then he hit the wall, damaged the rear wheel and the driveshaft and retired, which was a real shame. The real significance of that was that when he came back to the pits he told me what happened and said «I’m sure that the wall moved!» And even though I’ve heard every excuse every driver has ever made, I certainly hadn’t heard of that one! But Ayrton being Ayrton, with his incredible belief in himself, the absolute conviction, he then talked me into going with him after the race to have a look at the place where he had crashed. And he was driving with such precision that those few millimetres were the difference between hitting the wall and not hitting the wall.

2012: Final years at McLaren

He joined McLaren in 1980 and outperformed John Watson, then moved to Renault for his maiden GP win at his home race in France. Alain Prost could conjure a lap time without any outward manifestation of speed. There are those at McLaren who swear that with a perfect car he was faster than Senna, but that more often there wasn’t time for perfection, and that was when Ayrton’s improvisation held sway. The great rally drivers know when to push and when to be cautious and Sébastien Loeb is no exception. Team bosses rave at the pace and consistency of the Frenchman who won in his first WRC season and didn’t stop. The man was a fool for racing, so much in love with it he couldn’t stop.

Racing Driver

Formula One career

At the Milan Grand Prix, he’d again been a thorn in Alfa’s side when his illness forced to him to withdraw, his vision impaired. And, though outside the scope of Grand Prix events, his staggering run in the 1947 Mille Miglia stands comparison with any of his earlier victories. Moss remained uncertain about whether he really had defeated Fangio at Aintree ‘55 or whether it had been a gift, despite the Argentinean champion’s assurances to the contrary and that Moss had beaten him fair and square. But generally Moss was the pupil, Fangio the master (in F1, at least), the pair separated by 20 years and different languages, though united by total mutual respect. In a sports car, there was little question Moss was the faster of the pair and his career would include major sports car victories in Jaguar and Aston Martin machinery, not to mention innumerable successes in GT and touring cars, even rallying. Schumacher’s ability to reel off qualifying-pace laps in his Ferrari years particularly led to incredible success.

At the post-race team debrief, Prost voiced his anger at the move which prompted Senna to apologize to Prost for the incident. Launched in May 2022, Project91 aimed to expand NASCAR’s global presence by bringing in renowned drivers from various motorsport disciplines for short-term stints in the Cup Series. The program saw drivers like Formula One’s Kimi Raikkonen and Supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen participate, with Van Gisbergen making headlines by winning his Cup Series debut on the Streets of Chicago in 2023. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a successful career in the Cup Series but never won a championship title, unlike his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., who won seven titles. Junior debuted in the Cup Series in 1999 at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and secured his first win the next year at the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The late stock car driver came pretty close to winning the Cup Series championship in 1963 when he finished third, behind Rex White and Johnny Rutherford, who won the title.

Earnhardt died Feb. 18, 2001, at the Daytona International Speedway, when he crashed on the very last lap of the race. Earnhardt has since been inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the very first class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. More than any other driver, Clark had to be considered as half of a partnership; he and Chapman inspired each other in a joint quest to dominate, not merely win. This made the markers of his competitive striving different to others. You tended not to see evidence of an aggressive will in traffic, for instance, because if he was in the pack it meant something was wrong; he was supposed to be out front immune from it all.

Racing Driver

His memorable duels, including his razor-thin victory in the 1992 Indy 500, made him a key figure in one of IndyCar’s most competitive eras. Unser Jr. carried the family name with pride, cementing his legacy as one of the sport’s greats. His smooth, precise driving style made Alice Powell him a favorite on road courses, while his mental toughness saw him thrive in the high-stakes world of the Indy 500. Franchitti’s combination of intelligence and speed earned him a permanent place in IndyCar’s elite. Known for his adaptability, Dixon excels on both road courses and ovals, making him one of the most versatile drivers in IndyCar history. Weatherly was known for his versatility, excelling on both short tracks and road courses.

Chiron lost much of his career to the war, but returned to the race track in the 1950s, and remains the oldest driver to start a world championship race; he was 55 when he entered the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix. He lacked the pure speed of many contemporaries, but he was tough in the head. Which meant that in an F1 career stretching from ’65 to ’74, he barely put a wheel wrong. He never transcended the ability of his cars, but never did less never than full justice either. Often, as in his ’67 championship year, that was exactly what was required.

The best F1 driver in history is a debate that has, and will continue to, rage as long as Formula 1 exists, but we look at who the best drivers are statistically. The 1983 World Rally Champion, Hannu Mikkola was a pioneering figure in rallying, especially during the early years of Audi’s iconic Quattro. Mikkola’s mastery of the revolutionary four-wheel drive system helped him win rallies across the globe, from snowy Scandinavian stages to grueling African desert routes.

Grönholm’s success with Peugeot solidified his place among rallying’s elite, and his thrilling duels with drivers like Sébastien Loeb are still remembered as some of the sport’s most intense battles. His attention to detail and ability to develop cars alongside engineers set him apart from many of his peers. Sainz’s resilience and dedication helped him remain competitive well into his 40s, earning him widespread respect as one of the all-time greats in rallying. Known as «El Matador,» Carlos Sainz Sr. was a two-time World Rally Champion and one of the most consistent performers in the sport’s history. With 26 WRC victories and a career that spanned over two decades, Sainz’s technical brilliance and methodical approach made him a constant threat on any surface.