Autosprint Top 10

Olivier

Race Winner
This is Autosprint Top 10 F1 drivers. Not too many surprises until you get to #10 :o

1. Juan Manuel Fangio
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Sir Jackie Stewart
4. Ayrton Senna
5. Jim Clark
6. Alain Prost
7. Sir Stirling Moss
8. Alberto Ascari
9. Niki Lauda
10. Sebastian Vettel
http://www.auto.it/autosprint/formula_1/2012/12/21-12200/I+10+top+di+sempre+nel+motorsport
I couldn't find another thread where to fit this so I have decided to open one up. Please move it to where it belongs if this is not the proper place.
 
What is it a "top 10" of?

It can't be most successful as Schumacher would be number one.

It can't be best driver as there are clearly better drivers which aren't on the list.

So exactly what is it then? A combination of the favourite drivers of the staff who work on the publication?

I always struggle to understand what these lists are meant to portray.
 
What is it a "top 10" of?
I always struggle to understand what these lists are meant to portray.

Unless they disclose their voting / measurement structure these lists will 'portray' arguments, slightly elevated blood pressure, admonishing looks at monitor...an extra beer or whisky, perhaps another Keke (Marlboro) and discourse on CTA...

I always like the Autosport top 10's and similar... they poll all major contributors and publish a master table and each individuals voting and why... always a good read...
 
For me Prost, Ascari, Lauda and Vettel shouldn't be there....

Indeed no current driver should be mentioned as their greatness can only be measured after their retirement...
 
For me Prost, Ascari, Lauda and Vettel shouldn't be there....
Indeed no current driver should be mentioned as their greatness can only be measured after their retirement...
After making such a claim, surely I am not the only one wondering why, and who you think should take their places?
 
It is my opinion I don't see why I should have to ratify it, if you disagree then say so and give yours I have no problem with that..

But since you've asked I'd say Graham Hill, Mika Hakkinen and Gilles Villeneuve should replace them and stays within the criteria I set out.....

All polls should have a criteria I believe, and shouldn't be based on personal prejudices or favourites...
 
I threw the text above the list in Google translate and this is what came out:

Probably is the ranking that will do more to discuss, because the vast majority of young fans would like to see at the top of F1 Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. It was not easy to exclude from the top 10 three times world champions such as Jack Brabham and Nelson Piquet, the brief but dazzling career of Gilles Villeneuve and Jochen Rindt, the constancy always at the top of Fernando Alonso still before our eyes or the ability Emerson Fittipaldi to become champion driving cars older than those of their opponents. From the statistical point of view, the numbers in absolute reward the riders of the last generations, since the races on the calendar for each league are increased. If you percentualizzano data, here's emerging drivers of the 50s and 60s when the GP did not exceed the number of ten to twenty season against the current.

In other words, they don't really give any reasons why the list is as it is.
 
Interesting that the Italian magazine has generally rated Ferrari drivers quite highly, except for Prost (who ended up criticising the team, of course). A more Anglo-centric perspective, I would suggest, would place Clark, Stewart higher, and add the likes of G Hill or even Mansell to the top 10. In that context, I'm intrigued by the placing of Sir Stirling.
 
Not sure why Hakkinen would be in the top 10.

He might have won two titles, but he made a hash out of it in 1999 with no real competition, and in 1998 had the best car (Newey designed for all the Newey's the main reason why Vettel's winning), and his first two wins came in unrespectable circumstances. He was worthy of a title, and as a fan, I loved watching him, and his fair racing, but in the top 10? I don't think so.

Same can go for Hamilton aswell, I understand that the new generation of F1 fans would put him up there, but there are drivers who have achieved better than Hamilton and looked like better drivers too, and let's not forget Hamilton's career isn't finished, and might just surpass drivers to get into the top 10. But right now? I wouldn't put him there.

Not sure how you can't have Prost in, went up against several world champions and came off best, went against who the majority call 'the greatest ever driver' and equalled him, could have also been a 8 time world champion. I would definitely have him in my Top 10, if not high up.

As usual, all top 10s are never going to make everyone happy. There are too many great drivers to rank, they've all achieved their achievements in different conditions and scenarios. The older generation is going to have a different view on the rankings, and so is the newer generation.

Me, personally, I caught the back end up the 90s era, followed the 00s, and now the 10s, the only driver I can put in the top 10 from that time, is Schumacher. Alonso and Vettel come close, but I don't think I can put them in until they have finished their career.
 
I always find it curious that Mario Andretti is never mentioned among the greats. He won pole in his first ever F1 race, and came back after a lengthy time away from F1 (14 years after his F1 debut!) and took pole position in an F1 car he had never sat in before and finished third in the race. Not to mention his being WDC in 1978, should have been WDC in 1977 (if only the Lotus 78 had held together) and effectively bringing Lotus back from the dead by perservering with the 77 which Ronnie Peterson (whom I rate higher than Gilles V) had given up on.

I suspect Mario being American has something to do with his not making such lists.
 
I suspect Mario being American has something to do with his not making such lists.

That's an interesting thought. I think the fact that his career was so peripatetic - he drove in 14 seasons of F1 but only completed the full calendar of races in five, the first when he was already 36 years old - that maybe the emphasis is more on his considerable achievements Stateside. If he'd been at Lotus rather than Ferrari in his prime years of, say, 1970-74, maybe things would be seen differently.

Also that in the year he won his title, by general consensus he was the second fastest driver in the team, doesn't help his reputation.
 
Galahad--

Whose "general consensus" and can it be stated with certainty that Mario's nationality doesn't come into play in that evaluation as well?

Peterson was extremely fast when his set-up was right, but he was rather deficient in getting there according to sources I had who were on team Lotus at the time. Indeed, his inconsistency throughout his career would seem to validate this claim. Scheckter was much faster in the Tyrrell 6-wheeler than Ronnie was, yet, in my estimation at least, Peterson was the quicker driver. His up-and-down performances in the various Marches would seem to indicate this as well.
 
Back in 2010 they did the Top-100 and Senna came out on top, what has changed between then and now that he is 4th now is beyond me. Vettel was #29 and now has replaced Villeneuve as #10. Most of those mentioned; Andretti, Fittipaldi, Peterson, Rindt, Hakinnen, G. Hill, Mansell were top 20 as well as Hamilton and Alonso. Here's the link:

Top 10
http://www.auto.it/autosprint/2010/01/19-4060/I+migliori+piloti+della+storia:+TOP+10

19th to 11th
http://www.auto.it/autosprint/2010/01/18-4057/I+migliori+piloti+auto+di+sempre:+dal+19°+al+10°
 
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