Fastest F1 driver of all time?

[Nando]

I understand the flow of the thread. The problem for me is that, for the reasons I've given, the rational side of my brain is pretty easily talking the creative side of my brain out of the choices it makes.

Andretti won in every series in which he participated, but he wasn't particularly dominant in any of them. Surtees could win in anything with wheels. Gilles Villeneuve could win with his eyes closed. Jim Clark had his brilliant career (life) cut short; likewise for Mike Hawthorn. Moss never won a title, but he beat the best. There's no telling how fast Senna and Prost could have been at the peak of their careers, because they were too busy fighting each other. At his best, Schumacher drove fast with relentless, clinical precision. The list goes on...

Too many choices for my meager mind to comprehend.

Ok last try to dismantle your rationale

All the greats are scheduled for one lap shootout, again same cars, perfect setups blablabla.

You have 50 bucks you HAVE TO put on one driver you think would come out on top.
No ifs no buts, you must put them on a driver.

Who would you put that 50 bucks on?

[Hail22]

My dollar is on Ayrton Senna.

[Just_a_fan]

I would go with Senna. The idea is who is fastest in perfect conditions (car, track, tyres etc. all perfectly set for the lap).

Qualifying for Monaco 1988 was the scene of his "perfect lap" and he left Prost 1.4s behind him.

Of the current crop of drivers, I would have to say Hamilton would be fastest on his "perfect storm" lap. But it would be close between him, Vettel and Alonso.

[N12ck]

I think of all time:

Senna, Hamilton, Vettel, Schumacher,

they strike me as just pure qualifiers and have the most raw speed with no Tactics

[PlatinumZealot]

Well Alonso and Vettel say Hamilton is the fastest of this generation.

Yes. Vettel said Hamilton is "Very, Very, fast." Don't ask for a source because I can google it! Its there, he said it!

Past Generations I really can't say.. I have to go for Schumacher in the Pre-Hamilton era. He still impresses me today when he is on it. I go for Senna in the Pre-Schumacher era... and then before I don't know... I have a lotus DVD.. so... Jim Clark?

[PlatinumZealot]

For me... Vettel... This is his biggest strength.

Agreed. If you're talking about just putting it together for one lap, I think this is Vettel territory. Hamilton is quick too, but if it's just a one-lap killer run, I think Vettel's head is stronger. He rarely makes Q3 mistakes.

I used to think Kimi, but after this year, I'm not too sure!

Kimi definitely isn't, I thought he may have been at one point but Grosjean clearly has more 1 lap speed... we'll I am assuming here that they have roughly the same set ups come quali.

Fastest one lapper is Ham or Vet, I would go with Hamilton to be honest. Hard to judge Vettel accurately, I know he is fast, but he only seems super fast in a great car. Webber has out qualified him several times this year. Hamilton is universally fast in just about everything. Alonso's quali speed is underrated I should add.

Plus ONE!

Alonso is disgustingly fast... I know Massa is not that slow!

[LionKing]

Well Alonso and Vettel say Hamilton is the fastest of this generation.

Yes. Vettel said Hamilton is "Very, Very, fast." Don't ask for a source because I can google it! Its there, he said it!

Past Generations I really can't say.. I have to go for Schumacher in the Pre-Hamilton era. He still impresses me today when he is on it. I go for Senna in the Pre-Schumacher era... and then before I don't know... I have a lotus DVD.. so... Jim Clark?

"Somebody is very very fast" is not exactly same as "Hamilton is the fastest of this generation"

[Hail22]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lctPBAk ... re=related[/youtube]


The video is in reverse otherwise the FoM will block/delete the video!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-kH7VItb1k[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yFulDGz ... re=related[/youtube]

[Robbobnob]

Fast is a relative term, being fast over 1 lap, over a Gran Prix, over a Season and Ultimately over a career. All these points have to be considered when evaluating drivers. 1 lap performance however critical it may be is useless if you cant get past the first corner (ala Romain).

The three drivers on the tips of every bodies minds are the 'BIG 3'; Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel. All are superbly fast no matter what measure you use to gauge them with.

Hamilton has a superb talent for wrestling a car around the track. When Mclaren put together a package, he will deliver the goods. However he is not strong at setting up a car, as we have seen a few times this year, such as Spa and most recently Suzuka. In these situations Button a much more delicate and meticulous driver who works and develops his car to his liking outshines Hamilton, which is why Button is such a valuable asset to the Mclaren team. However when things get difficult or down, Hamilton becomes his worst enemy, forcing maneuvers on track which cause him to crash out, or to say something to the press etc. Its this mental instability or lack of resolve which lets Hamilton down from time to time.

Vettel is a very intelligent driver, He thinks his way through a race weekend, sometimes with the occasional error in judgement. In a sport where the car delivers the competitive advantage, Vettel has become excellent at utilizing the time on the weekend, to build a setup for his car, find the fastest lap he can in the machinery given to him. This ability combined with the engineering excellence of Adrian Newey has become a formidable pairing and have dominated the sport in recent years. When comparing his one lap pace to his Teammate, it is fair to say he possesses great speed, however he does not completely dominate Mark when the machinery isnt quite to Vettels liking. This is more a reflection of Webbers quality as a Driver and should not be regarded as a weakness on Vettels behalf.

Fernando Alonso is an incredibly motivated driver. A passion burns deep inside from which he drives Ferrari forwards and is why they make such a perfect Driver - team pairing. In 2007 the double world champion found himself challenged by the pure speed of Hamilton in arguably the strongest car on the grid. Since then Alonso has become the Ultimate professional in the way he approaches racing. Alike Alain Prost, Alonso plays the long game and does what he has to every weekend to perform in terms of a championship, which is why he has been a factor in 5 championship battles. He has car control pouring out of his ears, which is evident from his run between Canada 2010 and Spa 2012 where he had not had a retirement and would still not have a retirement of his own fault in close to 40 consecutive races.

in regards of the fastest ever driving using any measure is an impossible assignment due to the lack of comparisons that can be drawn with the current drivers with previous era's and any attempt to do so would be futile. However in a sport which is controlled by the performance of a car, rather than a drivers out and out pace then only Fernando and Vettel can be held in such regard as Schumacher. Hamilton has had arguably the fastest car all season yet is floundering in comparison to these two, due to either Mclarens inability to nurture his talent or the inability for Hamilton to prevale with such machinery. He may posses the most raw pace, but if he doesnt use it, whats the point in having it.

[Sombrero]

Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel are overrated. They are good racing drivers that drive the fastest cars but nothing specials compare to Ronnie Peterson or Gilles Villeneuve in term of raw speed. If we add Ayrton Senna we have the fastest top 3 - 1970 onwards.

[NathanOlder]

To say Alonso , Vettel & Hamilton are overrated is crazy! They are the best of this era by a mile.

I believe if any of these 3 were around in the 70's 80's or 90's they would have given Prost, Piquet, Senna, Schumacher & Hakkinen a hard time. But different era's cannot be comparred. I have watched F1 very closely from the late 80's so in my time, I have 4 or 5 great qualifyers on my mind.

1. Senna. obviously the greatest man ever over 1 lap (in my opinion) Last 5 mins of Sat Qualy was all about him.
2. M.Schumacher. his record speaks for its self, always extracted everything he needed to to win.
3. Vettel. I dont like Seb, but he just pulls out these laps all the time. Always gets faster in each Q session.
4. Hamilton. Super fast, always able to wring a little more from his car no matter how bad it is, The only man to beat the RB7 to pole and it was dry!
5. Hakkinen. Never suffered from pressure and again always a cut above his team mate and showed Senna up on day 1

Obviously all my opinion. As always, there is never going to be a correct answer to this quastion so try not to argue guys [-o<

[Nando]

Alonso is disgustingly fast... I know Massa is not that slow!

Well Massa is indeed in some kind of funk, or has been struggling to come to grips with both the car and the tires.

but yes, one lap that cements that Alonso is capable of producing incredible one laps is his lap in Spain last year.
Car was simply not expected to be on the second row, it was unheard of but he just nailed the lap incredibly and was as happy as Webber taking pole.

[snoop1050]

My dollar is on Ayrton Senna.

he gets faster and faster with each generation and if you want to say hes fast because donington is an example then i think this is superior
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEhPHPvXfLY[/youtube]
after 3 laps
0.9 second behind the race leader and in third place
after 4laps
1.8 seconds behind the leader and in third place

after 5 laps
5.8seconds in the lead
after 6 laps
16 seconds in the lead

[f1316]

As much as I think Schumacher is the greatest driver of all time, I actually don't think he was the best qualifier, and this is how the original post phrased the issue of fastest driver.

Of MSC's generation, Mika and Montoya were probably the out-and-out quali specialists, but Michael was the one able to do that lap after lap after lap in the race. I would argue that this ability is actually another way to quantify the fastest driver - that guy who can dance on the edge of grip throughout the race, in varying levels of grip and circumstance. Alonso is the best one at it now, in my view.

But it is a different question and the stats in this case do bear out the point that quali was not MSC's strongest point, with Schumi having a lots more wins and fastest laps than poles.

Still, taking pole (in all but name) at Monaco at age 43 is pretty god damn fast!

Also, I think it was Mike Hawthorn who said Ascari was the fastest driver he ever saw - faster than Fangio. No one seems to have put either name forward. I doubt most have seen Clark in their lifetime either, so I think Ascari and Fangio are equally valid.

[Nando]

he gets faster and faster with each generation and if you want to say hes fast because donington is an example then i think this is superior

That´s just one of many examples of when it started to rain, Senna either came through the field or simple deeeeestroyed everyone.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLmNuBR4JaE[/youtube]