For me, going back to the seventies and my all time favorites, I would say Niki Lauda and Ronnie Peterson.  I was lucky enough to see Ronnie Peterson drive a couple of different classes at Watkins Glen, the REAL Watkins Glen with the "boot".  I remember him driving a BMW in the six hour endurance race and he out drove everyone in the field, he started last due to a backup car.  He was up to second place in a few laps if I remember correctly.  Unfortunately for him, the Porsche 935 twin turbo was a rocket ship on the straightaways.  I would have to say that Ronnie Peterson is probably my ATF road course driver/racer.  Anyone else who remembers this era please chime in.

Other F1 favorites from slightly later years:  Michael Schumacher of course, Ayrton Senna, Gilles Villeneuve, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.  There's probably a bunch more I forgot to mention.

Bring Back the Real Glen!!!

Edited May 17, 20251 yr by tdflightsim
Wrong Villeneuve

Nigel Mansell, James Hunt. Alain Prost, Damon Hill

Nigel Mansell.

I have a hard time picking favourites these days as the F1 cars themselves are incredibly boring. Take Assetto Corsa as a classic example. The further back in time you go, the more enjoyable they are to drive. Those 1967 F1 cars (Lotus 49 and Ferrari 312) are fantastic to drive in Assetto Corsa. 

Wow, no one mentions Lewis Hamilton?? 

Lewis is the best race car driver of the modern era. 

Can't stand Flax Vercrappen ... dive bomb into a corner and force the other driver off track while he also goes off track ... talentless word not allowed that can't make a clean pass and won championships from a "gift" and the other championships from having the best car ... a team player he was NOT, just moans and rarely thanks his team because he truly believes it's ALL HIM.

Senna, Fangio, Prost, Mansell, Miki Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen, Alonso, M. Schumacher, Mario Andretti, and anyone with the guts to drive the cars from the 50's to 80's ... 200 mph death traps.

 

4 hours ago, CO2Neutral said:

Wow, no one mentions Lewis Hamilton?? 

Lewis is the best race car driver of the modern era. 

I think I agree with this.  In my opinion the head and shoulders above the rest guys on the grid are still Hamilton, Alonso and  - love him or hate him - Verstappen. Oscar Piastri? Could be too.

My favourite driver is still Graham Hill but that was back in a time when these guys were actually friends who respected each other and faced death on a weekly basis.

What we have now are a bunch of tight-lipped, miserable multi millionaires....

No denying Hamilton's skill as a driver, absolutely one of the all time best.  It certainly helped to drive the dominant Mercedes F1 car.  I don't recall a bigger cry baby or prima donna than Lewis Hamilton in recent years.  Agreed that Verstappen plays bummer cars a little too much.  I liked him more in his earlier years and his first F1 championship year.

It's nice to see more competitive teams/cars now.  For me, nothing will top the 70's, 80's & 90's for F1 racing.  The 60's are a little before my time.  I'm only seventy yrs old😉

There are so many things that I hate about modern F1.....

• the cars are far too large
• two second pit stops (I mean.....offensive initials not allowed?)
• whinging drivers whenever someone else tries to overtake them and goes 5mm over a white line
• half of the tracks that they race on are rubbish conversions of city streets that have been chosen because of money rather than suitability for the job
• DRS and KERS
• stupid amounts of downforce
• more rules and regulations than there are craters on the Moon
• multiple software options for fuel efficiency/tyre wear/cruise control/other BS
• tyre options.....just stick ultra hard tyres on all of them, and cross your fingers
• 5 second penalties for nothing
• team instructions 🤦‍♂️

2 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

There are so many things that I hate about modern F1.....

• the cars are far too large
• two second pit stops (I mean.....offensive initials not allowed?)
• whinging drivers whenever someone else tries to overtake them and goes 5mm over a white line
• half of the tracks that they race on are rubbish conversions of city streets that have been chosen because of money rather than suitability for the job
• DRS and KERS
• stupid amounts of downforce
• more rules and regulations than there are craters on the Moon
• multiple software options for fuel efficiency/tyre wear/cruise control/other BS
• tyre options.....just stick ultra hard tyres on all of them, and cross your fingers
• 5 second penalties for nothing
• team instructions 🤦‍♂️

Bravo!  Agree with every word of it.  I'm sure many of us remember what Niki Lauda said was the key to being a good race car driver, "a sensitive buttocks to feel what the car was doing."  The good old days when they literally drove by the seat of their pants.

As a Colombian, I'll obviously say Montoya. The only one that dared to confront Schumacher during his 5-title streak. Back then I thought he was too big mouthed, but now I've came back to appreciate what he did.

Going to modern times, I initially disliked Verstappen for the way he was given his 1st title. But after last year's Brazilian GP, where he gave a masterclass in driving under the rain, my opinion changed a bit: not yet my favourite, but he's got my respect. But I still regard Leclerc's first lap at Abu Dhabi (where he overtook half the grid) as the best feat since I started watching F1 again. I have big hopes for the Antonelli kid, though.

Historical? I'd say Senna and Lauda, but only because of what I've read and watched in Netflix about them. Too bad I didn't live that era.

And to think that my GF and some friends of mine call me oldie because I saw Alonso's first F1 race😂

Edited May 17, 20251 yr by Luis Hernandez

15 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

• the cars are far too large
• two second pit stops (I mean.....offensive initials not allowed?)

Agree! Cars now are as big as a Tahoe. If overtaking at Monaco was almost impossible with older, smaller cars, now it's a procession...or even better, 78 formation laps.

And yes, I still believe refueling should be allowed again. It made for some interesting strategies in the past. But still it's the only sport where I do my best to watch every race live.

Edited May 17, 20251 yr by Luis Hernandez

12 hours ago, Luis Hernandez said:

As a Colombian, I'll obviously say Montoya.

Oh yeah, I really like Montoya.

Agree on the race tracks with no consequences (not talking safety), endless runoff area and encourages drivers to be too aggressive because they know there are no consequences in lap time (heck sometimes going off improves lap times).  Bring back dirt, sand traps, grass at the edge of the road surface and get rid of the ripple curbs.

As much as I would like to see unrestricted F1 cars, in today's technology the drivers would be replaced by remote control drivers as the G forces and speed an unlimited F1 car could produce are well beyond human limits ... and eventually AI would replace the remote control drivers.  Maybe that would be more interesting?  Don't know ... but I still believe restrictions are needed for "entertainment".

Sure, Max is a good driver, I just don't like his attitude, ego, character ... but most it's that he thinks it's NOT THE TEAM that wins races, it's him ... which is absolutely why I don't like him.  No driver can win a championship without the team/technology to back them up.

As far as Hammy, he might just be getting too old ... sure Ferrari are probably the worst at race strategy and hopelessly unorganized make stupid call after stupid call and way to late.  Ferrari need a Ross Brawn again to whip them into an organized unit.

Edited May 18, 20251 yr by CO2Neutral

I am not old enough to have seen them live, but I watched snippets and read a lot about Jim Clark, who drove fantastic races in the 60s. And my all-time favorite is probably Tazio Nuvolari, such a daredevil. His win in the 1935 German Grand Prix may be the best racing performance ever.

21 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

There are so many things that I hate about modern F1.....

• the cars are far too large
• two second pit stops (I mean.....offensive initials not allowed?)
• whinging drivers whenever someone else tries to overtake them and goes 5mm over a white line
• half of the tracks that they race on are rubbish conversions of city streets that have been chosen because of money rather than suitability for the job
• DRS and KERS
• stupid amounts of downforce
• more rules and regulations than there are craters on the Moon
• multiple software options for fuel efficiency/tyre wear/cruise control/other BS
• tyre options.....just stick ultra hard tyres on all of them, and cross your fingers
• 5 second penalties for nothing
• team instructions 🤦‍♂️

 

 

More of a technology competition then? My tech is a bit better than yours. Has the driver now become less of a deciding factor? 

I forgot to mention reliability. Drivers of the past could have had the best car, but they could never be as sure that it would survive until the end of the race.