Heated discussions over who is the "greatest" driver of all time are very common, particularly among younger F1 fans, and can occasionally result in tense confrontations on social media. The growing amount of F1 coverage in the media has increased the frequency and polarization of this topic.
But does this debate at least make sense when it comes to Formula 1, or is it inane and unresolvable ?
Since motorsport is primarily a machine sport, it is important to keep in mind that engineers, mechanics, and other team members are responsible for the development and preparation of these vehicles; the driver is merely the final link in a lengthy chain. In the context of a car competition, it is very complicated to weigh up the respective merits of each person in the final result of a car. Focusing on the driver is so frustrating and unfair to everyone who works behind the scenes and in the pits to put a high-performance winning machine in the hands of the driver.
One just have to remember how many dominant drivers during a season have found themselves overnight in the middle or at the back of the pack due to the equipment, to realize that the share of engineers and teams is much higher and more decisive than that of the drivers. A deep look at behind-the-scenes of teams, the secrets of their best cars, the engineering tricks which gave them a certain advantage at a given moment will make any virtual drivers hierarchy useless. Despite the fact that this observation seems obvious, a lot of fans choose to ignore it or forget it because they are so enthralled with the drivers they admire.
Comparing drivers respective merits is a complicated exercise. Unlike other sports, it is difficult to judge driving qualities by observing the gestures of a racing driver as one does for a football player or a gymnast. Including in single-seaters (not to mention the fact that we never see drivers' feet anyway). We cannot judge a driver's style based solely on the behavior of the car, the latter depends on other parameters than that induced by driving alone.
On the other hand, as explained above, it is completely misleading to base yourself on the performance of a car to pass judgment on its driver, the latter being only a variable which comes after many others, mechanical, more important.
Another specific parameter to motor sports which makes comparison between drivers almost impossible is the difference between eras. Comparing F1 drivers from the 50s or 60s to those of the 80s or 90s is already absurd in itself, because the changes between periods are so significant. So establishing a hierarchy including Fangio and Schumacher is even more absurd. In fact, there are much more differences between F1 of the 70s and the 90s or 2000s than between F1 and Indycars of a same decade. We can even say that we are talking about different categories when we compare different periods of the same formula. Because everything has changed: the cars, the races, the technical framework and the financial context, the media environnement, the circuits, the number of races, their duration, the purely physical constraints, safety, mentality...
On the other hand, the qualifier "Best" is often an empty word if we want to give it an absolute meaning. This especially means nothing in the context of a sport that is so sophisticated and made up of an interaction of multiple parameters making value judgments ineffective.
We can analyze the intrinsic qualities of a driver, if we know him well (very difficult for a spectator, even an informed one). For this, it would be necessary to have on hand a lot of information and technical testimonies from his engineers and close collaborators to be able to draw a full picture, in addition to direct observation on the track, all over a long period, allowing to compare his performance on several cars in order to have elements of comparison and also an idea of his evolution.
When we take part in this exercise we realize that the value judgment is meaningless and that each driver has his own qualities and style which make him unique. Likewise, we realize that this style and these qualities depend on the cars he drives, which may or may not suit him, on the settings, on his collaboration with his engineers, on his qualities as a developer and improviser, on his ability to adapt to these elements which never stop changing, to one's own evolution over the course of a career, etc...
What would be fair and objective is to identify the qualities of a driver compared to his contemporaries competing in the same discipline, by establishing several hierarchies each based on a distinct parameter. Example: The fastest driver on a lap; The most reliable; The most reckless; The most ambitious; The most aggressive; The most spectacular; The most calculating; The best strategist; The most homogeneous; The most versatile...
Just by establishing this list, names of drivers come spontaneously to mind, but we must be careful not to compare eras that are too distant. Certain relatively close eras can be just as incomparable because they have undergone radical changes from one to the other.
For example, let's take 80s Formula 1:
- Fastest on one lap: Senna
- The most reliable: Lauda and Prost
- The most reckless: Villeneuve, Senna and Mansell
- Most ambitious: Senna
- Most aggressive: Senna and Mansell
- The most spectacular: Villeneuve, Mansell and Senna
- The most calculating: Piquet, Lauda and Prost
- Smoothest style: Prost
- The best strategist: Lauda and Prost
- The most homogeneous: Prost
- Best at setting-up the car: Prost
- The most versatile (for this specific criterion, we can obviously take into account all categories and eras combined): Ickx, Andretti, Schlesser and Fittipaldi
A clear-cut debate about who is the "best" racing driver of all time or even just his generation is not nearly as fascinating or fruitful as a comparative study of the attributes of drivers using such exact and definite criteria.
In fact, motorsport is so diverse and compartmentalized that each discipline is unique, most often with its specialists that even world champions from other more prestigious formulas, would have difficulty challenging on their playground. How many times have we seen F1 world champions, despite their adaptability and experience, struggle to beat young karting drivers when they took the wheel again in some kart events.
In fact, there is no one motorsport, but several. It is hardly an exaggeration to think that the various categories of motor racing are as close to each other as football is to handball or basketball.
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