Best cohort of racers in f1?

[FaultyMario]

I think we peaked with drivers a few years ago, but... racers?

I have my doubts.

[FaultyMario]

I thought about making it a poll, but no, I'd rather hear your arguments.

[Crazed_Insanity]

With cars and tracks so difficult to race with, kinda hard to tell who’s the best racer nowadays.

On the flip side, it’s probably also hard to argue against drivers who’ve won races as bad racers?

All I know is that HAM, Max, Leclerc, George and Lando are making F1 more interesting…

If it weren’t for them, I don’t even think I’d be paying much attention to f1.

Anyway, if you are clearly a team’s #1 driver because you consistently score more points, you are probably a damn good racer.

When Mercedes’ become a championship contender and HAM still couldn’t score more points than george, then it’s probably time to hang his helmet.

[Rare White Ape]

Racers in F1 need to micromanage everything as if they’re dropping bombs on a foreign city under heavy fire. Racers in other series are able to race against other racers.

In other words, an F1 race is conducted under military precision. This is a metaphor, for those on need of clarification.

The vast gap between them is brought on by the formula that allows engineers to have a bigger effect on the result than driver skill. This is the way F1 has always been, and if you think F1 should have more driver input than engineer input, you’re going to be out of luck. It has been this way for more than 40 years.

If you want more racing, then put your best drivers in a spec class. IndyCar is a spec class with the best drivers that have been made available from F1 to Supercars, and many other series in-between. It is, in my opinion, the most exciting open wheel racing series in the whole world.

The fact that a Supercar driver from New Zealand has been able to handily beat an F1 driver from Swiss-France in IndyCar is no slight on the talent of your average F1 driver. It’s just the way the cars are able to facilitate close racing and a wide range of strategies, that F1 - by its nature - cannot allow.

To answer the original question: a racer’s quality in F1 may get nullified by their choice of car (engineer driven) and sponsor (luck, or heredity/passport driven). If they want to race, they seek opportunities elsewhere.

[FaultyMario]

You're overthinking Mick!

I'm just asking which generation of drivers did you most enjoy to watch it battle it out in F1.

[Rare White Ape]

Oh! Why didn’t you say so?

The answer is the brief Schumakkinen era in the early 2000s.

[JoeW]

Yeah I loved those races. A friend at work was a huge Ferrari/Schumi fan. And I just loved watching Mika win against the unstoppable Ferraris. At that time I really grew to appreciate all the shit Barrichello had to eat as well. I felt bad for that guy. Moreso than Bottas because Barrichello could have been a multi WDC I think.

That's my vote too...since I didn't really watch back in the 80's or before. Too busy doing other stupid shit.

[FaultyMario]

The answer is the brief Schumakkinen era in the early 2000s.

I'm thinking Montoya's arrogance was good racing, I don't know if you'd consider his Williams years part of that timeframe. Early 2010's had some highlights but the level of driving was just too poor. Late eighties suffers from too little competition.

[Crazed_Insanity]

My favorite was the Senna/Mansell battles.

I did not enjoy the dominating Schuey/Vettel/Hamilton years at all.

[G'day Mate]

The 2021 lineup included 5 drivers (out of 20 main drivers) who were or became world champion, and there's a couple in there that could add their names to that list. Has any other season had that many?

[edit] Hmm, yep, 2018 had those same 5, but with 22 main drivers. 2017 also had those 5 plus Jenson made a cameo, 2016 had 6 and 2015 had 7. It's mostly all the same guys, plus Nico. That's as far back as I'll look for now I reckon.

[G'day Mate]

Alright I picked 1991 and, although there were a tonne more drivers, again there were six champs - Senna, Hakkonen, Mansell, Prost, Schumacher and Piquet.

So there goes my theory/metric!

[Crazed_Insanity]

:lol:

Actually just 4 in 1991 because Michael and Mika weren’t champs yet! ;)

[G'day Mate]

Nah I've been deliberately counting drivers who later become champions in all of that.

[FaultyMario]

Alright I picked 1991 and, although there were a tonne more drivers, again there were six champs - Senna, Hakkonen, Mansell, Prost, Schumacher and Piquet.

But does that make the racing better?

Look at it this way: If you're watching Monaco in recent years, you are looking at some of the most skilled driving in the world, but that is seldom a good race.

Piquet was a shit racer, IMHO.