Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

There are Good Drivers Then There Are Great Drivers

There are good drivers, then there are great drivers.

In the week we marked the death of the great Ayrton Senna, an event that is scorched on my mind. A driver from a generation of greats: what made him and other champions stand out from the pack?

I’ve always found this has  a fairly straightforward question to answer. Don’t get me wrong, all drivers that make it into Formula 1 are by definition the cream of the crop (the exception being the occasional sub-standard man who brings oodles of cash along with his limited talent), but the men who shine seem to be able to outperform the car they are given. Senna was always the prime example of this. We are very lucky in today’s Formula 1 to have at least two of these sorts of drivers and maybe even as many as four. These men stand out from the pack because they always seem to be at the top of the time sheets and tend to be able to drag a car that should not be at the sharp end of the grid not only to high qualifying positions on a single lap, but to podiums and race wins not just once or twice, but consistently.

This was something Senna excelled at. Think Donington in 1993 or Monaco in 1992 where he battled Mansell to a race win in his inferior McLaren and in qualifying. Senna proved he was a master of regularly outclassing his machinery. Fast forward to today’s generation and we have Fernando Alonso, who for the past few seasons has been well and truly outperforming in his sub-standard Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton (who has the most Senna-like ability that I can remember), who has also won in a car that he shouldn’t have both for McLaren and for last seasons’ Mercedes. Much like Senna he can drag that little extra out of his car.

What do Lewis and Alonso have that lesser drivers do not? Is it the feel for the car, the innate ability to stick the front end as late as possible into the corner to brake, so late his mind is already on the next lap whilst his rear wing hasn’t even made it round the corner? That feel for the absolute limit of the car and tyres? Or maybe they just have the biggest cahoonas (slang for boldness-Ed)! Whatever it is, I can see it, I can enjoy it and relish in the fact I can say I have watched the greats: Lauda, Senna, Schumacher, Hakkinen and of course Alonso and Lewis.

They are my top two drivers of the current generation. You could rightly argue that both Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel have shown this skill. Raikkonen can turn it on when he’s in the right mood and Vettel has won in the inferior Toro Rosso at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He has subsequently been in the dominant Red Bull so hasn’t been able to showcase those skills too often. However, this could be the season to prove himself. If his Red Bull continues to underperform, he could enhance his reputation and cement his legacy by not winning quite as much, but perhaps like Schumacher before him, a move to another team–maybe even the under performing Ferrari–will do the same for him.

“Greatness is not counted on statistics alone. Race wins and Championships rarely give you the full story”

You could easily add others to that list, whether it’s Alain Prost or Nelson Piquet, it’s what makes Formula 1 the top of the Motorsport tree. The best have always been there. You know who I think are the best and I hope you agree. If not, I’m sure you will agree that the best showcase for their talent is Formula 1.

Sit back and enjoy this golden generation of five World Champions competing in 2014. It’s a rare privilege and who knows? The next super driver may be in the field today! Although I’m not one of them, the dream remains and at least I’ve seen the best… for now.

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