Best race car drivers

[slothead]

This time of year (Happy 2018 to everyone) we see a lot of lists - the best of this and that. While doing some research on the Can-Am series from the late 60's and early '70's I learned how many top drivers from Trans Am competed in this series too and how similar the results were. This got me thinking about who deserves to be on the list of the best of the best race car drivers across series and generations.

My hope is this will create some fun 'hot stove' conversations. There will never be a way to definitively say who's the best in any sport, especially when considering competitors from different eras. But, we can each honor the drivers we think deserve consideration by putting their names forward here.

I'll start with 3 drivers - Mark Donohue, Mario Andretti, and Jim Clark.

Donohue dominated Trans Am in the late 60's and early 70's, won the Indy 500 in 1972, and then dominated the Can-Am series before his untimely death in 1975 while testing an F1 car.

Andretti is the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), Daytona 500 (1967) and the Formula One World Championship. This Italian born American race car driver is arguably the most recognized name in all motorsports.

Jim Clark was a British racing driver who won F1 championships in 1963 and 1965, and also won the Indy 500 in 1965. At the time of his death in 1968, he had won more Grand Prix races (25) and achieved more Grand Prix pole positions (33) than any other driver (Wikipedia).

Sadly, both Donohue and Clark died due to racing accidents that could have been avoided by common sense safety precautions. Thankfully, today's best drivers have a much better chance of living a full life.

Slothead

[Jesla]

A.J. Foyt.... could drive anything to a win...

[Pappy]

[mattb]

The records show Mario was the best all around driver from America. Foyt is right there, too, Gurney a little behind those two. . AJ and Mario could drive anything!

Among the Canam series it's kind of hard to pick the best drivers as the competition was so poor. Certainly Mclaren and Hulme were the best teams of the Canam until Donahue and Penske got together with Porsche. Mclaren was gone by then, Porsche had no competition and just quit. Shadows outclassed evrybody at the end, but there was no competition at all by then.

Among the rest, Unsers, PJ Jones. I'm not really qualified to talk about the drivers from across the pond. Nover having paid any attention to F1, lot of great guys there I don't know much about.

[BARC 1]

Pedro Rodriguez, Fearless and fast

Jim Clark just a great driver that could get the most out of the car given to him

Bruce McLaren perhaps the best mix of engineering and driving


Sadly all of these men died Racing. If you also included drivers ,”that survived” the list to chose from would be much shorter.

There never will be an agreement on this but the discussion and choices should make some interesting reading. Ask me the same question tomorrow and I would have 3 different drivers.

[RBPhillips]

Both my replies to this have disappeared (I had pointed out Foyt won Indianapolis AND Le Mans in one 14 day period.) My mind goes back to John Surtees - he won championships in two and four wheel formats, and was successful in Can-Am. And I agree that Pedro Rodriguez was one crazy *******d, highly talented!

[chappy]

Well i think the greatest of all time was Juan Manuel Fangio. He was the F1 wprld Champion 5 times , 23rd on the list of fastest laps, Drove in the Sports car championships in Europe, and South America winning there aswell. He was a well rounded racer with guts and phenominal speed. He survived unril 1995. He raced all the big ones for F1 and Sports Cars, Targa Florio ! LEMANS, Panamericana AND THE LIST OF F1 tracks of the day.
Anyway he gets my vote.
Bob

[mattb]

I would argue that Donahue was equal to McLaren as an engineer and driver combined. Good discussion.

[BARC 1]

Jim Hall is in there to for engineering and driving. Many talented guys. Maybe at the end of the day, those who lived to have children and grandchildren should be factored in.If you are not around to hear people talk about how great you were maybe it never happened. You know the old saying. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound.

I would think the most important trait for a race driver is to stay alive. If you fail in that then does the rest really matter.?

Mario Andretti, John Surtees, AJ Foyt and Jim Hall, all pass on the making it out alive part. AJ and Hall had some close calls though.

[BIG E]

Foyt, Gurney, Clark. Always my favorites, everyone has theirs, too.
Happy New Year, and... Enjoy! -- Ernie :>)

[glasshorsevh]

Interesting subject... I have several favorite drivers, most of whom died in the carnage that was the late sixties-early seventies.. I think those who were top drivers with long careers, that never made that one fatal mistake behind the wheel would be at the top of my list... Graham Hill (17 years in F1), and certainly Dan Gurney (who really could drive ANYTHING).

Val

[slothead]

I don't think it's fair to blame top drivers who died racing, certainly not during the era from the mid-60's to the mid-70's when racing technology increased speeds but there was still little on no attention to safety. In a documentary about Carroll Shelby it talks about one of the reasons Shelby disliked Enzo Ferrari so much is because he pushed drivers to take chances they otherwise would not have. According to Shelby, Enzo was responsible for the death of a lot of top drivers. Today we would say speed and safety have to be in sync, but it wasn't always that way.

This is from an online article about Brian Redman:

Between 1966 and 1975, 28 Formula 1 and top professional drivers died. That’s one in three.

"Almost every year that I went to Spa, the night before the race, Saturday night, I'd lie in bed with perspiration running down my head and thinking, 'I'll be dead tomorrow.'"

Mark Donohue died of a brain hemorrhage a few days after an slight accident in which his helmet hit a track side catch fence or bill board. Jim Clark went off the track at Hockenheimring and hit a tree breaking his neck and fracturing his skull. Today we know better than to have such objects where a race car can easily encounter them, but no one took safety seriously at that time. I equate it to racing through a minefield in which chance determined who would survive and who would not. Yes, racing is inherently dangerous, but thankfully we now value driver safety to the point racing deaths are the exception and not the rule.

[chappyman66]

I don't think anyone was blaming any drivers. OTOH, when a driver is killed "early" in their career, it's hard to make a statistical comparison. This is one of those opinion questions.

Hall drove his own cars well....but his accident ended his competitive driving and he didn't drive and win with many other types of cars like Foyt and Andretti.

Fangio was great in both F1 and sports cars.
Senna? Schumacher? McNish?

For the mid century drivers, I have to think those mentioned are pretty high in the pantheon. But all time?? That's more of a head scratcher for me. Sir Jackie?

[patwa]

Surtees- Il Grande John- 2 wheels and four, including the Isle of Man TT.
Graham Hill - F1, Le Mans & Indy champ, still stands alone.
Black Jack Brabham- Home grown hero and F1 Champ. in a car of his construction.
Andretti - Drove it all.
Senna - Laser focused madman (IMHO).
They are my picks today, not necessarily in that order.
I wish you all a safe and happy new year.

[Mayberryman]

I can only judge American Drivers so I will say that in a virtual dead heat for number 1 would be Andretti and Floyt, with Dan Gurney close behind drafting.