Driver of the 90s

beau1 · 14 Jun 2005, 17:05 (Ref:1328486)

who do you Guys and Gals was the best driver of the 90s. all these drivers raced against each other at some time.
the Choices are;
Ayrton Senna-2 championships in the 90s and 1 in the 80s. He could have had another 1 or 2 championships if his life was not cut short.
Micheal Schumacher-2 championships in the 90s and 5 in 00s (so far). could have had another 1 if he had not broken his legs in 1999.
Alain Prost-1 Championship in 1990s and 3 in the 80. He retired at the best time, when he was champion.
Mika Hakkinen-2 champonships in the 90s. he had the skill but never really the equipment to win before 1998. it took a while for him to recover after his bad crash in 1995.
Damon Hill- 1 championship. Did well in 1996 to beat his team mate Villeneuve. A bit unlucky in 1994 not to win the championship made best use of Micheal Schumacher's punishments.
Nigel Mansell-1 championship. Unlucky not to have won more in the 80s. Dominated the Championship in 1992.
Jacques Villeneuve-1 championship. Unlucky not to have won the championship in 1996. did well to cope with pressure for Schumacher. Went downhill after 1998.
other who deserve a mension
Nelson Piquet-Retired early in the 90s. Won 3 championships in the 80s
Eddie Irvine-did well in 1999. Had it tough with Ferrari.
David Coulthard-gota give him a mension i suppose

Jean Alesi
Gerhard Berger

Menelaos · 14 Jun 2005, 17:34 (Ref:1328518)

Certainly not Irvine, DC, Hill, Alesi, Berger, Piquet (you can't call him a driver of the 90s) or JV for me.

So, that leaves us with Senna, MS, Prost, Mika and Mansell. I don't think one can make a clear decision, cause they all had different careers. MS had no serious problems ever, Mika had a bad car and a terrible accident which cost him so much time, Mansell was too old to go on, Senna was killed. I think these 5 were the best drivers of the decade but I can't choose between them

Kicking-back · 14 Jun 2005, 17:38 (Ref:1328524)

Tie between Senna, Schumi and Mika at 2 titles each in the 90s is fair for me.

As for the 80s - Prost, no contest.

**John Turner** · 14 Jun 2005, 17:46 (Ref:1328535)

Senna, Prost and Mansell, were the great drivers of the 80's who continued into the 90's but for reasons we all know about they were gone from F1 by the end of 1994 (excluding a few poor outings by Mansell in 95). I'm pretty much an admirer of all the others on the list, as well (except maybe Piquet and Irvine) but the only one who was consistently competitive throughout most of the 90's and became the benchmark by which the others were judged was surely Schumacher, a position he has not yet yielded, into the 2000s!

Snrub · 14 Jun 2005, 17:58 (Ref:1328550)

My vote goes to Schumacher. I've only seen select races from '93, '94, '95, but in my mind MS was fastest then. From '96 on when I saw races live, it was clear that MS was the best driver.

LampCord · 14 Jun 2005, 17:58 (Ref:1328551)

I'm going to have to give the edge to Shumi. Not just for his 2 titles but also what he did to rebuild Ferrari from a struggling team to the dominant juggernaught it was right up until this year.

Plus, personally I think he's the greatest single driver of all time but that's just my personal opinion.

Senna would be my second pick but since he only competed at the very begining of the decade, I don't think we can really count him.

Furthermore (and I know I'll take some heat for this) I feel that Senna often used questionable driving tactics that for some reason he could always get away with. Schumi definitely had some questionable moments as well, but unlike Senna, he was often severly punished for them (example: black flagged for passing in the formation lap then DQ'd for 2 more races because he didn't come in immediately. I've never seen anyone else treated that harshly for something that happens all the time.)

**John Turner** · 14 Jun 2005, 18:15 (Ref:1328567)

Lampcord, you might take some heat from some, but you will also get support for much of what you say, from others. I'll go along with most of it, anyway!

**Aysedasi** · 14 Jun 2005, 18:22 (Ref:1328574)

Senna.

Full stop.

**John Turner** · 14 Jun 2005, 18:24 (Ref:1328577)

Ayse, I'm not sure how Senna could be driver of the 90's when we lost him so tragically in early 94.

BootsOntheSide · 14 Jun 2005, 18:52 (Ref:1328610)

He acheived a lot in the 4 years he was there for though - Donington 1993 alone is probably more impressive than Mika's entire 1999 season, or the sum total of Piquet's final 2 years. All the same I think I'd give the honour to Michael, because virtually every classic race of the era involved him as a front-runner, and some of the stuff he did in that era (and since) was amazing. Mika second, Damon or Ayrton third (Senna's the better drive roverall of course, but purely based on drives during the 90s they're close).

ralf fan · 14 Jun 2005, 19:14 (Ref:1328639)

Very difficult to say because we had the close of one era in 94 and the beginning of a new one.... and as always it is difficult to compare drivers of different eras...

From 90-94 Senna was the best.... Post 94 Schumi gets it....but i really cannot say who was the better one....

Notable mention for Mika who was probably one of the fastest in the 90's

Mr V · 14 Jun 2005, 19:18 (Ref:1328644)

Senna for me, and not for his 2 championships, but for his 1993 season. 5 victories in an V-8, customer Ford powered McLaren.

Sato san · 14 Jun 2005, 19:22 (Ref:1328652)

MANSELL for me ...his drives in 1990 , 91 and 92 were above all else .

alesi95 · 14 Jun 2005, 19:55 (Ref:1328686)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Senna.

Full stop.

All respect, Senna may be the greatest driver that ever lived but i refuse to award him driver of the 90's when he spent most of the decade 6 feet under the surface of the Earth.

Schumcher.

Don K · 14 Jun 2005, 20:19 (Ref:1328699)

Schumacher.

He brought 2 different teams to the top during that period.

ajp · 14 Jun 2005, 22:20 (Ref:1328807)

Schumacher, may not like him and he may not have played by the rules, but at least taking his championships at Ferrari into account he has to be the greatest on that list.

Kicking-back · 15 Jun 2005, 08:33 (Ref:1329040)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajp

Schumacher, may not like him and he may not have played by the rules, but at least taking his championships at Ferrari into account he has to be the greatest on that list.

The question was "who wa the driver of the 90s" rather than who was the greatest on the list.

His titles with Ferrari did not come in the 90s.

**Aysedasi** · 15 Jun 2005, 09:40 (Ref:1329085)

Senna drove and drove brilliantly during the 90s. That's good enough for me. The fact that he was cruelly killed before leaving records Schumacher could only have dreamed about makes not a jot of difference as far as I'm concerned.

Mattracer · 15 Jun 2005, 10:31 (Ref:1329127)

Prost was the predominant force of the eighties if WDCs are the measure- he had 3 but so did Piquet, however Prost broke through the magic 27 wins barrier first of any driver after Stewart which iced the cake for him. Senna won a great battle in 1988 to begin the turning of the tables. From there Senna dominated- ususally untouchable in qualifying and in the races. Difficult to say about the nineties as the era was in a state of flux, some careers going off the boil, some starting, some hamstrung by mechanical and team issues. The dominant drivers of the nineties were Senna, Mansell , Schumacher, Hill and Hakkinen as they won a lot of the races and even in Mansell's case with the one WDC won a large percentage of races in the seasons in which he did not win the WDC.

Mattracer · 15 Jun 2005, 10:51 (Ref:1329139)

Difficult to say too why the decade 1990-2000 was so uneven in terms of of a few drivers/teams dominating and long term trends developing. Sure, drivers' careers start to flourish then dwindle but the teams were entering a new era, that of traction control, paddle shift, ABS, all these driver aids which unsettled things technically, some teams had these whilst ohers did not . The eighties had the emergence of turbos vs the "atmospheric" engines but at least the gear change was H pattern so that was a commonality between the teams. there was the active suspension of the Lotus in 87 but te team was not the powerhosue of the rival Mclaren and Williams teams even despite the formidable techical capability of Senna so only could challenge for the occasional victory as opportunity dictated. An interesting decade the nineties, perhaps more technically than sporting wise.

312T4 · 15 Jun 2005, 10:57 (Ref:1329146)

Schumacher.

Always consistent since 1992!
The best.

luke · 15 Jun 2005, 11:34 (Ref:1329174)

Pedro Diniz.

Knowlesy · 15 Jun 2005, 16:46 (Ref:1329419)

For me, it was Mansell and Senna. Never a dull moment, two fiery characters, REAL racers and a few championships between them. Should have had more of course.....

Of the other guys, Hakkinen and Schumacher. Well, speed wise I always rated Hakkinen above Michael. Consistency wise, Schuey was better. So I'd tie those two for second.

Prost. Hmm, he was imperious in the 1980's. In the 1990's, he drove well in 1990 but he tarnished his reputation in 1991. Sat out 1992, weaseled his way into Nigels Williams seat for 1993 and rather miserably took the title. So I'd put him last in the 90's top five.

Having said that, the gaps between all these guys is negligible.

arthurive · 15 Jun 2005, 18:29 (Ref:1329603)

How about broadening the scope:

Drivers of the 50s:
Fangio
Ascari
Moss

Drivers of the 60s
Clark
G Hill
Brabham

Drivers of the 70s
Stewart
Lauda
Fittipaldi

Drivers of the 80s
Prost
Piquet
Senna

Drivers of the 90s
Schumacher
Senna
Mansell

Drivers of the 00s
Schumacher
???

Mr V · 15 Jun 2005, 19:18 (Ref:1329695)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mattracer

even in Mansell's case with the one WDC won a large percentage of races in the seasons in which he did not win the WDC.

Ironically, Mansell won more races than Stewart, Piquet, Lauda and Hakkinen, who all won more WDC's than he did.

But Mansell could quite easily have won 3 , maybe 4 WDC's had luck not gone his way.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
should driver aids be banned?/FIA Considers Driver Aid Clampdown	wayne brookes	Formula One	46	5 Jan 2003 20:00
The differenc between a good driver and bad driver, is it all in the head?.	Raoul Duke	Formula One	26	26 Apr 2002 08:12
The quest of finding the greatest driver of eras using objective driver comparisons	Joe Fan	Motorsport History	4	22 Jul 2001 02:07