Senna or Schumacher ?

[fatbloke]

Who was the best - Senna or Schumacher ? Well...

Michael Schumacher has hailed Ayrton Senna as the greatest driver of all
time as the former zeros in on the legendary
Brazilian's winning record at this weekend's French Grand Prix.

If he triumphs on Sunday in Magny Cours the Ferrari ace will match Senna's
tally of 41 wins - the second-highest in history.

Only Alain Prost, with 51, has more and even that record looks within
Schumacher's reach in a couple of years if he keeps up his current winning
rate.

While Senna chalked up his total in 161 races Schumacher's sixth win in nine
races - if it happens - will mean he has done it almost a year and half
quicker - in 137 Grands Prix.

Schumacher also shares the all-time record for nine wins in a single season
with Nigel Mansell.

Schumacher's dominance of the sport is such that he has 40 wins to his
credit, five less than the rest of the 22-car field put together.

But as history beckoned the German played down his own achievements
alongside those of the extravagantly talented Senna who died at the peak of
his powers when he crashed while leading Schumacher in the San Marino Grand
Prix in 1994.

"Senna is the greatest," said Schumacher. You cannot compare us because we
are drivers from different eras, he and I.

"No-one can know how much more he would have achieved in his career if he
had carried on racing."

Schumacher has always insisted he does not care for the record books.

"These things do not mean anything to me. Perhaps they are nice when you
retire and you sit by the fireside with your children and reflect on your
career. But not now, they are just statistics. My focus is on the
championship."

hmmm....

[neutral]

Good question, one that not many like to debate but many love to ponder. I will give my opinion, but it is only an opinion, and I know that others will surely differ.

People are often reluctant to decide on who was the better driver, and rightfully so. They talk of different cars, different competition, different eras and so on. But this is the beauty of F1. Witnessing Senna's death was tragic, and while one legend was lost, luckily another was born. They may have raced in different era's but despite this they shared the same driver qualities- speed (rain or dry), racing style, and sheer determination and tenacity. Despite the similarities they are not the same and they have their own image, but one is for sure that both have written their own history into F1. They say that heroes get remembered, and Legends never die. Senna and Schumacher certainly fall into the latter. Many good drivers come and go, but only once in a while does someone special come along. Everyone saw it with Senna and likewise Shui . Who was better of the two is not debateable. They have both been the best in their period, and to favour one will be disrespecting the other. However, a more intriguing question i believe, is not who was better, but rather, who will dominate the next era? People talk about Ralf, trulli, Button etc. I dont belive it is any of these. In fact, I dont think he has dawned F1 yet. When he does, he will clearly stand out among the rest, just like his predecessors before him.

[Bononi]

I've put my opinion about this many times before, in past topics, so I won't bring this up again.
I agree with Neutral about the great next one, I feel he has not came into field yet. Not because of how the greats of the past had their start, but the "feeling" we all get about a star when it is born... maybe it is just romantic stuff but it is there !
In the other hand, TGF is protecting (right!) himself about such comparisions, once he is far better than all the others in the grid today. Like he said, numbers will only count after the retirement, and for future's sake we are lucky to see how he performs each race... Maybe ten years from now, young people would say about his records that he is the best ever... what would you grandies will say ?

[Unknown Soldier]

Bononi,

I agree with your last point about young people ten years from. It's the same thing today. You ask people who saw the likes of Jim Clark et la, race and they would probably pick one of those drivers as the greatest.

[Mr.S]

I'm young, and all i can say is your right. The names Senna and Gilles Villeneuve bring to mind men with unhuman ability. All I hear about them seems so unbelievable. The thing is that one day Schumacher WILL be remembered like that, his name it has something about it that makes it fit in with all the other greats.

I thought that Mika Hakkenin would also be remembered this way but after this season i doubt that.

[Liz]

Neither one. Prost was better than both. I'm tired of this subject.

[Sharky]

Ayrton of course!! I've always believed that it's not that schu is such an "incredible" driver but that he came in a time were there was a lack of other outstanding drivers. I mean, sure....Hill, Hakkinen and even JV are good drivers....but are they comparable to the guys that Senna had to face like Alain Prost or Nigel Mansell?? Nope...I don't think so.

Although schu has been (and I hate to say it) the best of his time.....I would question if he's "legend worthy".

There's a pretty good F1 history page and the chapter where Schu begins to rise is called "After tamburello".