[Driver] The GOAT - Round One - Piquet vs Rosier

[crmalcolm]

The thirteenth match-up in Round One sees Piquet vs Rosier.

So who do you vote for as the greater driver?

Nelson Piquet
Piquet burst onto the scene in 1979, effectively forcing Niki Lauda into retirement with some stunning qualifying performances. It convinced Bernie Ecclestone to entrust Piquet with team leadership at Brabham.

With Gordon Murray designing the cars it was a highly successful relationship, yielding two world titles. Piquet's brilliance as a test driver turned the unreliable BMW turbo into a title-winner.

A move to Williams made Piquet a very rich man, but his failure to exert his authority over team-mate Nigel Mansell also took the shine off his reputation. His huge Imola crash knocked the edge off his performance too, but his testing prowess in developing the active suspension brought a third title.

His Lotus years were a disaster, but two seasons at Benetton produced three more wins. After leaving F1 he entered the Indy 500 and badly broke both legs in a massive crash, which effectively ended his competitive career.

Louis Rosier
Like so many sportsmen of his generation, Louis Rosier lost some of his best years to the war. But after serving with valour as a member of the French Resistance, he became a national hero of another kind when in 1950 he almost single-handedly won the Le Mans 24 Hours – and in a French car, too.

But Rosier should also be recalled as a handy grand prix driver, too – again as a committed privateer. During the 1930s he owned a garage in Clermont-Ferrand and began racing first on motorcycles, before switching to four wheels for hillclimbs just before hostilities broke out. When peace returned, Louis resumed his racing ambitions in a self-run Talbot-Lago T150SS. He’d win at Albi in 1947 and finish fourth in the French Grand Prix.

For 1948, a T26C single-seater run under his own Ecurie Rosier banner would carry him to a fourth place at the first British GP at Silverstone and a victory in the GP du Salon at Montlhéry. The following year, after going one better at Silverstone to finish third, Rosier claimed the other great victory of his career. At Spa he was entered by the works, against more powerful but thirstier supercharged Ferraris and Maseratis, and by running non-stop he beat them.

At the dawn of the world championship era in 1950, Rosier added to his Le Mans success with a pair of third places at the Swiss and Belgian GPs, his consistency rewarded with a respectable fourth in the inaugural standings, behind only the Alfettas of the three Fs: Farina, Fangio and Fagioli. He also won the non-championship Dutch GP when the Alfas were absent to cap a glorious season, the finest of his career. Again, what might he have achieved without the war demolishing all of normal life for six torrid years?

As the decade progressed, he would be forced to buy Italian, running Ferraris and from 1954 a Maserati 250F, finishing fifth in his last world championship race, the German GP, in ’56. Now aged 50, he won the Paris 1000Kms at Montlhéry that same season with Jean Behra in a Maserati 300S. But back at the Paris circuit later in the year for the Coupe du Salon, he’d clip a bank driving a Ferrari 750 Monza, overturn and suffer severe head injuries from which he’d succumb three weeks later. A four-time champion of France, the nation that gave the world motor sport as we know it today had lost one of its greatest heroes – on and off the track.

[S griffin]

Hmm, Piquet got in the right cars at the right time and made the most of it. Rosier might have been good and never got a great car, but I wouldn’t compare him with Piquet

Although I wouldn’t rate Piquet among the all time greats, he was the better driver no question

Of course Piquet was competing against a lot of great drivers, but had a great car in the Brabham, although there were also other great cars like the Renault or Ferrari etc. Maybe Piquet got found out a bit in his post Brabham career, but he still had enough talent to win more races and take another title in 87 some didn’t see coming, at least pre season

Rosier can’t compare, although he had a long career, including winning Le Mans with his son and showing age was no barrier and getting half decent results in lesser cars. Has some great stories too and sad what happened to him in the end.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Although I wouldn’t rate Piquet among the all time greats, he was the better driver no question

I'm not so convinced, how can you know that Piquet was actually a better driver? This is what makes these 'different era' comparisons so interesting. I'm voting for Piquet despite having little time for the bloke because his results are obviously way better than Rosiers.

[S griffin]

I agree it’s not always easy to pick the better or best drivers, especially ones from different eras, but usually you can tell the very good/great drivers from the good/competent ones. For the record I have no problems with Piquet the person, I think he’s done well for himself outside of racing and certainly achieved more than Rosier as you say. It does though make you think

[FIRE]

Piquet