The fastest racing driver of all time

[Kicking-back]

Not necessarily the best racers or the most successful drivers, but the FASTEST.

Great feature in Autosport this week.

Here's the top 20:

1. Gilles Villeneuve
2. Bernd Rosemeyer
3. Jim Clark
4. Tazio Nuvolari
5. Georges Boillot
6. Ayrton Senna
7. Antonio Ascari
8. Mika Hakkinen
9. Michael Schumacher
10. Alberto Ascari
11. Juan Manuel Fangio
12. Stirling Moss
13. Carlos Reutemann
14. Pietro Bordino
15. Guy Moll
16. Tony Brooks
17. Jean-Pierre Wimille
18. Jochen Rindt
19. Ronnie Peterson
20. Jackie Stewart



The list seems pretty good to me - with due deference given to pre-war racing, when men were men!

Any thoughts?

[marcus]

"The list seems pretty good to me - with due deference given to pre-war racing, when men were men!"


geez KB I wish you would finish your quotes.

"and sheep were scared"


Too hard basket for me , i was never around before the war

I'd agree with 9 of the 20 you listed , some seriously should not even be in the top 50 but thats my opinion

[Rich R]

i know these lists are always objective, but i think they could have found a place for rene arnoux, he did have 18 poles, and they were only asking for the fastest, nothing about racecraft, (i am conveiniently ignoring his career after 1983 btw).

[BSchneiderFan]

I was slightly surprised that Keke Rosberg was omitted, and Pedro Rodgriguez should certainly have been in there.

[pirenzo]

Senna ought to be higher, and I agree with BSF too.

I think it should be more like Villeneuve, Rosemeyer, Senna, Clark, Moss.

[gringottsdirect]

These lists, I really don't know why they are compiled or by whom but for sure, they are utterly meaningless.

I must post Andy Warhol's top twenty existential post-punk seminal NY guitar riffs contrasted by Leonard Bernstein's favourite Mahler / Wagner / Beethoven orchestral crescendos, or perhaps my favourite soups.

[senna12]

Can't argue with number one.

[Adam43]

Originally posted by gringottsdirect
These lists, I really don't know why they are compiled or by whom but for sure, they are utterly meaningless.

yes, they are just there for the sake of it really. It is an interesting slant on the greatest.

Originally posted by gringottsdirect
I must post Andy Warhol's top twenty existential post-punk seminal NY guitar riffs contrasted by Leonard Bernstein's favourite Mahler / Wagner / Beethoven orchestral crescendos, or perhaps my favourite soups.

Now, I agree, it would be pointless to post that in an F1 forum. It is so clearly Chicken.

The list is good and I can't really fault it. I'd have Rosberg in, perhaps at the lower end of the top twenty. He was fast. Another 'fast' may be Hunt, but I'm not sure I'd put him in the twenty. I'm glad Mika is in over the recent (ten years or so) he has been the most enjoyable to watch on a hot lap.

[Kempi]

I feel Stefan Bellof is missing. It doesn't say "fastest F1 driver" but "fastest racing driver". No one can argue that there wasn't anybody quicker around than Stefan in a Porsche 956.

[climb]

IMO Gilles was more a terrific racer than a "just fast" one.
Higher pos for Nuvolari and Senna.

[DaveK]

If you are after the fastest driver why miss out Andy Green in the thrust ssc

[ASCII Man]

Where's Jacky Ickx?!


Or Thierry Boutsen??
He got a pole, you know!

[Adam43]

Originally posted by DaveK
If you are after the fastest driver why miss out Andy Green in the thrust ssc

Good point, although there is another article on the LSR a few pages later in the same magazine.

I guess the criteria is 'race driver' hence the lack of Rally drivers.

[Peter Mallett]

Can you tell me the criterion for the list? I haven't seen it. The fastes GP until recently was won by Peter Gethin (Monza 1971) so I'd have expected to see him on there.

[Kicking-back]

The list we're told is just a bit of fun, and designed to provoke discussion.

I think Gethin's statistic is interesting, but that was down to track layout.

[DavidStHubbins]

I think it is the fastest over one lap

[Kicking-back]

No, it isn't, because many of the examples cited are for relentless race pace shown on specific occasions.

[Adam43]

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
Can you tell me the criterion for the list? I haven't seen it. The fastes GP until recently was won by Peter Gethin (Monza 1971) so I'd have expected to see him on there.

and a few pages on in this speed edition of Autosport is an article on fastest races in different catergories. 207mph for IRL, Michael Schumacher at Monza a couple of years ago and Pedro in a 917 at the old Spa, Brno for ETCC, etc...

[Fogelhund]

Originally posted by Peter Mallett
Can you tell me the criterion for the list? I haven't seen it. The fastes GP until recently was won by Peter Gethin (Monza 1971) so I'd have expected to see him on there.

At an average speed of 242 km/h that was pretty impressive.

As others have mentioned, the team of Pedro Rodrigues and Jackie Oliver averaged 249 km/h the same year at Spa, for a 1000k race, including pit stops.

[Happy Snapper]

Originally posted by DaveK
If you are after the fastest driver why miss out Andy Green in the thrust ssc

or Richard Noble?

[Tweed]

I was pleased to see Hakkinen being ahead of Schumacher, as it was about the fastest drivers, not necessarily the best. I wasn't around too see any of Gilles Villeneuve, but it strikes me as a bit of a 'rose-tinted spectacles' moment, Autosport always put him at Number one for everything! I could, of course, be completely wrong.

[ralf fan]

well he must be fast to be 11 secs quicker than second placed man (and team mate) in qually under extreame conditions...
watching a few of the old races on tape... i think autosport have got it right placing Gilles in the top 3...

[f1manoz]

Surprised Ronnie Peterson is rated so low. Always read that he was always considered Villeneuve-esque in his speed...

[Tweed]

So did I, f1manoz, and where was Rindt?

[Paddy_NL]

I thought JPM had the quickest average lap time ever last season?