Schumie in his Ferrari

And coming in at number 1 is the undisputed king of Formula 1 over the last 15 years, Michael Schumacher.

He is SEVEN times F1 champ (1994, 1995, 2000-2004) and has set more records than any other single driver in the history of the sport.

Many would place Senna above him and I wouldn’t argue with that, but the statistics, records and outstanding drives speak for themselves, and for that, he has to be at the top of my top 10.

Schumacher wasn’t born into a racing family, but didn’t take long to make a name for himself entering Formula 3 in 1989, and winning the series a year later.

He then joined the Mercedes driving programme alongside two drivers who were to join F1 in future seasons, namely Karl Wedlinger and Heinz-Harold Frentzen.

In 1991, he was still under contract by Mercedes but made his debut in F1 towards the end of the season in Spa, Belgium after Jordan driver Bertrand Gachot was imprisoned and the German took his place.

He impressed, qualifying 7th on the grid but retired on the 1st lap, but he did enough to win a drive at Benetton.

And he would win his first race at the same track he made his debut. In wet conditions, he drove incredibly well and took the chequered flag. However, the team were in no position to challenge for the title due to the excellence of the Williams’ package in both 92 and 93, although Michael was a regular points scorer.

His big break though came in 1994, with Benetton and Williams using the same engines. And with the death of Senna at Round 3, Michael enjoyed a big margin at the top of the championship, and despite being missing for 3 races due to disqualification at the British GP after passing Hill on the parade lap, he still made it to Adelaide a point ahead.

But close to halfway through the race, Michael slid off the track and rejoined just in front of Hill, but moved across violently to prevent Damon from overtaking, and in the process eliminated himself while damaging the Williams’ suspension. Schumacher became champion by a single point.

95 would produce much of the same, although Schumacher fully deserved the title this time producing many sensational drives along the way, most notably at the Nurburgring, hunting down Jean Alesi in the closing stages.

He won the title with a couple of races to spare, but announced he would be joining Ferrari for 96.

But it seemed he made a wrong decision despite finishing 3rd in the title race. The car was unreliable and way off the pace, but refused to give up, winning three races in typical Schumacher fashion.

1997 would see the comeback, with Schumacher and Villeneuve taking the title to the wire, and the winner in Jerez took everything. And with the Ferrari struggling, all he could do was turn in on the Williams as it approached, but it backfired as he fell off the circuit and out of the race. Jacques finished 3rd to take the crown.

1998 would again be a near miss for Schumacher as he stalled at the final round in Japan, pretty much handing the title to Hakkinen, and in 1999 he broke his leg on his way to an almost certain championship and lost his chance.

But he came back better and took five titles on the bounce, making the sport unattractive in the process as he seemed to be unbeatable. He set a record of 13 race wins in 2004, but still kept going into 2005.

It was possibly the worst season he had in a Ferrari, only winning one race at the infamous USA GP with only 6 cars taking part, and Alonso took the title off him, and did so again the following year.

Michael announced his retirement after winning at Monza, and it was almost written that he would claim his 8th crown, but after an engine failure in Japan, and a technical problem during Brazil Qualifying, his chances faded but also provided one of the best drives of his career.

Schumacher will be remembered most for the controversial incidents he caused and some of his overtaking manouveres.

However, Formula One should provide close racing and dramatic moments and Michael delivered more (in my opinion) than any other driver in the history of the sport. People didn’t like him partly because he was German and because he stopped Hill taking the crown in 1994, but as far as drivers go, he was the most complete and again in my opinion the best driver the sport will ever see.

Michael Schumacher is my best driver of all time, and I’m sure his adventures in motor sport aren’t over.

Below are some videos of the greatman at various times during his long career:

The Brazilian driving for JPS Lotus

And coming in and number two is many people’s favourite of all time, Brazilan Motor Racing legend, Ayrton Senna who is sadly no longer with us.

His talent was unquestioned, his character unflappable, and his pace unbelievable. He won three World Championships, all with Mclaren in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

Senna’s skill was noticeable from a very early age, he started karting at 13 and in 1977 won the South American Karting Championship and finished runner up on two ocassions in the World Championship, before moving to Britain to race single seater cars, and pipped Martin Brundle to the Formula Three World Championship in 1983.

By then, F1 teams were queuing up to sign him as their driver, with Williams, Brabham, Toleman and Mclaren all offering him a test, and with Piquet not wanting Senna to join him at Brabham, he joined Toleman instead and worked wonders in a car which had no right to be at the front. The Monaco GP won him a lot of fans, working his way up the field in torrential rain, and got to 2nd before the race was stopped due to the conditions being too bad. Senna maintained he would have won the race if it had continued for one more lap.

He was suspened for the Italian Grand Prix for breaking his contract to sign for Lotus in 1985.

Senna won two races in the 1985 season, being partnered by Elio de Angelis, who also won an event that season which caused a rift as both drivers wanted top driver status.

Pole Positions seemed to be Senna’s expertise as he made seven in his first season, and eight in his second, also scoring two race wins. He finished 4th overall behind Prost, Piquet and Mansell.

1987 promised better things as Lotus had acquired the same Honda engines that Williams were using for Mansell and Piquet. However, the Lotus was still miles behind in terms of performance, and Senna was infact lapped at the British GP by both cars. Despite that, the Brazilian claimed two wins, and finished third in the championship behind the Williams drivers. Senna’s relationship with Honda was very strong, and this won him a seat with the Mclaren team in 1988 alongside Alain Prost.

They dominated 1988 winning 15 of 16 races, and Senna claimed the championship despite scoring less points because only the best 11 scores counted.

1989 was a dramatic season with the ‘dream team’ colliding in Suzuka to decide the championship. Senna took out Prost but rejoined the track to replace his nose cone after a push start, and was promptly disqualified despite winning the event. He finished runner up.

1990 would give Senna his 2nd championship but arguably cheated to do so. He qualified on pole but after an agreement to switch the position to the other side of the track, FIA president Jean Marie Balestre reversed the decision, infuriating Senna who believed it gave him an unfair advantage being on the dirty side of the track. He lost 1st place off the start and rammed Prost into turn 1, virtually eliminating them both and gifting himself with the championship. He later admitted he had caused the incident and Prost called the actions ‘disgusting.’ The Frenchman had left Mclaren at the end of 1989 to join Ferrari.

1991 would see Senna win his final championship with 7 victories to his name, which should have been 8 but he ran out of fuel on the last lap at Silverstone, allowing Mansell to win his home Grand Prix. The Brit memorably gave Senna a ride back to the paddock on his victory lap. Although halfway through the season Mansell was challenging him heavily, the Brazilian demanded that Honda step up their engine development to aid his quest for the title. They did so, and Senna won three important races to secure the title.

1992 would possibly go down as his worst season in a Mclaren. The car had to run an old model as the new one wasn’t ready until round 4, and its engine power didn’t really challenge Williams until Monaco, where Senna managed to keep Mansell behind him for 5 laps near the end, despite the Brit being 3-4 seconds a lap quicker! He finished 4th in the championship behind Mansell, Patrese, and Schumacher.

1993 wouldn’t be an awful lot better, with Mclaren failing to match the Williams cars of Prost and Hill, and Senna at one point drove on a race by race basis although he saw the season to the end, winning his final Grand Prix in Australia, he did well to finish runner up to Prost despite Damon winning three races on the trot.

1994. The less said the better in the Senna family as his life would come to a premature conclusion at the San Marino Grand Prix. Ayrton had failed to finish in the first two races in Brazil and Japan, and came into the race needing good points to challenge a fast improving Michael Schumacher. After a safety car period, Senna led Schumacher by just over a second, but on lap 7, while the world was watching Schumacher work hard inside the cockpit, it was visible that Senna had left the track at considerable speed. He ploughed into the wall at Tamburello and didn’t move significantly for the next few minutes. He was airlifted to Bologna hospital where he was pronounced dead. The right front wheel had hit him on the head causing multiple fractures of the skull, and he didn’t recover. Michael Schumacher went on to win the title.

Senna would be many people’s number one and I would fully understand that. In my opinion he probably WAS the quickest driver of all time and was consistently a force to be reckoned with. His rivalry with Prost and his indiviudal moments of brilliance will be what many people remember. His death was untimely and goes down as possibily the worst moment in the sport’s history.

Ayrton Senna is rightfully my number two.

Videos below feature his astonishing opening lap at Donington Park in 93 and his final moments at Imola in 1994.

The `Green` look to Honda

I said in a previous post that Jenson Button would have to fight for his place at Honda if he was to secure a drive for the 2009 season.

It seems now that he will have to rely on a new buyer to take over the team if he has at least half a chance!

Honda announced yesterday that they would be withdrawing from the sport because they could no longer afford to supply engines to their cars due to the current economic crisis, which means it is likely that only 18 cars will line up for the first round of the new season, the fewest for many years! And it increases the pressure on the FIA to reduce costs to attract new teams, but with the issue being on the agenda for two, perhaps three seasons, is the FIA powerless to do anything?

Nick Fry has said that he has already received three approaches already for the purchase of the Honda team, but the deadline of January may put a lot of potential investors off. So as it stands both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are no longer in F1, although it has been rumoured that the Brazilian has tested for Torro Rosso along with former Honda driver Takuma Sato.

The Japanese car manufacturer will perhaps be better known for supplying engines to teams within F1 rather than running their own team. Mclaren and Williams enjoyed massive success when Honda gave them engines to win constructors championships and drivers titles for Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Nelson Piquet.

BAR were another team who were given engines by Honda, and were then bought out in 2005 so they could run their own team for the start of 2006 and were highly successful, finishing fourth in the championship. However, since then I will be polite in saying they haven’t made much of an impact at all. Infact, in many ways you could argue that Force India have progressed further than Honda in the last 12-24 months.

Jenson has commented on the situation admitting he was ‘as surprised as everyone else’ following the announcement, and even Ross Brawn would have had a slight shock after he said last Friday that the team should be near the front when the curtain is raised in Australia in late March.

However, with approaches allegedly having been made, it is possible we will see the same faces in the sport come Round 1, but right now it seems that Honda have added to the problems within Formula One, and who would bet against another team folding due to financial reasons? I don’t think I would!

Ted Kravitz trying to get a word or two with Ross Brawn

ITV waved goodbye to Formula One at the Brazilian Grand Prix last month, and to be honest I’m upset that the coverage will no longer be provided by them.

Since 1997, they have done an incredible job. Jim Rosenthal was the early face of the sport with Murray and Martin being the commentators and although strange to see by many at first, the coverage got better year by year and even when Murray left, James Allen did a terrific job in taking his place. Louise and Ted did a steady job in the pits, providing immediate interviews and up to date news stories and the whole team should be congratulated because the Beeb will find it tough to match the coverage (although I speak for everyone when I say we won’t miss the adverts- Imola 2004 mean much to anybody?).

Steve Rider will be the notable absentee from the BBC coverage as ITV are keeping him for the Champions League coverage, and other football rights. He is the best sports presenter in this country and Jake Humphrey will do well to match his professionalism and delivery style.

The new BBC team will be Humphrey, Eddie Jordan and DC as the Rider and Blundell replacements. Jonathan Legard will replace James Allen, and Lee Mckenzie will replace Louise Goodman in the pits. It’s a fully rounded team with a blend of youth and experience and I wish them all the best, and hope their coverage matches, if not surpasses that supplied by ITV.

ITV gave us 12 seasons of fantastic action and they should be thanked by all fans for their fantastic service since 1997. They gave us incidents such as the seventh championship win of Schumacher, the Mclaren re-emergence in the late 90s, the birth of Fernando Alonso, the first win for Jenson and the thrilling final lap which gave Hamilton the championship.

Good luck to the BBC, and thanks to ITV. Lets hope F1 moves onwards and upwards as it returns to the one and only place for the sport!

Here is the goodbye montage that ITV put together:

The Frenchman driving for Mclaren

Now to the big three, and to be honest I doubt many people’s would be any different, although possibly in a slightly different order.

And coming in third place is Frenchman Alain Prost who was four times World Champion, in 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1993.

Again, like many he started in karting and from there moved on to French Formula three in 1978, having become Formula Renault the previous year. In 79 he not only won the French series, but the European series too, and Mclaren soon came calling. Prost signed for them in 1980.

However, he would only be there for one season despite signing a contract for three years, and he decided to join Renault in 1981 because he felt he wasn’t getting enough support from the team.

And the French outfit would provide Alain with his first Grand Prix victory in of all places, France! He finished fifth in the championship.

He stayed with Renault for 1982 and 83, having limited success and fell out with Rene Arnoux and the French media, claiming they didn’t like winners. He was fired at the end of the 83 season for failing to win the championship, and he immediately re-signed for Mclaren.

1984 would be the kick start Prost was looking for, and was partnered by Austrian Nikki Lauda. The Monaco GP arguably cost him the championship, claiming only half a point when the race was stopped due to torrential rain. Lauda took the crown.

1985 though would be Prost’s year, although admittedly didn’t really have much competition. He won five races and finished 21 points clear of Michele Alboreto.

1986 could be argued a `lucky` season for Prost as he only won the championship due to a tyre faliure on Mansell’s car. He went on to win the final race in Australia and took the title ahead of the Englishman, and his team-mate Nelson Piquet. The Frenchman twice ran out of fuel on the last lap, in Germany and in San Marino, but on both occasions secured good points.

1987 wasn’t a great season for Mclaren and Prost, having to watch Williams make a comeback, with Piquet taking the championship from Mansell’s grasp. Prost did win races, but the Honda power on the Williams was too much, and Prost finished adrift by 30 points.

Then for three seasons, Mclaren hired the `dream team` with Prost being partnered by Ayrton Senna. Prost rightfully should have been champion in 88, but only the best 11 scores counted and Senna thus won it by 3 points. Mclaren won 15 out of 16 races that season, and the only one they didn’t win was in Monza, where ironically Ferrari finished 1-2, shortly after the death of their founder, Enzo.

The tide turned in 1989 and the season will be remembered for the collision in Japan which gave Prost the title. Senna needed to win, and closed in on his team-mate and went for a `do or die` manouvere into the final chicane, but he hit Prost and both retired. Senna rejoined the track, only to be disqualified for outside assistance.

Senna would again collide with Prost at the same track in 1990. A non finish for the Frenchaman, now driving for Ferrari, would mean Senna was champion. The Mclaren driver knew this and took him out at the first corner, meaning he was champion there and then. Prost’s reaction after the crash was one of calm, almost assuming it would happen. He said Senna was `a man without value` after the race, and is in my opinion the most blatent crash in F1 history, because there was no chance he would make the corner ahead of Prost.

1991 was a disastrous season for Prost, failing to win a race and only making the podium five times. He criticised the car towards the end of the season, and as a result he was fired. He took a year out in 1992, but returned to Williams in 1993, with Mansell leaving to join the CART series (Mansell refused to partner Prost). There was also a clause in his contract which prevented Senna joining him.

Damon Hill partnered him at Williams, and Prost won the championship, challenged on many occasions by Hill, Senna and new German driver Michael Schumacher. He announced during the season he would not defend his championship, and this allowed Senna to join Williams.

Prost’s presence in the top three is thoroughly deserved, and many would put him higher, but I believe he wasn’t as fast or as `racey` than my top two. His four World Championships make him one of the most successful in history, and although wasn’t popular with the French press, he was highly respected by the English. A true legend in Formula One.

Below are the incidents with Senna in 89 and 90: