Who are the Greatest F1 Drivers

By: Jeb Zaback

SERVICES

Fernando Alonso

World Championships: 2 (2005-06)
Number of races: 333
Race wins: 32
Number of pole positions: 22

REPAIRS

UPHOLSTERY

Fernando Alonso, just like most racers got his start in karting; however, his start was unique. Fernando’s father loved karting but did not have much money to put into the sport. He built Alonso a kart that he could drive and share his father's passion. Fernando excelled at karting and managed to start racing with the big dogs. In 2005 Alonso joined the Renault Formula 1 team, where he excelled; he ended Michael Schumacher's record of winning five championships in a row. He did so while being the youngest driver to win a world championship at the time. In 2007 Alonso moved to Mclaren with the young Lewis Hamilton by his side, where he would place third behind Kimi Raikkonen and his teammate (Nadar). He then moved to Ferrari in 2010, and in the final race of the season he was in the lead, but, with misfortunes and getting stuck behind traffic, Sebastian Vettel beat him. He lost to Vettel again in 2012, and in 2013 placed second again for the third time. Luck has never been on Fernando's side, but that did not stop him from continuing racing. In 2021 he joined the Alpine racing team, where his best performance was at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he placed 4th position but managed to get his teammate a win (Barlow).

OUR WORK

Niki Lauda

World Championships: 3 (1975, 1977, 1984)
Races: 171
Number of wins: 25
Number of pole positions: 24

To make a small fortune in racing, you need to start with a big one, and Niki Lauda came from a wealthy family. However, when he started racing as a young man, his family disapproved of this new hobby and would not fund or help him to further his skills. With that response from his family, Niki decided to take matters into his own hands and went to the bank, took out a loan of £30,000, and bought himself onto a team in Formula 2. With that team, he did well, and the following year he found himself on a Formula 1 team. Ferrari noticed his talent, and with their poor season the year before, they were hoping that Lauda could put them back on the podium. Because Lauda was so good behind the wheel, he did precisely what Ferrari was hoping for, he took 2nd place in his first race with Ferrari, and in his 4th race, he was first over the checkered flag (Longman).

Lauda won his first world championship in 1975 in a Ferrari 312. The following year everything would change for the promising driver. In 1976, at the German Grand Prix, Lauda was involved in an accident in which he suffered third-degree burns all over his face and head. His lungs were damaged, and most thought that he would not survive the damage from the crash. However, just like on the racetrack, Niki was not ready to give up; six weeks after his crash, that would have been enough to make most drivers never want to get in the seat of a car again, Lauda was behind the wheel for the Italian Grand Prix where he would finish 4th place. At the end of the season, he lost the title to James Hunt by one point. He would get the title back the following year that he previously missed out on. In 1979 Lauda retired but ended back racing for Mclaren in 1982 and managed to gain another championship in 1984 and would eventually retire for good in 1985 (Barlow).

ABOUT US

Alain Prost

Alain Prost started his career in racing by go-karting on a family vacation when he was 14 years old. He loved it so much that he would continue karting until he found himself in a Formula 1 car seat. His first race was with the Mclaren team in 1980 and it was disappointing for the new driver. The following season the rookie would sign a contract with Renault where he would begin to show the world what he could do, winning a few races that year and finishing 4th in the driver's championship the following year. In 1983, Prost would race for Nelson Brabham’s team, where he would lose the championship by a mere two points. In 1984, he again came close to gaining a world title but lost to the quick Niki Lauda by half a point.

World Championships: 4 (1985-86, 1989, 1993)
Number of races: 199
Number of wins: 51
Pole positions: 33

Prost was known for being the brains of all Formula One drivers; he had a strategic way of racing. He would be known to save his all-out driving towards the end of the race to reduce the risk of crashing or damaging the car early on in the race to let others do that, and he could push the car to the limits at the end of the race. By managing this technique, he managed to beat Jackie Stewart’s title of 27 wins at the time and, along with Senna, managed to accumulate 15 out of 16 wins with the Mclaren team (Longman).

Prost was not shy to express his views when he thought something was wrong or did not agree with something. For instance, he publicly shamed Ferrari’s car, saying that a “truck would be easier to drive than this car.” Alain Prost will always be known as a driver who wouldnt be pushed around by anyone and was the one that would push the well-known Ayrton Senna to his limits and beat many of the other fastest drivers of the time, including Mansell and Piquet. Prost ended his career in Formula 1 by winning his 4th title for the Williams team (Barlow).

CONTACT

Jackie Stewart

World Championships: 3 (1969, 1971, 1973)
Number of races: 99
Number of wins: 27
Number of pole positions: 17

Jackie Stweart was born in a Scottish village where his family had automotive dealerships, and his father loved to race motorcycles. Stewart started working in one of his father's shops and began his love for cars. He found himself out on the track testing the new Jaguar E-Type and beating Bruce Mclaren around Goodwood in a Formula Three car because of the times he was signed onto a team. After driving Formula Three for days, he was offered a spot on a Formula One team. Still, Stewart decided he wanted to keep practicing for himself on the Formula Three team and get more experience before moving up the ladder to Formula One (Longman).

In 1965 Jackie Stewart entered Formula One, where he would reach the podium five times and his first Formula One victory under his belt and ended up third place in the driver's championship that year. 1968 was his next best year finishing second in the championship, and finally, in 1969, he earned his first F1 championship victory. Jackie changed teams often as everyone wanted him; in 1970, he went to the Tyrell team and won a title with only being on the team for two seasons and accumulating multiple wins (Barlow). Jackie Stewart was not only an incredible athlete on the track, but what he did for the sport as a whole is arguably one of the best things that could have happened for Formula One. Stewart saw many of his friends die in crashes on the track, and he would soon become an advocate for making the sport much safer as the years went on. Because of what Jackie realized was happening and the fact that racing could be safer, he made it safer. He was the one that would push for new safety equipment like safer barriers and run-off spots for the cars, helmets that covered the entire head, and seatbelts that drivers would have no choice but to wear. He would also have racers join him in going against a race if he did not think it was safe to race in. Because of Jackie Stewart, many racer's lives were probably saved, and the future of safety in the sport would be taken much more seriously (Nadar).