Tazio Nuvolari is who drivers would've been compared to back in the day. Like drivers being compared to Senna or Schumacher today.
But anyway, I'm basically going to list who I think where top of their generations.
Tazio Nuvolari
Juan Manuel Fangio
Jim Clark
Gilles Villeneuve
Micheal Schumacher
I think we've heard plenty about Nuvolari, but this is an impressive bit of info showing how much respect there was for the man.
Nuvolari's funeral procession was a mile long, and Nuvolari's coffin was placed on a car chassis which was pushed by Alberto Ascari, Luigi Villoresi and Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio, again 5 world championships. A record that stood for nearly 50 years, he was something else back in the day.
Jim Clark, and Colin chapman. One of the most famous partnerships in F1 history. Clark was flawless. He dominated and won at every oppurtunity. His race at 1967 Monza probably being one of the most famous of his drivers. Leading the race from pole he recieved a puncture. He ended up 1 lap behind the leaders. He then fought his way back up the feild actually matching the time he set during qualifying. He overtook Surtee's for the lead, only for his car to run out of fuel and coast across the straight.
Gilles Villeneuve. As you may have noticed, the least successful of all the drivers I've mentioned. But none the less, a legend. Although he drove for Ferrari he was driving inferior machinery. Even at that, he punched above his weight like no one else. One of my favourite stories was the 1981 Spanish GP, his last victory. He started 7th, and into turn 1 had made it up to 3rd. He then passed Reutemann down the straight. Jones in 1st place then made a mistake. Gilles was leading, but he had a trail of 4 faster cars behind him. This was an 80 lap race. Gilles managed to hold them all off, he was defensive in the corners and then used to ferrari engine to make sure they stayed behind. He finished just 2 tenths ahead of Jacques Laffite. The top 5 cars all finished with 1.2 seconds of each other.
Micheal Schumacher. Questionable by some, but there is no doubt. 7 world championships. A record that may be broken one day, but do any of us really think we'll live to see the day. The man was inch perfect, and dominated for 5 seasons straight. There's no doubt he'll be seen as nothing short of a legend for years to come. 50 years later, I'd say he'll still be a name echoing through the padock.
- By darwin dali