Tag: ranking

Why Your Favourite Driver Is The GOAT

A wise man once said “People can come up with statistics to prove anything. 14% of people know that.” Here we provide some stats to prove that your favourite driver is indeed the best of the bunch. Enjoy!

Alonso

Alonso has had a wide variety of teammates over the years, including several rookies of varying quality. However, his matchups versus more experienced drivers hold up very well versus other top quality F1 drivers.

Hamilton

So many records involving total numbers have Hamilton on at the top that it’s hard to keep track of. Whilst the debates of man vs car will rumble on ad infinitum, stats involving just the hybrid era really bring the point home of how successful Lewis has been.

Until a few months ago, Rosberg was the second most successful driver in the hybrid era, despite racing in less than half of it.

Leclerc

Despite missing out on a clean sweep due to 2021, Leclerc’s matchups versus teammates are still incredibly impressive.

Verstappen

If you want stats that make Verstappen look like the GOAT you inevitably gravitate towards age. Max is still 7 years younger than Damon Hill when he made his F1 debut in the early 1990s, and is barely half the age of Fangio when he wrapped up his last title in the 1950s. Of course, F1 drivers have generally started younger as the decades go by, but even so his success at such a young age is almost unprecedented.

Vettel

Vettel not only has more Red Bull wins than every other driver on the grid, he has the same number of Red Bull wins as all other F1 drivers combined! Seb also had a long and successful Ferrari career. Despite failing to deliver a championship, only 2 drivers have more Ferrari wins, and neither of them are on the current grid.

Other Drivers

Ricciardo is the only F1 driver to outscore Verstappen in the same car.

Sainz is the only F1 driver to outscore Leclerc in the same car.

Ocon has more wins for Alpine than any other driver.

Gasly is the highest scoring AlphaTauri driver ever.

Mazepin infamously secured a fastest lap at a soaking wet Spa, despite having the slowest car on the grid.

Fangio

Of course, every modern driver pales in comparison to the great Fangio. If he were racing today with this success rate he’d win 2 championships a season!

One sign of a great driver is the ability to win the driver’s title without driving for the constructors winning team. Only Verstappen and Hamilton have managed this on the current grid (although Hamilton has twice helped his team win the constructors without winning the driver’s title). Fangio, however, never won the constructors title.

Thanks for reading, I hope you were able to separate the semi-serious from the silly!