Open Mic: Formula One's Greatest All-Time Lineups

This week's Open Mic wants us sports fans to select the best lineups for our favourite teams.

As a Formula One fan, I'm going to present my best driver lineups in four different categories:

• Past Drivers All time lineup
• Present Drivers All time lineup
• Future Drivers All time lineup
• Unlikely lineups (or joking line ups)

Past Drivers All-Time Lineup

What a selection to choose from! We have been blessed to see many great drivers pass through Formula One—Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, and Jim Clark to name a few.

But for me the best possible combination of past drivers would be Michael Schumacher and Jim Clark.

Michael Schumacher broke pretty much every record in the book. Total domination of the sport means that he is still (and will be for a long time) statistically the greatest driver ever. He is a genuine racer, and would get the best out of any car.

His partner would be Jim Clark. Clark was a very good driver in my view. He drove when racing was very dangerous and dominated the sport in his day. Although the records have been broken since, Jim held the records for winning the most Grand Prix and being the youngest F1 world champion.

A fatal accident brought about an abrupt end to what could have been the greatest F1 career ever.

Seeing as these drivers a both winners, the partnership may run like clockwork or fall apart. Michael Schumacher rarely received any competition from his teammates and neither did Clark, so the partnership could be difficult for both drivers.

Present All-Time Driver Lineup

We are currently experiencing probably one of the greatest F1 seasons ever. With so many talented drivers (Raikkonen, Massa, Hamilton, Alonso) this is a difficult lineup to put forward. Anyway, here we go!

Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

These two drivers, in my opinion, are probably the best drivers on the grid, given the right car. We all know that Alonso is amazing, there is no denying it. He has already won two world championships at the young age of 26. Currently rumoured with a move to Ferrari, I still believe Alonso still has a lot to offer and he certainly wants to win more championships.

But we all know how Alonso acts if he hasn't got the right teammate. This is where Button comes in. He has had a tough career—being in the right place at the wrong time pretty much sums it up. With only one grand prix win to his name, he wants more. Therefore, he would be a perfect partner to Alonso.

Alonso wants to win championships and he knows he can do it. Button wants to win more races. He could act as a supporting role to Alonso, and with a good car he could win more races.

Future Drivers All-Time Lineup

As Sam Sparro says, "The future is now." We are currently seeing a lot of drivers break through into F1 and most of them are stars of the future.

Therefore, in five years time I would want to see a Hamilton-Senna lineup.

Lewis Hamilton is at the spearhead of the future generation and certainly has it in him to win the WDC this year. It's his dream to win the world championship and when he does, having the right teammate is key.

Bruno Senna would learn a lot from Hamilton, as well as being good competition to him. As long as there is equal opportunity in the team and no "supporting roles" the two could be extremely competitive.

Unlikely lineups

Alonso and...any other championship hunting driver?

Fernando Alonso needs the right teammate under him. Being partnered with any other title contender is certainly a recipe for disaster as we saw last season. The "Ferrari Dream Team of Raikkonen and Alonso" just simply wouldn't work.

Raikkonen wouldn't speak and Alonso wouldn't move out of the pit box.

Secondly, Innes Ireland and James Hunt.

The two playboys of F1 in the same team would be disaster.

When Ireland won at Solitude, he got so drunk that he climbed onto a hotel roof and started firing bullets from a pistol.

Hunt also got into many fights. He punched a marshal after landing himself in the gravel trap and threw up before he got into the car at the 1978 British Grand Prix.

Don't forget to comment and give me your views—who would you have driving for your team?