The Greatest F1 Driver

Motor racing is not, never has been, and could never be, a simple contest between drivers. That is only stating the obvious.

The driver is the spear-point of a total package that includes many people and components. On race day he has to be gripping the wheel of a competitive car, supported by a first-class pit crew, and aided by shrewd tactical brains in his choice of tyre type and pit-stop timing.

Up until recently there were competing tyre suppliers. On particular tracks one of the makes would often give a clear advantage, and sometimes for a whole season a driver would suffer by being equipped with the wrong rubber. Now there is just one tyre supplier, but there is still a host of factors determining a driver's chances of success.

With the wrong package, he's taken a knife to a gunfight, and he ain't gonna win.

To illustrate my knives and gunfights analogy, let us consider Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher's immediate successor as World Champion.

Alonso wanted to win the World Championship while Schumacher was still active, and he did that in 2005 and 2006. If, however, those two drivers had swapped teams for those years there is no doubt whatever in my mind that MS would have triumphed over FA to score his eighth and ninth championships.

Schumacher is a good choice for that sort of comparison. With more poles, wins, and championships than any other driver, his credentials are impeccable. But when he didn't have the tool, he couldn't do the job.

In 2008 only McLaren and Mercedes were really packing heat, and that year Alonso was a knifeman. Sure he got in a few stabs and slashes, but he wasn't truly in the fight, so only Hamilton and Massa made it to the final shoot-out.

Enough of guns and knives, I'm sure you take my point.

How then can we establish a comparison? Is it ever possible to say X was better than Y?

In setting out establish the ultimate measure of driver greatness, I have included the following crucial three factors:

• How did he score against his team-mates
• What is his race/win ratio
• The actual number of races he won
• % of wet races won

Taking all of the above factors into account, and a number of secret ingredients, I have been able to finally settle the vexed question of who was the greatest ever F1 driver.

Ladies and gentlemen, Bleacher creatures, I can now share that name with you, thus ending all tedious and fractious debate. The greatest F1 driver ever is unquestionably

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