171 replies to this topic

[Requiem84]

Analogue to the greatest qualifying lap thread on the board, I was wondering what people consider to be the greatest race drive by a F1 driver.

Some races that spring to mind;

-Schumacher at Barcelona in 1996, lapping 3,5 seconds faster than anyone, and eventually winning the race on 8 of the 10 cilinders of the Ferrari.
-Raikkonen at Suzuka in '05

Discuss!

[phil1993]

Too many drivers, too many great races, too many eras.

I mean you have the ones you listed, Hamilton's home win, some of Alonso's, Mansell's home win in 1987, some of Senna's, some of Prost's. And those guys that didn't win races yet drove brilliantly.

[figue]

Fernando Alonso Hungary 2006

[swintex]

Jim Clark, Monza, 1967 or Stirling Moss, Monaco,1961.

[Dolph]

Senna, 93 Donington

Edited by Dolph, 07 January 2011 - 20:07.

[marcoferrari]

Fangio - Nurburgring 57, Moss - Monte Carlo 61, Stewart - Nurburgring 68, Senna - Donnington 93, Schumacher - Barcelona 96, Hamilton - Silverstone 08,

Edited by marcoferrari, 07 January 2011 - 20:12.

[gm914]

Jackie Stewart- 1968 German GP Nurburgring Nordschleife

In the fog and torrentil rain, Sir Jackie in his Matra won by an astounding 4 minues/ 5 seconds.
2nd place finisher was no slouch either. One Graham Hill.

[Crazy Ninja]

Senna, 93 Donington

Didnt Senna say he didnt feel this was a great win for him as his car was equipped with traction control which made it a lot easier for him in those conditions?
For a Senna race, Estoril 1985 was immense.

[BenettonB192]

For the modern era Schumacher in Barcelona '94 comes to mind. Scoring a second place despite being stuck in 5th gear for most of the race.

[johnwilliamdavies]

Sir Jackie Stewart - Nurburgring GP 1968.

[Enkei]

Hamilton's races in Australia and China were pretty special, although he didn't win.
Only Mark Webber had an answer to his overtaking moves.

[AlanWake]

Fernando Alonso Hungary 2006

Good choice! There are many good/great races from Fernando Alonso Díaz, but Hungary 2006 is possibly his greatest race to date in his F1 career and one of the most amazing displays of talent in the history of the sport! IMHO, of course.

However, I vote Senna's drive in Donington 93 as the greatest race in F1 history by a F1 driver. His opening lap was out of this world!

[jj2728]

Tazio Nuvolari, 1935 German Grand Prix.

[MightyMoose]

Some ideas from my time watching F1.

Villeneuve - Spain 81
Senna - Portugal 85, Europe 93
Mansell - Hungary 89, GB 92
Schumacher - Hungary 98, Belgium 04
Raikkonen - Japan 05
Alonso - Hungary 06

Obviously these were races that were won - exception Alonso of course, there was quite a few other individual drives that sprang to mind, but I would call them the "individual drivers best" (Capelli - France 90 fulfills this criteria) rather the candidate for the greatest race.
MM

[apoka]

Some interesting races:

Hakkinen / Schumacher - Spa 2000
Schumacher - Monaco 2006
Schumacher - Brazil 2006
Vettel - Monza 2008
Hamilton (Heidfeld) - Silverstone 2008

Pretty hard to remember all the good races, even the ones from the last 10 years.

[bogi]

Marcus Winkelhock, '07 Nurburgring

[ensign14]

Jim Clark, Monza, 1967 or Stirling Moss, Monaco,1961.

/thread

[ensign14]

Tazio Nuvolari, 1935 German Grand Prix.

Maybe the greatest drive ever, but pre-F1. Caracciola at Monaco in the giant SSK in 1929 was similarly genius. If we were going to go outside Formula 1, Moss at the Mille Miglia in 1955.

[scheivlak]

Just FYI, late in 2001 Motor Sport published a top 100 of all time great performances - including non-F1 races as well BTW.

The list, based on the opinion of a number of experts, triggered quite a discussion at TNF: http://forums.autosp...w...=33263&st=0
;)

The top 10 of that list was:

10 - Gilles Villeneuve 1979 French GP
9 - Gilles Villeneuve 1981 Spanish GP
8 - Stirling Moss 1961 Monaco GP
7 - Tazio Novolari 1935 German GP
6 - Jim Clark 1967 Italian GP
5 - Nigel Mansell 1987 British GP
4 - Jackie Stewart 1968 German GP
3 - Ayrton Senna 1993 European GP, Donington Park
2 - Stirling Moss 1955 Mille Miglia
1 - Juan Manuel Fangio 1957 German GP

Edited by scheivlak, 07 January 2011 - 23:28.

[Amphicar]

Maybe the greatest drive ever, but pre-F1. Caracciola at Monaco in the giant SSK in 1929 was similarly genius. If we were going to go outside Formula 1, Moss at the Mille Miglia in 1955.

If we are straying beyond F1 I nominate Vic Elford's win at the 1968 Targa Florio. Sticking to F1 it would be later the same year and further north - Jackie Stewart winning the German Grand Prix on the Nurburgring Nordschliefe by more than four minutes in absolutely diabolical weather. Graham Hill's win at the 1965 Monaco GP was pretty special too.

[Callisto]

Hakkinen Spa 2000
kimi suzuka 2005

[domhnall]

Glock, Brazil 2008

[Atreiu]

For the modern era Schumacher in Barcelona '94 comes to mind. Scoring a second place despite being stuck in 5th gear for most of the race.

I'm old at 30, that doesn't seem modern.
Modern nowadays is the V8 era, IMO.

I'd vote for Suzuka 1988 and Silverstone 2008.

[beute]

japan 2005 was awesome.
and i think the first time Kimi showed REAL emotions.

[RockyRaccoon68]

Kimi and Alonso were both incredible at Suzuka 2005, Alonso was robbed of finishing at least one place higher with the massive amount of time he lost having to let Klien(?) past twice! Off course Kimi did win with a last lap pass after starting in 17th I think it was? Incredible race from both guys.

Alonso Hungary 06 deserves a mention as one of the best drive I have witnessed, and Hamilton Silverstone 08. I guess Button did a great job in Hungary 06 too (even though he did steal Alonso's victory haha)

[orndorf]

Webber 09 Hockenheim,overcame the stop and go to claim his frst ever GP win.

Its up there with the best........

[George Costanza]

This is tough to say, but if I were to pick one from Schumacher: 1996 Spanish Grand Prix. But overall, it might just be Fangio of 1957.

Of the modern drivers today? Fernando Alonso 2006 Hungarian GP, he was on fire that day and (too bad he didn't win though, that was when I reckoned, this man is the going to be an all time great because of his wet skils that day, very much like Senna in 1993 and Schumacher in 1996.

Lewis's drive in 08 was great also!

Edited by George Costanza, 08 January 2011 - 01:42.

[RSNS]

Moss's victory against the Ferraris in Monaco was a good one, but Phil Hill was never a great driver. Stewart's win over Hill was excellent but of course he did have much better tires. Clark in Monza was competing with ailing cars, hence the spectacular recovery.

But I really think there are three races that are outstanding: Fangio's Nurburgring, Senna's Donnington; and Schumacher's Hungaroring. Those are trully unbelievable. Also Schumacher's last race with Ferrari was extremely impressive; it was not a victory, though.

[Realyn]

Sorry but reading stuff like Alonso 2006 makes me go mad.

Like someone said races like Schumachers fifth gear race or HHF magny cours 1999.

edit:Right, I also wanted to add Panis Monaco 1996.

edit #2: Whole Magny Cours Race: http://www.youtube.c...feature=related (skip to ~min5) I´ll have to watch it tomorrow

edit #3: http://www.youtube.c...feature=related ~min 2 press conference, somewhat funny, you have to watch it really. What Mika said about ethics in F1 is so true. Compare him to the young guns off Ham, Vet, Alo. They **** up, run into their motorhome and act like childs sometimes.

Edited by Realyn, 08 January 2011 - 02:45.

[Japan Time]

Prost Mexico 1990 !!!!!!! Awesome !!!!!!!

[halifaxf1fan]

Kimi Raikkonen @ Suzuka 2005
Gilles Villeneuve @ France 1979

Edited by halifaxf1fan, 08 January 2011 - 04:50.

[jj2728]

Moss's victory against the Ferraris in Monaco was a good one, but Phil Hill was never a great driver. Stewart's win over Hill was excellent but of course he did have much better tires. Clark in Monza was competing with ailing cars, hence the spectacular recovery.

I'll give you one out of three, that Stewart's Dunlop tyres were much better suited to the track conditions that day, yet he was able to achieve the win with a duff wrist. To say that Phil Hill was never a great driver is to belittle his accomplishments AS a driver. And where did you get the idea that Clark was competing against ailing cars? We must have read completely different race reoprts......

[FigJam]

A few off the top of my head -

Damon Hill at the Japanese GP 1994/Hungary 1997
Alain Prost at the Belgium GP in 1986
Nigel Mansell, Hungary 1989
Gilles Villeneuve, Spanish GP 1981
Ayrton Senna, Donington 1993

Seriously though there are so many examples across different eras (and categories, shouldn't be restricted to F1) that its impossible to pinpoint one.

Jacques Villeneuve at the Indianapolis 500 in 1995 and Juan Montoya at Michigan 2000 cases in point...

Also think Jacques' drive at Jerez in 1997 was a really great drive...that race was pure pressure with a World title on the line, no less....and so many players involved in the race itself.

Edited by FigJam, 08 January 2011 - 04:19.

[emburmak]

Taken from my 25+ years of watching F1

Mansell--British-1987, Hungary 1989, Spain 1991.

Prost--Mexico? 1986, France 1988, Mexico 1990, France 1990, Siverstone 1990, Kyalami 1993, Silverstone 1993.

Senna--Germany 1988, Japan 1988, Donnington 1993.

JV--Portugal 1996 & Jarez 1997

MS--Brazil 1994, N,ring 1995, Spain 1996, Hungary 1998, Japan 2000, Monza 2003, France 2004, Imola 2005, China 2006.

KR--Spa 2004? Japan 2005

FA--Hun 2004

LH--Siverstone 2008, Spa 2008,


I must admit that Britain 86, Mexico 90, N'ring 95 & Japan 05 are my all-time favourates!

Edited by emburmak, 08 January 2011 - 04:42.

[cheapracer]

Jim Clark, Monza, 1967 or Stirling Moss, Monaco,1961.

/thread

Go to Youtube and watch the race, note how Clark doesn't even bother to slipstream Brabham when he passes and just leaves the Brabham in it's wake the Lotus had so much more power than anything else. Monza is a power curcuit and the Lotus had a massive power advantage, so what? Note that Clark's fastest lap was not faster than qualifying, there has been a number of races where drivers have found more and beaten their qualifying, even pole time on occasion. I think it's one of the most overstated drives in F1 history, besides that he didn't win and theres nothing to say he would of F1 being as fickle as it is.

Moss at Monaco? Have you ever read or seen the race or just the sensational headline that Moss beat the 'big bad works Ferrari's' in an 'underpowered Lotus Climax'! - Ritchie Ginther in everyway matched Moss for any credit awarded for driving that day with his drive in the overweight and poor handling Ferrari that was unsuited to Monaco - you should try reading an American report of the race rather than a British one ;) By the way, that was a race where in his pursuit of Moss and Moss's attempts to stay ahead they both smashed the pole qualifying time, a case of driver's finding 'more'.

All wins are great drives, 99% of the time they won because they drove great and while some may come under the heading of spectacular, great challenges against another competitor or seem romantic because it's at Monaco or Spa rather than Bugatti or Detroit, I think stating one drivers win is greater than another's win is to deny the effort that goes into every race to accomplish a win let alone just finish.

[cheapracer]

I should include IMO this is a bit of a fanboy thread, bet theres not many Sheckter, Piquet or Lauda etc. great drives mentioned.

[EdwardCullen]

Schumacher 2006 China
and 2006 Brazil

i think Alonso's 2006 Hungary race was good, but i think he had much better races than that...like Monaco 2007 and Monza 2010

Edited by EdwardCullen, 08 January 2011 - 07:00.

[ensign14]

Go to Youtube and watch the race, note how Clark doesn't even bother to slipstream Brabham when he passes and just leaves the Brabham in it's wake the Lotus had so much more power than anything else. Monza is a power curcuit and the Lotus had a massive power advantage, so what? Note that Clark's fastest lap was not faster than qualifying, there has been a number of races where drivers have found more and beaten their qualifying, even pole time on occasion. I think it's one of the most overstated drives in F1 history, besides that he didn't win and theres nothing to say he would of F1 being as fickle as it is.

He gained a second a lap on Graham Hill. Three seconds a lap on his other Grand Prix-winning team-mate that day. He had a run of 24 out of 25 laps under 1 minute 30, when the entire rest of the field, combined, had fewer such laps in the entire race.

Funny thing is, even though it was a power circuit, the Lotus' power advantage was insufficient to keep Hill clear of Surtees, Hulme or Brabham until half-distance. Clark had to nail practically every lap perfectly to keep the momentum going - and he had to overtake nearly the entire field when doing so.

Moss at Monaco? Have you ever read or seen the race or just the sensational headline that Moss beat the 'big bad works Ferrari's' in an 'underpowered Lotus Climax'! - Ritchie Ginther in everyway matched Moss for any credit awarded for driving that day with his drive in the overweight and poor handling Ferrari that was unsuited to Monaco - you should try reading an American report of the race rather than a British one ;)

Ginther's drive that day is hugely underrated, he matched Moss lap for lap. Nearly a minute clear of his soon-to-be world champion team-mate.

[jj2728]

Go to Youtube and watch the race, note how Clark doesn't even bother to slipstream Brabham when he passes and just leaves the Brabham in it's wake the Lotus had so much more power than anything else. Monza is a power curcuit and the Lotus had a massive power advantage, so what? Note that Clark's fastest lap was not faster than qualifying, there has been a number of races where drivers have found more and beaten their qualifying, even pole time on occasion. I think it's one of the most overstated drives in F1 history, besides that he didn't win and theres nothing to say he would of F1 being as fickle as it is.

The obviously you don't appreciate the history of Grand Prix racing nor fully appreciate great drives. His fastest lap MATCHED his pole time. And the power of the Honda on that track on that day matched the Cosworth. I've read numerous race reports, talked to various motorsport journos who were there and was around then to fully appreciate his efforts.

[jj2728]

I'm surprised noone has mentioned Rindt 'waking up' during the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix and putting on a stellar performance, but then again 80% of the responses lead me to believe that F1 didn't exist prior to the Senna/Schumacher era....

[Ferrari_F1_fan_2001]

Schumacher's comeback drive at Suzuka in 1998 was pretty awesome I though.

Raikonnen in 2005 at Suzuka.

Vettel in Monza 2008.

[bauss]

It has to be that old time Fangio drive....

Vettel in Monza? Cmon son

[marcoferrari]

Massa at Hungaro 2008 is also a candidate for me... Having a superb start, later being fast and controlled... I think it was maybe his best race in Formula One, pity that in statistics stays a
nonsaying "17th place"...

Edited by marcoferrari, 08 January 2011 - 11:34.

[MrMonaco]

Raikonnen in 2005 at Suzuka.

If we mention this, Alonso's drive that day also deserves it - his passing moves on Schumacher on 130R and on Webber were mighty and don't forget that he lost a lot of time being forced to repass Klien. Overall he also had a great race, especially when you compare it to what Fisi had achieved on the day.

[marcoferrari]

I'm surprised noone has mentioned Rindt 'waking up' during the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix and putting on a stellar performance, but then again 80% of the responses lead me to believe that F1 didn't exist prior to the Senna/Schumacher era....

Amon and Beltoise retired ahead of him both with mechanical failures...

[Crazy Ninja]

I'm surprised noone has mentioned Rindt 'waking up' during the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix and putting on a stellar performance, but then again 80% of the responses lead me to believe that F1 didn't exist prior to the Senna/Schumacher era....

I think thats a lot to do with the age of people here; and those who may be young but have studied the history of grand prix a little closer than others. But, when people bring up races like Jackie Stewart in 68 and Jim Clark, Moss, etc it encourages younger folk to check these races out, at least i do anyway.

[jj2728]

Amon and Beltoise retired ahead of him both with mechanical failures...

Yes and so? As I said......."waking up" consider that his last lap was 8/10ths of a second UNDER Stewart's pole time.

[GustavoB]

Glock, Brazil 2008

I think Lewis agree 100% with you!!

[GustavoB]

Ok just to add something

Rubens first victory. I can´t remember the year, but it was driving for Ferrari in germany. He started in 18th and when started to rain everybody pitted and he just stayed with slicks running in a wet/damp track.

[Ragingjamaican]

Raikkonen Fuji 2007, had to come through the field after the team made both cars start with intermediates, then both Ferrari's had to come in for full wets.

In tricky conditions with the championship on the line, he came through the field to finish behind Hamilton by only 9.4s, his car poorer than McLaren's in the wet. He was even creating his own lines in the race which is very rare to see from drivers these days.