I firmly believe in the ability of results to tell about class and skill of a driver. More generally, to tell about the class of any sportsman. In any professional sports all participants, from athlet and trainer to physiotherapist and back door groupie are ultimately in solely for one reason, that is to win. Everything else is window dressing. This is particularly true for presumbly the most professional sports of all, of formula1-racing. As somebody hit the mark:The object of a race is not to look spectacular, be the fastest, pass the most people, or take the most risks. The object of a race is to win. At the end of the day, in the world of sports it's simple like that, you win and the world is purple, you don't, well the next Briatore is never far away...
That said, I view career statistics as the single most meaningful way to rate a driver; the longer the career, the smaller naturally the amount of luck involved, the more valid a comparison. Both, Senna like Schumacher, have raced long enough to provide a substantial basis for this comparison.
And there is also the question of the competitiveness of the cars in motorsport and their influence on the career results. I claim that at least for greats drivers, in the long-term this sometimes distorting influence is equalized by something like the 'invisible hand': In terms of demand, it is clear that every pilot desires the best cockpit available (with a very few notable exceptions) and admits so openly; as for the supply of competitive drives: Extraordinary pilots visibly show their skill in f1 as soon as they enter the stage in f1, if not already in lower formulas. Both Schumacher and Senna were 'hot' on the transfer market almost from the word go, AS for instance even before his entry in f1, his decision to go to a midfield team like Toleman was a personal one, he had better options at hand, but he chose deliberately otherwise. In later stages then great pilots like MS and AS are key figures on the driver market anyway, with their jus primae noctis at almost any team only rivaled by the moves of other great contemporary pilots.
The bottom line is simple: The door for exceptional pilots at any team is in f1 always open, it's up to them to make the most of this, if not, there can't be no bonus for driving competitive cars less than available.
This as a preliminary, now the head-to-head comparison which contrary to the impression given below was not initially intended as Prost vs. Schumacher, but as..well you know already:
[list=I] [*][b]Career Results[/b] ============== Championships: 3 vs. 4 (Schumacher +) Wins: 41 vs. 54 (Schumacher +) Points: 614 vs. 811 (Schumacher +) Podiums: 80 vs. 98 (Schumacher +) Fastest Laps: 19 vs. 44 (Schumacher +) GP led: 86 vs. 90 (Schumacher +) Lap led: 2986 vs. 3156 (Schumacher +) KM led: 13674 vs. 14630 (Schumacher +) and: Poles: 65 vs. 43 (Senna +) [*][b]Opposition[/b] ========== [b]Wins[/b] During Senna's Career During M Schumacher's Career ============================================================ 1.) 41 Prost 1.) 54 Schumacher (33,5%) 41 Senna (25,5%) 2.) 20 Hill 3.) 30 Mansell 3.) 19 Hakkinen 4.) 13 Piquet 4.) 12 Mansell 5.) 8 Berger 5.) 11 Villeneuve 6.) 5 Lauda 6.) 10 Senna 5 Schumacher 7.) 9 Coulthard 8.) 4 Patrese 8.) 7 Prost 9.) 3 Rosberg 9.) 5 Berger 3 Alboreto 10.) 3 RSchumacher 3 Boutsen 11.) 2 Patrese 3 Hill 2 Herbert 13.) 1 de Angelis 2 Frentzen 1 Nannini 2 Irvine 15.) 1 Alesi 1 Panis 1 Barrichello 1 Montoya The 2 races Senna missed were won by Prost & Lauda. The 9 missed by MS were won by Hill (2), DC (2), EI (2), Häkkinen, Frentzen & Herbert. [b]Pole Positions[/b] AS' Career MS' Career =================================================== 1.) 65 Senna (40,4%) 1.) 43 Schumacher (26,4%) 2.) 31 Mansell 2.) 21 Häkkinen 3.) 23 Prost 3.) 20 Hill 4.) 15 Piquet 4.) 15 Mansell 5.) 8 Berger 5.) 13 Prost 6.) 6 Patrese 13 Villeneuve 7.) 3 Rosberg 7.) 12 Coulthard 3 Fabi 8.) 8 Senna 9.) 2 de Angelis 9.) 5 Berger 2 Alboreto 10.) 4 Barrichello 2 Hill 11.) 3 Montoya 12.) 1 Tambay 12.) 2 Patrese 1 Boutsen 13.) 1 Alesi 1 Frentzen 1 Fisichella 1 RSchumacher Senna's DNQ and MS' DNS are included here because they took part in qualifying. The Pole Positions in races excluded were set by Piquet (in Senna's case), and by MH (5), Alesi, Berger & HHF (in Michael's). [b]Fastest Laps[/b] AS' Career MS' Career =================================================== 1.) 33 Prost 1.) 43 Schumacher (27,3%) 2.) 30 Mansell 2.) 20 Häkkinen 3.) 19 Senna (11,8%) 3.) 19 Hill 4.) 16 Berger 4.) 15 Coulthard 5.) *13 Piquet 5.) 10 Mansell 6.) 10 Patrese 6.) 9 Villeneuve 7.) 9 Schumacher 7.) 8 Berger 8.) 5 Lauda 8.) 6 Prost 5 Hill 6 Frentzen 10.) *4 Alboreto 10.) 4 Patrese 11.) 3 Rosberg 4 RSchumacher 12.) 2 Arnoux 4 Montoya 2 Fabi 13.) 3 Senna 2 Nannini 3 Alesi 15.) 1 Warwick 3 Barrichello 1 Tambay 16.) 1 Moreno 1 Laffite 1 Fisichella 1 Palmer 1 Wurz 1 Gugelmin 1 Irvine 1 Nakajima 1 Raikkonen 1 Boutsen 1 Alesi 1 Gachot 1 Moreno * Piquet and Alboreto were both credited with the fastest lap at the 1984 European GP. The fastest laps in Senna's missed races were set by Piquet and Lauda; and in Schumacher's by MH (4), DC (3), Hill and Ralf. [b]Points Scored[/b] AS' Career MS' Career ======================================================== 1.) 648.5 Prost (+34.5) 1.) 811 Schumacher 2.) 614 Senna (+26) 2.) 396 Häkkinen 3.) 444 Mansell (+16) 3.) 356 Hill 4.) 298.5 Piquet (+12) 4.) 323 Coulthard 5.) 268 Berger (+5) 5.) 209 Villeneuve 6.) 212 Patrese (+1) 6.) 207 Alesi 7.) 144.5 Alboreto (+3) 7.) 202 Berger 8.) 139 Schumacher 8.) 186 Barrichello 9.) 130 Boutsen (+3) 9.) 158 Senna 10.) 85 Johansson 10.) 153 Irvine 11.) 82.5 Rosberg (+3) 11.) 144 Mansell 12.) 80 Alesi 12.) 143 Frentzen 13.) 77 Lauda (+6) 13.) 112 Prost 14.) 76 Hill 14.) 107 RSchumacher 15.) 67 Brundle 15.) 97 Patrese 16.) 65 Nannini (+1) 16.) 83 Brundle 17.) 63 Angelis (+1) 83 Herbert 18.) 59 Warwick 18.) 75 Fisichella 19.) 60 Panis Numbers in brackets represent the additional points IF the races before 1991 had awarded 10 points for a win instead of 9. Only drivers with at least 50 points in either era are shown. An additional 45 drivers scored points during Senna's career, and another 39 during Schumacher's. [b]Podium Finishes[/b] AS' Career MS' Career 1st 2nd 3rd Total 1st 2nd 3rd Total ===================================================================== 1.) Prost 41 29 18 88 1.) Schumacher 54 29 15 98 (60,9%) 2.) Senna 41 23 16 80 (49,7%) 2.) Häkkinen 19 13 14 46 3.) Mansell 30 17 8 55 Coulthard 9 21 16 46 4.) Piquet 13 13 11 37 4.) Hill 20 15 5 40 5.) Berger 8 13 13 34 5.) Alesi 1 14 14 29 6.) Patrese 4 13 9 26 6.) Berger 5 7 12 24 7.) Schumacher 5 8 7 20 Barrichello 1 11 12 24 8.) Alboreto 3 8 8 19 8.) Villeneuve 11 5 7 23 9.) Boutsen 3 2 9 14 9.) Irvine 2 5 14 21 10.) Johansson - 4 8 12 10.) Senna 10 6 3 19 11.) Hill 3 5 3 11 11.) Mansell 12 4 - 16 12.) Alesi - 3 8 11 12.) Prost 7 4 3 14 13.) Lauda 5 4 - 9 13.) Frentzen 2 3 9 14 14.) Nannini 1 2 6 9 14.) Patrese 2 7 4 13 15.) Rosberg 3 4 1 8 15.) RSchumacher 3 2 7 12 16.) de Angelis 1 1 4 6 16.) Fisichella - 5 4 9 17.) Brundle - 1 5 6 17.) Brundle - 2 7 9 18.) Laffite - 2 3 5 18.) Herbert 2 1 3 6 19.) Warwick - 2 2 4 19.) Panis 1 3 1 5 20.) Capelli - 2 1 3 20.) Montoya 1 4 - 5 21.) Arnoux - 1 2 3 21.) Blundell - - 3 3 Tambay - 1 2 3 22.) Verstappen - - 2 2 23.) Modena - 1 1 2 23.) Larini - 1 - 1 24.) Larini - 1 - 1 24.) MiAndretti - - 1 1 Moreno - 1 - 1 Bernard - - 1 1 26.) Blundell - - 2 2 Heidfeld - - 1 1 Cheever - - 2 2 Morbidelli - - 1 1 de Cesaris - - 2 2 Piquet - - 1 1 Fabi - - 2 2 Wurz - - 1 1 Häkkinen - - 2 2 Raikkonen - - 1 1 31.) MiAndretti - - 1 1 Barrichello - - 1 1 Gugelmin - - 1 1 Lehto - - 1 1 Streiff - - 1 1 Suzuki - - 1 1 [*][b]Compared to Team-Mates[/b] ====================== Season Team Drivers 1st 2nd 3rd Pts PP FL ========================================================= 1984 Toleman Senna - 1 3 13 0 1 Cecotto (10) - - - 0 0 0 Johansson (2) - - - 0 0 0 1985 Lotus Senna 2 2 2 38 7 3 de Angelis (16) 1 - 2 33 1 0 1986 Lotus Senna 2 4 2 55 8 0 Dumfries (16) - - - 3 0 0 1987 Lotus Senna 2 4 2 57 1 3 Nakajima (16) - - - 7 0 0 1988 McLaren Senna 8 3 - 94 13 3 Prost (16) 7 7 - 105 2 7 1989 McLaren Senna 6 1 - 60 13 3 Prost (16) 4 6 1 81 2 5 1990 McLaren Senna 6 2 3 78 10 2 Berger (16) - 2 5 43 2 3 1991 McLaren Senna 6 3 2 96 8 2 Berger (16) 1 3 2 43 2 2 1992 McLaren Senna 3 1 3 50 1 1 Berger (16) 2 2 1 49 0 2 1993 McLaren Senna 5 2 - 73 1 1 Andretti (13) - - 1 7 0 0 Häkkinen (3) - - 1 4 0 0 1994 Williams Senna - - - 0 3 0 Hill (3) - 1 - 7 0 1 --------------------------------------- Senna 41 23 17 614 65 19 Team-mates 15 21 13 382 9 20 Season Team Drivers 1st 2nd 3rd Pts PP FL ========================================================= 1991 Jordan Schumacher - - - 0 0 0 de Cesaris (1) - - - 0 0 0 Benetton Schumacher - - - 4 0 0 Piquet (5) - - - 4.5 0 0 1992 Benetton Schumacher 1 3 4 53 0 2 Brundle (16) - 1 4 38 0 0 1993 Benetton Schumacher 1 5 3 52 0 5 Patrese (16) - 1 1 20 0 0 1994 Benetton Schumacher 8 2 - 92 6 9 Verstappen (8) - - 2 8 0 0 Lehto (4) - - - 1 0 0 Herbert (2) - - - 0 0 0 1995 Benetton Schumacher 9 1 1 102 4 8 Herbert (17) 2 1 1 45 0 0 1996 Ferrari Schumacher 3 3 2 59 4 2 Irvine (16) - - 1 11 0 0 1997 Ferrari Schumacher 5 3 - (78) 3 2 Irvine (17) - 1 4 24 0 0 1998 Ferrari Schumacher 6 2 3 86 3 6 Irvine (16) - 3 5 48 0 0 1999 Ferrari Schumacher 2 3 1 44 3 5 Irvine (9) 2 1 2 40 0 1 2000 Ferrari Schumacher 9 2 1 108 9 2 Barrichello (17) 1 4 4 62 1 3 2001 Ferrari Schumacher 9 5 - 123 11 3 Barrichello (17) - 5 4 56 0 0 2002 Ferrari Schumacher 1 - - 10 0 0 Barrichello (1) - - - 0 1 0 --------------------------------------- Schumacher 54 29 15 811 43 44 Team-mates 5 17 28 357,5 2 4 Brian Lawrence (slightly revised by Holiday) Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK [email]Brian_W_Lawrence@msn.com[/email] [/list=I]
Clear case.
Who cares! Read what Ricardo wrote above:
I can come up with ONE driver in F1 history what is allowed to carry that name besides his real name. The name of this "driver" is Michael Schumacher.
