Top 100 F1 Drivers: 90-81

Part two of the 'Top 100 F1 Drivers' list includes our first current F1 driver, our first multiple-race winner, a host of tragedies and the last Frenchman to have won a Grand Prix...

90. Jean Behra (France) 53 Starts, 0 Race Wins, 65.2 F-Points

Short and stocky, French driver Jean Behra was a consistently strong figure in F1 during the 1950s. Having begun his career in motorcycle racing before the second world war, Behra moved to car racing in 1952, making his Formula One debut in that year's Swiss Grand Prix and finishing on the podium. Behra spent his first three years in a Gordini, but the car was unreliable and often didn't make it to the finish line. Despite this, Behra pulled off a handful of victories in non-championship events, including a triumph over the much fancied Ferraris in the 1952 Grand Prix of Reims.

Behra enjoyed his most competitive seasons as part of the Maserati line-up between 1955 and 1958. In this time, he recorded seven podium finishes and a fourth-place finish in the 1956 Championship. However, the Frenchman never managed to win an official Formula One Grand Prix, hiding behind the limelight of his teammates Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio. Regardless, Behra drew much respect from the paddock for his reputation as a driver with great flair and ability.

He moved to Porsche, and then Ferrari. Midway through the 1959 season, he suffered a crash in a sports car race before the German Grand Prix. He was thrown from the car and died of his injuries aged 38. His funeral drew 3000 mourners in his hometown of Nice.

89. Luigi Musso (Italy) 24 Starts, 1 Race Win, 65.6 F-Points

Another significant figure of the 1950s, Luigi Musso's career was an explosive one cut tragically short. His first obstacle was convincing his two older brothers, both racers, that he was a capable enough racer to be trusted with one of their cars. Despite crashing his own 750cc Giannini car in a 1950 Tour of Italy event, his older sibling allowed him to drive a Stranguellini in 1952, which led to him being noticed by the Maserati team.

Though his initial chances were few and far between, Musso began scoring podiums and was eventually noticed by Ferrari, who made him part of their 1956 line-up. In his first race for Scuderia, Musso was a joint-winner alongside Juan Fangio at the Argentinean Grand Prix. He may have added to that with another victory at the Italian Grand Prix, a race notable for an incident in which Fangio's car broke down, and Musso refused to hand his Ferrari over to his Argentine team-mate. Leading the race, his car broke down with just a few laps to go. The following season he recorded two podiums to come third in the Championship.

The 1958 season got off to a good start for Musso, as he scored two second-place finishes in the first two races. He sat third in the standings and looked to be in the title fight, before a fatal accident at the French Grand Prix killed Luigi Musso. He was 33.

88. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) 109 Starts, 1 Race Win, 66.6 F-Points

Heikki Kovalainen is the first of ten drivers still racing (as of the end of last season) to have made this list, although his time in the sport appears to be up. He began in karting before progressing to Formula Renault and Formula Three. His only lower-formula Championship came in the World Series by Nissan, which Kovalainen comfortably won in 2004. Such was his impressive form that Renault appointed the Finn as their main test-driver for 2005 and 2006, before he replaced Fernando Alonso in the team for 2007.

Kovalainen's first season in F1 showed him to be a model of consistency. He finished every race apart from the final Grand Prix at Brazil, with the standout highlight being his impressive second-placed finish at a soaked Fuji speedway. He finished nine points ahead of his far more experienced team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella, and was snapped up by McLaren for the 2008 season as a teammate for Lewis Hamilton.

Kovalainen showed decent form for the British outfit, but largely played second-fiddle to Hamilton's championship fight. The Finn escaped a nasty accident at the Spanish Grand Prix after a wheel-rim failure caused him to spear off the track at high-speed. Despite this, he went on to pick up his first race victory, benefitting from Felipe Massa's engine failure at the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix to become the 100th different winner of a Formula One race.

While 2008 was a year with some promise for Heikki, 2009 was a major disappointment. The McLaren car was massively off the pace, but whereas Lewis Hamilton capitalised on opportunities to record race wins that season, Kovalainen was unable to make the podium throughout the year. With the arrival of World Champion Jenson Button at the team, Kovalainen was pushed out to the newly-established Lotus team. The Finn spent three years at the outfit, but not enough progress was made for the backmarkers to achieve a points-scoring position in this time. With the majority of the seats for 2013 occupied, Kovalainen is running out of time to find his place on the grid.

87. Derek Warwick (Great Britain) 146 Starts, 0 Race Wins, 72.4 F-Points

Derek Warwick's career was perhaps a story of unfulfilled potential. Having won the Superstox English Championship aged 16, and the World Championship two years later, Warwick began attracting people's attentions. His reputation as a future talent was confirmed when he became British Formula Three champion in 1978.

His first season in Formula One was with the struggling Toleman team in 1981. He could only qualify for one race in his first season, with little improvement in his fortunes the following year. However, 1983 ended with a significant change of fortunes as Warwick drove to four point-scoring finishes in the final four races of the season.

He made what appeared to be a dream move to Renault for 1984, replacing Alain Prost. In his first race at Brazil, Warwick became embroiled in a battle for victory against Alain Prost, and was leading before a suspension failure ended his race on the 51st lap. He nevertheless went on to achieve four podium finishes that season, including a second-place in his home race at Brands Hatch, but unreliability severely affected his results.

Warwick was offered a place in the Williams team in 1985, but turned this down. Nigel Mansell was eventually signed, and went on to win 13 races in the following three seasons. Warwick's decision was made all the worse by Renault's dwindling results, which led to the team pulling out of the sport at the end of the 1985 season. Warwick almost found a place in the Lotus outfit for 1986, but Ayrton Senna told the team he would not accept the Brit as a team-mate. He instead replaced Elio de Angelis at Brabham after the Italian was killed in a testing accident, before spending three years at the Arrows team.

Warwick's performances for Arrows were impressive, as he was a regular points-scorer in an average car. In 1989, Warwick even began to look like a potential race-winner again, but his best chance of that elusive maiden victory was cruelly snatched away from him. Warwick was leading ahead of Ayrton Senna at the Canadian Grand Prix, when an engine failure on lap 40 meant his chances had again been thwarted by mechanical issues.

His F1 career ended after stints at Lotus and Footwork. Warwick then competed in BTCC for a few seasons, before becoming an F1 blogger.

86. Eddie Cheever (USA) 132 Starts, 0 Race Wins, 74.8 F-Points

A true motorsport all-rounder, Eddie Cheever has had successes in both CART and the Indy Racing League, and was the 1998 winner of the Indy 500 as both a driver and a team-owner. However, the beginning of his career was largely devoted to making it in Formula One, as Cheever grew up in Italy and began entering European karting tournaments. His progression took him through Formula Three and Formula Two, before he secured his first permanent drive in F1 for the 1980 season, racing for the Osella team.

The Osella was largely uncompetitive, and Cheever moved to Tyrrell in 1981. He recorded a few point-scoring finishes before accepting an offer from Ligier in 1982. This proved to be more successful, as Cheever stood on the podium three times that season, including a second-place finish at the Detroit Grand Prix after an amazing battle between him and several other cars.

In search of consistent results, Cheever again moved at the end of the 1982 season, this time heading for the reputable Renault team. Four podium finishes and an eventual sixth-place in the Championship made this Cheever's most successful season in Formula One, albeit he was still unable to find a race win. Once more, he moved teams at the end of the season but his transfer to Alfa Romeo proved to be a step backwards. The car was uncompetitive, and a move to Lola in 1986 did little to make the outlook brighter for the American.

A move to Arrows in 1987 gave Cheever a few more career highlights before his time in Formula One was up. A third-place finish at the 1988 Italian Grand Prix gave Arrows their first podium in seven years, and was nearly declared a race victory after a controversy regarding the fuel tanks of the Ferraris. He then scored another befitting podium at the 1989 USA Grand Prix, surviving a brake failure to battle away to another third-place.

Cheever is now a commentator on ABC for the Indy 500.

85. Carlos Pace (Brazil) 71 Starts, 1 Race Win, 74.9 F-Points

Carlos Pace's career is regretfully another story of a life lost at a tragically young age. Pace was a good friend of the Fittipaldi brothers during his schooldays, and followed in their footsteps to compete in motor-racing. Aged 26, he moved to British Formula Three where he was the Champion of his series. The following year he competed in Formula Two, although this was a time when Pace's career nearly capitulated with consistent poor results all season.

Nevertheless, Frank Williams offered Pace a seat at March for the 1972 season. Pace only scored points twice in his debut year, but a move to Surtees at the end of this campaign proved to be a little more successful. He achieved his first podium finish in the 1973 Austrian Grand Prix, beating Carlos Reutemann to third place.

During the 1974 season, Pace had a falling-out with team-boss John Surtees and moved to Brabham. Pace was to spend the rest of his career at Bernie Ecclestone's team, as he finished off 1974 with a second-place finish at the USA Grand Prix.

1975 saw Pace's only victory in Formula One, which came at his home Grand Prix in Brazil. He and his old schoolmate Emerson Fittipaldi stood on the top two steps of the podium, in what was to be the highlight of Pace's short career. Another couple of podiums meant Pace finished sixth in the 1975 Championship, but the Brabham car declined in the following season and Pace could only achieve results as high as fourth in the now Alfa-Romeo powered vehicle.

1977 got off to a promising start for Pace. The first Grand Prix of the season saw Pace finish second, and this was followed by the home Grand Prix in which the Brazilian managed to lead briefly before a collision with James Hunt ended his race. Following the tragic race in South Africa, more grief struck the world of Formula One as Carlos Pace was killed in a light aircraft accident, aged just 32. Following his death, Interlagos was renamed Autódromo José Carlos Pace as a tribute.  

84. Lorenzo Bandini (Italy) 42 Starts, 1 Race Win, 76.3 F-Points

It is extremely telling of the nature of Formula One back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, that we are talking about another career cut tragically short. Lorenzo Bandini was one of the key figures for the Ferrari team back in the 1960s, having begun his racing career on motorcycles before taking up car racing in 1957. Though he continued to race bikes for a short while longer, an opportunity in Formula Junior focussed Bandini's career towards four wheels.

Having placed fourth in the Formula Junior World Championship in 1960, Bandini was given limited opportunities in the Cooper during 1961. Ferrari decided to hire Bandini for a few races in 1962, and in his debut for the team the Italian came third in the Monaco Grand Prix. A brief stint in a BRM in 1963 ended when he was handed a more permanent role in the Ferrari outfit, having by far his most successful season the following year. Bandini managed four podiums in 1964, including his first and only race win at the Austrian Grand Prix where he took the chequered flag by just six seconds.

Bandini finished fourth in the Championship that year, and remained a part of the Ferrari team for the next two seasons. During this time he stood on the podium a further three times, including two second-place finishes at Monaco. Mechanical problems prevented the Italian from scoring any more race victories, which became all-important during the 1966 season after John Surtees left the team, leaving Bandini as the number-one driver for Scuderia.

The Monaco Grand Prix, home to so many near-triumphs for Bandini, was to be the venue on which the Italian raced for the final time. Chasing Denny Hulme for the lead, Bandini crashed out of the race and became trapped underneath the burning wreckage of the accident. He died of his injuries three days later, aged 31. The Lorenzo Bandini trophy, named in his honour, recognises outstanding figures in the world of motorsport, and is still running to this day.

83. Alessandro Nannini (Italy) 76 Starts, 1 Race Win, 78.4 F-Points

Alessandro Nannini managed to have a fairly impressive impact on the world of Formula One in his five-season long career in the sport. The younger brother of a female rock singer, Nannini began rallying in the 1970s before a move to Formula Two in 1982. He raced for the Minardi team and despite the car's lack of pace, Nannini caught the attention of spectators with a string of impressive performances. He moved to the World Sportscar Championship, but was offered a drive in Minardi's Formula One team for 1985. He accepted, but was denied a superlicence and could not take his seat.

Nannini did eventually make his F1 debut in 1986, but the Minardi he drovefailed to finish every race but one during the season. There was little improvement for 1987, as Nannini could only drag the car to another three race finishes before an offer from Benetton relieved the Italian's frustrations. He was signed as a teammate to Thierry Boutsen for the 1988 season, and provided a good match for the reputable Belgian.

Nannini scored his first podium finish at the 1988 British Grand Prix, before another third-place at Spain later in the year. 1989 was an even greater season for Nannini, as he recorded another four podium finishes, including his first race win at the Japanese Grand Prix. The circumstances were controversial, as this was the event at which the famous collision between Prost and Senna occured. Senna recovered from the accident to overtake Nannini and finish first, but was dubiously disqualified for missing a chicane. This gave Nannini a rather odd maiden victory. The Italian finished sixth in the 1989 Drivers Championship.

1990 would prove to be Nannini's final season in Formula One, but it was one in which the Italian's results stayed positive. He scored three more podium finishes in the Benetton and kept himself very close to the performances of his more illustrious teammate Nelson Piquet. He almost scored a second race victory in Hungary that season, before being slammed off the track by Ayrton Senna. After finishing third at Spain with two races of the season remaining, he stood seventh in the Championship.

At this point, Nannini's career came to a sudden end. One week after his Spanish success, Nannini was involved in a helicopter crash in which his right arm was severed. Though surgery re-attached his arm, his only had partial use of his right hand and had to end his Formula One career. Miraculously, Nannini still managed to continue racing, enjoying a fruitful couple of years in touring cars and making recent appearances in Formula One Masters events.

82. Wolfgang von Trips (Germany) 27 Starts, 2 Race Wins, 80.8 F-Points

It is hard to write a summation on von Trips' career. He had a difficult relationship with the Ferrari team that would come to define his time in Formula One. He destroyed a 1600cc class model in a trial run in 1957 following a spin in which the German sustained concussion, and generally had a reputation for crashing. Despite this, Ferrari gave von Trips opportunities to make his mark, and he responded with podiums in both the 1957 and 1958 seasons, with the first coming at the team's home race in Italy.

Though he missed out on the majority of the 1959 season, von Trips returned to the team in 1960 and scored points consistently. It was to be the 1961 season that would represent both the highs and lows of von Trips' career, as he stormed into the lead of the title race. His first race win came at Zandvoort, where he led every lap of the race to become the first German driver to take a Grand Prix victory. He followed this up by taking the chequered flag at the British Grand Prix, and two further podiums gave von Trips a four point lead in the title race with just two races remaining.

However, von Trips reputation for accidents was realised in the most grim way imaginable. On what was to be the blackest day in Formula One, the German lost control of his Ferrari and crashed into stands full of spectators. Wolfgang von Trips and fifteen Grand Prix fans died in the incident. Phil Hill went on to win a title that was largely overshadowed by tragedy.

81. Olivier Panis (France) 157 Starts, 1 Race Win, 82.8 F-Points

The last Frenchman to have won a Grand Prix wraps up this section of the list. Olivier Panis began his career in karting before progressing through Elf's numerous junior series and French Formula Three. He then spent two seasons in Formula 3000, winning the Championship with the DAMS Equipe outfit. This secured his move to Formula One as he was signed by the Ligier team for 1994.

Panis stayed largely consistent in his debut season, with one standout performance strongly confirming his potential. He survived first-lap chaos at the German Grand Prix to take a surprise second-place, capping off a very solid year in which the Frenchman only failed to finish once (albeit the car was disqualified from another Grand Prix).

The Ligier team continued to improve for 1995, and with that Panis was able to score points more frequently. He once again showed excellent consistency, and similarly had a standout second-place finish, this time at Australia, to take eighth place in the Championship. Panis had to once more survive a race with a high rate of attrition, and although he came in two laps behind race winner Damon Hill, he did more than enough to take home a hatful of points.

Olivier Panis' true moment in the spotlight came in 1996 at the Monaco Grand Prix. Wet weather made conditions extremely tricky at the tight and unforgiving circuit, but Panis produced one of the greatest race day performances in the history of Formula One. Starting from 14th on the grid, the Frenchman overtook the likes of Martin Brundle, Mika Hakkinen, Johnny Herbert and Eddie Irvine to battle his way into the lead. Though he benefitted from the mechanical issues suffered by front-runners, Panis thoroughly deserved the victory on a day where he shone brightest.

The Ligier had little success that season, despite the victory at Monaco. Panis moved to the Prost team for the 1997 season, and got off to a terrific start for his new employers. Two podiums in the first six races put Panis in third place in the Drivers Championship, before his year was spoiled when he suffered two broken legs after crashing in the Canadian Grand Prix. He was able to return with three races left and finished off the season moderately well, signalling that the injury had not affected his ability.

However, Panis never fully regained form after the crash. The next two seasons at Prost were a struggle, and a move to BAR only improved results slightly. Though Panis was able to score a few points each season, he never stepped on the podium in Formula One again, and a final stint at Toyota was to be his last foray into the sport. Panis announced his retirement in 2004, but continued as a test driver for another season. Though his F1 career is over, Panis is still active in the world of racing, having driven in Le Mans and the GT1 World Championship in recent years.

Numbers 80-71 will be revealed in the next installment...