It's been nearly two years
since I last made entries into this blog, and in that time the list for the Top
100 F1 Drivers has changed. For those of you who weren't there when it started,
this is a statistical analysis of every driver in Formula One, with different
achievements amalgamated into a homemade formula that gives each participant a
score. While the idea of 'Best Driver' is one is down to highly subjective
criteria, I like to think of this formula as a process to find the most successful
drivers of all time. That way, I can hide from the fact that Gilles Villeneuve
appears below Heinz-Harald Frentzen...
The scoring system is as
follows:
Drivers Championship - 120
points
Race Win - 18 points
Second Place Finish - 7 points
Third Place - 5 points
Fourth Place - 2.5 points
Fifth Place - 2 points
Sixth Place - 1.5 points
Seventh Place - 1 point
Eighth Place - 0.5 points
Pole Position - 2 points
Fastest Lap - 1 point
Race Start - -0.1 point
Subtracting a point for race
starts is an attempt to neutralize the effects of what I call "Massive
career syndrome", which is where a driver appears extremely high on the
list purely because they have over 200 races under their belt. It hasn't quite
worked perfectly, but somewhat comedically it does leave Charles Pic at the
bottom of the list (in P757) with -3.9 points...
So with all that said, let's
do the list... again! A lot of these will be pulled from the original article,
but there are already some new entries to the list ahead...
100. Jean-Pierre Jabouille
(France) 49 Starts, 2 Race Wins, 46.1 F-Points
Jean-Pierre Jabouille's
racing career was uncharacteristically slow and steady. He took up the sport
aged 22, made it to Formula 2 aged 27, and didn't secure a permanent F1 seat
until he was 35. He was lucky enough to dabble in a Tyrrell seat for one race
in 1975, but it wasn't until he won the F2 Championship at his seventh attempt
in 1976 that he started to establish himself in Formula One.
Having been brought in to
help develop Renault's new turbo engines, Jabouille began to display impressive
form with a few standout qualifying performances. The car itself was extremely
unreliable based on the untested concept of the vehicle, but Jabouille pulled
out a Fourth place in 1978.
Jabouille booked himself a
place in F1 history in 1979 by leading the Renault to victory at his home Grand
Prix in Dijon. This marked the first occasion on which a turbocharged car had
won a Grand Prix. The car remained very unreliable and rarely finished a race,
but Jabouille was able to achieve his second race victory in 1980 by taking the
chequered flag in Austria ahead of Alan Jones by less than a second.
He had planned a move to
Ligier in 1981, but a broken leg sustained in the Canadian Grand Prix badly
affected his preparations. He missed the first two races and struggled upon his
return. He was dropped and never made a return to Formula One. He now runs his
own team in the FIA Sportscar Championship.
99. Luigi Fagioli (Italy)
7 Starts, 1 Race Win, 50.3 F-Points
With just seven race starts
in World Championship Formula One events, Fagioli has the least Grands Prix
under his belt of anyone on this list. However, this statistic does not do justice
to a driver who played a significant role in the European Championships of the
1930s, racing for early incarnations of Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Mercedes. He
won numerous races, but his attitude proved to be an issue with some of his
teams. He was ordered to move over for his team-mate in the first race of 1934,
and retaliated by parking the car and abandoning the race. He continued to race
up until 1937, when severe rheumatism meant he was no longer in any condition
for the rigours of the sport.
After the war, Fagioli's
health improved and he returned to racing for the inception of the official
Formula One World Championship. Driving for Alfa Romeo, Fagioli scored five
podium finishes in his six races of the 1950 season, finishing a very credible
third in the championship. In 1951, Fagioli only entered one Grand Prix in
which he shared an Alfa Romeo with Juan Manuel Fangio. They were victorious,
and aged 53 he became the oldest driver to win a Formula One grand prix, a
record he unsurprisingly still holds today.
Fagioli died in 1952 after
crashing a touring car at the Monaco circuit.
98. Piero Taruffi (Italy)
18 Starts, 1 Race Win, 55.2 F-Points
Piero Taruffi is perhaps more
notable for his careers in motorcycles and sports cars, but his 18 appearances
in Grand Prix racing gives him a well-earned place on this list. With a long
and impressive motorcycling career in the 1920s and 30s (including the
land-speed record on a motorcycle, which he clinched in 1937), Taruffi entered
numerous events in the 50s with only one eye focussed on F1.
His most successful year in
the sport was undoubtedly 1952 in which Taruffi, driving for Ferrari, scored
his first race win at Switzerland. Another two podiums that season gave Taruffi
a third placed finish in the Championship, which was to be the best classification
he would achieve in F1. Sporadic appearances for Ferrari and Mercedes yielded
him a few more good results, but Taruffi had so many pursuits that he never
gave himself a true chance to establish a proper F1 title challenge.
He retired from motorsport
after the terrible crash in the 1957 Mille Miglia, in which 14 people were
killed. He went on to write an acclaimed book named The Technique of
Motor Racing, and passed away in 1988 aged 81.
97. Innes Ireland (Great
Britain) 50 Starts, 1 Race Win, 55.5 F-Points
Innes Ireland is the first of
20 Brits who have made this list, and perhaps one of the most colourful. Known
for his uncompromising and outlandish nature, especially on track, Ireland was
a popular figure in the paddock. Having taken up motor-racing as a career in
1957, Ireland found himself in a Lotus in 1959, a seat which he held for three
years. During that time Ireland managed four podiums, including his only race
victory at the 1961 USA Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. He admitted his victory was
lucky, and showed his appreciation for the mechanic that fixed his car three
times over the weekend by tipping him £25.
Despite this success, Ireland
found himself out of favour with team boss Colin Chapman, who instead hired Jim
Clark to drive for Lotus. Ireland dabbled with the BRP and BRM teams, but could
only manage a few more points finishes before his career ended in 1967. He
continued to work as a journalist, and was briefly the president of the BRDC
before dying of cancer in 1993, aged 63.
96. Andrea de Cesaris
(Italy) 208 Starts, 0 Race Wins, 57.7 F-Points
Andrea de Cesaris holds
something of a dubious distinction in that he has started the most F1 Grands
Prix without a single race victory. Despite his inability to hit the top step
of the podium, de Cesaris had a long career in the sport, racing for ten
different teams over fifteen seasons.
Andrea came to Formula One
with a bit of a reputation for causing crashes. He had already been involved in
an incident in which Nigel Mansell broke his neck, and in only his second start
in F1 he threw his Alfa Romeo into catch fencing at Watkins Glen. Despite this,
he managed to land a seat in the McLaren team in 1981. This didn't lead to
anything more than a single points finish for de Cesaris, before he moved back
to Alfa Romeo.
The Italian took his first
podium in a breathless Monaco Grand Prix in 1982, in which almost every car ran
out of fuel. Things improved even further for de Cesaris in 1983, when he took
two second-placed finishes in Germany and South Africa to place eighth in the
World Championship. He also came close to taking his maiden win in Spa, leading
for much of the race before a bad pit-stop spoiled his champagne moment.
His moves to Ligier and
Minardi did not give de Cesaris much cause to celebrate, but a season at
Brabham saw him stand on the podium for a fourth time at the 1987 Belgian Grand
Prix. He then spent a couple of years at the promising but ultimately
disappointing Dallara team, before moves to Jordan, Tyrrell and Sauber capped
off his career in F1. His final podium came at Canada in 1989, but the elusive
race victory was never found.
Andrea de Cesaris is now a
currency trader, but makes appearances at Grand Prix Masters events.
95. Luigi Villoresi
(Italy) 31 Starts, 0 Race Wins, 58.9 F-Points
Luigi Villoresi is another
Italian who was racing in Formula before the sport had officially established
its World Championship. Appearing in a Maserati in 1938 and 1939, Villoresi's
career was interrupted by the war before he returned and spent three more years
with the team. He then moved to Ferrari, driving for them between 1949 and
1953. Though he recorded a race win in his first season for Ferrari, the
statistics do not count races pre-1950.
Villoresi managed to score
eight podiums after the establishment of the Championship, coming fifth place
in the standings twice. Despite having a fair amount of success with Ferrari,
he moved to Lancia in 1954 alongside Alberto Ascari, who had beaten him on both
his second placed finishes. Villoresi was unable to replicate the kind of form
he managed in the Ferrari for Lancia, and following Ascari's fatal crash
decided to retire from the sport. Villoresi died in 1997, aged 88.
94. Jo Bonnier (Sweden)
104 Starts, 1 Race Win, 60.1 F-Points
Jo Bonnier was a true
journeyman. Between 1956 and 1971, the Swede raced for eleven different teams
and rarely completed a full season in just one race seat. He began his career
at Maserati, spending three years at the team and suffering a crash that very
nearly killed him at a non-championship race in Imola. He then moved to BRM
where he scored his one and only race victory at the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix. It
was a result that put him second in the Championship, but he failed to
capitalise on the position as the car wasn't strong enough to pursue a title
fight.
Despite his CV listing an
absurd amount of teams, Bonnier specialised in scraping out a few
points-scoring results regardless of what team he drove for. He scored points
for BRM, Porsche, Cooper, Brabham, McLaren and Honda, failing only at his first
team Maserati and his self-run team Ecurie Bonnier. Though he continued to
drive for his team on occasion, Bonnier's time in F1 was clearly up and he
raced his final race at Watkins Glen in 1971.
He was killed at Le Mans in
1972 after a collision with another car.
93. Valtteri Bottas
(Finnish) 47 Starts, 0 Race Wins, 61.8 F-Points
Valtteri Bottas is the most
recent driver to have broken his way into our top 100, continuing the recent
tradition of flying Finns soaring to success in Formula One. He began karting
in 1995, aged 6, and he continued to race throughout his childhood. In 2005 he
finished eighth in the Karting World Cup, and his impressive form propelled him
into the higher echelons of motorsport.
2008 proved to be something
of a breakthrough year for Bottas, as he won his first title: The Formula
Renault Eurocup. A move to Formula Three, and another strong season with two
pole positions, saw Williams snap Bottas up as their test driver, replacing
Nico Hulkenberg. Bottas continued to race in GP3, and won the championship in
2011. He then made the unusual move of choosing to focus solely on test driving
for Williams in 2012, a decision he feels gave him the best preparation for F1 possible.
Bottas lurked in the shadows
of the underwhelming Bruno Senna, taking his car in every practice session that
year. His enthusiasm and willingness to get involved in various departments of
Williams saw him land a race seat for 2013. Unfortunately for the Finn,
Williams suffered one of their worst seasons, and Bottas had little opportunity
to impress. Despite this, he did make waves by qualifying in third for the
Canadian Grand Prix, and scored his first points by finishing eighth late in
the season at the American Grand Prix.
Williams changed engine
supplier to Mercedes for 2014, and Bottas was able to utilise the potential of
his new machinery. Bottas only failed to score points in two races throughout
the season, and outshone his experienced teammate Felipe Massa. The Finn
secured his first podium by finishing third in the Austrian Grand Prix, and
took second place in the following two races. The most impressive of these was
his drive at Silverstone, where he came from 14th on the grid and held off a
charging Lewis Hamilton to keep hold of second place.
Bottas finished a
remarkable fourth-place in the Drivers Championship, and has carried on his
good form in 2015. Rumours of a move to Ferrari don't flatter Bottas, as his
future in F1 seems extremely bright. There is little doubt that he will
continue to climb this list.
92. Romain Grosjean
(French) 74 Starts, 0 Race Wins, 62.1 F-Points
It may be something of a
surprise to see Romain Grosjean in this list, considering his bubbling
reputation as a somewhat clumsy driver. However, this is harshly derisive of a
driver who has, when given the opportunity, demonstrated class and skill.
Grosjean began karting aged 14, and despite starting relatively late was able
to make enough of an impact to move to Formula Renault within three years.
His first season in the Swiss
Formula Renault Championship saw him win all 10 rounds. 10 victories would also
secure him the French Formula Renault Championship in 2005, and Renault
themselves were inspired by Grosjean's progress enough to sign him up to their
Driver Development programme.
Grosjean continued his
penchant for winning lower series by taking titles in the Formula Three Renault
and GP2 Asia championships. He was made Renault F1's test driver in 2008, and
following the Crashgate controversy he replaced Nelson Piquet Jr. for the
second half of the 2009 season in a race seat. It was a tumultuous beginning to
F1 for Grosjean, who struggled to match the form of his teammate Fernando
Alonso and failed to score a point. Despite a difficult period, Grosjean says
he learned a huge amount from Alonso.
Grosjean was replaced by
Vitaly Petrov, and changed to Auto GP for 2010. He marked it down as another
Championship victory, and returned to GP2 in 2011. It was this season which
reignited his F1 career, as he pulled ahead of rivals Jules Bianchi and Giedo
van der Garde to take both the GP2 and GP2 Asia titles. Following an impressive
few years away from F1, Lotus decided it was time for Romain to have a second
crack at the big leagues. He was signed to partner Kimi Raikkonen for 2012.
Lotus enjoyed a successful
year in 2012, and while Grosjean was clearly the support act to a reinvigorated
Kimi Raikkonen, the Frenchman certainly justified the team's faith in his
ability. He scored his first podium (and the first for a Frenchman in nearly 14
years) when he came third in the Bahrain Grand Prix, securing a 2-3 finish for
his team. Just a few races later, he topped this performance in Canada,
overtaking his former team-mate Alonso to finish second.
Despite these impressive
results, Grosjean struggled towards the end of the season. He put himself in an
invidious position after causing a dangerous collision in Spa which resulted in
a one-race ban. From there, he found it difficult to regain the form he had
shown earlier in the season, while his team-mate Raikkonen drove his Lotus to
their first race victory as a new outfit.
Nevertheless, Grosjean was
retained for 2013 and managed to pull himself out of the slump. Six podium
finishes meant he was a lot closer to Raikkonen in terms of performance.
Grosjean took seventh in the Championship (his best finish so far) and was
entrusted to lead the team into 2014 alongside new team-mate Pastor Maldonado.
However, Lotus struggled to deal with new specifications and both drivers found
it difficult to score points. Grosjean's misery was compounded by a slightly
embarrassing incident in which he crashed behind the safety car in Hungary.
Lotus' turbulent season
continues into 2015, but Grosjean has been able to score a handful of points
this year, and is comfortably outperforming Maldonado. With the right kit, it
seems Grosjean can show real talent and potential.
91. 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.
Numbers 90-81 follow tomorrow!
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