Gridcrasher ranks the best drivers of the year
How did F1’s best compare with the top pilots from other series? Here’s the second part of our end-of-year rankings (see part 1 here)…
5. Felipe Massa (F1)
Arguably the most improved driver of the year, the likeable Brazilian got so close to winning his first F1 drivers’ title - had he won, it would not have been undeserved. He also made the 2007 world champ - his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen - look ordinary.
4. Carl Edwards (Nascar)
Nascar’s favourite back-flipper had a wonderful year and only just missed out on winning the Sprint Cup. His aggressive racing style and bullish persona mark him out as one of the most exciting drivers to watch. Who else but Edwards would attempt this? Yeah, he’s a wild one. But he can drive.
3. Lewis Hamilton (F1)
None of us can imagine how much pressure Lewis was under in the final few weeks of the season. He must have known that the majority of fans - not to mention the other drivers - wanted him to f**k up again. But he didn’t. For that alone, he deserves maximum respect. If a racing driver is defined by his willingness to race, whatever the circumstances, then Lewis was clearly the best racing driver in F1 this year. And he’ll only get better.
2. Jimmie Johnson (Nascar)
With victory in this season’s Sprint Cup, JJ became only the second man (after Cale Yarborough) to win three straight championships. He has finished first or second in the standings in five of his seven years in Nascar, and although he benefits from racing for Rick Hendrick, there can be no disputing his hall-of-fame quality, nor the fact that he is now at his peak.
1. Sebastien Loeb (World Rally)
Five world titles in a row. Enough said. The mercurial Frenchman also proved that he could cut it in F1. No one can dispute his status as the best driver in the world.
So, F1 didn’t provide the best driver of 2008, or even the second-best. Do you agree with my list? Leave a comment to let me know…
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11 responses so far
1 A Ludlow // Dec 2, 2008 at 11:41 am
Well, I can’t judge the other motoring categories, but am just happy that you have acknowledged, rightly, that Lewis is the best F1 driver. So many stupid publications/polls haven’t and are clearly wrong. Thanks for having common sense and not letting other “factors” get in the way of the decision.
2 Mark Stevenson // Dec 2, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Being from North America and being exposed to NASCAR a lot more than you Brits I will say one thing - NASCAR is kind of a joke circus when it comes to racing.
There are so many other series that you could have picked from, Ollie. LeMans, V8 Supercars, DTM, BTCC, WTCC…there are so many good drivers in those ranks.
NASCAR will always be a ‘good old boy’ sport with a ‘good old boy’ attitude. Let’s ditch all the NASCAR drivers and try this again, Oliver.
3 Ollie Irish // Dec 2, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Mark, I hear you, but I maintain that Nascar is an incredibly tough series to compete in, least of all win - just look at how JP Montoya has fared, for example. Busch, Edwards and Johnson are all terrific drivers.
4 Mark Stevenson // Dec 2, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Ollie — NASCAR is incredibly tough because of how it is structured. In Formula 1 teams are limited to two cars. But, in NASCAR you can have an infinite number of cars. The more cars you have the more successful your drivers will be. NASCAR is a money game.
Let’s tally up some numbers…
Busch’s team, Joe Gibbs Racing, has 3 cars in Sprint Cup and 2 cars in the Nationwide Series. Roush Fenway Racing, who employs Carl Edwards, has 5(!) cars in Sprint Cup, 5(!) cars in Nationwide Series, 3 cars in Craftsman Truck (yes, I am calling them cars), and 1 car in ARCA. Jimmie Johnson’s team, Hendrick Motorsports, employs 4 of the biggest names in the sport, all in Sprint Cup.
The same 16 people are going to make it into the top 10 for the Chase every year. They are all part of big teams with massive resources. Privateers in NASCAR don’t have a chance.
I am not diminishing the fact that they are great drivers and would more than likely be much, much better than I ever could be. But, the fact is there are other drivers in other series that are more deserving.
5 Ollie Irish // Dec 2, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Re: other series, I just don’t see any great drivers in DTM or BTCC - good ones, for sure, but if they were great they wouldn’t be in those series. All LeMans drivers would give a right arm for an F1 drive, for example. Some of them have driven in F1, but mostly without success.
6 Mark Stevenson // Dec 2, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Same could be said with Scott Speed, Jacques Villeneuve, and Juan Pablo Montoya over in NASCAR. None of them had a lot of success in F1 (except for Jacques winning a World Championship before moving to BAR).
What about drivers that race currently in multiple disciplines and are successful in both? I don’t see any of those touched here (Ron Fellows comes to mind).
7 jelena // Dec 2, 2008 at 10:55 pm
loeb first ???? wtf ????
8 Templar // Dec 3, 2008 at 7:35 am
Yes Jelena, Loeb has to be first.
Have you ever seen a F1 driver in a rally car?
Loeb is quite amazing. The guy has car control and raw speed in his DNA. and 5 championships… its astonishing.
9 suga free // Dec 3, 2008 at 9:47 am
jelena=sick psycho ham’s supporter!
10 Ollie Irish // Dec 3, 2008 at 10:58 am
Mark - I’d argue that Montoya was way more successful in F1 than Nascar. And I rate Speed quite highly, although he was never given a proper chance in F1.
I admit to not knowing enough about Fellows to include him. My bad.
11 GKN // Dec 18, 2008 at 11:25 am
Difficult to compare drivers from diffrent series.
I would prefer first of all a number of criterias and if there are measures on them, the better.
Adding each total would tell who is overall the best.
This system is normally used when providing a benchmark for a car.