Formula 1 is the apex of motor racing. It’s where drivers are ruthless and champions duel with death. It’s a high-performance sport that requires technical skills and a deep understanding of track, weather and machine. It’s a sport for the steely-nerved quick men, where only the brave endure.
As a global phenomenon, champion F1 drivers have emerged from all corners of the globe. From one-off wonders like Jody Scheckter of South Africa to record setting racers in the form of Brazil’s Ayrton Senna and Germany’s Michael Schumacher, the sport has bred generations of fearless men who thrive on electrifying speed.
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Now that the dust has settled and a new league of gentlemen have signed up with the likes of McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams, we can focus on a debate that has raged for ages - who’s the GOAT of Formula 1; Senna or Schummi?
Ayrton Senna: Simply Sensational
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Ayrton Senna is one of the most romanticized
figures of Formula One. Aside from his quick times and epic dueling with Alain Prost, Senna is best remembered for his trademark tap-tapping of the accelerator and his awesome ability to push machines beyond the realms of possibility.
He’s an icon whose brilliant career was cruelly cut short on a dismal day in Imola Italy, when he was one of two drivers who lost their lives at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
Senna’s driving style was quick, aggressive and unique. He had the innate ability to gain valuable extra seconds on just about every corner he navigated. His powers of concentration on the track were legendary, while his heel-toe pedal technique gave him the edge.
As an instinctive driver Senna punished his rivals by hitting the throttle for longer and braking a lot later. He was a man who had an uncanny mastery over the machine… and that’s without today’s electronic assists.
Senna is the youngest-ever three-time World Champion and remains one of the best-loved F1 drivers of all-time. If he had not died in that fiery crash 24 years ago, who knows what he could have accomplished… on and off the track!
Michael Schumacher: The F1 Maestro
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Michael Schumacher has the statistics to prove his awesome performance on the track. Over a career that spanned almost 20 years, Schummi racked up a record seven F1 World Championship titles, five of which were back-to-back. His 91 GP wins have elevated him into a league of his own but despite his incredible prowess, Schumacher never quite got the adoration that Ayrton Senna earned with his raw talent and charismatic Latino personality.
Schummi had a love affair with the Canadian and French Grand Prix races, winning seven and eight titles respectively but his record at the German Grand Prix was not as impressive. At the end of his career he bagged four tiles on home turf, a stat he shares with Lewis Hamilton.
Schumacher raced with single-minded determination and - like Senna - was ruthless in his quest for championship glory. He was renowned for reaching incredible speeds by accelerating with his right foot and braking with his left, a style that enabled him to accelerate while braking!
He went into corners quicker, braked later and harder and loved to oversteer. He was the master of wet weather driving and knew instinctively how far he could push the car without losing control. As with Senna, Schummi was a maestro.
With similar driving styles, the two are virtually inseparable as the GOATs of F1… but they competed in very different eras and machines!
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