Top 10 Formula One Drivers of ALL time - according to science

Who’s the greatest F1 driver of all time? (the clue’s in this picture by Lothar Spurzem)

The Top ten Formula One drivers of all time have been revealed thanks to a scientific study based on driver skill and team strengths.

Every generation of F1 fans think the drivers of their era are the most skilled, with endless debate about whether Schumacher would have bettered Fangio, Vettel bettered Jim Clark or even whether Damon Hill was better than Graham Hill.

But now we have, perhaps, a definitive guide to the top F1 drivers of all time thanks to a new scientific study that looked at driver and team strengths through the years, and as a result has come up with what is probably the most impartial listing of top F1 drivers.

The research was run by Dr Andrew Bell at Sheffield Methods Institute, and he declares Juan Manuel Fangio as the world’s greatest ever F1 driver after sifting through reams of data going back more than 60 years.

According to Dr Bell, the driver’s team may account for up to 85 per cent of the performance in a race, with the driver contributing just 15 per cent. But it’s that 15 per cent that makes the difference between winners and losers.

It’s an interesting – and arguably entirely objective – take on the best F1 drivers of all time, and there are many omissions from the top 10 that will have F1 fans horrified (Stirling Moss, Lewis Hamilton and Graham Hill are all also-rans).