Is he the greatest ever?

Clark drove during peak of death and danger as well.  
AJ Foyt had a pretty good carreer as well. I appreciate the guys that can drive different Motorsports.  Really shows mastery.  

Foyt is another great example of a winner in different cars.  Indy 500 champion, Daytona 500, and sports cars.  Mario also comes to mind.  

I never heard of him.  It has no interest to me   So it is not the greatest thing .

wpwar11

Mario also comes to mind.  

 

My hero in motor sports is Mike Hailwood.

The great thing about motorsports is that it takes a perfect pairing of car, driver, team and era to endure.

If the SAM crowd shows up in force, imagine.

Best car racing movie?

My short list is Grand Prix, F vs. F and "A man and a woman".

The last, why? Well Anoouk Amie but also the whole Ford program.

Bill

Grand Prix is good.  The documentary Senna is outstanding.  

Like Nigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi, Lewis Hamilton will probably go Indycar racing after leaving F1.

I think Hamilton going to Indycar would be awesome.  I think Mansell held the F1 crown and Indycar crown in back to back years.

Hamilton is certainly a talented driver but I'm not so sure he or most of his current contemporaries would necessarily do as well driving older F1 cars. These current drivers and cars are so micromanaged by massive teams of techno-weenies behind computer terminals, I wonder if the drivers have become redundant. This tech advancement along with extreme race car design standardization and near perfect reliability has also lead to the most boring racing Ive ever tried to watched (so I usually don't...). Excessive downforce leads to dull racing IMO. The only positive in modern F1 racing to me is that it is much safer to drivers and spectators.

Jimmie Clark was a childhood hero of mine as well. Like his F1 contemporaries Moss, Brabham, Hill (G & P), Gurney, McLaren, Stewart, he had the ability to win races despite evolving, imperfect and sometimes crazy dangerous race cars and race courses. Not so sure the modern guys would do any better and thereby qualify as "the greatest".

What John said. And that is why Juan Manuel Fangio has been rated the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time. He had to master unrefined racing circuits and bad road surfaces plus powerful cars on skinny tires with no ground effects, to win as often as he did, to survive as long as he did.

Walk through history. It's frightening how many of the drivers died racing.

Or not in bed, like Mike Hailwood and Graham Hill.

Bill

Hey Fotofrank, I should have included Fangio I my list. I was too young to ever see these guys drive in actual races but was lucky enough to see a few of the lucky ones who survived drive at the Monterey Historics thru the years. Fangio, Phil Hill, Bob Bonderant, Parnelli Jones, Mario, Gurney, Jacky Stewart, Emo Fittipaldi all put on glorious demo race laps in vintage race cars belonging to the rich hedge fund managers and trust fund babies. The most impressive driver to me was Stirling Moss in '86 behind the wheel of the priceless '55 Mercedes 300 SLR Mille Miglia car that I believe he won the original race - he really "drove it like he stole it"!

Some above mentioned Nascars AJ Foyt yes great driver in that discipline but F1 is in a whole different league.

Maybe when Hamilton start to lose his edge a bit then yes,consider Indy Car but not when he's at the top of his game in F1 that would be a shame.

AJ did a lot more than nascar!  
He is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500(which he won four times), the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 

[quote user="keavdog"]

AJ did a lot more than nascar!  
He is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500(which he won four times), the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 

[quote]

Interesting did not realize that.

I think "Greatest of The Hybrid Turbo F1 era" is valid....I think that as a current F1 driver his pacing and tire management skills rate the highest of any current driver.

Without repeating everyone else's points I think it's worth comparing him to his closest comparison, Micheal Schumacher.

1. Most of Schumi's wins were in seasons with 16-18 races (less chances for wins vs Ham)

2. same w pole positions

3. Points given for finishing positions used to be 10-6-5-4-3-2-1 

4. As dominant teams go, Ferrari had 4 years where Micheals only competition was his team mate whereas Ham and Mercedes have only had one year of Nico Rosberg as competition. 

if somehow all the drivers got into a spec car with the same setup I honestly think Hamilton would get beat by both Verstappen and Charles LeClerc...they are driving the wheels off their respective shtboxes (compared to the Mercedes)

I love boring people with my F1 views....thanks for letting me share in your drivel.

Ha.. thanks for the insight.