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I am from Montreal and we have here a newspaper called LA PRESS.
It is a french newspaper,very fine one,something like the New York Times.

In the Friday printing,they interviewed Jacques Laffite and asked him who he thought was the 10 greatest F1 drivers of all time.(from the no 1 to the 10 th best)

Jacques Laffite has raced in 176 F1 GPS in his career and he won 6 times.
Today he is a F1 commentator on France's TV station TF1...

The article was written in French,so I will do my best to tranlate it in english ...

-JACQUES LAFFITTE'S 10 GREATEST F1 DRIVERS --IN ORDER 1 to 10 -


No 1 : Micheal Schumacher (world champion 94,95,00,01,02,03,04 )

''He is the most successful driver in history,for me that is a sign.We can all argue that the eras and the cars have changed,but what he has accomplished is fabulous.His will and motivation is extraordinary.Schumacher is a real leader.He is a driver who is physically very strong,smart,hard on the race track,sometimes incorrect,but all of that is the essence of a great racing driver.''


No 2 : Ayrton Senna ( world champion 1988,1990,1991 )

''He had an incredible carisma,an aura throughout the world.He became a myth after is tragic death in 1994 at Imola.He was an intelligent driver,capable of doing the impossible on a single qualifying lap.Senna would analyze everything.He was a hard worker,but sometimes he was very volatile.I would of love seing him mesure up to Michael Schumacher.''


No 3 :Juan Manuel Fangio ( world champion 1951,1954,1955,1956,1957 )

''Grand Prix's were very difficult when he was driving and he survived all the obsticals.Fangio was the best of his era and he remains an icon in the racing word.He is still regarded as one of the greatest by all generations.
When I was young,we would talk about Fangio,but he wasn't an inspiration for me.But I have alot of respect for what he has accomplished.''

No 4 : Alain Prost (world champion 1985,1986,1989,1993 )

''One of his talents was to rise at the top of the french-racing talent pool,like Didier Pironi,Rene Arnoux and myself Jacques Laffite.He raced against alot of good drivers.In the mix of talent that he was facing,it was Prost who extracted the most of any given situation,with his science and hard work.He wasn't called le ''Prof'' for nothing.He was meticulous and excelled in both car set-up and race pace.


No 5 : Jim Clark (world champion 1963,1965 )

''He is somebody in which a tried to emulate througout my entire career.
I saw him race at Rheims when I was a rookie.He was supremely gifted with a beautiful racing style,very flued.He died idiotically in a F2 race at Hockenheim.He left us too soon and did not show us his real potential.''


No 6 : Jackie Stewart ( world champion 1969,1971,1973 )

''He is the first world champion of sports modern era,when we had real championships,with teams who were more professional.If F1 is more professional today,it is becuase of Jackie Stewart.He was the first driver to be phisically prepared and the first to give technical feed-back.He started that transformation in a difficult era.He was a great talent on the race track.He is an example for all drivers.''


No 7 : Niki Lauda ( world champion 1975,1977,1984 )

''Lauda is a survivor,an incredible guy!He showed courage that was unseen : He had a terrible accident and came back to competition.He then retired from the sport and after two years he came back again!
He was a very hard worker,with a methodic approach to racing.It is him who in a way mentored Alain Prost,he was a very good confidant to Alain.''


No 8 : Jochen Rindt (world champion 1970 )

''It is a personnal choice.Rindt was very fast during a race,at extremely high speeds.He was one of the last drivers that came from the Stewart Era.Would he of have the same amount of success in today's F1?I don't know.He is the only driver in history to be crowned champion (a titre posthume ??? -I don't know what that means,sorry. ).When he died during the practice of the Italian GP in 1970,my heart was broken.All my career I wore a green helmet,like Jim Clark's and Rindt's,with Winfield patches that would remind me of the Scottish helmet of Jackie Stewart.''


No 9 : Nelson Piquet ( world champion 1981,1983,1987 )

''He's the prototype of the qualities I like most :couragous,funny,full of sence of humour.He clashed with the Prosts and Laudas.He could have been labled as a thug.Under his aloof appearance,he was a very talented driver.''


No 10 : Mika Hakkinen (world champion 1998,1999 )

''He was a victim of a very bad accident in Australia 1994 and he bounced back with will and determination.It is not easy to come back after such an incident.Hakkinen is a role model to his country ;He went from finished to winner and then world champion.He beat Michael Schumacher twice and reguraly too!He is the only one to have accomplished that feat,with the exception of Jacques Villeneuve.''

the last year the best former drivers, former team owners, reporters, and people who understands the sport very well voted in a different way, for example Moss was better than many World Champions!... here is my opinion about that:

1. Juan Manuel Fangio (the old man)
Started driving when he was in his late 30's and, after the war, despite being a lot older than his competitors (Moss, Ascari) went onto win 5 World crowns and 4 times runner-up, He is simply the best ever.

2. Jimmie Clark
He didn't understood the car and was not skilled with internal politics, his only one skill was being simply the best of his time, in a natural way!, nobody taught him, nobody told him a physics based explanation about the behaviour of the car, He simply went onto the track and done things nowadays drivers can dream of.

3. Ayrton Senna Da Silva
He was a legend on track, fast, risk taker, intelligent, brilliant, but what is most, he inspired by using those human qualities now rare: Passion, Faith, Fighting Spirit.

4. Michael Schumacher
Incredibly talented, analytical, practical and fast. He is an inspiration, perharps in a different way than senna, by using methodological practices, leadership techniques, down-to-the-job mentality. He's Conquer everything, even his own ruthless nature.

5. Alain Prost
Hard working, High Confidence, Natural speed, a Winner, a proffessional who stablished proffessionalism. The proffessor.

Hmm, verkar som att många Linnister har mkt gemensamt - whisky, cykling, F1 mm
F1 är klart kul men det som tar ner intrycket lite är all politik och pengar. Se bara vad som hände Wirdheim...nu har han ju inte lyckats fullt ut i Cart heller, men vem vet vad han hade kunnat göra i F1. Kanske ge Kimi en match såsmåningom? Det är ju lite irriterande att finnarna får upp talanger efter talang (trots att jag är halvfinne).