For my second post I opted to go with the Formula 1 (F1) greatest of all-time (GOAT) debate. I do not factor in race win totals because the number of races has increased in each era thereby preventing apples to apples comparisons. My criteria highly values championships, longevity, ability to succeed in different circumstances, and competition. As far as skills go drivers at this level have no meaningful weaknesses.

1) Lewis Hamilton: Hamilton is tied for the most championships and deserves to have the record outright. He has been teammates with three world driver champions (WDC): Fernando Alonso, Jensen Button, and Nico Rosberg. Hamilton beat them all. His prime was in a strong era that also included Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen as headliners. Hamilton dominated at Mercedes in a way not seen since Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, but he also won a WDC at McLaren in 2008. His championship contention window, thus far, is well over a decade (2007-2021).
Why he is the greatest: He has the most championships, dominated for a long time, defeated three WDC teammates, all in a very competitive era.
Why he is not the greatest: He got the better of Button and Rosberg overall, but he had seasons where he was beaten by both as well as by George Russell. While he outperformed Alonso, considering Hamilton was a rookie and Alonso the reigning champ, ultimately, they were tied in the standings. That’s four teammates who have beaten or tied Hamilton over a season.

2) Michael Schumacher: Schumacher also is tied to for the most championships and was a championship contender for over a decade (1994-2006). He took a good, but not great, Benetton team to back-to-back championships and then left for a mid-field Ferrari team. I am not aware of any other driver who voluntarily left a championship team for an average team. This was a big challenge, and Schumacher went from champ to a distant third in 1996. He had Ferrari contending by 1997 and won the first of five straight titles in 2000. In 2006 he came close but finished second before retiring. He returned later with Mercedes but was a shell of himself.

However, Schumacher did all this against deliberately weak teammates. His era was not that strong either. His biggest competition were Mika Hakkinen, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, and Juan Pablo Montoya. This is not comparable to what others faced.
Why he is the greatest: He took on the Ferrari challenge instead of taking the easy route and staying with Benetton or going to the best team (Williams). The key people who followed him to Ferrari is a testament to his leadership ability. He helped build Ferrari into a juggernaut. If you are building a race team from scratch Schumacher may be the choice since he was a total package.
Why he is not the greatest: He dominated but ensured he had no competition within his team. That meant when Ferrari had the dominant car, he was guaranteed the championship. He briefly paired as a rookie with Nelson Piquet in Piquet’s final season and then faced no WDC teammate, although Massa came close to being WDC in 2008. His intra team advantage was accentuated but a relatively weak era. If Senna lived or if Alonso was a few years younger it would be a different story, but we must examine the record as is.

3) Ayrton Senna: Senna is perhaps the most revered F1 driver and considered by many to be the fastest as well. His rivalry with Alain Prost is legendary. Senna won three championships and earned a reputation as the king of Monaco before his career and life tragically were cut short.

The biggest feather in Senna’s cap is that he was teammates with Alain Prost, himself a GOAT contender, while both were in their primes. While the competition was close, and both won a championship in their two years together it was Senna who usually was ahead of Prost when both cars finished the race. While Senna had several other big-name teammates: Michael Andretti, Mika Hakkinen, and Damon Hill he was paired with Hakkinen and Hill only briefly and Andretti flopped in F1. Gerhard Berger, a quintessential #2 for a top team, was his most important teammate after Prost.

Senna was in a tough era featuring Prost, Mansell, Piquet overlapping primes with Senna. Lauda and M. Schumacher also raced in the same era, although their primes did not overlap with Senna’s.
Why he is the greatest: Senna was the premier driver in the era with the most elite talent. He faced another GOAT contender in the same machinery, both in their primes, Prost who was fresh off beating Lauda–and Senna came out on top.
Why he is not the greatest: Senna’s GOAT case is hurt by his lack of longevity. This is not his fault, but we cannot give Senna credit for “what ifs.” This is a shame, both due to the human tragedy, and the sports tragedy. If Senna lives, he likely wins the WDC in 95’, 96’, and 97’ and we see several years of a great rivalry between Senna and Schumacher. Maybe Schumacher goes to McLaren instead of Ferrari in this scenario.

If the question is “best” instead of “greatest” Senna may be my pick.

4) Alain Prost: Senna is more remembered, but it was Prost who won more championships and races. Only Hamilton, Schumacher, and Fangio won more championships than Prost’s 4. Prost did this while contending for titles from 1981-1993. Prost was known for his guile and finding a way to win at the lowest possible speed (which helped preserve his equipment and keep him from falling out of races). Prost raced in the same era as Senna, but Prost faced greater internal competition. He was teammates with Senna, Lauda, Mansell, Hill, and Rosberg—five WDC, and beat them all except for Senna.

He did better against Senna than people think. Both won a championship as teammates. Prost outscored Senna (105-94) over the course of 1988, but Senna won the title under a points system which only counted the top 11 results of the 16 races. However, as noted previously when both finished the race Senna usually was ahead. Prost was a rare driver to retire as the reigning champion.
Why he is the greatest: The case for Prost is that no one beat as many great drivers in the same equipment as Prost did.
Why he is not the greatest: He was outraced by another driver. Sure, that driver was Senna and there is no shame in that, but if you are the greatest ever you should beat all your teammates.

5) Juan Manuel Fangio: Fangio won 47% of his races, five championships in seven full seasons and was runner up in the other two. No driver dominated as much.
Why he is the greatest: The above.
Why he is not the greatest: He lacked longevity, although F1 did not exist until he was 39. F1 was not the F1 of today back in the 50s either—Fangio never ran more than 8 races in a season and ran as few as 6 in “full” seasons.

Honorable mentions (no order): Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen.

What do you think? What do you agree or disagree with? Who is your GOAT and your top 5?