Mercedes Formula One driver Michael Schumacher of Germany stands inside his team garage during the first practice session of the Japanese F1 Grand Prix at the Suzuka circuit Oct. 5, 2012 (Photo : Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon)
The latest Top 100 chart by the University of Sheffield's Methods Institute shows that Juan Manuel Fangio is the greatest all time Formula One driver.
According to News, the recent study conducted by the institution significantly eliminated the effect of a driver's team, focusing on their talent as opposed to success due to a good car. Through this strategy, Alain Prost came second and Fernando Alonso, the two-time F1 champion took the third position.
Many F1 fans will have their money on the five-time Argentinean world champion's stats as the best, but the study dished out to some of the sport's other champions will prove otherwise. On the other hand, with the effect of his team overruled, the seven-time champion Michael Schumacher came in at number nine.
Schumi's many regard as the best F1 driver of all time is affected by his post-retirement performance in 2010-2012. During the period, his Mercedes counterpart Nico Rosberg outperformed him. However, when his pre-retirement career is put into consideration on its own, the seven-time champion ranks third.
With regard to the former Australian champion Niki Lauda missing from the chart, Institute's Andrew Bell commented via the University of Sheffield's Methods Institute official website, "Our statistical model allows us to find a ranking and assess the relative importance of team and driver effects, and there are some surprising results."
Bell said that based on the boffins' evaluation, the relatively infamous Christian Fittipaldi is among the top 20 while the three-time champion Niki Lauda cannot even make to the top 100. He added that had the two raced for different teams, their rankings might have been a bit different.
Bell pointed out that the model used for "Formula for success: Multilevel modeling of Formula One Driver and Constructor performance, 1950-2014," could be more useful even beyond the field of Formula One.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, established that teams are six times more important than drivers with regard to the success of F1. In addition, team effects have increased over time, although they seem to be minimal on the street circuits, where the expertise of the driver plays a critical role.
Here is footage for Fangio in action.
