Best driver performance over a season of all time?

[JimClarkFan]

The point of the thread is to highlight, in your view, based on opinion hopefully informed by facts, as to who has driven the best season in f1 history given the equipment they had at their disposal.

Specifically I want you to assess the drivers in a specific season in relative terms irrespective of what the history books say, what team they drove for or how competitive their car was.

I realise this is a hard ask, because separation of car from driver and from team is by the nature of f1 very difficult to do.

I also ask for restraint in those situations where you may disagree with others, because I know in those cases the thread will get locked.

Hopefully this is possible.

I will add my contribution after a few responses. Given I am not old enough to remember the per Schumacher era, I am here to learn as much as anything else.

[sennafan24]

Good topic

My F1 knowledge pre 1988 is sketchy at best as I am only 26.

The best I have seen is Ayrton Senna in 1991. For me he used his resources to the very limit that year, and showed speed, consistency and style that no one could match. Senna did not always have the fastest car that year, but when he did he excelled with it, when the Williams was better (and did not break down) Senna was right there to score much needed points behind the Williams. Some say all F1 Champions are worthy but I will say I think some are more worthy than others, none was more worthy than Senna in 1991.

Other Senna fans point to 1993, where most including myself consider him to be "The Best" without the title to reflect it due to the advantage the Williams team had. But for me 1991 was his best, it was the greatest driver I have ever seen in his prime.

Other notable mentions

Senna - 1989 (car issues and bad luck prevented him from being Champion, but his performance was out of this world)

Alonso - 2012

Lewis - 2012

Schumi - 2000

I could also mention Alonso in 2005/2006 as well.

[ForzaFer]

Alonso-both 2011 and 2012
2011 with a car so far away in performance terms to RB and McLaren manges to score a win and a dozen of podiums
2012-no need to explain that

maybe Schumi-2003

[raymondu999]

1996 Schumacher? Or was that 1997?

[SiLo]

Kimi 2005. I can't remember how many times he put in a races worth of qualifying laps to come back up the grid after getting a ten place penalty for an engine failure in the previous race. Monza sticks out for me if I remember correctly, and also Suzuka but I can't remember if that was because of rain in quail.

Alonso in 2012 deserves a mention with that fairly crap ferrari.

[sennafan24]

Alonso-both 2011 and 2012
maybe Schumi-2003

Can I ask why?

I felt Juan Pablo and Kimi were close to him that year, it was 2003 that most felt that Schumi started to tail off just a tad. I have seen many say his prime was 1994-2002.

Interesting to hear another perspective.

Kimi 2005. I can't remember how many times he put in a races worth of qualifying laps to come back up the grid after getting a ten place penalty for an engine failure in the previous race. Monza sticks out for me if I remember correctly, and also Suzuka but I can't remember if that was because of rain in quail.

Agreed

[alnando]

Michael Schumacher in 2002. He had a very good car and finished all the races in the podium. He also won the championship from the 11th race out of 17.

[JimClarkFan]

1996 Schumacher? Or was that 1997?

Was this the time when Mclaren were very dominant?

[SiLo]

1996 Schumacher? Or was that 1997?

Was this the time when Mclaren were very dominant?

No that was Williams with Hill and Villeneuve

[sennafan24]

Michael Schumacher in 2002. He had a very good car and finished all the races in the podium. He also won the championship from the 11th race out of 17.

See this is why I shy away from picking Senna or Prost in 1988, the car they had was so much better than the rest their stats were easy to come by. Plus the variable of showing true grit and bottle when scrapping for a WDC is not there to be tested if you have such a overpowered car, and in the case of Schumi in 2002 a teammate he clearly had the measure of.

2000 for me is Schumi's best as he was at the peak of his powers skill wise, and had McLaren with decent drivers to push him all the way.

[Steven]

1996 Schumacher? Or was that 1997?

Alonso 2012 is the first that comes to mind...

As for Schumacher 1997, that's a zero points year for the German, so perhaps we should ignore that season, shouldn't we?

[rich1701]

Senna 1993, that Mclaren was no match for the Williams.

[marcush.]

Senna 1993, that Mclaren was no match for the Williams.

and Benetton got the last engine developments exclusively ....
Still Ayrton won A LOT od races in that year ...gifting his guys with a parting gift claiming the win in Suzuka ...I´m sure not only Jo Ramirez weeped that day .
I cannot remember a better F1 season than 1993 apart from Barnard struggling heavily with active ride adaption to the Ferraris..So many classic races ..

[sennafan24]

and Benetton got the last engine developments exclusively ....
Still Ayrton won A LOT od races in that year ...gifting his guys with a parting gift claiming the win in Suzuka ...I´m sure not only Jo Ramirez weeped that day .
I cannot remember a better F1 season than 1993 apart from Barnard struggling heavily with active ride adaption to the Ferraris..So many classic races ..

Benetton had the better car for most of the year over the McLaren.

1993 for me shows that Senna was a notch above Schumi. Like I said, 1993 is not my favorite Senna year but I get why others love it.

[SectorOne]

Very modern one but still quite remarkable.

Hamilton 2007. First race, first corner, set the tone for the whole championship.