This list tackles the top Formula One drivers from 1991 to 1995. If you’re a recent convert to F1 racing, then this post should give you some familiar names—including the Formula One Champ who holds the most records in the sport. Care to guess who I’m talking about? Clue: His initials: M. S.
Now if that clue’s not enough for you to correctly guess the name of the seven-time F1 champ, then you definitely have to read on to brush up on your F1 knowledge.
1991 Formula One World Champion:
Name: Ayrton Senna (Ayrton Senna da Silva)
Nationality: Brazilian
Team: McLaren
This is the third and final win for the late and great Ayrton Senna.
Senna’s Personal Life:
Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Senna excelled in a lot of classes as a child. He was good at gymnastics, chemistry, and art. But he had weak points too, including: English, math, and physics. His family was pretty wealthy–his dad was a landowner. This allowed the young Senna to pursue his interests at a young age. The most prevalent of course, being motor racing.
According to people who knew him, Senna was actually very religious. Some reports even say that he would read the Bible while he was traveling from São Paulo to Europe, and back. He also had a tendency to incorporate his religious beliefs in racing, which didn’t sit too well with other racers.
He also looked to racing as a way to discover more about himself. One of his most famous quotes goes:
“The harder I push, the more I find within myself. I am always looking for the next step, a different world to go into, areas where I have not been before. It’s lonely driving a Grand Prix car, but very absorbing. I have experienced new sensations and I want more. That is my excitement, my motivation.”
There’s also a softer side to Senna that few people knew about until after his death. Widespread poverty in his home country greatly disturbed Senna. To help out his countrymen, he privately spent millions of his own money to help less-privileged children. Before his death, Senna actually made a framework of an organization that was dedicated to helping out children from Brazil. After his death, the institution was called “Instituto Ayrton Senna”.
Right before his death, Senna also became increasingly preoccupied with trying to make Formula One a safer sport for him and other drivers. As I mentioned in my previous post, Senna was actually the one who suggested the re-formation of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association or the GPDA. The GPDA was what you could consider the “union” for F1 drivers.
(Click HERE to read more about Senna)
1992 Formula One World Champion
Name: Nigel Mansell (Nigel Ernest James Mansell, OBE)
Nationality: British
Team: Williams
Career Highlight:
Championship Wins: 1
Race Wins: 31
Races: 191, with 187 starts
Podium Finishes: 59
Pole Positions: 32
Fastest Laps Set: 30
Brief Bio:
Born: August 8, 1953
Mansell was born in Upton-upon Severn, Worcestershire in 1953. Aside from being Formula One World Champion in 1992, Mansell also won the CART World Series in 1993. This makes him the only racer to have held both titles at the same time. He also remains the only driver to have won the CART series on his debut season.
The British media, fondly called Mansell, “Our Nige”.
He spent 15 years racing in Formula One, and he spent his last two F1 seasons also racing for the CART series. In terms of Race Wins, Mansell is the most accomplished British F1 driver. He places fourth in race wins behind Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna.
He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2008.
1993 Formula One World Champion
Name: Alain Prost (Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur)
Nationality: French
Team: Williams Renault
After taking a “sabbatical year” from Formula One in 1992, Prost made an amazing comeback in 1993. This would be his fourth and last title in the sport. This was his final year in F1.
His greatest rival and former teammate Ayrton Senna placed second behind Prost. Senna was racing for McLaren-Ford that year. And in spite of winning the Japanese and the Australian Grands Prix, Senna still lost the title to Prost after not being able to finish the race four times. Prost had 99 points that year, and Senna had 73.
According to an entry in Wikipedia, Prost returned to F1 but had a clause in a contract that forbade Senna from becoming his teammate–now that’s what I call intense rivalry.
Prior to the Portuguese Grand Prix in October of 1993, Prost announced that he would no longer be defending his world title. His contract with his team didn’t cover 1994. He opted to retire instead… and who could blame him? After all, during that time, he was the most successful F1 driver in the entire history of the sport!
On his last race in Adelaide that year, Senna was said to have been overcome with emotion. His greatest rival was leaving F1. While on the top podium, Senna embraced Prost–a touching move that certainly surprised everyone, including Prost. After retiring, Prost earned himself an OBE (The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire)–a British order of chivalry.
Prost held on to the record of being the best F1 driver (statistically), until Schumacher broke his record of having 51 Grand Prix wins in 2001.
(Click HERE to read more about Prost)
1994 and 1995 Formula One World Champion
Name: Michael Schumacher, also called “Schumi”, “Schuey”, “Schu”, and “the Red Baron” by the press; He also occasionally got called “Regenmeister” (rain master) and “Regenkönig” (rain king) for his uncanny ability to race superbly in wet weather conditions.
Nationality: German
Team: Ford (1994) and Renault (1995)
Career Highlights:
Championship Wins: 7!!!! (yes, you read right, 7 wins!)
Race Wins: 91
Races: 250, with 248 starts
Podium Finishes: 154
Pole Positions: 68
Fastest Laps Set: 76
Brief Bio:
Born: January 3, 1969
Hometown: Hürth-Hermülheim, Germany
Schumacher (so far) is statistically the best racer in the whole of Formula One history. So far, Schumacher is the only German to have ever won the Formula one World Championship.
He holds the records for the most Championship wins, the most Grand Prix wins, the most number of fastest laps set, the highest number of races won in a single season, and the most number of pole positions. In 2006, Schumi was also voted as the most popular driver in F1. In 2002, Schumi became the only driver to have ever had an entire season filled with podium finishes.
From 2000 to 2004, he won five consecutive championships with Scuderia Ferrari.
Aside from being the most successful F1 driver in history, Schumi is also one of the most controversial racers in the sport. He has had many controversial driving moves that has even resulted in his disqualification in the 1997 Formula One World Championship. That year, Schumi collided with Jacques Villeneuve. He retired from Formula One officially in 2006.
When he’s not driving race cars or racing in motorbikes Schumi is also a UNESCO ambassador. He’s also a spokesperson for driver safety. Since the start of his career, he has been involved with various humanitarian efforts and has donated tens of millions to charitable causes.
Schumi is the brother of the ex-F1 racer, Ralf Schumacher. Ralf is currently with the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM). They are the only brothers to have ever won races in F1. They even had a 1-2 finish once.
2008 saw Schumi as a special test driver and an advisor for the F1 Ferrari team. July last year, he also launched a worldwide drinking and driving campaign named “Champions Drink Responsibly”.
1994 and 1995 Formula One Seasons
Schumi’s first championship win was one that was marred by two deaths: Ronald Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna–both of which happened in the San Marino Grand Prix. He also had a controversial start in the championship ring after his team, Benetton, was accused of having broken F1’s technical regulations.
The team, along with McLaren, was fined $100,000 (each) that year for having hidden functionality in their software. There was never any evidence of Benetton or McLaren having used this software during a race, but the FIA stood by the rules.
During the British Grand Prix, Schumi was also penalized after overtaking while on a formation lap. Instead of following the orders, Schumi ignored a black flag and the penalty. The black flag indicates that the racer should immediately make his way to the pits. After this stint, Schumi was disqualified. He was also given a two-race ban.
After winning the Belgian Grand Prix, Schumi was once again disqualified after it was discovered that his skidblock had illegal wear. Benetton tried to argue with the FIA saying that the damage on the skidblock was created when Schumi was cornering, but the FIA officials would hear nothing of their excuses.
And during the Australian Grand Prix, Schumi, who was close in points to Damon Hill, collided with Hill when Hill made a move to pass him. Schumi crashed out of the race, and Hill was forced to retire early. Schumi won the championship by a single point. Talk about a controversial win!
When 1995 came around, Schumi managed to win over Hill with 33 more points than the latter. That year, Schumi became the youngest driver to have ever won a back-to-back F1 championship.
Sources: A Lot of Wikipedia
