# Who is the most iconic figure in motorsport history?

> Grand prix drivers, oval kings and two-wheel showmen, judged on the thing that outlives lap times. Fame is not the same as greatness, which is what makes this awkward.

*By YPB Team · Published August 29, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-most-iconic-figure-in-motorsport-history*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Michael Schumacher** — score 1000/1000
   Seven Formula 1 titles and 91 wins, five of them with a Ferrari team he rebuilt around himself.
2. **Ayrton Senna** — score 776/1000
   Three-time Formula 1 world champion whose death at Imola in 1994 turned him into the sport's defining martyr.
3. **Giacomo Agostini** — score 756/1000
   Italian who holds the record for premier-class motorcycle titles with eight, and fifteen world championships in total.
4. **Lewis Hamilton** — score 596/1000
   Seven Formula 1 titles and the most race wins in the championship's history, plus a second career in fashion and activism.
5. **Max Verstappen** — score 517/1000
   Dutch driver whose 2021 title fight with Lewis Hamilton went to the final lap of the final race.
6. **Enzo Ferrari** — score 517/1000
   Founder of the only team to have raced in every Formula 1 season since 1950.
7. **Colin McRae** — score 517/1000
   1995 World Rally champion whose flat-out style sold a video game franchise that carried his name.
8. **Valentino Rossi** — score 423/1000
   Nine-time world champion whose number 46 and yellow crowds made MotoGP a mainstream sport in Europe.
9. **Richard Petty** — score 423/1000
   NASCAR's record holder with 200 race wins and seven championships, still recognised by his hat and sunglasses.
10. **Sebastien Loeb** — score 423/1000
   Nine consecutive World Rally Championship titles between 2004 and 2012.
11. **Niki Lauda** — score 423/1000
   Three-time Formula 1 champion who returned to racing six weeks after the burns he suffered at the Nurburgring in 1976.
12. **Alain Prost** — score 423/1000
   Four-time Formula 1 champion nicknamed The Professor for winning races on calculation rather than bravado.
13. **Dale Earnhardt** — score 310/1000
   Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion known as The Intimidator, killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
14. **Mario Andretti** — score 310/1000
   The only person to win the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and a Formula 1 world championship.
15. **Juan Manuel Fangio** — score 172/1000
   Argentine who won five of the first eight Formula 1 championships with four different manufacturers.
16. **Marc Marquez** — score 172/1000
   Spanish rider with nine world championships across three classes, including seven in MotoGP.

Tags: racing, drivers, legends, motorsport