Who is the most naturally gifted Formula 1 driver of all time?

Raw speed is the hardest thing to measure and the easiest to argue about. Some of these names won everything; one or two barely won at all.

1

Ayrton Senna

Took 65 pole positions in 161 starts, a qualifying rate nobody has matched since.

2

Alain Prost

Won 51 races on a style built from precision rather than raw aggression.

3

Gilles Villeneuve

Ferrari driver whose car control drew comparisons to nobody because there was nobody to compare him to.

4

Jim Clark

Scot who won 25 of his 72 starts and made a difficult car look ordinary.

5

Michael Schumacher

Seven-time champion whose wet-weather pace and stamina reset what fitness meant in the sport.

6

Max Verstappen

Arrived at 17 and won on his Red Bull debut at 18.

7

Lewis Hamilton

Took pole on merit in his debut season and holds the record for career pole positions.

8

Juan Manuel Fangio

Won five titles with four different constructors in the sport's first decade.

9

Stirling Moss

Never won a championship and is still cited as the finest all-round driver of his era.

10

Jackie Stewart

Three titles built on a smoothness he described as driving with mechanical sympathy.

11

Fernando Alonso

Two-time champion whose racecraft has kept him competitive across three decades.

12

Nigel Mansell

Attacking style that made him the most physically committed driver of his generation.

13

Sebastian Vettel

Four straight titles and a qualifying record in the Red Bull years that few could live with.