Formula One: Top 10 drivers of all-time

By Asher Fair | Jan 7, 2018

SPA, BELGIUM - AUGUST 27: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes F1 WO8 leads the field to the first corner at the start during the Formula One Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on August 27, 2017 in Spa, Belgium. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /

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Portrait of Ayrton Senna of Brazil as he sits aboard the #1 Honda Marlboro McLaren McLaren MP4/5 Honda V10 (Photo by Pascal Rondeau/Getty Images) /

#4 – Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna’s 41 career Formula One victories put him in 5th place on the all-time wins list, and his three career championships put him in a 5th place tie on the all-time titles list despite the fact that he only drove in the sport for 10 seasons as a full-time driver.

This leads to the question: just how much better would he have gotten had he not been killed in a wreck at San Marino in the 1994 season, his 11th season as a full-time driver in the sport, as a 34-year-old?

The answer that many can agree on is that he would have been even better than his final numbers suggest. One key statistic that suggests this is his career pole total. Up until this past season, he trailed just one driver on the all-time poles list with 65 in 161 starts. That other driver recorded 68 poles in nearly twice as many starts. He now trails two drivers on that list.

Senna had raw speed, and he showed it frequently, as evidenced particularly by that pole statistic. He now sits 3rd on the all-time poles list, but he has a far greater pole percentage than the two drivers ahead of him on that list. He will likely remain in the top 5 on the all-time wins list for several years.

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