Yeah, I can't remember seeing any knowledgeable F1 person not recognising his talent, so "underrated" is just like "literally" an over- and/or mis-used word
Anyone who studied the history of the sport recognises him. Drivers like Amon, Ickx... even champions like Hulme, G. Hill, Fittipaldi and Stewart (the most perfect f1 driver of all time in my opinion) are underrated by new fans too. Sadly, most new f1 fans don't care that much about history. (Sorry for bad english.)
It is a recent thing, but it doesn't really matter. People today think the best ever in any sport are the ones winning today. Peterson, was the quickest driver to ever sit in a car. I find it strange when his peers get more credit, such as Villeneuve, who was just a more reckless slower version of Peterson. Lauda, who was quite arrogant, was a different person when talking about his old teammate Peterson. Lauda never qualified within a second of him. He really was special. His car control stood out in the days when they all had good car control. It was required, unlike today.
If you ever witnessed Ronnie, in a Lotus 72, taking Silverstone's old Woodcote corner, flat out, in an opposite lock slide, you'd know just how good he was . I first saw him at Crystal Palace, South London, driving a F3 Techno in 1969, and it was abundantly apparent he was true superstar material.
In 1974, Ronnnie won 3 races in a 4 year old Lotus 72. He even drove it the next full season - nevertheless he ended the 1975 season ahead of Mario Andretti, Alan Jones, Mark Donohue, and Jacky Ickx. That's how good Ronnie was.
The impression I've always had of Ronnie Peterson was that he would put the team above himself. It's common knowledge that he could have beaten Mario Andretti to the 1978 title, if he'd been allowed to race him on equal footing, but he stuck to the wording of the contract without complaining. I think his 1971 season was the greatest winless season in F1 history. Driving the horrifically ugly March 711, in the 11 races that year, he recorded 4 2nd places and 5 podiums and only 2 DNF'S, the only driver better than him, Jackie Stewart
@gustavoantonelli if you mean 1971, in some ways I agree, but there are those who would say Chris Amon should have won that race, he was leading by nearly 50 seconds when a freak accident occurred. While trying to remove a tear-off strip from his visor, he accidentally ripped off the whole visor. All he could do, with his eyes exposed to the 320kph wind blasting his eyes was cruise slowly round to eventually finish a distant 6th place
@@MrJeepsters I am afraid this is not correct in regards to his position in the table ranking in 1978. He was second when he died, 12 points behind Mario Andretti, his teammate. The closest he was to Andretti was when Ronnie won the Austrian GP in August 1978. Mario was then on 54 points, while Ronne was on 45. Then they finised first and second in the next race at Zandvoort and Ronnie ended up with 51 points. Mario got one more point from the Italian GP after being penalised at the restarted race at Monza, he won it initially. Apparently they both agreed upon racing each other when they were going to the North American races which was the last races on the calendar that year. Mario did not want everybody to think that he got the title because Ronnie was not allowed to race him.He did not want to be remembered as the champion who got beneficial treatment to win it. Sadly it never came to any frutition.
Thanks for a great review-I couldn't agree more with the choice of Ronnie Peterson. Having followed F1 closely in the 70s he was by far my favorite driver as a huge Lotus fan, extremely exciting to watch with his speed and car control. It could be said that he was somewhat hard on his cars mechanically which probably didn't suit fragile Lotus cars well and that he wasn't great at setting up a car or conveying to the mechanics what needed to be adjusted, unlike Mario and Emmo. Road and Track once did an analysis of one of his fastest laps-I think the 73 Spanish GP- and he basically drove over the limit the entire lap-balls out the whole time-classic Ronnie. Probably the only driver whose heart rate went down when he climbed in the cockpit of a race car. Rest easy Superswede, there hasn't really been anyone quite like you-thanks for the memories.
@@markwhitaker3673 Peterson was my favourite too. In his 72 days, he was incredible. Jacky Ickx almost won a championship in the Ferrari, but as Person's teammate he looked slow. Lauda did too. Although I will say, Chapman set up everyone's car. The driver's had no say in it. It was one of the reasons Hill and Chapman didn't get along so well, Hill being an engineer. Chapman was a bit more than your average engineer though, wasn't he? Fittipaldi was an excellent driver, smooth and quick. Didn't take risks and was a gentleman too. He wouldn't drive in Spain, because it was dangerous, unfortunately he was proven right. He turned down Ferrari when they offered him Lauda's seat too. Peterson was quicker, but he was quicker than anyone, but I don't think there was ever much chance he could beat a drive like Emerson over a season. Andretti had every advantage he could have, with Peterson having an older car, Hewland gearbox, race tyres in qualifying and had to carry more fuel too, yet, he still followed Andretti around by a foot or two.
Ronnie was to F1 what ABBA was to the pop charts in the 1970s. Few could hold a candle to him, he was right up there with the very best. Jochen was my first hero, then Francois, then Ronnie... tragic, may God rest their souls. 😢
@@crystalracing4794 If you have to compare him to any modern F1 driver, it has to be Alonso. They both share the same terrible judgement when it comes to finding a new team.
Great work sir! I was 13 when I went to my first motor race at Silverstone, the Grand Prix in 1973. Ronnie was my hero from that day on, I still treasure my hardback copy of ‘A story of a search for perfection’ that Ronnie signed for me at the International Trophy race in 1978. A great reminder of his class and charisma in this video.
Ronnie was my childhood hero. We went to the 1977 British GP and arrived during the morning warm-up (remember those)? The first thing I saw was that blue helmet flashing past!
Being a Swede, I love hearing "Anderstorp" mentioned several times. Ronnie was obviously the fastest of his era, contended by Lauda, who actually won the thing. I keep Ronnie close to my heart because he could drive the cars with beautiful precision and style, and the spectators loved it. Francois Cevert and Clay Regazzoni were my other favourites back then. However, Ronnie was the only driver that got a song by George Harrison, "Faster"th-cam.com/video/QiZVFZmpnR4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=iZs1AAewUL5IExrH. Profits from the record sales went to a foundation in memory of Gunnar Nilsson who died from cancer a month after Ronnies tragical death. Thank you for putting a spotlight on a great driver. I'm also a big Moss fan.
In Anderstorp 1973 Ronnie had a slow puncture the last 10 laps (not worn out tyres) and was overtaken only on the last lap by Hulme. Without the puncture no one had a chance. I was there.
Great video and fully agree! Peterson’s career was stunning ( albeit his bad luck ). Were it not for an unspeakable Hunt then Ronnie might well have been World Champion in 1978. I was privileged to witness a number of his races and for those who did Ronnie will never be forgotten. Ronnie RIP. 🙁
Its a close call between Moss Peterson and Villeneuve but I would go for Peterson, maybe because I saw him wresting the six wheeler round Silverstone trying to make it go faster than it wanted to and sliding the lotus into Woodcote in the rain. He was regularly spectacular. One small error in this article was in his last season he was effectively acting as a number two driver to Andretti, I believe number one status was in Andretti's contract, and Peterson drove mostly in the Lotus 78 whilst Andretti drove the more advanced ground effects 79. I do remember Ronnie waggling the tail of the 79 round Brands Hatch before retiring. I think there was a problem with the second 79 at Monza and Ronnie started the race in the 78.
It says alot when a brit puts a swede as nr.1 when it comes to racing. Ronnie was a beast. And newer swedish generations will sadly never know how good the "Super Swede" really was. Thx for some great content! greetings from Sweden. Great video!
My only claim to fame is that I spotted Ronnie Peterson as a "great" in a televised F2 race from Crystal Palace. My absolute motor racing hero, although drifting cars on stupid wide slicks wasn't technically a great idea. He was a rubbish development driver, but in a race was just, well, great.
Yes. Ronnie was not as good as Emerson to set up the car, BUT. When they put the same settings on Ronnies car as EMmerson had, Ronnie was faster. What was one of the greatest thing with Ronnies driving was that he could make a car that was not the best in setup, but he drove it like it had the best setup. He could easy adapt his driving to a car like that and make it go faster then any other drive could. I was only a small kid back then (born in -71) but i remember watching the tv and se Ronnie drifting the car like a rallydriver with smoking tiers. I miss those days then the cars was of different designs and it was more up to the driver to make it good. Ronnie is forever missed, but never forgotten.
As a swede, this was an awesome video to watch. Damn, this guy was good! What could have been if the medical staff at the hospital might have noticed the real issue instead of only his broken legs? Coming from a country without much F1 history, Ronnie is a legend!
Ronnie would’ve had to move away from lotus as their 88 chassis and the death of Colin Chapman spelled their downfall, but he wouldn’t have been out of place in Williams, Brabham, or even Ferrari
I think you kind of forgot Wolfgang von Trips in the conversation for best driver to never win a title. Sure, he doesn't have nearly as many wins, but out of the only 2 fulltime seasons he raced, he was a title contender in one, leading the championship when he was tragically killed in the Italian GP.
Von Trips was clearly slower than teammate Phil Hill in 1961 and only had the chance to win the title mainly because his Ferrari was the best car in the field. He considered Stirling Moss to be a clearly better driver than himself. Ronnie Peterson was visibly faster and more courageous than the other drivers, dominated teammates like Fittipaldi, Ickx or Lauda and won (or almost won) races in cars, which were far from being the best of the grid.
I think that the only issue he had was that he didn't save on the material even if he was leading causing some unnecessary wear resulting mechanical failures. But when he raced he gave everything and that's worth respect.
Stirling Moss is always mentioned in these cases, but very rarely was his teammate at Vanwall in 1957-58, Tony Brooks. Tony Brooks is another one that SHOULD've made these lists more often... Indeed, the closest shot he had as a World Champion would be in 1959, when he ultimately finished 2nd in standings. But the thing is, a lot of people at the time had reason to believe that Brooks could've won at least one Championship. Stirling Moss' mechanic at the time, Alf Francis, recalled a conversation at the 1957 Monaco GP with Maserati owner Adolfo Orsi and Maserati chief mechanic and test driver Guerino Bertocchi, who both believed that Tony Brooks is a World Champion driver, and both also mentioned that the same sentiment was shared by Juan Manuel Fangio...
People often make fun of Marko for speaking his mind, without knowing that the guy won Le Mans in fearsome Porsche 917 and was Lauda's mentor in his early career.They remained friends until Lauda died in 2019.
Stirling Moss definitely. Peterson is up there. Did you know that from the current drivers Valtteri Bottas has most wins without a title (10 wins, 21 poles)?
Ronnie was held back by the contract he had wilth Lotus in 1978. If Mario had the chance to win the race, Ronnie was not allowed by the contract to overtake Mario. Even that he could do it many times. When he outqualified Mario that had soft tiers and not so much gas in his car while Ronnie har full tank and hard tiers, that was only one of the times Ronnie showed how good he was. A reporter in the UK said " To see Ronnie drift the Lotus-72 in the old woodcutcorner in over 250 km/h, was alone worth the tripp. Ronnie how ever did the misstake to not stay with Lotus all the time. I was 7 years old and my B-day is September 20. I never forgett the horror when the news came that he died.
Brilliant driver who deserved so much more. Great video I must say, but you missed some parts. In 1972 the car was so bad that March picked up their F2 car and swapped it with an F1 engine, that being the replacement of the tea trey. In 1974 the new Lotus 76 was also so bad that Lotus went to their own storage, dusting off the 72 to race for another 2 seasons of 74 and 75. The 1976 March was also considered undriveable by many. I don't recall his name but an F2 driver got the chance to race the 76 March but after 2nd practice got out of the car and said, this car is beyond driveable, how a driver could take this to finish or even more bring it to a win is beyond my mind. That being said, Ronnie was indeed fantastic. In 1978 the fantastic Lotus 79 was not brought to Ronnie until halfway into the season as for Mario being their no 1 driver, he didn't even want Ronnie as a team mate, nothing personally, but he knew what Ronnie was capable of. Anyway he got the 79 eventually but was held back on multiple occasions due to his no 2 status in the team. He had signed a contract for the 1979 season with McLaren as their no 1 driver, but thats a story we unfortunately never got to see. He had a massive talant that often pushed the cars over the limit of what they held for, just look at clips of him driving a F1 car with opposite lock, drifting around corners. Magical! Thanks for a great video!
Nah, Stirling Moss by a long way, but I was a big fan of this bloke. I cried when he died. I remember watching the race live and was horrified when the crash happened, but went to bed thinking he was going to be okay. as he was actually sitting upright when loaded into the ambulance at the circuit. I was devastated when I woke to the news next morning that he'd passed.
@@nedzosf1gridbox No doubt had he remained at Brabham he would have been world champ in either ‘66 or ‘67. Instead we got to look at the AAR Eagle, one of the most beautiful F1 cars ever made…
@@leandroboado8430 had the car in 1980/1981, was second best to jones, jones should have won 1981 as well but had one of the most unluckiest seasons ever
Not just one of the greatest drivers to never win an F1 world championship but so much better than many that did. The modern crop of champions and drivers do not even come close to Ronnie as a driver. In my lifetime he was second only to Jimmy.
@@RonniePeterson Absolutely. Modern drivers don't have any car control, or very little. They don't need it, and it's why modern F1 is a shadow of what it once was. On his day, Peterson was untouchable, the quickest driver to ever sit in an F1 car. When he was teammates with Lauda at March, it looked like they were driving different formula never mind cars. Take qualifying for the German GP in 72 for example. 4 Peterson 7:11.600 (finished 3rd) 24 Lauda 7:32.200. (dnf) 20+ seconds quicker. A long lap, but still, it was the same story at every race. Clark was the best in every other respect, an incredible driver. Senna was almost as good, in terms of driving ability, but he didn't come close to Clark when it came to awareness or toughness.
16:50 - he had signed for mclaren for 1979 (italian gp is normally the time for announcements) - he damaged his car in an earlier session and had to qualify in the 1977 car - so was further back on the grid than normal that season and therefore in more crowded place than normal - yes the starter sent them early before every car had stopped but that wasn't unusual back then (i seem to remember that the shambolic 1981 belgian gp start was the actual game changer on that - certainly by the brazilian gp 1980 it was still occurring).
I agree the start was nothing out of the ordinary. Starts were poorly regulated, jumpstarts rarely punished, and drivers were not required to be stationary (I think it was OK as long as the rear wheels didn't pass the front of the grid slot). It's a miracle bad starting accidents were not even more frequent.
Ronnie's speed was also his greatest weakness. He always drove as fast as possible every lap, which the cars of the day usually couldn't handle over a grand prix distance. Drivers like Stewart had the skill to drive "as slow as possible and still finish first" (quote from Fangio, I think). With a few more seasons, perhaps Peterson could have developed a better tactical approach, which would probably have made him champion. What a legend!
I enjoyed the potted history lesson, thankyou very much. I would, though, point out that that Lotus were “famous” for component failure. Colin Chapmans tenet of “Build in lightness”, together with material science that was a shade of what it is now, resulted in cars that were quick, agile and fragile…Jimmy Clark’s death was the result of component failure.
A bit sad not to hear you mention Didier Pironi. He never really gets the love he deserves in my opinion, seeing as both he and Villeneuve we´re easily going to be fighting for the championship in 82 if it wasn´t for their respective crashes. I belive that both could have and probably should have been world champions and that both would have achieved that if it wasn´t for their careers being cut short. To me, it´s always felt like they we´re parallels of Senna and Prost. One amazingly gifted and fast and the other incredibly presize and consistent. The loss of both of these amazing drivers is truly one of the biggest in F1 history, simply because of the potential they both shared.
Ronnie deserved a championship. Mario ought his one to Ronnie. But He was not the only one, neither the greatest. Ickx, Reutemann and Moss also had enough merits to achieve their ones.
It's complicated to determine who is the better driver to never win a championship. It probably would be Moss or Peterson. But you can also think of Villeneuve, Ickx or Laffite.
Ronnie was brilliant, if the cars were as reliable as they are now the race results would have been very different for drivers like : Peterson, Amon,Brise, Pryce and Villeneuve ! Sadly Ronnie’s wife Barboro passed away in 1980 missing Ronnie desperately !
Ronnie, for me, after Senna and Schumacher. The 78 Championship, was his, but he had a signed agreement with Lotus, that he had to let Mario be always up front.
Ronnies biggest problem was how he to often got bad advices from his management. Before the 1978 season he was offered a seat at Williams but declined and got his Nr.2 seat at Lotus, sponsored by some Italian noble man
My list of the best drivers to never become world champion: 1) Moss 2) Peterson 3) Gilles 4) Reutemann 5) Bellof 6) Barrichello 7) Webber 8) Ickx 9) Gurney 10) Tony Brise
I guess Villeneuve belongs on the list but I don't think -- despite his obvious qualities -- he was WDC material. Not as he was at the time of his death, anyway. I don't know why people rate Bellof so highly. I saw him and was impressed but WDC material? Too hard to say. His career was too brief. Tony Brise? I'd have nominated Tom Pryce before him but even he wouldn't make my list. Neither would Barricello but there's too much baggage with that one (not that it was his fault).
That’s on me, for some reason when exporting the video it for some reason cutoff right around that mark. While figuring out what was wrong I must have accidentally deleted the image from the timeline. Stupid error from me
@@nedzosf1gridbox How did Bottas fail? 10 Wins, 67 podiums, 20 poles 19 fastest laps. Two times 2nd and twice 3rd in world championship against GOAT Hamilton and Max and 5 Constructors championships. He has better stats than Super Swede Ronnie Pettersson.
@mikkohaikala2577 stats don’t mean everything. If you don’t win the championship while having the best car five years running, regardless of who your teammate is (Lewis isn’t the GOAT btw) then you can’t be that good. On his day Bottas was decent, but usually only in qualifying and that’s not enough
@@nedzosf1gridbox So your opinion is that Ronnie Peterson and Stirling Moss weren't good drivers? I think we need to agree to disagree. BTW. Bottas never even had a change, since team was strongly backing their number one driver Lewis. He was given only one year contracts during his time in Merc and had he even tried to be more selfish, he would have been dropped from the team at end of each year. I still think that Sir Lewis is the GOAT (I'm not a Lewis fan and hate how he has politicised F1). Only Michael Schumacher comes close, but he was really dirty competitor (Just ask Damon Hill and J. Villeneuve) and that's the reason his not a GOAT in my book but that is just my humble opinion. I't seems that stats really don't matter anymore. At least in Sauber who gave multiyear deal to a driver who has 0 podiums and don't care that they have a driver that has 67 podiums under his belt.
If you watched the video you’d know my opinions on moss and Peterson. There was a reason why Bottas was always number two, he simply wasn’t good enough. He’d beat Lewis maybe once or twice a season on merit then fade away, and he had no racecraft whatsoever. You can talk about how many podiums he has all you want, but when you’re in the best car for 5 seasons you should be talking about wins, not podiums. I’d also recommend that you watch my video on why Lewis isn’t the goat, as I use your method of statistical analysis well: th-cam.com/video/OA4E6ZrPWbY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=8nkWPgPZuyKdZrrk
I am a little confused by the 1958 Portuguese GP and how Moss was able to witness the incident with Hawthorn. Was Moss behind Hawthorn during the race...the video says he stopped mid race to see what was happening... Can anyone clarify?
It happened near the end I think, and moss was just behind hawthorn because he was about to lap him, but didn’t want to embarrass his rival so he stayed behind
Fangio's list of the Greatest is very short. Ascari & Moss in his day. Then Clark & Stewart later. He rated Prost over Senna but changed his mind when Senna showed what he could do when he didn't have the best car. El Maestro, like Moss, had old fashioned morals and no time for Schumacher.
Ronnie was fantastic but couldn't take care of a car. As good as he was, nursing a car when it wasn't perfect wasn't his strength like it was for Jackie Stewart or Alain Prost.
I always enjoy your vids, even when I don't agree with your takes. Would you ever be willing to turn your attention to North Wales's only F1 driver, Tom Pryce, and his tragic tale?
Stirling Moss, Didier Pironi and Carlos Reutemann were the greatest drivers not to take the title. Peterson was in the Villeneuve mould-fast, exciting, naturally talented like few others, but not really with a champion’s approach or mentality.
Yes Ronnie was a fantastic race-driver but also a terrible negotiator and very hard on the material. He could drive anything fast but that meant also that his cars often wasn’t perfectly sorted out. Toghether with his aggressive driving style it put a lot of stress on the car hence dnf’s. In total a great guy and great driver but too often in the wrong place in the wrong moment.
A few years ago I read an article in a British magazine (simply called F1 I think) and they did an article on who they thought were the then 10 greatest drivers in F1 history. There was only one driver on the list who never won a world championship: Gilles Villeneuve.
The opening sentence is immediately incorrect. The first F1 race was in 1947. The first round of F1 in 1950 was not Silverstone either. Silverstone in 1950 was the first round of the Drivers world championship. Please, if you want to post make sure of your facts before you do. You think I am wrong? Read the history and think again.
Ok. If we’re being pedantic then yes, I should’ve clarified that I meant “World Championship” races that constituted to a full season of F1 racing, and I knew that it started initially in 1947, it’s just I’m not going to create a longwinded and anal explanation that bores people to death. I did “make sure of facts”, I’m just not a boring gimp
Peterson is not criminally underrated. British bias and lack of knowledge of how the Ferrari -apparatus worked back in the day has made you completely ignore the absolute greatest driver to never win a championship. I will give you a tip. A Belgian and he went by two nicknames. Le beau Jacky and Monsieur Le Mans. To put Peterson anywhere close to in the same category is ludicrous. Peterson was either on or off and he never had the smarts to just bring it home. People forget his overdriving the car on a number of occasions
@@Roguescienceguy yea, British bias applies to a Swede… definitely. And to suggest that anyone who merely has a different opinion to you is stupid and biased is at best arrogant and at worst stupid from yourself
@@nedzosf1gridbox though he was a Swede, he was at home in the UK and Jackie was never even considered in British poles because he butchered a few of their all time heroes when pure talent came floating up in the rain. I should have clarified that a bit more. Tbh, I actually like your historic account of Peterson's career. He was a great driver, but he was never the victim of outright sabotage by a team that gave unwarranted preference to a national driver twice. Make one about Jacky and call it "the actual greatest driver to never win an F1-championship but reigned supreme everywhere else
@Roguescienceguy jacky Ickx was very good in the rain, and at the Nordschleife, he qualified third there in an F2 car once, but in his best shot at the title, 1970, I’d argue he was worse than both Rindt and a debutant Regazzoni. His peaks were high but his overall performance wasn’t on the same level as his endurance racing career
@@nedzosf1gridbox the fuckery he had to just accept in those two years, like a downtuned car to regazzoni, who definitely never was as good as Ickx. He didn't argue when it came to Rindt, there were different motives there and he rated Jochen
You were doing okay, until the silly and disrespectful words about Helmut Marko, the man who helped the great Dietrich Mateschitz to build his Red Bull team.
One thing is for sure: people who go out of their way to point out a seven time world champion’s inferiority are rarely talking about his driving. Even if he won an F1 championship in an F3 car that he built himself there’d still be people screaming about diversity quotas and forced sabotage of his teammates. If LH had looked like Ronnie he’d be universally admired and rightly considered one of the greatest athletes of all time, never mind racing drivers. Imagine if Senna looked like Pelé… I say all this as a Swedish F1 fan, and while I wasn’t alive in 1978 I wish we could have seen Ronnie fulfill his massive potential. Instead we ended up with a country that was actively hostile to motorsport. I hear from older generations that he was almost as revered by the Swedish public as Senna was in Brazil. In this racist-ass sport though, should Arvid Lindblad fulfill HIS potential and become one of the greatest, I half expect to see British and Swedish fans arguing over what nationality he ISN’T - and I say that as a half British person having witnessed how disgusting white people in both countries are. The only group of people who will embrace him without reservation will be the Indian fans.
You see Moss as the more legitimate champion... because the rules were followed and places were awarded as they were deserved? Sorry, but that's just silly. No, if Moss had won due to an incorrect penalty then he would NOT be the legitimate champion.
The rules weren’t followed, Moss went against the rules and made sure hawthorn wasn’t disqualified as he felt it would be unfair, not because it wasn’t against the rules
@@nedzosf1gridbox If you believe Moss then Hawthorn followed the rules and should not have been disqualified. Where is it against the rules to tell the stewards what you witnessed on the track? That's all Moss did. Places were awarded as they were deserved.
Stirling never lost anything by not winning the World Championship; he was way better than several fairly lacklustre 'world champions' and more than deserves his place amongst the partheon of motor racing's greatest-ever titans.
People seem to like this form of content, it’s a staple of mine and there is analysis there. It’s often hard to give analysis for races from a long time ago too, because only certain ones have detailed race reports. I cover everything available from memory and research but unfortunately records from everything pre FOM era is patchy at best, especially for footage
Ronnie Peterson is only "criminally underrated" by modern F1 "fans!" Anyone watching F1 in the 70s knows how good he was.
Yeah, I can't remember seeing any knowledgeable F1 person not recognising his talent, so "underrated" is just like "literally" an over- and/or mis-used word
Ronnie my hero❤❤❤
Anyone who studied the history of the sport recognises him. Drivers like Amon, Ickx... even champions like Hulme, G. Hill, Fittipaldi and Stewart (the most perfect f1 driver of all time in my opinion) are underrated by new fans too. Sadly, most new f1 fans don't care that much about history.
(Sorry for bad english.)
It is a recent thing, but it doesn't really matter. People today think the best ever in any sport are the ones winning today. Peterson, was the quickest driver to ever sit in a car. I find it strange when his peers get more credit, such as Villeneuve, who was just a more reckless slower version of Peterson. Lauda, who was quite arrogant, was a different person when talking about his old teammate Peterson. Lauda never qualified within a second of him. He really was special. His car control stood out in the days when they all had good car control. It was required, unlike today.
Peterson had signed for McLaren for 1979. The worst car on the grid. He was the Alonso of his generation.
If you ever witnessed Ronnie, in a Lotus 72, taking Silverstone's old Woodcote corner, flat out, in an opposite lock slide, you'd know just how good he was .
I first saw him at Crystal Palace, South London, driving a F3 Techno in 1969, and it was abundantly apparent he was true superstar material.
In 1974, Ronnnie won 3 races in a 4 year old Lotus 72. He even drove it the next full season - nevertheless he ended the 1975 season ahead of Mario Andretti, Alan Jones, Mark Donohue, and Jacky Ickx. That's how good Ronnie was.
He spanked team mate and reining WC Fittipaldi in '73, four wins to Emmo's three and (IIRC) nine poles to Emmos one.
The impression I've always had of Ronnie Peterson was that he would put the team above himself. It's common knowledge that he could have beaten Mario Andretti to the 1978 title, if he'd been allowed to race him on equal footing, but he stuck to the wording of the contract without complaining. I think his 1971 season was the greatest winless season in F1 history. Driving the horrifically ugly March 711, in the 11 races that year, he recorded 4 2nd places and 5 podiums and only 2 DNF'S, the only driver better than him, Jackie Stewart
Specially at Monza!
@gustavoantonelli if you mean 1971, in some ways I agree, but there are those who would say Chris Amon should have won that race, he was leading by nearly 50 seconds when a freak accident occurred. While trying to remove a tear-off strip from his visor, he accidentally ripped off the whole visor. All he could do, with his eyes exposed to the 320kph wind blasting his eyes was cruise slowly round to eventually finish a distant 6th place
Ronnie Peterson était, de loin, le meilleur pilote en 78.
Il menait le championnat avant
son accident.
Je crois que Lauda était absent.
@@MrJeepsters I am afraid this is not correct in regards to his position in the table ranking in 1978. He was second when he died, 12 points behind Mario Andretti, his teammate. The closest he was to Andretti was when Ronnie won the Austrian GP in August 1978. Mario was then on 54 points, while Ronne was on 45. Then they finised first and second in the next race at Zandvoort and Ronnie ended up with 51 points. Mario got one more point from the Italian GP after being penalised at the restarted race at Monza, he won it initially. Apparently they both agreed upon racing each other when they were going to the North American races which was the last races on the calendar that year. Mario did not want everybody to think that he got the title because Ronnie was not allowed to race him.He did not want to be remembered as the champion who got beneficial treatment to win it. Sadly it never came to any frutition.
wrong
Thanks for a great review-I couldn't agree more with the choice of Ronnie Peterson. Having followed F1 closely in the 70s he was by far my favorite driver as a huge Lotus fan, extremely exciting to watch with his speed and car control. It could be said that he was somewhat hard on his cars mechanically which probably didn't suit fragile Lotus cars well and that he wasn't great at setting up a car or conveying to the mechanics what needed to be adjusted, unlike Mario and Emmo. Road and Track once did an analysis of one of his fastest laps-I think the 73 Spanish GP- and he basically drove over the limit the entire lap-balls out the whole time-classic Ronnie. Probably the only driver whose heart rate went down when he climbed in the cockpit of a race car. Rest easy Superswede, there hasn't really been anyone quite like you-thanks for the memories.
@@markwhitaker3673 Peterson was my favourite too. In his 72 days, he was incredible. Jacky Ickx almost won a championship in the Ferrari, but as Person's teammate he looked slow. Lauda did too. Although I will say, Chapman set up everyone's car. The driver's had no say in it. It was one of the reasons Hill and Chapman didn't get along so well, Hill being an engineer. Chapman was a bit more than your average engineer though, wasn't he? Fittipaldi was an excellent driver, smooth and quick. Didn't take risks and was a gentleman too. He wouldn't drive in Spain, because it was dangerous, unfortunately he was proven right. He turned down Ferrari when they offered him Lauda's seat too. Peterson was quicker, but he was quicker than anyone, but I don't think there was ever much chance he could beat a drive like Emerson over a season. Andretti had every advantage he could have, with Peterson having an older car, Hewland gearbox, race tyres in qualifying and had to carry more fuel too, yet, he still followed Andretti around by a foot or two.
I totally agree with you. Ronnie Peterson was definitely one of the greatest.
Ronnie was to F1 what ABBA was to the pop charts in the 1970s. Few could hold a candle to him, he was right up there with the very best.
Jochen was my first hero, then Francois, then Ronnie... tragic, may God rest their souls. 😢
Stirling Moss and Peterson are the major names.
Ronnie Peterson was Kimi Raikkonen of the 1970s. They don't produce them like the Nordic nations do.
Peterson was a much smarter and more engaging person than Raikkonen.
They were actually not remotely alike.
More like that they are both way better than what the stats would suggest@@thethirdman225
@@crystalracing4794 If you have to compare him to any modern F1 driver, it has to be Alonso. They both share the same terrible judgement when it comes to finding a new team.
Ronnie is probably the driver who lost most from bad reliability of Lotus, definitely could've won the 1973 championship
Great work sir! I was 13 when I went to my first motor race at Silverstone, the Grand Prix in 1973. Ronnie was my hero from that day on, I still treasure my hardback copy of ‘A story of a search for perfection’ that Ronnie signed for me at the International Trophy race in 1978. A great reminder of his class and charisma in this video.
Ronnie was my childhood hero. We went to the 1977 British GP and arrived during the morning warm-up (remember those)? The first thing I saw was that blue helmet flashing past!
Being a Swede, I love hearing "Anderstorp" mentioned several times. Ronnie was obviously the fastest of his era, contended by Lauda, who actually won the thing. I keep Ronnie close to my heart because he could drive the cars with beautiful precision and style, and the spectators loved it. Francois Cevert and Clay Regazzoni were my other favourites back then. However, Ronnie was the only driver that got a song by George Harrison, "Faster"th-cam.com/video/QiZVFZmpnR4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=iZs1AAewUL5IExrH. Profits from the record sales went to a foundation in memory of Gunnar Nilsson who died from cancer a month after Ronnies tragical death. Thank you for putting a spotlight on a great driver. I'm also a big Moss fan.
In Anderstorp 1973 Ronnie had a slow puncture the last 10 laps (not worn out tyres) and was overtaken only on the last lap by Hulme. Without the puncture no one had a chance. I was there.
True, my father told me the same story, he was also there
At Spa 2008 I bought an F1 magazine where all the current drives had voted the top ten drivers of all times, and Ronnie was in position 7 or 8!
Great video and fully agree! Peterson’s career was stunning ( albeit his bad luck ). Were it not for an unspeakable Hunt then Ronnie might well have been World Champion in 1978. I was privileged to witness a number of his races and for those who did Ronnie will never be forgotten. Ronnie RIP. 🙁
My childhood hero.
Its a close call between Moss Peterson and Villeneuve but I would go for Peterson, maybe because I saw him wresting the six wheeler round Silverstone trying to make it go faster than it wanted to and sliding the lotus into Woodcote in the rain. He was regularly spectacular. One small error in this article was in his last season he was effectively acting as a number two driver to Andretti, I believe number one status was in Andretti's contract, and Peterson drove mostly in the Lotus 78 whilst Andretti drove the more advanced ground effects 79. I do remember Ronnie waggling the tail of the 79 round Brands Hatch before retiring. I think there was a problem with the second 79 at Monza and Ronnie started the race in the 78.
It says alot when a brit puts a swede as nr.1 when it comes to racing. Ronnie was a beast. And newer swedish generations will sadly never know how good the "Super Swede" really was. Thx for some great content! greetings from Sweden. Great video!
My only claim to fame is that I spotted Ronnie Peterson as a "great" in a televised F2 race from Crystal Palace. My absolute motor racing hero, although drifting cars on stupid wide slicks wasn't technically a great idea. He was a rubbish development driver, but in a race was just, well, great.
Yes.
Ronnie was not as good as Emerson to set up the car, BUT.
When they put the same settings on Ronnies car as EMmerson had, Ronnie was faster.
What was one of the greatest thing with Ronnies driving was that he could make a car that was not the best in setup, but he drove it like it had the best setup.
He could easy adapt his driving to a car like that and make it go faster then any other drive could.
I was only a small kid back then (born in -71) but i remember watching the tv and se Ronnie drifting the car like a rallydriver with smoking tiers.
I miss those days then the cars was of different designs and it was more up to the driver to make it good.
Ronnie is forever missed, but never forgotten.
Sterling Moss is famously renowned as being the best driver never to win a championship.
That is Stirling Moss. Apart from that, I agree with that opinion.
As a swede, this was an awesome video to watch. Damn, this guy was good! What could have been if the medical staff at the hospital might have noticed the real issue instead of only his broken legs? Coming from a country without much F1 history, Ronnie is a legend!
Ronnie would’ve had to move away from lotus as their 88 chassis and the death of Colin Chapman spelled their downfall, but he wouldn’t have been out of place in Williams, Brabham, or even Ferrari
@@nedzosf1gridbox He was in talks whit McLaren at the time, so he whould probebly been in there cars in 1979.
I think you kind of forgot Wolfgang von Trips in the conversation for best driver to never win a title. Sure, he doesn't have nearly as many wins, but out of the only 2 fulltime seasons he raced, he was a title contender in one, leading the championship when he was tragically killed in the Italian GP.
@@kukuc96 von Trips didn’t really have the longevity for me to judge his ability, otherwise he would be in contention
Von Trips was clearly slower than teammate Phil Hill in 1961 and only had the chance to win the title mainly because his Ferrari was the best car in the field. He considered Stirling Moss to be a clearly better driver than himself.
Ronnie Peterson was visibly faster and more courageous than the other drivers, dominated teammates like Fittipaldi, Ickx or Lauda and won (or almost won) races in cars, which were far from being the best of the grid.
@@kukuc96 He's never been in the conversation of best driver to never win a title, because he was average. Reckless doesn't equal quick.
There is a reason Ronnie was nicknamed "Superswede".
He was absolutely one of the, if not the, fastest drivers of his era.
Great video 😁
I think that the only issue he had was that he didn't save on the material even if he was leading causing some unnecessary wear resulting mechanical failures.
But when he raced he gave everything and that's worth respect.
Superveg ... not Superswede. Ronnie was a good friend.
Stirling Moss is always mentioned in these cases, but very rarely was his teammate at Vanwall in 1957-58, Tony Brooks.
Tony Brooks is another one that SHOULD've made these lists more often...
Indeed, the closest shot he had as a World Champion would be in 1959, when he ultimately finished 2nd in standings. But the thing is, a lot of people at the time had reason to believe that Brooks could've won at least one Championship. Stirling Moss' mechanic at the time, Alf Francis, recalled a conversation at the 1957 Monaco GP with Maserati owner Adolfo Orsi and Maserati chief mechanic and test driver Guerino Bertocchi, who both believed that Tony Brooks is a World Champion driver, and both also mentioned that the same sentiment was shared by Juan Manuel Fangio...
People often make fun of Marko for speaking his mind, without knowing that the guy won Le Mans in fearsome Porsche 917 and was Lauda's mentor in his early career.They remained friends until Lauda died in 2019.
He was definitely a decent driver
Ronnie could have won, but team orders forced him to give it away to Andretti!
Stirling Moss definitely. Peterson is up there. Did you know that from the current drivers Valtteri Bottas has most wins without a title (10 wins, 21 poles)?
Yea I knew that about Bottas
Yet this season doesn't have a point, that's f1 for you!
Baracello Reuterman and massa is up there as potential as be the best to never win a championship.
Ronnie was held back by the contract he had wilth Lotus in 1978.
If Mario had the chance to win the race, Ronnie was not allowed by the contract to overtake Mario.
Even that he could do it many times.
When he outqualified Mario that had soft tiers and not so much gas in his car while Ronnie har full tank and hard tiers, that was only one of the times Ronnie showed how good he was.
A reporter in the UK said " To see Ronnie drift the Lotus-72 in the old woodcutcorner in over 250 km/h, was alone worth the tripp.
Ronnie how ever did the misstake to not stay with Lotus all the time.
I was 7 years old and my B-day is September 20.
I never forgett the horror when the news came that he died.
Brilliant driver who deserved so much more.
Great video I must say, but you missed some parts.
In 1972 the car was so bad that March picked up their F2 car and swapped it with an F1 engine, that being the replacement of the tea trey.
In 1974 the new Lotus 76 was also so bad that Lotus went to their own storage, dusting off the 72 to race for another 2 seasons of 74 and 75.
The 1976 March was also considered undriveable by many.
I don't recall his name but an F2 driver got the chance to race the 76 March but after 2nd practice got out of the car and said, this car is beyond driveable, how a driver could take this to finish or even more bring it to a win is beyond my mind. That being said, Ronnie was indeed fantastic.
In 1978 the fantastic Lotus 79 was not brought to Ronnie until halfway into the season as for Mario being their no 1 driver, he didn't even want Ronnie as a team mate, nothing personally, but he knew what Ronnie was capable of.
Anyway he got the 79 eventually but was held back on multiple occasions due to his no 2 status in the team.
He had signed a contract for the 1979 season with McLaren as their no 1 driver, but thats a story we unfortunately never got to see.
He had a massive talant that often pushed the cars over the limit of what they held for, just look at clips of him driving a F1 car with opposite lock, drifting around corners.
Magical!
Thanks for a great video!
For me he was one of the five fastest ever along with Jimmy, Nigel, Ayrton and Lewis. Love to Time Machine them all to a race in an ‘88/9 Ferrari!!!!
Nah, Stirling Moss by a long way, but I was a big fan of this bloke. I cried when he died. I remember watching the race live and was horrified when the crash happened, but went to bed thinking he was going to be okay. as he was actually sitting upright when loaded into the ambulance at the circuit.
I was devastated when I woke to the news next morning that he'd passed.
Another fine video Nedzo. I would add Dan Gurney to the short list with Moss, Ronnie, Gilles and ickx as greatest to never win the title
ickx is a bit overrated
Fair, I didn’t think of him
Carlos Reutemann as well
@@nedzosf1gridbox
No doubt had he remained at Brabham he would have been world champ in either ‘66 or ‘67.
Instead we got to look at the AAR Eagle, one of the most beautiful F1 cars ever made…
@@leandroboado8430 had the car in 1980/1981, was second best to jones, jones should have won 1981 as well but had one of the most unluckiest seasons ever
Not just one of the greatest drivers to never win an F1 world championship but so much better than many that did. The modern crop of champions and drivers do not even come close to Ronnie as a driver. In my lifetime he was second only to Jimmy.
@@RonniePeterson Absolutely. Modern drivers don't have any car control, or very little. They don't need it, and it's why modern F1 is a shadow of what it once was. On his day, Peterson was untouchable, the quickest driver to ever sit in an F1 car. When he was teammates with Lauda at March, it looked like they were driving different formula never mind cars. Take qualifying for the German GP in 72 for example.
4 Peterson 7:11.600 (finished 3rd)
24 Lauda 7:32.200. (dnf)
20+ seconds quicker. A long lap, but still, it was the same story at every race.
Clark was the best in every other respect, an incredible driver. Senna was almost as good, in terms of driving ability, but he didn't come close to Clark when it came to awareness or toughness.
16:50 - he had signed for mclaren for 1979 (italian gp is normally the time for announcements) - he damaged his car in an earlier session and had to qualify in the 1977 car - so was further back on the grid than normal that season and therefore in more crowded place than normal - yes the starter sent them early before every car had stopped but that wasn't unusual back then (i seem to remember that the shambolic 1981 belgian gp start was the actual game changer on that - certainly by the brazilian gp 1980 it was still occurring).
I agree the start was nothing out of the ordinary. Starts were poorly regulated, jumpstarts rarely punished, and drivers were not required to be stationary (I think it was OK as long as the rear wheels didn't pass the front of the grid slot).
It's a miracle bad starting accidents were not even more frequent.
I'd add Carlos Reutemann to this list, and many say he was the legitimate champion of 1981 (including Bernie Ecclestone...).
Totally agree, Ronnie Peterson.
I agree on Striling Moss, the greatest driver AND greatest gentleman to never be F1 world champion.
A supreme lord among the kings of F1
Ronnie's speed was also his greatest weakness. He always drove as fast as possible every lap, which the cars of the day usually couldn't handle over a grand prix distance. Drivers like Stewart had the skill to drive "as slow as possible and still finish first" (quote from Fangio, I think).
With a few more seasons, perhaps Peterson could have developed a better tactical approach, which would probably have made him champion.
What a legend!
I enjoyed the potted history lesson, thankyou very much. I would, though, point out that that Lotus were “famous” for component failure. Colin Chapmans tenet of “Build in lightness”, together with material science that was a shade of what it is now, resulted in cars that were quick, agile and fragile…Jimmy Clark’s death was the result of component failure.
My childhood Hero...
Thanx for your vid🙏
Love from Sweden 💖
No problem mate, glad you enjoyed it
There is a(monument)of Ronnie here in Örebro were he sits on the flames of the car.
Chris Amon
good video, Jacky Ickx should be in the talk too so underrated
Great documentary about a driver I had never heard of before! Thanks!
No problem!
A bit sad not to hear you mention Didier Pironi. He never really gets the love he deserves in my opinion, seeing as both he and Villeneuve we´re easily going to be fighting for the championship in 82 if it wasn´t for their respective crashes. I belive that both could have and probably should have been world champions and that both would have achieved that if it wasn´t for their careers being cut short. To me, it´s always felt like they we´re parallels of Senna and Prost. One amazingly gifted and fast and the other incredibly presize and consistent. The loss of both of these amazing drivers is truly one of the biggest in F1 history, simply because of the potential they both shared.
@@erikhalinaronsson1175 I covered the 1982 season in another video btw
Pironi was quick no doubt about it but Gilles was on a higher level.
Ronnie deserved a championship. Mario ought his one to Ronnie. But He was not the only one, neither the greatest. Ickx, Reutemann and Moss also had enough merits to achieve their ones.
Reutemann wasn’t a driver I considered but you’re right
Amon and Gurney come to mind first, to take nothing away from Ronnie.
It's complicated to determine who is the better driver to never win a championship. It probably would be Moss or Peterson. But you can also think of Villeneuve, Ickx or Laffite.
Ronnie was brilliant, if the cars were as reliable as they are now the race results would have been very different for drivers like : Peterson, Amon,Brise, Pryce and Villeneuve ! Sadly Ronnie’s wife Barboro passed away in 1980 missing Ronnie desperately !
Murray loved Peterson too
Ronnie, for me, after Senna and Schumacher. The 78 Championship, was his, but he had a signed agreement with Lotus, that he had to let Mario be always up front.
Incredible work! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Ronnies biggest problem was how he to often got bad advices from his management. Before the 1978 season he was offered a seat at Williams but declined and got his Nr.2 seat at Lotus, sponsored by some Italian noble man
My grandmother was a day mother to him when he was little.
they lie next to each other in the cemetery
That’s a great anecdote
My list of the best drivers to never become world champion: 1) Moss 2) Peterson 3) Gilles 4) Reutemann 5) Bellof 6) Barrichello 7) Webber 8) Ickx 9) Gurney 10) Tony Brise
Chris Amon is a great shout
I'd put Amon at 10, and for just pure potential talent, poor old Prycey at 11, then Brise. Otherwise, you're right.
J'aurais ajouté Jacques Laffite ainsi que Regazzoni.
Ils méritaitent largement un titre.
Dan Gurney - one of very few US-born drivers who could turn both left AND right!
I guess Villeneuve belongs on the list but I don't think -- despite his obvious qualities -- he was WDC material. Not as he was at the time of his death, anyway. I don't know why people rate Bellof so highly. I saw him and was impressed but WDC material? Too hard to say. His career was too brief. Tony Brise? I'd have nominated Tom Pryce before him but even he wouldn't make my list. Neither would Barricello but there's too much baggage with that one (not that it was his fault).
Sir Stirling Moss.
16:23 Any other purpose for that black screen apart from scaring people out that their GPU might have an issue? 😅
That’s on me, for some reason when exporting the video it for some reason cutoff right around that mark. While figuring out what was wrong I must have accidentally deleted the image from the timeline. Stupid error from me
We all loved Ronnie! He should have been the champion several times.
I think Valtteri Bottas should at least be mentioned with Danny Ricciardo...
I disagree, Bottas had several chances in a dominant car and failed while Ricciardo’s only good trait was overtaking
@@nedzosf1gridbox How did Bottas fail? 10 Wins, 67 podiums, 20 poles 19 fastest laps. Two times 2nd and twice 3rd in world championship against GOAT Hamilton and Max and 5 Constructors championships. He has better stats than Super Swede Ronnie Pettersson.
@mikkohaikala2577 stats don’t mean everything. If you don’t win the championship while having the best car five years running, regardless of who your teammate is (Lewis isn’t the GOAT btw) then you can’t be that good. On his day Bottas was decent, but usually only in qualifying and that’s not enough
@@nedzosf1gridbox So your opinion is that Ronnie Peterson and Stirling Moss weren't good drivers? I think we need to agree to disagree.
BTW. Bottas never even had a change, since team was strongly backing their number one driver Lewis. He was given only one year contracts during his time in Merc and had he even tried to be more selfish, he would have been dropped from the team at end of each year. I still think that Sir Lewis is the GOAT (I'm not a Lewis fan and hate how he has politicised F1). Only Michael Schumacher comes close, but he was really dirty competitor (Just ask Damon Hill and J. Villeneuve) and that's the reason his not a GOAT in my book but that is just my humble opinion. I't seems that stats really don't matter anymore. At least in Sauber who gave multiyear deal to a driver who has 0 podiums and don't care that they have a driver that has 67 podiums under his belt.
If you watched the video you’d know my opinions on moss and Peterson. There was a reason why Bottas was always number two, he simply wasn’t good enough. He’d beat Lewis maybe once or twice a season on merit then fade away, and he had no racecraft whatsoever. You can talk about how many podiums he has all you want, but when you’re in the best car for 5 seasons you should be talking about wins, not podiums. I’d also recommend that you watch my video on why Lewis isn’t the goat, as I use your method of statistical analysis well:
th-cam.com/video/OA4E6ZrPWbY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=8nkWPgPZuyKdZrrk
His death was a tragedy . . One GREATEST drivers ever. F1 politics was lousy then as it is now.
I am a little confused by the 1958 Portuguese GP and how Moss was able to witness the incident with Hawthorn. Was Moss behind Hawthorn during the race...the video says he stopped mid race to see what was happening... Can anyone clarify?
It happened near the end I think, and moss was just behind hawthorn because he was about to lap him, but didn’t want to embarrass his rival so he stayed behind
Juan Pablo Montoya is a driver who gave Michael Schumacher a hard time won races but not a title
@@thomaswiker3471 JPM was very fast but often too temperamental for his own good
Ronnie Petersen WAS Brilliant! But - Stirling Moss? Gilles Villeneuve? Chris Amon? More videos please.
Glad you enjoyed it! Videos come out every Friday
Ronnie Peterson from Sweden from the north failed to get championship medals Like Finland's Keke Rosberg, Mika Häkkinen and Kimi Räikkönen.
Fangio's list of the Greatest is very short. Ascari & Moss in his day. Then Clark & Stewart later. He rated Prost over Senna but changed his mind when Senna showed what he could do when he didn't have the best car. El Maestro, like Moss, had old fashioned morals and no time for Schumacher.
Ronnie was fantastic but couldn't take care of a car. As good as he was, nursing a car when it wasn't perfect wasn't his strength like it was for Jackie Stewart or Alain Prost.
Loved Ronnie.
Sadly, Ronnie's wife Barbro never got over Ronnie's death and eventually committed suicide.
Gerhard Berger.
Heroic Mr Hilter refernce on 2024 yt lol.😂
Wait a second; Phil Hill DOES have an F1 title (1961).
I don’t know where in this video that I said he didn’t
I always enjoy your vids, even when I don't agree with your takes.
Would you ever be willing to turn your attention to North Wales's only F1 driver, Tom Pryce, and his tragic tale?
Yes, I have planned on doing a video on him
@@nedzosf1gridbox Thank you muchly.
Stirling Moss, Didier Pironi and Carlos Reutemann were the greatest drivers not to take the title. Peterson was in the Villeneuve mould-fast, exciting, naturally talented like few others, but not really with a champion’s approach or mentality.
Pironi was plain unlucky, he deserved ‘82. Reutemann was very inconsistent too
Yes Ronnie was a fantastic race-driver but also a terrible negotiator and very hard on the material. He could drive anything fast but that meant also that his cars often wasn’t perfectly sorted out.
Toghether with his aggressive driving style it put a lot of stress on the car hence dnf’s.
In total a great guy and great driver but too often in the wrong place in the wrong moment.
A few years ago I read an article in a British magazine (simply called F1 I think) and they did an article on who they thought were the then 10 greatest drivers in F1 history. There was only one driver on the list who never won a world championship: Gilles Villeneuve.
Yea, I think Gilles is overrated in that regard.
@@nedzosf1gridbox As skilled as he undoubtedly was, Villeneuve needed a lot more than speed to be a World Champion.
Peterson was made-to-measure.
Exactly
Add Chris Amon
I did add Chris Amon to the list of those in contention
The opening sentence is immediately incorrect. The first F1 race was in 1947. The first round of F1 in 1950 was not Silverstone either. Silverstone in 1950 was the first round of the Drivers world championship. Please, if you want to post make sure of your facts before you do. You think I am wrong? Read the history and think again.
Ok. If we’re being pedantic then yes, I should’ve clarified that I meant “World Championship” races that constituted to a full season of F1 racing, and I knew that it started initially in 1947, it’s just I’m not going to create a longwinded and anal explanation that bores people to death. I did “make sure of facts”, I’m just not a boring gimp
Ronnie was the fastast driver ever!
Superswede 🇸🇪 The Movie
Peterson is not criminally underrated. British bias and lack of knowledge of how the Ferrari -apparatus worked back in the day has made you completely ignore the absolute greatest driver to never win a championship. I will give you a tip. A Belgian and he went by two nicknames. Le beau Jacky and Monsieur Le Mans. To put Peterson anywhere close to in the same category is ludicrous. Peterson was either on or off and he never had the smarts to just bring it home. People forget his overdriving the car on a number of occasions
@@Roguescienceguy yea, British bias applies to a Swede… definitely. And to suggest that anyone who merely has a different opinion to you is stupid and biased is at best arrogant and at worst stupid from yourself
@@nedzosf1gridbox though he was a Swede, he was at home in the UK and Jackie was never even considered in British poles because he butchered a few of their all time heroes when pure talent came floating up in the rain. I should have clarified that a bit more.
Tbh, I actually like your historic account of Peterson's career. He was a great driver, but he was never the victim of outright sabotage by a team that gave unwarranted preference to a national driver twice. Make one about Jacky and call it "the actual greatest driver to never win an F1-championship but reigned supreme everywhere else
@Roguescienceguy jacky Ickx was very good in the rain, and at the Nordschleife, he qualified third there in an F2 car once, but in his best shot at the title, 1970, I’d argue he was worse than both Rindt and a debutant Regazzoni. His peaks were high but his overall performance wasn’t on the same level as his endurance racing career
@@nedzosf1gridbox btw, I subbed. Keep it up👍
@@nedzosf1gridbox the fuckery he had to just accept in those two years, like a downtuned car to regazzoni, who definitely never was as good as Ickx. He didn't argue when it came to Rindt, there were different motives there and he rated Jochen
You were doing okay, until the silly and disrespectful words about Helmut Marko, the man who helped the great Dietrich Mateschitz to build his Red Bull team.
If that’s your opinion I’m cool with that
What about Nikita Mazepin?
Haha
Nikita Mazepin, the greatest driver who never scored a point!
Yes!
Underatted by who? Only part time viewers and modern day fans. The same people who say that Hamilton is the goat.
One thing is for sure: people who go out of their way to point out a seven time world champion’s inferiority are rarely talking about his driving. Even if he won an F1 championship in an F3 car that he built himself there’d still be people screaming about diversity quotas and forced sabotage of his teammates. If LH had looked like Ronnie he’d be universally admired and rightly considered one of the greatest athletes of all time, never mind racing drivers. Imagine if Senna looked like Pelé…
I say all this as a Swedish F1 fan, and while I wasn’t alive in 1978 I wish we could have seen Ronnie fulfill his massive potential. Instead we ended up with a country that was actively hostile to motorsport. I hear from older generations that he was almost as revered by the Swedish public as Senna was in Brazil.
In this racist-ass sport though, should Arvid Lindblad fulfill HIS potential and become one of the greatest, I half expect to see British and Swedish fans arguing over what nationality he ISN’T - and I say that as a half British person having witnessed how disgusting white people in both countries are. The only group of people who will embrace him without reservation will be the Indian fans.
reutemann was
You see Moss as the more legitimate champion... because the rules were followed and places were awarded as they were deserved? Sorry, but that's just silly. No, if Moss had won due to an incorrect penalty then he would NOT be the legitimate champion.
The rules weren’t followed, Moss went against the rules and made sure hawthorn wasn’t disqualified as he felt it would be unfair, not because it wasn’t against the rules
@@nedzosf1gridbox If you believe Moss then Hawthorn followed the rules and should not have been disqualified. Where is it against the rules to tell the stewards what you witnessed on the track? That's all Moss did. Places were awarded as they were deserved.
@joec3292 it could have also been interpreted the way I previously described
Stirling never lost anything by not winning the World Championship; he was way better than several fairly lacklustre 'world champions' and more than deserves his place amongst the partheon of motor racing's greatest-ever titans.
Please - less chatty recitation of results and more analysis.
People seem to like this form of content, it’s a staple of mine and there is analysis there. It’s often hard to give analysis for races from a long time ago too, because only certain ones have detailed race reports. I cover everything available from memory and research but unfortunately records from everything pre FOM era is patchy at best, especially for footage
Over rated. In his time- if he was good enough- he would have.
@@davidgavin7280 did you watch the video
@@nedzosf1gridbox why? I watched him race when he was alive. I don't need any video to tell me
@@davidgavin7280 sometimes memories aren’t always as we remember them
With all respect to Ronnie.. Gilles was in a league of his own
The world championship is overrated.
They're called Grand Prix for a reason.
Greatest driver without Champion title?
Hmmm, Barrichello?
Moss
😂
Already the title is wrong. The greatest driver to never win the title is Stirling Moss.
You should probably watch the video as I also gave Stirling his flowers
@@nedzosf1gridbox Sorry the title put me off from viewing the video. Regards.
Sterling Moss was buy far the best driver never to win a World title, do some research
I have done research, which you’d know if you watched the video and listened to what I said