Toughest opposition?

[Jordi]

Yes he did.

I think Mika was the one who faced him in the most equal possible conditions. 1997, the Ferrari was a bit behind the FW19. But in terms of driver talent, it's Jacques.


Obvious, being me

[santori]

Yes, I said most.

[zonda]

Just a quick side note, i don't have a copy of the race at SPA with Mika and Michael. Does anyone have any Online copy of it by anychance ?
The lap leadnig up to it and so forth. not the whole race. but the whole race would be nice....

dave

[gttouring]

well Mika was the Single most competitive driver versus Michael and they fought eachother very well, Now Michael has to fight 2 guys JPM and Kimi and they are giving him the trouble ONE Mika gave him to get race wins- Wow how good was Mika really? I can't believe he was such a short career champion,2 is nothing to scoff at, but it would've been great to see him fight for 3 or more, he was awesome in the race car wasn't he, and that funny off kilter smile he'd give, what a champ-

[Mattracer]

Blindingly quick but when the car wasn't in the zone he wasn't either.

It's here that Schumacher had any sort of edge.

[Snrub]

People: CAR != Driver.
Mika was able to run with or ahead of MS when his car was faster. Kimi, Alonso, JPM have not had a car with the consistant advantage that Mika had. Consider that Mika barely won the championship vs. Irvine and HHF, two drivers that are rated very poorly by many forum members (I rate both pretty highly). Granted reliability played a substantial factor, but look at the race performances. There is no doubt in my mind that RB in the McLarens of Mika's championship could have performed better. Same goes for a decent list of other contemporary drivers. IMO Mika was good, but his largest contribution was to further make MS.

[Hazza]

I don't look at it as Mika winning the 99 title, I try to think of it as "loosing it so bad they win"

thus: "Mike tried so hard to loose the 99 title that he won it..."

Um, I voted for Mansell.

Because...well...y'know its Mansell

By the time he got dialed into the Williams he was faster than Hill and it would've been good to see him in the car in 95 - *****ing about the williams and beating schumi, as opposed to sitting on the sidelines and *****ing about williams

[Space Hopper]

Mika!!!!! BY FAR

[Knowlesy]

Hazza, i totally agree with you! I have often sat wondering how Mansell would have done in 1995. He would have pushed harder for the title than Damon for sure and certainly would have won the title in 1996. It makes me feel sad and regretful when I think that Williams signed DC in the hope he would have been better long term and then got rid of him after a year. Poor Nige.

[DaveOrama]

The turning point for Mika was when he was "given" the last race in 1998 in Spain. The Mclaren, with Newey's input was on the way up faster than the Ferrari. Mikas newfound confidence and the great Mclaren gave him a competitive edge.

We missed the potential of many of the WDC's of the 80's and early 90's giving it to Michael, and I don't think any of the subsequent champions (apart from Michael) measure up to thos guys....

One of Michaels best competitors in recent times since he's grown up a bit is Ralf.

[Gt_R]

After much considerations...i've finally voted for "others".

Heck, no driver in Michael's decade long career in F1 had provided a consistent challenge. While Michael's there all the way, others come and go... so none qualify as "tough".

However, there are 2 other "competitors" which posed the biggest threats to Michael's championship hopes. MR NEWEY, whose cars are the only ones who ever succeed in winning championships besides those driven by MS himself, and Michelin, whose tyres gave teams the suviving chance of fighting so close last season, and a real threat to beat Michael in this.

So Michael's greatest competition doesn't come from drivers, but rather, a talented designer and a multi-million tyre manufacturer!

[Mattracer]

Originally posted by Gt_R
[

So Michael's greatest competition doesn't come from drivers, but rather, a talented designer and a multi-million tyre manufacturer! [/B]

Symptomatic of a general malaise really.

[santori]

I don't think Mansell would have beaten Damon. He was good at Adelaide but far from Damon's pace - though the car may have been damaged. But I do think that having him as a team-mate would have been much better for Damon than having Coulthard. It would have shared the responsibility more evenly and given Damon someone to aim for.

[krt917]

I think that it depends on how motivated Nige was. Clearly, he was up for hauling an uncompetitive McLaren round in 1995, but a fast Williams would probably have got the best out of him. And if that had happened, I think that he would have beaten Damon. Either way, though, I agree with you that it would probably have been better for the teamand Damon in 1995 to have had Nige. They really lost their way during the year.

Still reckon Damon or Mika have to be Schuey's toughets opposition, though the link there of course is Adrian Newey's design talents!

[Hazza]

I'd just like to refer to the Adelaide Qualifying time sheets from 1994 - I'm sure that Damon was fairly motovated but...gee .5 of a second was it?


Sorry! He's our Nige!

[krt917]

I'm not saying that he would definitely have been faster, but I do think that Mansell on top of his game would beat - more often than not - Damon Hillat his (considerable) best.

Remember, Nige hadn't done a full year in 1994, had (I believe) put on some weight - which I think he would have been more motivated to lose if he had a Williams seat waiting for him - and I always considered Mansell as more of a racer than a qualifier anyway!

[speedbump]

JV, Mika, Montoya
Hard to just pick one in this pole.