[crmalcolm]

So the entry list has been compiled for the ten-tenths 2021 F1 GOAT bracket.

The full entry list consists of 67 names, which needs to come down to 64. So, the following four drivers are all competing for the final seeded place. In no particular order, the four drivers are:

Jean Behra:
Dig into the what-if literature in F1 and you will invariably come across the name Jean Behra. He could be considered a sort of Stefan Bellof of the 1950s. A more obscure, but highly enduring, cult hero. Behra won the hearts of fans with his stylish and daring driving, compared later to Gilles Villeneuve. He was rated #38 in a list of all-time greatest drivers in a poll of motorsports experts, where he was described as having the talent to win titles, although he never actually won an F1 championship race.


Stefan Bellof
In the years following his untimely death in 1985, Stefan Bellof became a cult hero among F1 fans. At the time of his death, Bellof was nearing the end of his second F1 season and had made just 20 race starts. In evaluating cases such as Bellof’s, it’s difficult to be objective. His career lives on in memory due to the moments of great brilliance and bravado, which tend to obscure anything else. There are still many fans who regard Bellof as almost a guaranteed world champion, had he lived beyond 1985. (Instead, Germany had to wait for Michael Schumacher to win the title in 1994.)

Prince Bira (Birabongse Bhanutej Bhanubandh)

'One of the world's last great "gentleman drivers" was Prince Bira of Thailand. Very wealthy drivers who could buy the best of the best and go racing were commonplace in the period between the World Wars, and Ferrari's business was built on providing race cars to such clients post-war. But Bira's standing signifies a truly great talent well beyond his financial means and gregarious personality.

Motor racing successfully at the elite level from the mid 1930s (winning the British Racing Drivers Club Gold Star in 1936, 1937 and 1938) until the mid-1950s, he also acted as a flying instructor for the British RAF during WW2 as his country was occupied. His Formula One career lasted from 1950, through 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 and 1955.'

Luigi Fagioli
'In racing terms, Luigi Fagioli, affectionately called "The Old Abruzzi Robber" by all who liked him, was a late developer. Not before 1926, at the age of 28, did he compete in his first race. In 1930 he won his first race, the Coppa Principe di Piemonte, in a Maserati. In 1933 Fagioli became Italian champion for the Alfa Romeo squad run by Enzo Ferrari. He did not look like a racing driver. But behind the wheel he stood out because of his stamina and passion.

These characteristics earned him an invitation to join the Mercedes-Benz works team in 1934. Fagioli returned the favour with the Grand Prix wins in Monza (shared with Rudolf Caracciola) and in Lasarte, Spain. In 1935, he topped this with another first in the season opener in Monaco. He also justified his inclusion by scoring victories in the Coppa Acerbo in Pescara (1934) as well as on the Avus and in Barcelona (1935). His contract expired in 1936.

After that he drove for Auto Union, and after the Second World War for Alfa Romeo, where he ranked among the "Three Great F's": Fangio, Farina and Fagioli who by and large fought out the 1951 Formula One races among themselves. While practicing for the 1952 Monaco Grand Prix, which was held for sports cars only in that year, he lost control of his Lancia in the tunnel and crashed into a stone balustrade. "The Old Abruzzi Robber" died on 20 June 1952, three weeks after the accident.'


So which of these four drivers gets your vote for the final place?

Vote will be concluded at the end of my working day tomorrow (3rd March)