[Driver] The GOAT - Round Two - Rindt vs Prost

[crmalcolm]

The twelfth match-up in Round Two sees Rindt vs Prost.

Rindt was victorious 13-1 in the first round, whilst Prost took a 10-0 victory.

So who do you vote for as the greater driver?

Jochen Rindt
Jochen Rindt took 9 wins in his short F1 career. This is a small number for a champion, but nobody won a race while they were Rindt’s teammate.

Rindt’s career ended in tragic circumstances, as he was killed in practice for the 1970 Italian GP. His performance that season was so dominant that he won the title posthumously in spite of only competing in 9 of the 13 races. In those 9 races, he had 4 mechanical DNFs and 5 victories, meaning a 100% win rate in counting races. This is one of only seven such cases in history, the others being:

Juan Manuel Fangio won 3/3 counting races in 1950.
Luigi Fagioli (no ranking) won 1/1 counting race in 1951.
Alberto Ascari won 6/6 counting races in 1952.
Jim Clark won 3/3 counting races in 1964.
Jim Clark won 6/6 counting races in 1965.
Jim Clark won 1/1 counting race in 1968.

Such cases theoretically correspond to a perfect scoring rate and are therefore challenging to statistically handle.

In Rindt’s case, the 1970 season was undoubtedly a brilliant driver performance. His win at Monaco was particularly impressive, coming from 8th on the grid while running an older model Lotus 49. But, the mechanical DNFs fell at convenient times with respect to maintaining a 100% win rate in counting races. In South Africa, Rindt caused a first-lap accident, ruining his own race, only to later retire with an engine failure. In Monaco, Rindt had started 8th when he retired early in race. Due to retirements of others he may have finished 2nd or possibly challenged Stewart for victory. In Belgium, Rindt had started 2nd but was running 4th (and would likely have finished 3rd due to Jackie Stewart‘s engine failure) when his engine failed. In Austria, Rindt had started on pole, but was not leading when his engine failed.

Rindt’s fatal accident at Monza was caused by a brake failure as he came into Parabolica. In retrospect, there were many signs of Team Lotus having lax engineering standards in safety-critical areas in the pursuit of outright pace before Rindt’s death. A suspension failure in practice at Belgium had been caused by someone forgetting to drill a breather hole in the hub upright casting. A steering failure in practice for France had left Rindt shaken, and upon return to the pits he prophetically declared,

“If this happens again and I survive, I will kill all of you!”

These were not isolated incidents. A year before, Rindt had publicly berated Colin Chapman after multiple wing failures caused accidents, ultimately injuring Rindt and track marshals.

At his best, Rindt was undoubtedly one of the top drivers on the grid, having convincingly outperformed both Jack Brabham and Graham Hill in equal equipment. Of the drivers in the top 100, Rindt has the highest rate of mechanical DNFs, at 55% of his starts. As a result, there were only 27 counting races in his career, making his performance rating less certain compared to drivers with longer careers. Rindt’s high standing (based largely on his 1970 season) has the knock-on effect of greatly boosting the estimate of John Surtees’ performance in 1966 when he was Rindt’s teammate.

Alain Prost
Prost was in many ways the natural complement to Senna. Not as fearsome over a single lap, nor anywhere near as adept as Ayrton Senna in wet conditions, but surer of head and a more consistent and relentless performer under race conditions. The fact that the two drivers were so finely balanced despite their clearly differing skills and deficits was an exemplar of the boxing adage ‘styles make fights’. Had either driver been the complete package, their match-up would have been far less interesting.

Looking at Prost’s teammates, it is remarkable to note that he was never outperformed by any regular teammate in terms of points per counting race. This is a particularly impressive record, considering he faced five other champions.

[Racing Harz]

IMO Rindt. What a great driver.
But Prost is a legend and fantastic driver, too.

[Aysedasi]

It has to be Prost. Rindt again falls into the 'what might have been' category but I really don't see why this one is so close thus far.

[FIRE]

Prost

[Adam43]

Cheers.

[FastDB2s]

Prost without a shadow of doubt

[morninggents]

Prost was a good champion but very selective in which teammates he would have when allowed a choice.


Rindt would have been a multi champion if he had survived and this contest may have swung his way.



I don't much like him but it has to be Prost.

[chunterer]

Le Prof