In a poll conducted by the official Belgian F1 Grand Prix magazine, handed out last weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps track, Ayrton Senna was once again the highlight of a “best driver of all-time” list.
When answering a request by the race’s official guide, the 22 drivers in the F1 starting grid had to choose a “racing hero” – an idol they look up to as they speed along the world’s raceways.
Senna had the most number of fans by a large margin: 11 drivers, half of the field. The Brazilian received votes from four out of the five world champions still competing: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull, four-time F1 champion in 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010), Jenson Button (McLaren, champion in 2009), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes, champion in 2008) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, two-time champion, in 2005 and 2006).
Senna was also chosen as their sports idol by Belgian Grand Prix winner and current season’s rising star Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Pastor Maldonado (Lotus), Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), Sergio Perez (Force India), Adrian Sutil (Sauber), Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) and Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso).
The huge amount of votes for Senna was an exception in the poll conducted by the official F-1 race programme of the Belgian Grand Prix. While the Brazilian driver had 11 votes, the second driver that had more votes was Michael Schumacher, chosen by Brazilian driver Felipe Massa, from Williams.
Third in the list of current driver’s idols was Finn Mika Hakkinen, with two votes. Several names from the past merited one mention each, among them Austrian Jochen Rindt, Swede Ronnie Peters and Scot Jackie Stewart. James Hunt was chosen by another one-time world champion: Kimi Raikkonen, from Ferrari.
