10 Most Successful Formula One Drivers Of All Time

6. Ayrton Senna

Lewis Hamilton
By Iwao from Tokyo, Japan (AyrtonSenna01 Uploaded by Masur) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Championships: 3

Wins: 41

Poles: 65

For many people, Ayrton Senna was the fastest F1 driver of all time.

It was quite obvious from an early stage that Ayrton Senna was a special talent. In torrential rain at the Monaco Grand Prix of 1984, Senna took an underpowered Toleman to second place. Many at the time thought he would have won the race had it not been red-flagged. The race also marked the start of Senna's love affair with Monaco. He would go on to win the Monaco Grand Prix a record six times. In fact, Senna remained unbeaten there from 1989 to 1993.

Apart from being practically unbeaten at the hardest track in the world, Senna's incomparable ability is shown in his qualifying stats. His ability to take a car to its absolute limit for one lap marks Senna out as one of the best. 65 Pole positions in 161 Grands Prix is quite something.

A driven, possibly arrogant, man, Senna was a Marmite character. His legendary battles with Alain Prost from 1988 to 1990 were scintillating, culminating in controversy and lots of broken carbon fiber.

Senna's death robbed the motoring world of its favorite son. Still, the fact he is only sixth on this list shows that being the best is not necersarilly the same as being the most successful.

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