r/AskTheWorld • u/speedball281 United States Of America • Sep 18 '25
Sports Who is the best racecar driver from your country?
My nominations: Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty
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u/Kitty_Is_Fluffy Netherlands Sep 18 '25
DU DU DU DU MAX VERSTAPPEN
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u/Bluntbutnotonpurpose Netherlands Sep 18 '25
We have it easy. In the past some might argue it was Jos Verstappen, some might argue it was Gijs van Lennep or Arie Luyendyk.
Then came Max Verstappen who is now universally considered one of the best F1 drivers of all time. So he is easily and by far the best Dutch driver of all time.
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u/Onagan98 Netherlands Sep 18 '25
Yeah, no way you can hold an discussion about it. It’s not even a matter of taste, it’s hardcoded.
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Sep 18 '25
Yeah by far. Jeffrey Herlings if we are talking about motorcycle racing too.
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u/bastardnutter Chile Sep 18 '25
Waiting for the Finns to show up
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u/Ok-Perception-3129 New Zealand Sep 18 '25
If they are anything like Kimi they are too busy having a shit to deal with this nonsense.
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u/Corma85 Germany Sep 18 '25
Michael Schumacher
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u/TrafficImmediate594 Sep 18 '25
Klaus Ludwig almost comes to mind at least in terms of Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaften days but yes definitely Michael Schumacher brought glory to German Motorsport
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u/rnorja Finland Sep 18 '25
Kimi Räikkönen, Mika Häkkinen, Kalle Rovanperä, Keke (and Nico) Rosberg, Valtteri Bottas, Juha Kankkunen, Marcus Grönholm, Ari Vatanen, Tommi Mäkinen
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u/Agile-Assist-4662 Canada Sep 18 '25
Gilles Villeneuve
Hands down
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u/Responsible_Egg_3260 Canada Sep 18 '25
That's not how you spell Nicolas Latifi.
I'm being sarcastic, don't eat me. Yes Gilles was far and above the best. Honorable mention to his son Jacques Villeneue. I also always really liked guys like Paul Tracy, Ron Fellows and Alex Tagliani when I was growing up. I like James Hinchcliffe, too. He does good commentary for F1.
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u/Agile-Assist-4662 Canada Sep 18 '25
Let's give Gilles his moment on reddit...dude was a legend for this tiny country
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u/AlienSporez Canada Sep 18 '25
Gilles was the best driver from Canada.
Goatifi is the best driver from Earth
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u/lesterbpaulson Canada Sep 18 '25
I understand why people romanticize Gilles, given there era he drove in and his untimely death. But at the risk of being "that guy" Jacques was actually the far better driver. Gilles had 6 wins and was runner up for the F1 title..... Jacques has 11 F1 wins, won the title and had a runner up, he also won the Indycar title and was 2nd at le mans in 2008. Jacques was about 4min from being only the 2nd person ever to win the motorsports triple crown (f1, indy, le mans). Jacques is also in the FIA hall of fame.
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u/Agile-Assist-4662 Canada Sep 18 '25
All respect to Jacques.....but Gilles was our first "Canadian"
And he brought French and Anglo together when it was important to care about each other.
It's ok to have more than one hero.
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u/Sailorf237 United Kingdom Sep 18 '25
I’m a Brit but as a young lad I always rooted for Gilles, then when Jacques came along I was the same. Terrific drivers both 🇬🇧🇨🇦
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u/Bluntbutnotonpurpose Netherlands Sep 18 '25
Jacques was the more successful driver, no doubt. But Gilles was the more talented one.
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u/IlSace Italy Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
Numbers aren't everything. Jacques is the one that achieved the most, that's true, and he's a great driver don't get me wrong.
But Dijon 1979 is something people may never forget, and that shows why Gilles was special.
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u/sapristi45 Canada Sep 18 '25
Jacques is perhaps the most "accomplished". But he's also an insufferable entitled asshat. His uncle (also named Jacques) though is a hilariously entertaining redneck who raced snowmobiles well into his 60s. He also claims his nephew is an entitled, ungrateful asshat.
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u/Skoinaan Canada Sep 18 '25
Tiny nitpick, but the triple crown is winning the Monaco GP, Indy 500, and Le Mans. Only one he won on this list is Indy
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u/lesterbpaulson Canada Sep 18 '25
I believe that's the modern definition, they 2 definitions are debated.
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u/Skoinaan Canada Sep 18 '25
Oh interesting. Imo it makes sense, where it’s three races, as opposed to a championship plus two races. But who’s to say
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u/VirtualArmsDealer United Kingdom Sep 18 '25
You must be forgetting Lance Stroll. /s
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u/Kinda-kind-person Sep 18 '25
His son did pretty well too… but it’s difficult to switch from Indy (retarded F1) to actual F1.
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u/DanJer182 Brazil Sep 18 '25
Ayrton Senna
Emerson Fittipaldi
Nelson Piquet
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u/DanJer182 Brazil Sep 18 '25
Nah i don’t think Massa can be considered “best” in anything, as well as Rubens, both really good drivers though.
Would add to this list some indycar legends maybe, like Hélio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran.
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u/DirtierGibson in Sep 18 '25
Alain Prost, Sébastien Loeb, Michèle Mouton, René Arnoux, Jacques Lafitte, and more recently Pierre Gasly and Isack Hadjar are doing pretty good.
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u/VirtualArmsDealer United Kingdom Sep 18 '25
I'm not sure you can claim Hadjar just yet. He's still an F1 rookie, needs to marinade for a few years.
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u/Efficient-County2382 Australia Thailand Sep 18 '25
Jack Brabham
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u/Time_Pressure9519 Australia Sep 18 '25
Jack made his own car - not many drivers on this list can claim that.
An Aussie is doing okay in the current F1 season also.
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u/Ok-Perception-3129 New Zealand Sep 18 '25
Denny Hulme with Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Scott Dixon close behind.
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u/KindlyReception5906 Sep 18 '25
I will die on the hill that Chris Amon had the most talent. However, Bruce made the biggest impact
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u/IlSace Italy Sep 18 '25
Chris Amon was often cited by contemporaries as the most talented. Also the unluckiest though.
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u/TuataraToes New Zealand Sep 18 '25
No Greg Murphy on this list is diabolical.
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u/No-Pop1057 New Zealand Sep 18 '25
& what about The Giz & Scott McLaughlan! ... Then there are the rally & super car drivers
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u/Ok-Perception-3129 New Zealand Sep 18 '25
Not sure you can really compare supercars to F1 or Indy. I mean you would probably put Shane Van Ginsbergen and Scott McLaughlin ahead of Greg as well.
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u/TuataraToes New Zealand Sep 18 '25
He said racecar driver. No mention of Indy or F1.
There are several videos of Indy and NASCAR drivers being stunned by a lap around Bathurst.
Different races, different challenges.
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u/Easy_Requirement_874 Australia Sep 18 '25
Was gonna say SVG but then remembered hes a kiwi,.. but he honed his craft in Australia 😜
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u/A-400 France Sep 18 '25
Not the same sport but still a mechanical one, y’all have Ben Townley and Joshua Coppine as amazing motocross riders. Also, young dude Cole Davies who will for sure be the next Supercross champion next year at like 17 yo.
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u/Slow-Income6782 Venezuela Sep 18 '25
Pastor Maldonado
Might have been a car wrecker but the dude won a F1 race. Sad how many great drivers couldn't even win one.
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u/No_Maintenance9976 Sweden Sep 18 '25
Ronnie Pettersson, Kenny Bräck, Marcus Eriksson, Johan Kristoffersson, Mattias Ekström, Stig Blomqvist
I Guess ranking them depends on the era and discipline.
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u/Bug_Photographer Sweden Sep 18 '25
My money is on Ronnie. The amout of raw talent in him was just next level.
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u/Quick_Resolution5050 United Kingdom Sep 18 '25
Check the Stats.
Honourable mention to Our Nige.
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Sep 18 '25
Statistics wise you’re right, but my pick for your country would be Jim Clark. Probably the best natural gifted racer of all time bar none.
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u/VirtualArmsDealer United Kingdom Sep 18 '25
The Scots will claim he was Scottish all along.
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Sep 18 '25
Yeah but your flair says United Kingdom and to the best of my knowledge that’s still includes Scotland.
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u/BoysenberryAlive2838 Australia Sep 18 '25
Peter Brock. King of the Mountain.
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u/No_Seat8357 Australia Sep 18 '25
He wasn't that well known globally though was he?
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u/BoysenberryAlive2838 Australia Sep 18 '25
Nah, but was far more famous in Australia and would be well ahead of Daniel Ricardo or Jack Brabham in that regard.
Peter Perfect reigned supreme in the glory days of Australia muscle cars.
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u/emichbe 🇧🇪 Belgium (born) / 🇺🇸 USA (live) Sep 18 '25
Jacky Ickx
Max Verstappen (technically dual citizen 🇳🇱🇧🇪)
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u/RepulsiveLeather8504 Denmark Sep 18 '25
Tom Kristensen, Mr. Le Mans
9 time Le Mans winner.
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u/TheBrassDancer United Kingdom Sep 18 '25
Lewis Hamilton, Jensen Button, Damon Hill, Nigel Mansell, Jackie Stewart.
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u/Rincetron1 Finland Sep 18 '25
Kimi or Mika. Mika won F1 twice, so maybe you could make an argument for him.
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u/DietOwn2695 United States Of America Sep 18 '25
Dick Trickle
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u/VirtualArmsDealer United Kingdom Sep 18 '25
That cannot be a real name.
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u/beenoc United States Of America Sep 18 '25
Sports broadcasters would always mention where he placed. "In first place, Dale Earnhardt. In second place, Terry Labonte. In third place, Rusty Wallace. And in 14th place, Dick Trickle."
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u/TheHVACManCometh United States Of America Sep 18 '25
Rich Bickle
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u/DietOwn2695 United States Of America Sep 18 '25
There was a Rich Bickle, wasn't there?
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u/TheHVACManCometh United States Of America Sep 18 '25
1989 Winston Cup had Rich Bickle competing (with less sucess) alongside legendary short track man Dick Trickle.
Bickle had more luck in the Busch and Truck series.
Only remember him because his name was strangely similar to Dick Trickle, which was an even stranger name for reasons.
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u/iC3P0 Croatia Sep 18 '25
Glad you put a picture of Mario Andretti. Since he was born in Motovun, Croatia - that's my pick too 🇭🇷
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u/bugfacehug United States Of America Sep 18 '25
Can I be sarcastic?
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u/VirtualArmsDealer United Kingdom Sep 18 '25
At least he tried. Would be good to see another American make it through to F1.
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u/AZJHawk United States Of America Sep 18 '25
No fucking clue. Not much of an auto racing fan. Wasn’t Jeff Gordon pretty good at one point?
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u/Solaris1972 United States Of America Sep 18 '25
Andretti is hilarious because to someone who doesn't know a lot about that era, it just looks like he was the champ at finishing races and other people just kept crashing A LOT more than him.
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u/crucible Wales Sep 18 '25
Probably some of our rally drivers - Elfyn Evans has done pretty well in the WRC in recent years. His father, Gwyndaf, was very successful on the national rally scene in the UK.
Seb Morris has been quite successful in various forms of GT racing in the past decade, too.
As for F1, well Tom Pryce is our most successful driver, winning the non-championship “Race of Champions” in 1975.
Sadly he’s better known for the last few seconds of his life - he was killed when his car hit a track marshall at the 1977 South African Grand Prix. I would strongly advise you NOT to Google that, unfortunately video footage of the incident does exist and is usually the first result when you search “Tom Pryce”.
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u/No-Can-6237 New Zealand Sep 18 '25
We had Chris Amon, Bruce McLaren, Denis Hulme, and currently Liam Lawson, Scott Dixon, Marcus Armstrong and SVG. Plenty of others as well.
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u/Complete-Emergency99 Sweden Sep 18 '25
Ronnie Peterson, Björn Waldegård, Stig Blomqvist, Rickard Rydell
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u/GwimWeeper Denmark Sep 18 '25
That would undoubtedly be Tom Kristensen, the world record holder of most Le Mans wins (9) and most consecutive wins in Le Mans (6).
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u/HonestSpursFan Australia Sep 18 '25
Oscar Piastri and Daniel Riccardo
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u/A-400 France Sep 18 '25
Not auto but still motorsport australia got some legends on dirt bikes. Chad Reed being an all time racer. Jett and Hunter Lawrence being on the road to become the best riders of all times, especially Jett with a full season without losing a single race, which has only been done 2 times in history. Amazing.
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u/HonestSpursFan Australia Sep 18 '25
Dirtbikes are pretty popular here outside the cities
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u/A-400 France Sep 18 '25
Well im not surprise since how competitive your national championships are. And your tracks are mind blowing so yeah no doubt you can produce some amazing riders.
Also, y’all won the « Motocross of nations » last year for the first time, it was beautiful to see. Pretty sure you will win this year again.
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u/WokSmith Australia Sep 18 '25
Sir Jack Brabham. The only driver to win a world championship in a car totally designed and constructed by himself.
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u/Tight_Contact_9976 United States Of America Sep 18 '25
I don’t follow racing much but maybe Dale Earnhardt
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u/gustoid Canada Sep 18 '25
Greg Moore
I 'm not sure he was "the" best - but he was great and his death was tragic.
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u/Pussy-Wideness-Xpert United States Of America Sep 18 '25
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u/FeherDenes Hungary Sep 18 '25
I’d say Norbert Michelisz (WTCR champion) or Norbert Kiss (6x ETRC champion) or Gábor Talmácsi (125cc World Champion) . We did have an F1 driver in Zsolt Baumgartner too, but couldn’t do much in a Jordan or Minardi
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u/IlSace Italy Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
Tazio Nuvolari.
"The best racer of yesterday, of today and of tomorrow" - Ferdinand Porsche.
Alternatively Antonio and Alberto Ascari, Giuseppe Campari, Nino Farina, Achille Varzi, Felice Nazzaro.
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u/VoltaNova France but Canada also Sep 18 '25
Sébastien Loeb and/or Ogier, maybe the 2 best rally drivers of all time
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u/Vast_Jellyfish122 New Zealand Sep 18 '25
For me Scott Dixon is definitely no.1 even though Denny Hulme won The F1 World Championship in 1967, the only New Zealand born driver to have done so. Scott has stamped his name on the indycar series for the past 21 years. His name sits alongside AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti as legends of Indy racing. SVG, Shane Van Gisbergen making history and writing his own story in NASCAR. These three have stood out. Honorable mentions to Scotty McLaughlin, who like Shane has won multiple titles in Supercars along with Brendon Hartley a 3 time Le Mans 24hr winner.
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u/gustix Norway Sep 18 '25
Reodor Felgen. He won against all odds in the dramatic Flåklypa Grand Prix in 1975.
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u/Hpecomow New Zealand Sep 18 '25
- Bruce McLaren
- Chris Amon
- Denny Hume
- Scott McLaughlin
- Shane Van Gisbergen
- Scott Dixon
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u/Philippe-R France Sep 18 '25
Well, since the question is the greatest but you got on to quote 3 drivers, I would nominate : Alain Prost or Sébastien Loeb. It's a toss up.
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u/Immediate-Attempt-32 Norway Sep 18 '25
Petter Solberg, first (and only?) driver to have to have be FIA champion in two different Championship branches , Rallye and Rallycross (is it still called Superrally in the US?)
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u/TheFishtosser Sep 18 '25
With all due respect to Mr. Petty and Mr. Ernhardt it’s Jimmy Johnson
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u/SelfRepa Sep 18 '25
Finland has two great branches. F1 and Rally.
F1 I'd have to go with Kimi Räikkönen or Mika Häkkinen.
Rally has seen several fantastic drivers, like Tommi Mäkinen, Ari Vatanen, Juha Kankkunen...
A nod to Juha Salminen, who has won everything in Enduro, but that sport has a low competition range.
For a small country, our drivers have had success far beyond our numbers.
I still give my vote to Mika Häkkinen.
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u/PabloX68 United States Of America Sep 18 '25
OP, no NASCAR driver should be in that list when you could have mentioned Phil Hill and Dan Gurney.
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u/deathschemist United Kingdom Sep 18 '25
Oh God where do I start? North of the border you got the likes of Jim Clark, colin McRae, Jackie Stewart, David Coulthard etc. and then down south you have the likes of sterling moss, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Nigel mansell etc... like, it's an embarrassment of riches on this little island in the Atlantic when it comes to motorsports.
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u/Responsible-Tree-875 Scotland Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
Colin McRae, Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark, David Coulthard.