Best Ever F1 car

[Alfa Fan]

I dunno, but with a proper reliability the MP4-20 would have been as dominant as the F2004 the year before...

But maybe if they made it reliable it would have been slower.

[Tazio]

But maybe if they made it reliable it would have been slower.

An important point. As it pertains to 2002, JPM put the FW24 on pole seven times, and finished with zero wins.

[ArrowsFA1]

Best ever in terms of...? Results, looks, livery, technology?

For me nothing beats the Lotus 79. Results wise it won a championship and just 7 races and was competitive for less than a year but for someone fairly new to the sport at the time it looked a 'proper' racing car, had the best livery ever, shaped F1 for years to come and was driven by Andretti and Peterson. 'Nuff said

[Hawkmoon]

The thing that stands out for me about Ferrari in 2002 is that they scored 221 points. The rest of the grid combined scored 221 points. The 1988 McLaren can't match that statistic. Besides, I'm completely biased.

[Tazio]

Best ever in terms of...? Results, looks, livery, technology?

For me nothing beats the Lotus 79. Results wise it won a championship and just 7 races and was competitive for less than a year but for someone fairly new to the sport at the time it looked a 'proper' racing car, had the best livery ever, shaped F1 for years to come and was driven by Andretti and Peterson. 'Nuff said

Speak of the devil; Mario taking it for the first lap at the grand opening of CotA last week


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5gLo...layer_embedded

[Ninar69]

1961 Ferrari 156 Sharknose. Saw one racing at the Goodwood Revival a year or 2 ago.
Beautiful .

[wedge]

To each his own I think that the phrase "Both conservatively engineered" dose the F2002 a bit of an injustice.
Here is an interesting read from a source I hold in very high regard.


Read on:
Ferrari F2002 - F1technical.net
Using the Pomeroy Index system, Motor Sport magazine recently determined that the F2002 is the fastest Formula One car of all time.
McCabism: The Pomeroy Index
This exercise all in all is a subjective comparison, and I say: "viva la difference" Both cars were incredibly successful, but I would definately give the edge to McLaren in terms of pilot talent.

No I don't think "conservatively engineered" is an injustice at all and frankly the article you quote proves it as much - refinement and 'simple' engineering solutions.

As with "best driver" debates I think headlining statistics are not necessarily an important indicator.

As much as I admire simple/conservative engineering I also admire technology and innovation: there is something special about a great race car with a silver bullet that precipitates (Lotus 79) or is at the apex (FW 14B)of an arms race.

[Tazio]

No I don't think "conservatively engineered" is an injustice at all and frankly the article you quote proves it as much - refinement and 'simple' engineering solutions.

As with "best driver" debates I think headlining statistics are not necessarily an important indicator.

As much as I admire simple/conservative engineering I also admire technology and innovation: there is something special about a great race car with a silver bullet that precipitates (Lotus 79) or is at the apex (FW 14B)of an arms race.

These are all points well taken. I would just like to point out that the difference in the amount of latitude within "The Formula" in the '70's compared to the 21st century is enormous, and the refining of many parts from the F2001 for the F2002 should be taken into consideration in that context. JMO

[schmenke]

The success of Ferrari up until 2002 would not have been possible without Bridgestone.

Technologically the best F1 car ever:
The 1978 Brabham "fan" car.

[Rollo]

The Lotus 25 was the first fully stressed monocoque chassis in F1 and still won both the Constructors' Championship and the Drivers' Championship in its fourth season.
NO car in F1 since has been so brilliant that it still won GPs four years later, not even the McLaren MP4/1.