Quote Originally Posted by Nitrodaze View Post
I would be cautious to undermine drivers, especially champions of Keke Rosbergs era. As you pointed out Villeneuve was killed and Peroni was badly injured if l remember correctly. Keke raced in hardcore days, one lap of that period is equivalent to at least two race weekends in the present era. The mortality rate was simply out of the scale of present day safety parameters.

To become champion under any circumstance in the Keke Rosberg period was nothing short of remarkable. Regardless of how it came about. The Spain incident between Hamilton and Rosberg would easily have been a life ending event in Keke Rosberg's day. So when you compare drivers between these era, you should pause for a moment and give due respect to drivers of that glorious but fatal era.

In my book, even if Nico Rosberg wins the 2016 WDC fair and square, l would not rate him anywhere near Keke Rosberg. Because l am quite sure that he would not make it through that era driving the way he drives at the moment. Actually, l do not think he would make it [alive] through half a season of the Villeneuve and Keke era. Respect buddy, respect.
Actually, the 1980s where Keke did most of his driving was not a particularly fatal era of F1 (1982, the year he won his WC, was the last year a driver died on a race week-end until Imola 1994). And from what I remember, there were way more collisions between drivers than there are now (especially as drivers would hardly ever be punished for them, unlike today); apart from the misunderstanding between Mass and Villeneuve in Zolder, none resulted in a driver fatility. All other deaths of that era were from single car accidents (of which I feel Hamilton has had more than Nico Rosberg over the course of their career).

Keke no doubt was a good driver, especially over one lap, but he was not top of the class of his era - that were Piquet, Prost, Lauda, Villeneuve, Pironi (who in spite of having done five GPs less than Keke in 1982 still only finished five points behind him in the final standings), later the emerging Senna & Mansell.