During the summer break, we asked the great and good of the F1 paddock, and our @F1 followers, to vote for their #F1DreamTeam - two drivers, one team boss and one car. We've counted and compiled every vote to come up with the five most popular selections - and one 'ultimate' combination...
The final selection
This then is the 'ultimate' #F1DreamTeam, as voted for by all our @F1 followers, as well as some of the most famous names from the sport. And perhaps unsurprisingly, it features two of the most legendary names ever to grace a Formula One grid: Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Between them, the pair account for ten world championship crowns, 132 Grand Prix victories, 133 pole positions, and a staggering 235 podiums. But while their sheer dominance when in their prime is beyond doubt, the legacies of Senna and Schumacher also extend far beyond statistics. They are, simply put, two of the most extraordinary figures to have competed in F1 racing.
As for team boss, Ross Brawn gets the collective nod. Technical director of the championship-winning Benetton and Ferrari teams, Brawn went on to win a drivers' and constructors' double as team principal of his own eponymous team in 2009, and then laid the foundations for Mercedes' current success. McLaren's all-conquering MP4/4, meanwhile, is the car of choice in the ultimate Dream Team. Developed by Steve Nichols and Gordon Murray, it claimed an astonishing 15 poles, 15 victories and 10 further podiums from the 16-race 1988 season. The fact it was the car in which the legendary rivalry between Alain Prost and Senna really kicked off only adds to its lustre.
The top five #F1DreamTeam choices:
DRIVERS - Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Jim Clark
TEAM BOSS - Ross Brawn, Sir Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Flavio Briatore, Colin Chapman
CAR - McLaren MP4/4, Williams FW14B, Lotus 79, Ferrari F2004, Mercedes F1 W05 Hybrid
You can view the #F1DreamTeam selections made by the great and good of the F1 paddock below.
Jacques Villeneuve's selection
This is only the second time that Michael Schumacher - the most successful driver in F1 history - has been selected by a member of the paddock for their dream team. And perhaps surprisingly, it is Jacques Villeneuve - with whom Schumacher infamously collided as the pair contested the 1997 title - who selects the German. Villeneuve pits Schumacher against another Ferrari legend in the form of Niki Lauda. His bosses at Williams, Sir Frank Williams and Sir Patrick Head, are his choices to lead the team, while his dream car is the Lotus 78, which helped Mario Andretti to the 1978 championship and also pioneered the advent of the F1 ground effect aerodynamic revolution.
Damon Hill's selection
In a very interesting move, 1996 world champion Damon Hill elects to pit himself against father Graham. The Hills remain the only father-son world champions in the sport’s history (Graham was victorious in 1962 and ’68), and between them claimed 36 wins, 78 podiums and 33 poles. Like Villeneuve before him, Hill selects two men he raced under - Sir Frank Williams and Sir Patrick Head - as his ideal bosses, and opts for the all-conquering Williams FW14B as his dream car.
Jenson Button's selection
In a first for the #F1DreamTeam, Jenson Button’s ideal selections actually existed. The Briton pits four-time world champion Alain Prost against three-time champion Ayrton Senna, in a McLaren MP4/4, and chooses his current boss Ron Dennis to preside over the combination. The quartet came together in 1988 of course, with famous results - Senna and Prost claimed 15 of 16 poles and race victories, but became bitter rivals in the process. It was Senna who eventually prevailed, beating Prost to the title by just three points.
Toto Wolff's selection
Wolff already has the pleasure of working alongside three-time world champion Niki Lauda at Mercedes, but the Austrian selects his compatriot as the first part of his dream team line-up. Senna, whose debut season coincided with Lauda’s third and final coronation, is Wolff’s second pick. Sir Frank Williams, with whom Wolff worked during a four-year spell with the team, is named as team boss, while Ferrari’s F2002 gets its first nomination. It remains one of the most successful cars in history, claiming 15 wins from 19 races between 2002 and 2003.
Nico Hulkenberg's selection
James Hunt, almost certainly the most colourful and unconventional champion in F1 history, earns his first #F1DreamTeam nomination courtesy of Nico Hulkenberg. The 10-time Grand Prix winner is paired with Ayrton Senna - himself one of the most charismatic and illuminating personalities to grace the sport. Hulkenberg has installed Eddie Jordan, founder and owner of the eponymous Jordan team, as his team boss, and selected the stunning Benetton B195 - in which Michael Schumacher secured the second of his eventual seven world titles - as his ideal car.
Sergio Perez's selection
Ayrton Senna, already the most selected dream team driver, earns another nomination through Force India’s Sergio Perez. The Mexican pairs Senna with two-time champion and 32-time Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso, who was also selected by Formula One Group CEO Bernie Ecclestone. Ross Brawn gets Perez’s backing for team boss, while the all-conquering Red Bull RB7 - which took 12 wins and 18 poles from 19 races in 2011 - is Perez’s car of choice.
Sebastian Vettel's selection
Quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel has plumped for a German-speaking driver line-up, with childhood hero Michael Schumacher alongside 1970 title winner Jochen Rindt, the man he once described as ‘an icon’. For his car, Vettel has selected one of his current team’s best ever creations - the F2004, which won an astonishing 15 races and both world championships in '04 in the hands of Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Finally, Vettel has followed former team principal Christian Horner’s lead and chosen former Brabham chief Bernie Ecclestone as the man to run his dream squad.
Helmut Marko's selection
Helmut Marko is the third man (after Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean) to select 41-time Grand Prix winner Ayrton Senna for his F1 Dream Team. He partners the Brazilian with the most successful protegee (so far) of the Red Bull development scheme he heads up - Sebastian Vettel, who also moved onto 41 wins after his victory in Hungary. Red Bull’s current team principal Christian Horner is Marko’s choice for team boss, while the all-conquering Williams FW14B is selected as his ideal car.
Romain Grosjean's selection
Three-time world champion Ayrton Senna and much-missed compatriot Jules Bianchi form the driver line-up in Romain Grosjean's dream team. The Brazilian of course is widely considered to be one of the greatest of all-time, while Bianchi's own trajectory was tragically cut short by his accident on that fateful day at Suzuka on October 5 2014. Sir Frank Williams, founder and team principal of his eponymous F1 outfit, is Grosjean's ideal boss, while arguably the Williams team's finest creation, the FW14B, is Grosjean's choice for the best car. The Frenchman has one small tweak to suggest though: painting it in Jordan yellow!
Christian Horner's selection
For his dream driver line-up, Horner has selected the supremely quick Nigel Mansell - champion in 1992, and winner of 31 Grands Prix in total - to partner Sebastian Vettel, the man who helped bring Red Bull such staggering success in recent years. The German has 41 victories, 73 podiums and four world titles to his credit, and at the age of 28 still has plenty of time to further rewrite the record books. Horner also names former Brabham team owner Bernie Ecclestone as his ideal team boss, and the all-conquering Williams FW14B - the brainchild of Adrian Newey and Patrick Head - as his dream car.
