F1 1000th GP: 5 Greatest F1 Drivers (1999-2019)

14 April 2019 would mark the 1000th GP for Formula 1, a sport considered to be the peak of motor-racing.

And as Formula One approaches its 1000th GP, one cannot be blamed for anticipating a cracker of a contest.

And let's just hope 56-lap-contest, spread over a distance of 5.451 km turns out to be exactly that- right?

But that said, there's a good chance the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix may just prove to be a belter a race.

Wondering why?

This is not only because of the fact Mercedes- a team that hasn't allowed any other on the grid to dominate both Drivers' and Constructors' standing for half a decade- have locked out the front row.

But this is also because of the fact that, given the sheer unpredictability of the sport, ever hardwired in F1's DNA, the likes of Vettel and Leclerc, stacked in third and fourth, respectively, might just hit back.

But all that conjecture kept aside, as F1 approaches a truly momentous occasion, it's worthwhile to look back at drivers whose craft has upped that of F1, adding gravitas to a sport that excites as much as it thrills.

So who are 5 Greatest F1 drivers from 1999-2019?

Jenson Button- 2000 to 2017

F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Race, Button exults after a great drive

One of the finest F1 drivers as also among the sport's sincerest, Button won the world title in 2009.

Driving for Brawn GP, Jenson bagged 15 wins, 50 podiums and, above all 1 world title in 2009, a year where some of his leading adversaries on the grid included giants such as Alonso and Hamilton.

In so doing, Jenson Button also earned respect for a fairly uncomplicated craft, something that separates the gentle Somerset-born driver from those on the grid who often side with needless shenanigans.

Not a driver you heard expletives from, Jenson was different, sorted, and must it be said simple.

Moreover, not someone you would liken to a crass character, Jenson Button, with 309 Grand Prix entries against his name, would always be remembered for upholding the spirit of F1, paving way for a simple fact that a driver could always get along with simplicity in a sport where it's so easy to lose one's cool.

Among the finest contests that Jenson was ever a part of was that sterling win at Canada, in 2011, wherein he came from the very back of the field to win an epic contest.

Kimi Raikkonen- 2003 onward

The US Grand Prix, where Kimi beat inarguably the best man on the grid, Lewis

Every sport loves a character. And in Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari's last world champion, it can be said that Formula 1 found arguably one of its most enigmatic, if not the greatest.

For someone who broke into the tumultuous world of F1 with only 23 races against his name, acquiring his super license thanks to Peter Sauber's faith in him, Kimi's been there, gone away, done pretty much everything- such as winning Grands Prix, setting many a fastest laps, slept before his maiden F1 race, done rallying, returned to F1- and not done yet!

Isn't it?

Truth be told, for someone who started his career at a time where names like Barrichello and Schumacher were going strong to ultimately essaying his class and charisma with names like Hamilton and Vettel going strong, Kimi's one of the sport's most loved drivers, if not the most successful ones.

With 21 race wins, 103 podiums, 46 fastest laps, Raikkonen, a guy who, quite frankly, couldn't care less about the sport is interestingly someone who many care about.

This was evident by the fact that when his fans feared the worst (something that did eventually come true)- surrounding Kimi's ouster at Ferrari- they all came together to raise an online campaign in support of the man who doesn't say much but drives with a steely resolve.

With Raikkonen due to race for Alfa Romeo (formerly, Sauber) for 2020, the next year could well bring curtains to what's been a fascinating career; perhaps a bit mired in a sense of incompleteness (shouldn't Kimi have won more titles) and perhaps underlined by a calmness that few have epitomized in the sport.

But that said, Raikkonen, who won the US Grand Prix of 2018, ahead of Hamilton following a stunning drive at Monza, which saw him set the sport's fastest lap, can be content at being F1's enigma.

Not that Kimi would care much. Let's leave him alone, shall we; for he knows what he's doing!

Sebastian Vettel: 2007 onward

There are myriad ways of understanding one of the sport's most celebrated and charismatic drivers. To some, Sebastian Vettel- 52 race wins, 111 podiums, 4 World titles- is a huge success, perhaps a true icon.

To others, the Heppenheim-born driver is the man who is second-best only to Lewis Hamilton.

But to some, it may not be entirely incorrect to suggest that the 31-year-old German is perhaps in search of a second wind; a man so seemingly desperate to find what seems to be a lost groove.

For someone who was, at one point in time, the youngest Grand Prix winner at 21 years and 74 days, when he won the 2008 Italian GP, Vettel's gone from being the man who 'could have' broken Schumacher's record into being a tired fighter up against his arch-nemesis: Lewis Hamilton.

Currently driving in his fifth straight season for the Scuderia, it remains to be seen what this truly fantastic driver can do in 2019, especially given his experience boasts of a literal 'reign' at Red Bull at a consistent streak of winning at Australia, Bahrain, among other circuits (as seen until 2018).

Fernando Alonso: 2001 to 2018

Some call him 'El Nino', others call him the 'Spanish Samurai.' But regardless of who you are, whether a purist or a ranter in an age of social-media verdicts and shenanigans, Fernando Alonso happens to be a pure racer; in fact, among the greatest of all time.

Quite frankly, there's no other way of describing the man from Asturias, Northern Spain, someone responsible for collecting 32 race wins, 97 podiums and not one but two World Titles.

Interestingly, both of Alonso's crowns would come at a time where the likes of Schumacher were still going strong.

If that's not enough to prove Alonso's standing as a modern great- for beating Schumi in two back to back seasons is no easy feat anyways- then perhaps that he turned out to be the only guy who challenged Vettel's supremacy in those 2010-13 seasons might offer some substance.

Right?

On a completely different tangent, when Alonso was paired with Raikkonen, in 2014 (at Ferrari), that he scored 161 points to Kimi's 55, albeit the duo functioning on a weak front end personified the man that Alonso is and shall always be: someone who pushed boundaries and exerted might when it all seemed lost.

Of course, it's quite another thing that despite driving a car as utterly unreliable as that McLaren-Honda of his, it was Alonso who found a way to gather milestones, such as the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix's fastest lap.

Fair to call the bearded lion of Formula 1 as a legend, right?

Lewis Hamilton: 2007 onward

What can one say about Lewis Hamilton, quite clearly the finest driver on the grid?

They say, F1 drivers are constantly in search of milestones, aren't they? But when you look at the determined Lewis Hamilton, it seems that milestones remain forever in search of their man: the driver from Stevenage.

Isn't it?

Not every driver has been able to win a race in his maiden F1 season. But then, a Lewis Hamilton isn't born every day.

Whether it was his first win at Canada in 2007, or winning a thrilling first title with McLaren in 2008 (albeit in the dying moments of the race), to emerging as a near-equal to Alonso in his formative years to finally being a giant at Mercedes, Hamilton's done a lot for a sport that gave him his identity.

Millions admire the Briton, a man who's made a fortune out of F1, a sport he's decorated with five separate World Titles and a statistical goody-bag that contains 74 race wins and a staggering 136 podiums.

But importantly, what's most important is the fact that the 34-year-old driver holds the ability to keep calm, especially during intense moments, such as the Grands Prix at Hockenheimring in 2018 (where he won and not Sebastian), Silverstone in 2018 (where he made that excellent recovery drive when he came to blows with Kimi inside the opening lap) among the many others.

And where he stands correctly given his ability to concentrate and a superior race craft, it would only be a surprise to a few that Hamilton would pass Schumacher, eventually.

Edited by Kaushik Das