100. Gunnar Nilsson

It’s not easy making a list of the best drivers in Formula One. An aspect of all the greats can be called into question, and priorities can be difficult to sort. How does Ayrton Senna’s occasional poor sportsmanship affect his greatness? Should Stirling Moss be considered less for the fact that he never won a title? Is Schumacher really a worthy contender given the dominance of the Ferrari during his career? It’s a near impossible task.

One thing that cannot be doubted, however, is the statistical records and achievements of these drivers. Though this is not at all a way to sort the drivers from best to worst, it does provide an interesting list of those who achieved the most during their F1 careers. With this in mind, I’ve chosen to cast aside all subjectivity and knock up a list that is based purely on the race results and honours of every driver to have started a Formula One race.

What I came up with is a ranking system that I think fairly depicts the relative accomplishments each driver has fulfilled. The main difficulty is allowing the drivers from an earlier era to be up there with those from the modern day, given the enormous difference between the amount of races the two had within a season. I’ve added an element to temper that somewhat, but it is only right to admit that this list will give those drivers with fairly long careers and extra kick.

Nevertheless, it’s the stories behind these 100 drivers that I hope will make this an interesting feature (for myself included – as I write this I am only two drivers in, and already finding interesting tales behind drivers I’d not known of before). With this in mind, let’s kick off with Numbers 100.

Boring ranking information: Drivers Championship - 120 points, Race Win - 18 points, Second - 7 points, Third - 5 points, Fourth - 2.5 points, Fifth - 2 points, Sixth - 1.5 points, Seventh - 1 point, Eighth - 0.5 points, Pole Position - 2 points, Fastest Lap - 1 point, Race Starts - -0.1 points

100. Gunnar Nilsson (1976-1977): 31 Race Starts, 1 Race Win, 41.4 Points

We begin the list with a talent that may well have gone further had tragic circumstances not befallen him. Gunnar Nilsson grew up in Sweden and began racing at the age of twenty. After several years of competing at national levels, Nilsson moved to Great Britain where he entered Formula Super Vee, before transferring to Formula 3 with the March team.

Nilsson established himself as an individual with bundles of potential by winning the 1975 F3 series. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as an agreed driver swap between Lotus and March saw Ronnie Peterson move to the March team, with Nilsson now free to take the vacated Lotus seat.

Alongside Mario Andretti, Nilsson worked hard to pull around a car that was beset by mechanical problems. Many retirements meant that Nilsson could only finish six races in the 1976 season, scoring a podium on two occasions. Things improved in 1977, in which Nilsson was able to finish 8^th in the Championship and take his only race victory at a wet Belgian Grand Prix. After losing positions during the pitstop phase, Nilsson kept his cool on track while others spun off, and was able to catch and pass Niki Lauda’s Ferrari to take a hard-fought win.

Sadly, 1977 was to be Nilsson’s last season in F1. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer towards the end of the year, and though Lotus kept his seat open to him, Nilsson’s condition was too severe for him to continue racing. He died on October 20^th 1978, having made plans to create the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Foundation. The charity was then created and fronted by his Mother.


The Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Foundation