The driving style secrets of F1's current stars

‘Max Schumacher’, ‘George Hakkinen’, ‘Oscar Button’ – there’s plenty of past echoing in how several of the current Formula 1 crop produce their best results behind the steering wheel. But what exactly does it take to be successful in the cockpit in the championship’s current era?

These days in Formula 1, it’s generally harder to see driving style characteristics than you once could – certainly in the 1970s or the 1980s, and perhaps into the 1990s and 2000s. With every era of the championship that’s got more aerodynamics-dependent, it’s become a little bit trickier to see big differences.

In the 1970s, you could see huge variations in the way the drivers would unleash the cars. Jackie Stewart’s smooth inputs versus, say, the spectacular Ronnie Peterson. You could see a difference in pretty much every corner. Fast forward to the 1980s, and quite big variations in the way drivers used the turbo engines were detectable. Think Ayrton Senna with the anti-lag and the way he developed his throttle technique.