Can you be the greatest driver of all time if you've only raced in F1?

Modern F1 drivers rarely race outside their series, so can any claim to be the greatest driver of all time? asks Morgan Holiday

Lewis Hamilton portrait

Are Hamilton's seven F1 titles enough to qualify him as the greatest driver of all time?

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Which racing driver is the greatest of all time — and why?

It’s an age-old debate that usually focuses on Formula 1, but after this year’s Daytona 24 Hours, you have to ask whether we’re looking in the right place for the GOAT.

First across the line in Florida was the No.60 Acura GTP car driven partly by Helio Castroneves, a four-time Indy 500 winner and IMSA sports car champion, as well as IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud.

They led home drivers who compete in Formula E, NASCAR and, who have previously raced in Formula 1.

But nowhere on the grid of one of the world’s great races was a single current F1 driver after Kevin Magnussen had to pull out due to a hand operation.

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In fact, it’s rare to see any of the current 20 grand prix drivers – purportedly among the best in the world – racing outside their series and it’s a loss to us, to racing, and to themselves.

Unlike in many other sports, the athlete is not the only factor in motor racing performance. Drivers have to contend with the car, its performance and reliability. For that reason, adaptability is one of the most crucial skills a driver can have (witness Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren last year).

There’s no better way of demonstrating this skill than winning across the disciplines: demonstrating raw speed and wheel-to-wheel fighting in single seaters; team-work and racecraft in endurance events; as well as precision and reactions in rallying.

We want to see the best drivers challenged and showing their skills in their prime – not just after they retire — by proving themselves in ways even they didn’t think was possible.

We know Lewis Hamilton can F1 world championships and, for his loyal fans, the seven titles leave no question: he is the GOAT.

It’s not so clear-cut for the rest of us though. Outside of F1 and its feeder series, his resume isn’t just short, it’s non-existent.

Kimi Raikkonen in Rally Sweden

Räikkönen was no slouch in WRC but couldn’t his F1 form to rally wins

Massimo Bettiol/Getty Images

Imagine how much more compelling the argument would be if you had watched him wheel-to-wheel at 200mph down the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans, racing alongside team-mates in a Hypercar, rounding the banking at the Indy 500 three-wide, or even bouncing over dunes at the wheel of his very own team’s Extreme E car (which wouldn’t be a difficult drive to land).

For Hamilton’s predecessors, variety was a fact of life. Jim Clark was the British Saloon Car champion in 1964, the same year in which he finished third in the Formula 1 title race, started on pole at the Indy 500, and picked up a couple of Formula 2 wins.

Eight years previously, Stirling Moss won his class at Le Mans, finished second in the F1 championship and returned to the Mille Miglia. He’d previously driven the Monte Carlo Rally.

They did it for fun, and of course for money, but mainly because it’s not easy: witness Kimi Räikkonen who had a best finish of ninth in two full WRC seasons.

That’s why winning across disciplines is a true test of the greats, and the Triple Crown — winning the Monaco GP, Le Mans 24 Hours and Indy 500 — holds so much allure.

Only Graham Hill has completed it so far, while Juan Pablo Montoya and Fernando Alonso have been in with a shot (and Alonso appears to have committed only to F1 for now).

Graham Hill passes Monte Carlo harbour in 1969 Monaco Grand Prix

Hill won five Monaco GPs, including in 1969

Graham Hill raises his arm in car after winning the Indy 500

Indy 500 win came in 1966

So why is the list of modern F1 drivers who stray out of their bubble so short?

The risks of racing in other series is often cited: F1 teams don’t want their highly-paid assets getting injured away from a grand prix, and the modern F1 schedule is arduously long, including the sponsor commitments that come with it.

But a busy schedule doesn’t stop a NASCAR champion like Kyle Larson who, in 2024, will attempt to complete both the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 on the same day.

The stock car series has a longer schedule than Formula 1 but Larson is still planning to attempt the feat known as ‘The Double’ which involves completing a grand total of 1100 miles of racing in two different states on the same day.

When drivers outside of Formula 1 are pulling off stunts like this, it becomes harder to buy the excuse that their schedules absolutely can’t allow for other racing, especially when you consider some of the renowned racing events that happen conveniently during the Formula 1 off-season.

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The Daytona 24 Hours comes well before any of this year’s F1 cars are on track, offering the perfect chance for a driver to make a one-off appearance and prove themselves against the best drivers in endurance racing and IndyCar.

Or they can choose the Race of Champions, where talent really can rise to the top in equal machinery. Of the current F1 grid, Valtteri Bottas was the only one on this year’s roster. Others have previously taken part but, by and large, the grand prix grid ignores the event.

In 2015, Nico Hülkenberg showed that it’s possible to race in Formula 1 and win at Le Mans in the same year.

After all, it’s perfectly normal to race away from your own series if you’re outside F1.

Take IndyCar driver Colton Herta as an example. Herta, age 22, already has seven IndyCar race wins, two Daytona 24 class wins, and has beaten Formula 1 champions in equal machinery at the Race of Champions. He may not be worthy of a Super Licence, but he has already proven himself to be a more versatile driver than at least half of the current Formula 1 grid.

If he does finally make it into F1 and continues his winning run, how soon before his name enters the running for racing’s GOAT?