Who Is the Real G.O.A.T.? A Data-Driven Look at Formula 1 Greatness

Who Is the Real G.O.A.T.? A Data-Driven Look at Formula 1 Greatness

The term G.O.A.T.—“Greatest Of All Time”—gets thrown around often in sports. We hear it in debates about Tom Brady’s legendary NFL career or Serena Williams’ domination of women’s tennis. But what about Formula 1?

Who is your pick for the greatest driver of all time?

As sports evolve, so does the data behind them. Modern F1 teams collect staggering amounts of real-time information—tire degradation, brake performance, corner apex speed, engine mapping, sector splits, and countless other micro-metrics that feed into race strategy. This level of insight simply did not exist 20, 30, or 50 years ago.

You can’t compare the sector times of Lewis Hamilton to Alberto Ascari—but we can compare career stats, team performance, podiums, wins, poles, and more. That gap between eras sparked a series of conversations with friends that ultimately led me down a rabbit hole:

Could I combine historical stats with modern analytic techniques to build a more holistic, configurable view of driver greatness?

Introducing the Driver Greatness Index (DGI)

I dove into multiple Formula 1 datasets to experiment with different ways to evaluate drivers beyond championship titles alone. The result is a dashboard project that allows you to explore a Driver Greatness Index (DGI)—a configurable metric that weighs factors like:

• Career longevity & Versatility

• Podium Percentage

• Championships

• Pole positions

• Teammate Dominance

• And more…

Different fans value different traits—some prioritize raw speed, others consistency or adaptability. With the DGI, you control the weighting.

Try the Dashboard Yourself

Take a spin through the Best Driver Analysis here:

👉 https://f1db-dashboard.vercel.app/

Then head to the Customize menu and experiment with the DGI sliders. Think career longevity shouldn’t matter as much? Turn it down. Want to emphasize pole positions or win percentage? Increase their weight.

You’ll likely see movement in the rankings—but also notice how the same legendary names tend to remain at the top.

How It Was Built

This project brought together a mix of tools, data sources, and AI workflows:

• Formula 1 datasets (F1DB)

• Python + Jupyter Notebooks for data exploration, transformation, and feature experimentation

• ChatGPT and Claude for ideation, data cleanup heuristics, and exploratory analysis

• Next.js + Vercel for the interactive dashboard

• GitHub for versioning and dataset storage

This is still an evolving project, and I plan to continue refining how the DGI works and what factors might be added next.

Let Me Know Who You Think Is the GOAT

Explore, tweak, break, and question the rankings—I’d love to hear your perspective.

Enjoy the dashboard, and feel free to reach out with thoughts, feedback, or suggestions through the contact form.

Cheers,

Jason