So who are / were not only the great drivers but the all time greats
What we also need to consider here though is that some really good drivers careers were hampered by being the No2 in the team, can't remember if it was Mansell; Coulthard and / or mark Webber who all complained about being the No2 in the team.
So even if they were out qualifying and out performing their team mate in the race they were expected to slow down or move to one side and allow the other guy to win, think Webber made the comment on the team radio about "Not bad for a No2".
There were also complaints about how the No2 drivers would do the majority of testing etc then those settings would be given to the No1 if they were better but the No2 didn't necessarily have an optimised car, also back in the days of the spare "T" car it was always set up for the No1 to use
From the "Old" era i'd say Fangio; Stirling Moss and Jim Clark were all amazing drivers and this was back when a mistake could easily cost your life.
Jim Clark sadly died too early for him to show his full potential and Stirling Moss was up against Fangio otherwise he would have won many titles.
From the "Mid" era for me the stand out driver was Senna, hard to say if he would have won another title had he not died but that really depends if he's have had the right car, if he was in a competitive car then i think he'd have won.
Another from that era was Lauda who was a bit of a cold fish perhaps but analytical; professional and could set the car up better than anybody
From the modern era I believe Hamilton is a great driver as demonstrated by his ability in the wet, Schumacher was also good but not as good as Hamilton IMO.
They have both had good cars and I can't remember who said it but someone made a comment about how Ferrari developed their whole car around Schumacher and that anyone who had that tailored to them could have won titles in what was the best car
Vettel was good in the Red bull when it was the best car but look at more recent seasons in the Ferrari where he has made far too many errors and lets not forget at times in 17/18 that Ferrari did look competitive
I'd say Max Verstappen is a good driver and future world champion too, likewise George Russell could do well in a decent car
Looking at other Brits I always thought Nigel Mansell was better than 1 title but he was often the No2 like in 1986 when his tyre exploded, why didn't the team tell him to pit for fresh tyres after they saw the damage and wear on Nelson Piquets tyres
Cause he was the No2
Jenson Button was also a good driver but was just too nice a bloke and sat at BAR waiting for the developments to happen rather than jumping ship to a better team
For me though the greatest of all time has to be Fangio and even drivers like Senna held him in high regard