MICHAEL SCHUMACHER may be the most successful driver in Formula One history, but according to British former racers he cannot be regarded as the greatest the sport has known. Sir Stirling Moss, who won 16 grands prix, is in no doubt that it is wrong to class Schumacher alongside legends such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna and Jim Clark. Moss dismisses claims of such status for the German, seven times the world champion, as “ridiculous”.

“From my point of view he is one of the best drivers around, but he has blotted his copybook. There is no way he can be considered the greatest — you must be kidding,” Moss said. “I must say I think he’s in the second batch, and very near the top, but he’s certainly not the greatest in my mind.”

Moss argues that Schumacher has made too many driving mistakes over the years to stand comparison to cleaner practitioners such as Fangio or Clark. And while he can forgive Schumacher some of his early controversial moments, for example when he drove into Damon Hill to seal his first title in Australia in 1994, he cannot forgive him his attempt to balk Fernando Alonso during qualifying in Monaco this year.

“I was a great fan of Michael,” Moss said. “I think he’s done a tremendous amount for Ferrari and for the sport of motor racing, but to me he negated the whole lot at Monaco this year. When he had Damon off there was some doubt that it was his fault, but at Monaco we knew beyond any doubt that it was his fault.

“If he was a young driver struggling at the beginning of his career, you could understand it, but when a guy’s got the credits he has, then all he’s done for people like myself is that no longer do I consider him a great person.”

Sir Jackie Stewart, who won 27 grands prix and was world champion three times, agrees that in terms of raw driving ability, Schumacher cannot be considered alongside Fangio, Clark or Alain Prost. “He is considerably more aggressive than they were,” Stewart said. Schumacher’s biggest contribution, Stewart says, was the way he built the Ferrari team around him and led them to one world title after another.

“What he did better than anybody else I know was to recognise the team that he wanted to be with and then ensured that they employed all the right people — many of whom came to the team under his direction,” Steward said.

“The success that Ferrari has enjoyed over all these five years of World Championships has been driven by Michael Schumacher — he has made that success possible because of the people and because he has been able to keep them motivated for that period of time.”

Schumacher’s misdemeanours on the race track have harmed his standing, Stewart believes. “I don’t think his record is as clean as it should be,” he said. “He won’t leave the sport with the reputation of a Fangio or the memory of a Clark because credibility and integrity is part and parcel of both those men.”

Martin Brundle, who drove in 158 races, finds Schumacher, once a team-mate, difficult to place in the pantheon of the sport. Of those he drove against, he rates Senna as the greatest.

“Senna was a very emotionally-driven guy,” Brundle said. “His energy was from the heart whereas Schumacher is more cerebrally driven. In terms of God-given skill, Senna was the best I’ve ever raced against.”

Brundle, who has commentated on Schumacher for ten years, is still in awe of the German’s abilities, but he is convinced that Schumacher’s is a tarnished reputation and it will always be viewed that way by future generations.

“Fangio, Moss, Clark and Stewart all had great reputations as being brilliant racing drivers and fine sportsmen, and those qualities have survived. I don’t think Michael’s reputation will survive in a similar way, and it’s such a shame.”