Germany is home to the Autobahn, car manufacturers BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen and Formula 1 racing legends Michael Schumacher and current F1 champion Sebastian Vettel. Are Germans the best drivers in the world?
When you look at the history of winners in Formula 1 racing and you look at their nationalities you will find some patterns and regions that are known for their racing and driving skills. For the last 20 years two German drivers are dominating F1 and it makes people wonder: Are Germans the best drivers in the world?
We’ll try to answer that question from many different angles including the driving culture in Germany, the perfection in manufacturing and the quality of cars produced in Germany, worldwide statistics on accidents and the history of Formula 1 racing champions from Germany.
The Autobahn – the roads with no speed limit
More referred to as the Autobahns since it is a large network of roads in Germany covering over 12,000 km, it is famous for being the roads without a speed limit. People travel from all over the world just to come to Germany, rent high speed luxury cars and drive as fast as they can. Many Japanese and Chinese visit to do tours that are focused around the Autobahn.
Some people might argue that a road system like this isn’t safe. This depends on whom you ask. Some factors to take into consideration are the quality and types of cars that are driving on these highways plus the driving habits of these people. Some of the best cars manufactured are German and Germans in general have one of the lowest accident rates in the world. Certainly this type of road network can’t exist around the world but it works in Germany and many would argue that it works because Germans are just good drivers.
Now are the drivers just good or does the quality of car have something to do with safety records?
German Auto Manufacturers: BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen
Germans take pride in their engineering and automobile manufacturing. Around the world these cars are seen as many symbols: luxury, safety and quality. Now does the car make the driver good or is it the other way around? Having a high quality car is certainly going to lead to less accidents and save more lives if operated properly. You can look at statistics to show that these cars get into less accidents on average and the stats are better if you take out street racing from the equation.
Quality and Speed
BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are considered quality manufactured cars but are considered a symbol of luxury and speed. These cars go fast and the owners of these cars are looking for luxury but want their speed to go with it. These cars are also most likely to get you a speeding ticket.
Audi and Volkswagen safe cars
These 2 cars are considered some of the safest vehicles in the world. They invest more into driver safety and these cars are least likely to get into accidents. Perhaps it is the driver picking the car for safety that probably drives carefully to begin with.
The statistics don’t lie: Germans are great drivers
One metric that can uphold the bragging rights to the country having the best drivers are accident and fatality rates around the world and these stats don’t lie. Germany doesn’t have the top statistics but it shows that Germans are good safe drivers and we have some stats to share to show you where Germany ranks as well as some other countries in the world.
When it comes to statistics like road fatalities per 100,000 per year, Germany has one of the lowest rates with only a few countries ahead of them like Sweden. For the full list visit the wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate
Now for the final test we take a long at two of the most dominating Formula 1 drivers in not only the past 20 years but in the history of F1 racing: Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
Michael Schumacher best driver of all time
When people think of Formula 1 racing, one name that comes up the most is Michael Schumacher. Whether Sebastian Vettel can do it or not, right now Michael Schumacher owns all the records that matter the most making him the most dominant driver in the history of the sport.
He has 91 Grand Prix victories to go along with 7 F1 world champion titles. To put that into perspective Vettel finished the 2011 season with 21 wins and 70 more to go is going to require the best car.
Sebastian Vettel dominating in the most competitive era in F1
Sebastian Vettel has won back to back Formula 1 drivers championships and this comes in an era where there are 6 F1 world champions racing in the same season in 2012. That is Vettel is at the top of the game with the likes of these champions behind him: Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
Certainly the man to beat in 2012 is Vettel and even though he dominated the 2011 season it will be difficult to run away from a strong pack of drivers like Hamilton, teammate Mark Webber, Button and Alonso.
Conclusion? Germans are the best drivers
Germans seem to love driving almost to a point of obsession. They have one of the lowest accident rates in the world, their automotive industry produces some of the finest and safest cars in the world and in the last 20 years Vettel and Schumacher have a combined 9 world championships. Some might be thinking this article was written by a German but it was by a Canadian. If you agree or disagree join our facebook fan page and leave your comments.
We will find out in 2012 who the best driver will be as the season starts at the Australian Grand Prix.
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