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So who do you know of a WDC champion that is very humble? Who doesn't act arrogant when he have become WDC, who doesn't complain if things aren't going his way, who doesn't crash into people for the championship, who congratulate their opponents when their defeated, who doesn't slander other drivers and take their lose willingly?

I know of only one person, but it's just an assumption because drivers like Jackie Stewart(I think) that Jim Clark was a gentlemen. But I think Mika Hakinnen was also humble when he won twice(but correct me if I'm wrong). It could be Gilles Villeneuve too but he never won a championship though so we won't know..

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Kimi?

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Kimi.

Hill? Raikkonen? Hakkinen? Button?

Just from the top of my mind.

From the modern era the Finns stand out. Maybe Damon?

EDIT
I always remember a column they used to run in F1 Racing. Drivers would be asked the same four questions and one of them was, "have you ever followed another driver and thought to yourself, 'I just can't do that' about some part of his technique?" Damon was the only one I ever read who said 'yes'. He actually said something like 'all the time'. That's a humility lacking in virtually ever driver IMO.

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Klaus Kinski: making me question my heroes since January 2013

^but Kimi doesn't care about anything does he?

Didn't Damon said that if they put a room together with Mika and Jaques(or was it coulthard) they would all laugh if they put Michael in he wasn't sure? But that was in the past though and Damon never let Shumy pass so easily because of 94'

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I think Kimi can be quite arrogant. Hakkinen was humble but when things weren't going good in 2000 he seemed quite frustrated and demotivated. I didn't think he was much support for DC there.
My vote would go more to the gentleman drivers such as Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark, Juan Manuel Fangio even though I have to go by what I have read about them.

From the more recent drivers I think of Damon Hill. And Jenson Button too.

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F1 fan since 1989

For me it's probably Kimi, I think this quote nicely sums him up:

Kimi answered a question about his lack of emotion after winning a grand prix.
KR: It’s not my style. Yeah, winning feels good, but I’m not the type of guy who jumps up and down and rubs it in everyone’s face.

Also Hill, Hakkinen and Hamilton/Button were pretty dignified/humble when they won their titles

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Support: Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen
Respect: Alonso, Schumacher, Newey
Not so keen on: Vettel, Di Resta, whoever decides to red flag when it rains in F1

I think all world champions show flashes of humility, apart from maybe Alonso...but for me the most humble has got to be Jenson.


Button entered the sport a jumped up and cocky guy, he was humbled as he endured years of driving shiteboxes while other drivers of similar age entered the sport and became icons in their own right, he spent two years in the utter wilderness after it looked like career was looking up and after finally capturing that illusive first win in 2006 and then nearly lost his career when Honda quit the sport. But then he comes back swinging and grabs his opportunity by the horns, finally achieving his dream...hell if that rollercoaster of a career with the highest of highs after the lowest of the lows wouldn't humble a driver then I do not know what would.

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Jenson Button
Kimi Raikkonen
Romain Grosjean
Nico Hulkenburg

I think the fact Damon went to Arrows rather than quitting shows how humble he was as champion. Some drivers would have refused to compete in a car which wasn't a front runner whilst being world champion (of course other drivers have ended up in crap cars like Villeneuve in '98 but I can't off the top of my head think of any who knowingly joined a team who had no chance of being competitive in the championship).

Scheckter, Andretti, Stewart, old school, old gentleman.

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The end is near

Most of them are arrogant. Makes you wonder if it's a pre-requisite.

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We want heroes, but there are few, mainly it's cars - Pedro De La Rosa

It's not a pre-requisite, but arrogance does help you win the championship sometimse.

A non-arrogant driver would rather lose the championship than deliberately crash into the title contender in order to win it
An arrogant driver would rather crash into a title contender to win the championship than lose fairly. So most of the champions are arrogant because we don't remember the gentleman who finished a noble second.

Clearly Hunt:

Smoking, drinking, partying, sex ... = definition of humble

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F1 fan since 1989

Do it like a boss!!!!!!

alain prost before the senna problems?

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I started following racing in 94 so i can speak only of people I have watched racing. So thats Kimi, Mika, Button.

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errmm..other way round I'd say

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‘Ayrton had taken pole and now Alain said to me: “where the f*** did he find that time? How the hell can he be that quick?” In the corner, Senna…he looked up and winked at me. Ayrton had a look in his eye that said, “I’ve done it.”
Jo Ramírez

Button. He nearly lost it all in 2008 and to win it all in 2009 was special and he treated it as such. He knew he'd been given another chance, McLaren came knocking and he couldn't turn them down. Proved to be the best choice he could have made. He's never been arrogant about the whole thing once.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Damon Hill

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Driver Instructor & Test Driver

Damon.

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I don't think humility is something fans can judge the drivers on. We don't know them personally. What the media shows you about them is often just what suits the media. Read accounts from people close to the drivers if you want to know who was the same guy before and after a title win.

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Juan Manuel Fangio
Damon Hill
Jenson Button
i'd say Prost too, judging for his interviews.

I also believe that Kimi is humble about his achievements.

I knew a young lady, about 10 years or so ago who knew Button quite well and who told me, to put it nicely, that he had rather a swollen head and was a bit of a git. However I think over the years Button has changed an awful lot and has become one of the more personable drivers on the grid. I have no doubt that he learned a lot about humility during the years he struggled and came out of it a better person all round.

As has been said by others, we can really only guess at how drivers are behind the scenes and that only those on the inside know the truth, but I can at least quote Darren Heath who said "I can have a five minute chat with Button or Webber for example but drivers generally are often more than a little self-centred, guarded, arrogant, into themselves, blinkered etc, etc."

http://www.pitlanemagazine.com/magazine/?p=165

Most likely. 2007 and 2008 in particular.

Latterly Hill, but I dont find Vettel bad, is there a problem with him?

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I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

Marx (Groucho)

Kimi

Kimi is arrogant.

Hill and Mika are probably the most humble champions in the last 20 years.

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minus Vettel

i know your a senna fan but prost did seem like a humble champion. remember his relationship with lauda? but only senna, prost and ron dennis know the truth about the problems they had in 88/89.

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I actually think Kimi's "I don't care" attitude is highly arrogant (not that I take issue with that, I quite enjoy a bit of arrogance) Its certainly far from humble. Damon Hill possibly. Personally I don't see why anybody who is wdc should be humble!

Lauda was very humble in 1984 when he admitted that this was his hardest championship, against Alain. Alain was also very humble as a person, media played a big role in creating a negative picture.

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The end is near

What he said...

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Forza Ferrari
WCCs = 16
WDCs = 15

Hill from what I've seen.

On another note, I think Massa was the most humble runner-up in 2008.

fixed that for you

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That's what she said...

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minus Vettel

Phil Hill without a doubt! He said himself that being hero or great was not his thing. He just loved being able to race. A very humble man he was.

Also, I think if he was a WDC... I think Massa would have been extremely humble.

Damon Hill, Jenson Button

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Felipe Massa fan/supporter since 2002 and counting!

I am always amazed at other people's interpretation of driver character and personality. While I don't think JB is the most arrogant athlete in sport, to me he has always had a bit of a chip on his shoulder. I was actually a bit disgusted with his over the top celebrations in Australia at the beginning of this season, for example. I remember saying I hope he got some karmic payback for the hubris on display there, and he certainly did. I'm not anti-JB though, I am a fan and for the most part I enjoy his personality. I've just never seen him as humble. A good guy? Team player? Absolutely. But humble? Nah.

I know a lot of people think Sebastian is a spoiled brat - yet I have NEVER seen any signs of that. In fact that's why I'm a fan.

Heikki is another driver whose "popular conception" baffles me. He seems incredibly unmotivated as a driver, and I didn't like his attitude about his job being to push to the limit and the team's job to rebuild the car when he's broken it. I don't think he's a bad guy, and I guess I'll be sad to see him go if he can't get a seat next year, but I don't really see why he deserves one.

Damon does seem humble, but for me its because he doesn't have the drive and ambition of his peers.

I would say Lewis is probably among the more humble champions because while he does make some curious expressions from time to time (like when he secures poll or wins a race and looks as if someone has just run over his cat) he never acts like he's entitled to anything. Other drivers in his position this year would be jumping up and down publicly about the failures of the team. Even JB was vocal about it, and he wasn't exactly driving like he deserved any better at the time.

I can't argue people's impressions, but they do intrigue me.

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What impressed me a lot is when someone donated $10 Million to a charity (not just that, he apparently does a lot more and it never becomes public) and out of his own pocket at that, and didn't utter a word about it...

Kimi. Also Vettel is ok... Button has come good. Massa is pretty decent, but not a WDC as pointed by someone earlier... DC and Hakk were OK too... Actually most drivers are humble, decent sort but, they are all fiercely private.

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My Top 5 drivers of all times:
1) Prost/ Schumacher
3) Fangio
4) Lauda
5) Brabham

if you don't like it, too bad! There's a reason why it says "My Top 5"

I don't think it's particularly fair to judge drivers from what we see in the media. We don't know them personally so I don't see how we can be in a position to judge. I'm sure they're all decent guys at heart, just the media does such a good job at winding them up.

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Forza Fernando !