It would be very difficult to try and count every single racing driver that has ever partaken in motorsport. Because there would simply be way too many before you decided to give up and do something more useful with your time. A vast number of drivers have competed in the various disciplines across car racing and that is, of course, before you start looking at motorcycle racing. It is crazy, even in Formula 1 alone, how many racing drivers have partaken in Grand Prix racing, and how big the turnover can be year after year, race after race on the rare occasions, as well.

What is easier to do is to narrow down those that are truly great at motor racing and to identify those who are the greatest. Well, that is somewhat easier. Because it is hard to compare drivers from different generations. But you can still go through the years and identify some of the very best that motorsport has thrown up at us over the years and there are indeed some impressive names out there. Lewis Hamilton, Jim Clark, Scott Dixon come to mind, to name just a few.

However, not every driver can be an all-time great. And there have truly been some stinkers throughout time. Some of these poorer drivers weren't exactly slow, per se. Some of them did have a fairly decent turn of speed. But for whatever reason, they were never truly able to string together a decent career. Be it bad luck, or just lack of consistency, the majority were just bad.

So for your pleasure, here are some of the best drivers that the sport has had to offer, and some among the very worst.

21 All-Time Great: Scott Dixon

Scott Dixon is perhaps not the most popular driver in the IndyCar field, but man, he is probably one of the best there has even been in IndyCar. In fact, he is probably, pound for pound, the best single-seater racer out there right now. The 2018 season saw Dixon take his fifth IndyCar title, after a season-long battle with rising star Alexander Rossi (who may be on a list like this in a few years). Dixon also won the Indy 500 back in 2008, and it is staggering that he has not yet added another triumph in the race despite taking pole at Indy as recently as 2017. His 43 wins and 29 poles will surely go up as the years go on.

20 All-Time Great: Sebastian Vettel

There is surely no doubt about the greatness of Sebastian Vettel, even if the last couple of years at Ferrari have seen a few mistakes here and there. But four consecutive titles with Red Bull from 2010-13 catapulted Vettel into stardom, and his first triumph in 2010 saw him become Formula 1’s youngest world champion, something Max Verstappen is keen on breaking. Vettel currently has 52 wins and 55 pole positions and is still waiting on that first title at Ferrari. But 2018 still saw some incredible races from the man, and it would be surprising if he didn’t add at least one more title to his tally before he retires.

19 All-Time Great: Fernando Alonso

To many, Fernando Alonso is the greatest racing driver of modern times, despite having only two Formula 1 world titles to his name. But his career has been hampered by bad choices, such as moving to Renault in 2008 despite having a Red Bull offer (hindsight is wonderful) and leaving Ferrari for McLaren in 2015, just as the former regained their competitiveness. But his triumph at Le Mans in 2018, and a star showing in the Indy 500 in 2017, showed how diverse a driver he is and he is set to compete in the Daytona 24 Hours next year, as well, after doing so in 2017. Alonso is surely one of the all-time greats.

18 All-Time Great: Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna has developed an almost mythical status about him, probably stemming tragically from the accident that robbed him from us in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. But his three F1 titles made him a hero in Brazil, and the rivalry with Alain Prost at McLaren and when the Frenchman went to Ferrari is well documented. Senna’s natural instincts and talent were unrivaled, and many believed he simply had a God-given gift for just knowing where to place a car and drive it fast. His pole position record of 65 stood for many years as the all-time record and has been surpassed only by Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

17 All-Time Great: Michael Schumacher

Statistically, Michael Schumacher is the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time. His 91 wins and 7 world titles have stood as the highest of any driver in the history of F1, while his record of 68 pole positions has stood for many years, only broken at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix by Lewis Hamilton. He galvanized the Ferrari team around him at a time when it was going through major changes and difficulties and he was rewarded with five titles there to go with his two at the Benetton team. The skiing accident of 2013 meant he vanished from the public eye, and everyone around the world still prays for the very best for Michael Schumacher.

16 All-Time Great: Jimmie Johnson

Despite having quite a lackluster 2018 NASCAR season, Jimmie Johnson is often regarded as one of the best stock car drivers in history, and perhaps one of the best drivers in the world right now. His 83 wins and 35 poles in the NASCAR Cup series speak for themselves, not to mention the seven Cup titles that he has won in his very long and illustrious career. Johnson recently undertook a ride swap with McLaren and Fernando Alonso, and Johnson really impressed both McLaren and Alonso and posted some very good lap times around the Bahrain circuit where the swap took place, backing up what many have said for years about his talents.

15 All-Time Great: AJ Foyt

A.J Foyt, or ‘Super Tex’, is perhaps one of the best drivers of all time in any series. He is the only driver to have won the Indy 500 (he won that four times), The Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That alone is the stuff to make a racing driver a legend. In his later years, Foyt has become a team owner in IndyCar, with the team A.J. Foyt Enterprises which has had a long time sponsorship deal with ABC Supply. The team has had mixed success over the years, but Foyt is ensuring his legacy will live on for many years to come.

14 All-Time Great: Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon may no longer be racing, but his commentator role with FOX NASCAR has ensured he is still on our screens. Along with Johnson, he is probably one of the best NASCAR racers that we have ever seen. A staggering 93 wins and 81 poles is an amazing achievement, and he has won a total of four NASCAR cup series titles. Gordon also won the Daytona 24 Hours in 2017, cementing himself as a driver who can win in more than one discipline of racing. He still remains a very popular figure thanks to his TV role and has become a great personality for FOX on their NASCAR coverage.

13 All-Time Great: Jim Clark

Jim Clark never seems to be mentioned as much as some other Formula 1 drivers, which is odd, because he was perhaps the greatest of his generation and one of the greatest of all time. In his Formula 1 career, Clark won two world titles and achieved 25 wins, 32 podiums, and 33 pole positions, and many thought he was truly untouchable. Sadly, like many racing in F1 in the 1960s, Clark was to perish in a tragic accident. Whilst racing a Formula 2 car at Hockenheim in 1968, he went off the track and into the forest, losing his life. His funeral was attended by thousands, and he is affectionately remembered as ‘Jimmy’ Clark. Working with Lotus, he was a fearsome driver.

12 All-Time Great: Robert Kubica

It may seem odd to include a man who has only won one Grand Prix, but Robert Kubica is often regarded as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers to never win a world championship. He won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix and seemed destined for stardom. His speed and talent were immense. But the horrifying rally accident in Italy in 2011, which limited the use of his right arm and almost killed him, looked to have ended his career. Remarkably, after a year of testing F1 cars in 2017, Kubica will return as a full-time driver for Williams in 2019. That alone is the stuff legends are made of.

11 All-Time Great: Lewis Hamilton

It would be wrong to not include the current Formula 1 World Champion on this list because Lewis Hamilton really cemented himself as a Formula 1 legend in 2018. After going six years without a title after 2008, he took his second in 2014 and now has five to his name. An astonishing 73 wins and 83 pole positions are only going to increase over the next few years, and few would bet against him winning another title in 2019. Sure, there have been dips and the odd patchy season, but every driver has those. Hamilton is a polarizing figure but what isn’t polarizing is the speed that has made him an all-time great.

10 Can Barely Drive: Giancarlo Fisichella

Giancarlo Fischella was not a terrible racing driver. In fact, in his day, he could boast a good turn of speed. But the problem for ‘Fisi’ was that he was never quite consistent enough as an Alonso or a Hamilton to be able to string together a great season. He only took three Grand Prix wins and four pole positions, one of which was actually an incredible pole for the fairly new Force India team in 2009. Despite that, though, he never really flourished and didn’t fulfill the potential he had shown early on in his career. He was never going to achieve the stardom that Alonso, who was his teammate at Renault, could achieve.

9 Can Barely Drive: Luca Badoer

Luca Badoer is one of those drivers who sadly never scored a single championship point in Formula 1. With 2,364 laps completed and 50 Grand Prix starts, not one point was recorded by Badoer. He was actually on course for an amazing fourth place in the 1999 European Grand Prix for Minardi before a gearbox failure put him out of the race with just 13 laps left. He stood in for the injured Felipe Massa in 2009 at Ferrari, after the former suffered a horrible crash in Hungary, but he was underwhelming and nowhere near the pace of Kimi Raikkonen, who was in the other car.

8 Can Barely Drive: Taki Inoue

Taki Inoue is actually quite a popular character among racing, but that popularity only came after his driving career and he never achieved anything particularly meaningful on the track. He was more famous for his comical accidents and incidents as opposed to his searing pace. For example, in Monaco 1995, he stalled his Footwork car during the first qualifying session. He sat in the cockpit, waiting to be towed back, but the Renault Clio course car used at the time hit his car and he was flipped onto his back. Luckily he was fine, but incidents like that characterized an underwhelming career.

7 Can Barely Drive: Alex Yoong

The term pay driver is often used unfairly on good drivers who just happen to have backing. But Yoong is perhaps a more true definition of a pay driver. He had very little success in the junior formulas, yet was able to make his way into Formula 1 in 2001 and debuted at that year's Italian Grand Prix. This was thanks to sponsorship from the Malaysian Magnum Corporation, his home country. Teamed up with Mark Webber in 2002, the Australian thrashed Yoong and he was out-qualified in every single race that year. He was dropped by season's end and was never seen in F1 again.

6 Can Barely Drive: Yuji Ide

Yuji Ide was a rookie in 2006, but you probably wouldn’t believe such a thing when you realized his age. Ide was 31, which really makes no sense for a rookie. He signed with the team Super Aguri but was teamed up with another driver from Japan in Takuma Sato. Sato had a podium finish to his name and was very clearly much faster than Ide ever could be. A multitude of incidents, including several spins on his own in Austria and an opening lap crash with Christian Albers in Imola, saw the FIA revoke Ide’s super license, something that they would never do unless they had good reason to do so.

5 Can Barely Drive: Chanoch Nissany

We have mentioned the term 'pay driver'  already. Well, if you want a true definition of it, look no further than Chanoch Nissany. Nissany was a successful Israeli businessman who decided to buy himself into a driver's seat at Minardi. He made his F1 debut in practice for the 2005 Hungarian Grand Prix (at the age of 41) and only really viewed racing as something of a hobby, not a job. The practice session went as well as could have been expected: he was miles off the pace, spun into the gravel, and was hoisted away by crane. It was so bad, he was still sitting in the car because he couldn’t remove his steering wheel.

4 Can Barely Drive: AJ Foyt IV

A.J Foyt was one of the most successful racing drivers of his time. So it is perhaps no surprise other members of his family would follow suit. AJ Foyt IV is the grandson of AJ Foyt, and raced in NASCAR Nationwide and IndyCar, but sadly he did nothing more than ride on the back of his name, and never took any great success. He had 82 starts in IndyCar, which is surely enough time for someone to grab a decent result? Wrong. Foyt IV finished a career-best 14^th, showing the world just how out of his depth he was and that he had nothing near the speed of his grandfather.

3 Can Barely Drive: Marty Roth

Marty Roth is another IndyCar driver who never had the success that he hoped for. Simply put, Roth just simply did not have the speed to compete with the best of the field. Roth actually only made 21 starts but never achieved any meaningful results, and his best finish in the standings was 21^st in 2007. His best IndyCar finish in a race came in 2008, when he finished 13^th at Nashville Superspeedway. Other than that, there was nothing of any significance to Roth’s career, nor did he have a successful name like AJ Foyt IV for people to remember him by, and he eventually faded into obscurity.

2 Can Barely Drive: Francesco Dracone

Francesco Dracone is another IndyCar driver who tried his best to make a name for himself in the United States, but it didn’t go well. He made just seven starts in the series, four of those during the 2015 season and they didn’t go according to plan. He is most famous for a spin on the first lap of that year's race in New Orleans, which saw him drop to the very back of the field. He then slid into a mechanic from his Dale Coyne team in the pitlane whilst undertaking a pit stop in what was a wet race. Dracone then faded from view after those races, replaced by the much more capable Tristan Vautier