Just consider the battle of Hamilton and Alonso in 2007 and their mutual respect towards each other since they are running in separate teams. Guess the rivalry between Senna and Prost went even further as they fought the battle on all possible accounts. Obviously Senna needed Prost as a "moving target" to maximize his performance and I guess it goes without saying that Prost was fueled by Senna´s performance at least as much. At the end, their rivalry was one of the most impressive of recent F1 history. Without the two and the McLaren team, something would certainly be missing during the 80ies seasons.

I also think it is difficult to measure these characters with normal standards. None of the leading drivers in F1 would have gone such a long way, spent endless time in a variety of vehicles racing on closed circuits, fought down their opponents and made it to the pinnacle of motor racing with the attitude of the regular guy on the street. It might be worth noting that rally drivers, that some consider to compete in the actual pinnacle of motor racing, usually start off much later. Some of the politics that are obvious in F1 racing seem to have arrived in WRC as well, in my opinion the position of Loeb and Ogier at Citroen showed that to some extend. Nonetheless the lack of direct battle for position and the even bigger consequences in case of an accident seem to make these drivers appear more humble. If one considers the financial situation of WRC contenders, even up to the highest non-manufacturer teams, their far more grounded attitude becomes understandable though.

As a child, watching both Senna and Prost battling, I have preferred the latter´s more rational and educated driving over the former´s emotional and uncompromising approach. After all though, they were both great characters. Guess, if Schumacher would´ve had the same competition over his first career, his talent would´ve stood out even more so.