Comments on: F1 2009: The year in stats (Part 2)

By: Iaun Henderson

Iaun Henderson — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:34:26 +0000

Re the ‘Drivers ranked by results’ table. Could it also show DNF’s for each driver.

By: Antifia

Antifia — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:06:43 +0000

The problem with Button is that one cannot help but think that his performance was a bit mediocre for a WC. He won his races when Brawn was clearly ahead of the pack. When the other teams caught up with them – dobble deck defuser for everybody – he became a also run. Sometimes, Brawn GP would still be the team to beat, but in the last 10 races, the performance of the WC was lackluster at best – his qualis were downright awful. What saved him was the competition being even more awkward. In sum, it was a championship in which the least incompetent won….He deserves the title (he score most points) but he is a forgetable WC in a historical sense.

By: wasiF1

wasiF1 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:53:17 +0000

Button is a ‘worthy’ champion.

By: Toby Bushby

Toby Bushby — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:47:50 +0000

The “Drivers ranked by results” table shows what would happen if Bernie had his “medals” idea implemented. That was supposed to happen in ’09. Barrichello and Rosberg would have been shafted for being consistent, while Fisichella would have made a huge leap up the standings.

By: Larry Simms

Larry Simms — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:06:05 +0000

Thanks for the explanation.
I had thought that this chart was intended to demonstrate something new. It seems that all it’s doing is ranking drivers by wins, with 2nds and if necessary 3rds used as tie-breakers.

By: rooks

rooks — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:38:35 +0000

I believed everyone understood by now that it’s not the number of victories that’s the unworthiness debate is about. Summary stats will never help you out on that anyway.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:48:31 +0000

Well, in fact Button won more races (six) than Hamilton did (five) in 2008…
It would be more precise to say Button won as many races as the driver with most wins on the past two seasons (Massa in 2008, runner-up with 6 wins and Raikkonen in 2007, champion with 6 wins)

By: Xanathos

Xanathos — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:53:43 +0000

“Strange that Button won as many races as the two champions before him, yet there are so many discussions about him being an ‘unworthy’ champion.”

Slightly wrong. Hamilton has won only five races last year. Many people might count Spa as a win for him, but the statistics say otherwise.

By: PJA

PJA — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:47:13 +0000

I think the graph on reliability from 1997 to 2009 is interesting.

Ferrari’s dominance earlier this decade was built on their great reliability, as well as having the fastest car and driver. In subsequent seasons the other teams have also improved their reliability so now it isn’t a surprise if every car finishes the race, whereas the reverse would be true in the 1990s and previous decades.

Also when the points system was changed from 10-6-4-3-2-1 to 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1, and when the rules came in awarding penalties for engine failures, reliability became even more important for teams.

So while it still maybe true that it is easier to make a fast car reliable than a reliable car fast, I don’t think it is as easy to win a Championship with a fast but fragile car as it once was.

By: SaloolaS

SaloolaS — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:52:05 +0000

Another similliarity – In Interlagos the brazilian rival for WDC had pole position in both years, and in both years the previous WDC was third.