Jules Bianchi car number alt. championship

[dr-baker]

Really emphasises the difference between the two Sebs that season, doesn't it?

Especially the difference in luck. Vettel had all his bad luck out of the way before the Toro Rosso was on form, while Bourdais lost a potential podium at Monza due to a car problem - though he still set fastest lap in that race. He lost another possible podium at Spa with that last-moment downpour, and then there was that ridiculous penalty he got in Fuji.

Makes you wonder how he might have gone if he had another chance for a different team. He has (had) a good career in America, but that rarely translates to Europe (with the exceptions of Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti).

[dr-baker]

And as we are currently (near) the top of a page...

Overall Championship Table with car numbers and drivers' teams

Code: Select all

year  Winner               car no. Points Originally  Driver's Team
1950  Juan-Manuel Fangio   n/a      458   2nd         Alfa Romeo
1951  Juan-Manuel Fangio   n/a      979   1st         Alfa Romeo
1952  Alberto Ascari       n/a     1218   1st         Ferrari
1953  Juan-Manuel Fangio   n/a      762   2nd         Maserati
1954  Juan-Manuel Fangio   n/a      686   1st         Maserati, Mercedes
1955  Maurice Trintignant  n/a      389 ? 4th         Ferrari
1956  Stirling Moss        n/a      699   2nd         Maserati
1957  Stirling Moss        n/a      502   2nd         Maserati, Vanwall
1958  George Amick         n/a      594   15th        Epperly
1959  Phil Hill            n/a      544   4th         Ferrari

Code: Select all

1960  Olivier Gendebien    n/a      400   6th         Cooper
1961  Giancarlo Baghetti   n/a      450   9th         Ferrari
1962  Bruce McLaren        n/a      452   3rd         Cooper
1963  Jim Clark            n/a      428   1st         Lotus
1964  Jim Clark            n/a      416   3rd         Lotus
1965  Jackie Stewart       n/a      504   3rd         BRM
1966  Jack Brabham         n/a      354   1st         Brabham 
1967  Dan Gurney           n/a      364   8th         Eagle
1968  Jacky Ickx           n/a      439   4th         Ferrari
1969  Jackie Stewart       n/a      438   1st         Matra

Code: Select all

1970  Jacky Ickx           n/a      466   2nd         Ferrari
1971  Ronnie Peterson      n/a      640   2nd         March
1972  Emerson Fittipaldi   n/a      824   1st         Lotus
1973  James Hunt           n/a      378   8th         March
1974  Clay Regazzoni       11       572   2nd         Ferrari
1975  James Hunt           24       792   4th         Hesketh
1976  James Hunt           11       759   1st         McLaren
1977  Jody Scheckter       20      1100   2nd         Wolf
1978  Carlos Reutemann     11       528   3rd         Ferrari
1979  Alan Jones           27      1080   3rd         Williams

Code: Select all

1980  Alan Jones           27      1809   1st         Williams
1981  Jacques Laffite      26      1144   4th         Ligier
1982  Didier Pironi        28      1092   2nd         Ferrari
1983  Rene Arnoux          28      1372   3rd         Ferrari
1984  Michele Alboreto     27       823 ½ 4th         Ferrari
1985  Michele Alboreto     27      1431   2nd         Ferrari
1986  Ayrton Senna         12       660   4th         Lotus
1987  Gerhard Berger       28      1008   5th         Ferrari
1988  Gerhard Berger       28      1148   3rd         Ferrari
1989  Nigel Mansell        27      1026   4th         Ferrari

Code: Select all

1990  Ayrton Senna         27      2106   1st         McLaren
1991  Alain Prost          27       918   5th         Ferrari
1992  Michael Schumacher   19      1007   3rd         Benetton
1993  Ayrton Senna          8       584   2nd         McLaren
1994  Gerhard Berger       28      1148   3rd         Ferrari
1995  Jean Alesi           27      1134   5th         Ferrari
1996  Damon Hill            5       485   1st         Williams
1997  David Coulthard      10       360   3rd=        McLaren
1998  Mika Hakkinen         8       800   1st         McLaren
1999  Heinz-Harald Frentzen 8       432   3rd         Jordan

Code: Select all

2000  Jacques Villeneuve   22       374   7th         BAR
2001  David Coulthard       4       260   2nd         McLaren
2002  Juan-Pablo Montoya    6       300   3rd         Williams
2003  Kimi Raikkonen        6       546   2nd         McLaren
2004  Jenson Button         9       765   3rd         BAR
2005  Kimi Raikkonen        9      1008   2nd         McLaren
2006  Jenson Button        12       672   6th         Honda
2007  Kimi Raikkonen        6       660   1st         Ferrari
2008  Lewis Hamilton       22      2156   1st         McLaren
2009  Jenson Button        22      2090   1st         Brawn

Code: Select all

2010  Fernando Alonso       8      2016   2nd         Ferrari
2011  Fernando Alonso       5      1285   4th         Ferrari
2012  Kimi Raikkonen        9      1863   3rd         Lotus (Enstone)
2013  Lewis Hamilton       10      1890   4th         Mercedes

Some random stats

- Smallest points hauls to win title were in 2001 and 2002
- Largest points hauls to win title were in 2008, 1990 and 2009
- Clearly the number of races and points awarded for wins make little difference to points total, judging by the past few years...
- 15 champions win this in same year (you obviously don't don't carry the number 1 before you win the title, you do that a year later...)
- Lowest original championship positions to win this: 3 x 5ths; 2 x 6ths; 1 x 7th; 2 x 8ths; 1 x 9ths; 1 x 15th

[UncreativeUsername37]

I love how you made an alternate championship where an Indy 500-only driver wins.

[dr-baker]

I love how you made an alternate championship where an Indy 500-only driver wins.

Yeah, I was surprised when that happened. I think that I'm the only person who has done that. And he didn't even win the Indy 500!

[TomWazzleshaw]

Really emphasises the difference between the two Sebs that season, doesn't it?

Especially the difference in luck. Vettel had all his bad luck out of the way before the Toro Rosso was on form, while Bourdais lost a potential podium at Monza due to a car problem - though he still set fastest lap in that race. He lost another possible podium at Spa with that last-moment downpour, and then there was that ridiculous penalty he got in Fuji.

And then you had the Ferrari engine which decided to blow up with two laps to go in Australia while Bourdais was running in P4 in the crapbox that was the 2007 STR.

[Salamander]

Really emphasises the difference between the two Sebs that season, doesn't it?

Especially the difference in luck. Vettel had all his bad luck out of the way before the Toro Rosso was on form, while Bourdais lost a potential podium at Monza due to a car problem - though he still set fastest lap in that race. He lost another possible podium at Spa with that last-moment downpour, and then there was that ridiculous penalty he got in Fuji.

And then you had the Ferrari engine which decided to blow up with two laps to go in Australia while Bourdais was running in P4 in the crapbox that was the 2007 STR.

Ah, yeah, I'd forgotten about that. Although I think you'll find that was the 2008 STR - albeit before it was any good.

[James1978]

Thanks for doing that 2008 alternative! (I had in my mind it would be Kubica's championship though).......

At least the winner of that won't win any more while he's got car number 1 though.

[Meatwad]

Bourdais lost a potential podium at Monza due to a car problem - though he still set fastest lap in that race.

Actually, the fastest lap in Monza was set by Räikkönen (his ninth that season). Bourdais set the second fastest lap but was 1.211 seconds slower!

[dr-baker]

I realised recently that in the 2011 results, that I did not include the 2011 Bahrain GP, but having done a bit of mental arithmetics, I realised that Alonso would still end up as champion anyway. Maybe next weekend, I'll see what difference it makes, but it'll probably be similar, despite the peculiarity of that race's results!

[dr-baker]

So after round 9 of 19, here is a half-term report:

Code: Select all

DRIVER    ACTUAL POINTS CAR NUMBER REVISED POINTS ORIGINAL POSITION

Hamilton   99           10         990             4th
Raikkonen 116            7         812             3rd
Rosberg    84            9         756             6th  
di Resta   36           14         504             9th
Alonso    123            3         369             2nd
Sutil      23           15         345            11th
Grosjean   41            8         328             8th
Vergne     13           18         234            13th
Massa      57            4         228             7th

Code: Select all

DRIVER    ACTUAL POINTS CAR NUMBER REVISED POINTS ORIGINAL POSITION
Ricciardo  11           19         209            14th
Webber     93            2         186             5th
Button     33            5         165            10th
Vettel    157            1         157             1st
Perez      16            6          96            12th         
Hulkenberg  7           11          77            15th

Hamilton is looking on course to match one of the top-5 or so highest scores of all time in this championship, with Raikkonen the only close-ish challenger and Rosberg the only other who realistically can be see to challenge. Di Resta is doing well, while I hope that Button remains ahead of Vettel by season's end.

[James1978]

Got another retro idea for this - what would happen if the 1996 numbering system had never started and the 1974 system had kept going from 1996 to today?

Schumacher would certainly not dominate his Ferrari years as Benetton/Renault would have had 27/28 from 1996 until 2005. Though he no doubt would have won 2006! It probably goes to the team with 27/28 every year except when they really struggled such as Benetton around the turn of the milennium. Though wouldn't Red Bull have had quite high numbers until 2010?

[Bleu]

It's difficult to say because the amount of teams decreased to 10 at worst, so I think that 27/28 might have not been used at all.

[Bleu]

With no spaces fixed. New teams will take smallest available numbers:

Benetton-Renault-Lotus: 27/28 1996-2005, 1/2 2006, 9/10 2007 to date
Tyrrell-BAR-Honda-Brawn-Mercedes: 3/4 1996 to date
Williams: 5/6 1996-1997, 1/2 1998, 7/8 1999 to date
McLaren: 7/8 1996-1998, 1/2 1999-2000, 9/10 2001-2006, 1/2 2007, 27/28 2008, 1/2 2009-2010, 11/12 2011 to date
Arrows: 9/10 1996, 1/2 1997, 5/6 1998-2002
Jordan-Midland-Spyker-Force India: 14/15 1996 to date
Forti: 21/22 1996
Minardi-STR: 23/24 1996 to date
Ligier-Prost 25/26: 1996-2001
Ferrari: 1/2 1996, 9/10 1997-2000, 1/2 2001-2005, 27/28 2006-2007, 1/2 2008, 27/28 2009 to date
Sauber-BMW-Sauber: 29/30 1996 to date
Stewart-Jaguar-Red Bull: 11/12 1997-2010, 1/2 2011 to date
Lola: 16/17 1997
Toyota: 16/17 2002-2009
Super Aguri: 5/6 2006-2008
Lotus-Caterham: 5/6: 2010 to date
HRT: 16/17 2010-2012
Virgin-Marussia: 18/19 2010 to date

As you can see, numbers 16 to 22 stay empty for four years which would not make much sense. I made this kind of system with possible changes throughout the years:

For 1996, Benetton will take its "traditional" numbers 19/20, which were empty since Larrousse went bust. Sauber moves to Simtek's place for 11/12. Stewart had already announced its intention to enter, so 16/17 stay empty for 1996 season, until Stewart gets them. Lola will get 21/22 left out by Forti. After Lola collapse, Prost will take their numbers.

Arrows and Ferrari swap 1/2 and 9/10 as in previous example. Williams and Arrows swap for 1998, then McLaren and Williams for 1999. So in 2000, the field is:
1/2 McLaren, 3/4 BAR, 5/6 Arrows, 7/8 Williams, 9/10 Ferrari, 11/12 Sauber, 14/15 Jordan, 16/17 Jaguar, 19/20 Benetton, 21/22 Prost, 23/24 Minardi.

Toyota will enter in 2002 and take 25/26 as Prost left its withdrawal quite late. Next year, Toyota takes Arrows's numbers 5/6.

With all the owner changes, some reshuffle in 2006. #18 will be taken to the use again. Renault takes 1/2, then all until 16/17 like in 2002 (with some teams changing names), then Ferrari 18/19, Toro Rosso 20/21, Super Aguri 22/23.

Renault and McLaren swap for 2007, then Ferrari takes 1/2 for a year. McLaren uses 1/2 again in 2009 and 2010.

In 2010, Lotus will take Toyota's numbers 5/6. HRT will be assigned 22/23 and Virgin 24/25. Red Bull and McLaren swap in 2011. In 2013 numbers used are between 1 and 25. Along with unlucky 13, 22 and 23 are not used following HRT's withdrawal.

Therefore the number assignment would be:
1/2 Red Bull, 3/4 Mercedes, 5/6 Caterham, 7/8 Williams, 9/10 Lotus, 11/12 Sauber, 14/15 Force India, 16/17 McLaren, 18/19 Ferrari, 20/21 Toro Rosso, 24/25 Marussia

[dr-baker]

Sorry I haven't been updating this as often as some of the other Alternative Championships - this is not a priority over my uni work and life. Although I wish it could be!

Anyway, a reminder of the positions prior to Vettel's race-winning domination...

So after round 9 of 19, here is a half-term report:

Code: Select all

DRIVER    ACTUAL POINTS CAR NUMBER REVISED POINTS ORIGINAL POSITION

Hamilton   99           10         990             4th
Raikkonen 116            7         812             3rd
Rosberg    84            9         756             6th  
di Resta   36           14         504             9th
Alonso    123            3         369             2nd
Sutil      23           15         345            11th
Grosjean   41            8         328             8th
Vergne     13           18         234            13th
Massa      57            4         228             7th

Code: Select all

DRIVER    ACTUAL POINTS CAR NUMBER REVISED POINTS ORIGINAL POSITION
Ricciardo  11           19         209            14th
Webber     93            2         186             5th
Button     33            5         165            10th
Vettel    157            1         157             1st
Perez      16            6          96            12th         
Hulkenberg  7           11          77            15th

Hamilton is looking on course to match one of the top-5 or so highest scores of all time in this championship, with Raikkonen the only close-ish challenger and Rosberg the only other who realistically can be see to challenge. Di Resta is doing well, while I hope that Button remains ahead of Vettel by season's end.

And now, for the final results! (NP - new position, OP - original/real life position)

Code: Select all

NP  OP  Name          Points  Car No.  Revised Points
 1.  4. Hamilton      189     10       1890
 2.  6. Rosberg       171      9       1539 
 3.  5. Raikkonen     183      7       1281 
 4.  7. Grosjean      132      8       1056
 5.  2. Alonso        242      3        726 
 6. 12. Di Resta       48     14        672
 7. 10. Hulkenberg     51     11        561
 8. 13. Sutil          29     15        435
 9.  3. Webber        199      2        398 
10.  1. Vettel        397      1        397

Code: Select all

NP  OP  Name          Points  Car No.  Revised Points
11. 14. Ricciardo      20     19        380
12.  9. Button         73      5        365
13. 11. Perez          49      6        294
14. 15. Vergne         13     18        234
15.  8. Massa         112      2        224  
16. 16. Gutierrez       6     12         72
17. 17. Bottas          4     17         68
18. 18. Maldonado       1     16         16

So, as predicted at the half-way stage, this was Hamilton's to win, for only the second time. Vettel's late season charge seems to have helped him gain several places, yet still loses out to his departing teammate by a single point! Massa does not show well here, 10 places behind Fernando and close in postion to his future team. But they (Williams)will have large car numbers next year - will they score enough points to take advantage of this? And for Raikkonen to have finished 2nd (where he was at the half-way stage), he would have needed to have scored 38 real-life points. Possible, but a 'What If?' scenario.

[James1978]

Massa should have double the points as he had car #4, not #2.

I do like this alternative championship though. McLaren should be in good stead next year if they get their act together, they'll have #9 and #10. I predict Button for champion next year - I presume he'll get #9 and Magnussen will get #10 but he should outscore him by 10% surely!!

[dr-baker]

Massa should have double the points as he had car #4, not #2.

Thanks. No wonder he ended up doing relatively badly. At least I'll have a good supply of papayas to last until New Year now!

Will recalculate in the morning when I'm less tired.

[dr-baker]

Code: Select all

NP  OP  Name          Points  Car No.  Revised Points
 1.  4. Hamilton      189     10       1890
 2.  6. Rosberg       171      9       1539 
 3.  5. Raikkonen     183      7       1281 
 4.  7. Grosjean      132      8       1056
 5.  2. Alonso        242      3        726 
 6. 12. Di Resta       48     14        672
 7. 10. Hulkenberg     51     11        561
 8.  8. Massa         112      4        448
 9. 13. Sutil          29     15        435
10.  3. Webber        199      2        398 

Code: Select all

NP  OP  Name          Points  Car No.  Revised Points
11.  1. Vettel        397      1        397
12. 14. Ricciardo      20     19        380
13.  9. Button         73      5        365
14. 11. Perez          49      6        294
15. 15. Vergne         13     18        234
16. 16. Gutierrez       6     12         72
17. 17. Bottas          4     17         68
18. 18. Maldonado       1     16         16

OK, so Massa's car number has been corrected and thus has jumped from 15th to 8th, much closer to Alonso. It also causes Vetel to drop out of the top-10!

[dr-baker]

This (and thus this: both from Autosport) could make the future of this championship interesting...

[dr-baker]

And with today's news of drivers having fixed numbers for their career, and the final race being double points, it could lead to one driver dominating this championship for years if there are only one or two leading drivers with higher numbers. Having said that, if you have a one-off winner with a high number winning the final round, that could have a big influence on the championship...

[James1978]

But it'll still be quite easy to work out the numbers every driver and team would have had if the 1996 - 2013 numbering system continued though and do a "What If" score based on that?

[dr-baker]

Well, yes, I guess so, and I may well do so, time permitting, but the priority will be with 'reality'...

[dr-baker]

Sorry for the double-posting, but it's been 12 hours - opposite ends of the day...

Autosport have an article on the history of the use of car numbers if anybody cares to read it.

[UncreativeUsername37]

Sorry for the double-posting, but it's been 12 hours - opposite ends of the day...

Autosport have an article on the history of the use of car numbers if anybody cares to read it.

I always kind of half realised that 5 and 6 were always at/near the front much more often than 3 and 4 in the semi-fixed number days. Like RedLetterMedia would say, I didn't notice it, but my brain did. Reading that article really makes me want teams to have personal numbers and not drivers (I could go for Ferrari 27/28 and Williams 5/6 if I had to), even though I know that goes against the reason they're doing it.

[go_Rubens]

Sorry for the double-posting, but it's been 12 hours - opposite ends of the day...

Autosport have an article on the history of the use of car numbers if anybody cares to read it.

I always kind of half realised that 5 and 6 were always at/near the front much more often than 3 and 4 in the semi-fixed number days. Like RedLetterMedia would say, I didn't notice it, but my brain did. Reading that article really makes me want teams to have personal numbers and not drivers (I could go for Ferrari 27/28 and Williams 5/6 if I had to), even though I know that goes against the reason they're doing it.

I'm one who'd like to see the system from '84 to '95 again as it was easy to tell which teams were which by car number. Next year's system is going to mess uo things a lot. And it's bloody pointless as well.

[dr-baker]

Sorry for the double-posting, but it's been 12 hours - opposite ends of the day...

Autosport have an article on the history of the use of car numbers if anybody cares to read it.

I always kind of half realised that 5 and 6 were always at/near the front much more often than 3 and 4 in the semi-fixed number days. Like RedLetterMedia would say, I didn't notice it, but my brain did. Reading that article really makes me want teams to have personal numbers and not drivers (I could go for Ferrari 27/28 and Williams 5/6 if I had to), even though I know that goes against the reason they're doing it.

I'm one who'd like to see the system from '84 to '95 again as it was easy to tell which teams were which by car number. Next year's system is going to mess uo things a lot. And it's bloody pointless as well.

The '84-'95 system began in 1976, I believe...

[dr-baker]

So as things stand at the moment, these are the numbers currently selected and revealed:

Alonso 14
Raikkonen 7
Massa 19
Bottas 77
Rosberg 6/5/8
Perez 11
Vergne 21/25/27

So, if Williams can get themselves into the midfield next year, I reckon Bottas has a very strong chance in this alternative championship. Should Williams have another shocker however, then my money would be on Jules-Eric Vergne (typo deliberate ).

{Source: Autosport}.

[dr-baker]

OK, so the car numbers for 2014 have now been revealed, and here they are in numerical order:

Code: Select all

#   Driver             Team/Car
1   Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull-Renault
3   Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull-Renault
4   Max Chilton        Marussia-Ferrari
6   Nico Rosberg       Mercedes
7   Kimi Raikkonen     Ferrari
8   Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Renault
9   Marcus Ericsson    Caterham-Renault
10  Kamui Kobayashi    Caterham-Renault
11  Sergio Perez       Force India-Mercedes
13  Pastor Maldonado   Lotus-Renault
14  Fernando Alonso    Ferrari
17  Jules Bianchi      Marussia-Ferrari 

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19  Felipe Massa       Williams-Mercedes
20  Kevin Magnussen    McLaren-Mercedes
21  Esteban Gutierrez  Sauber-Ferrari
22  Jenson Button      McLaren-Mercedes
25  Jean-Eric Vergne   Toro Rosso-Renault
26  Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso-Renault
27  Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes
44  Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes
45  Andre Lotterer     Caterham-Renault
77  Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes
99  Adrian Sutil       Sauber-Ferrari

Taking into account the likely points scores of each team in my own opinion, I reckon that the top-three in this championship will quite likely be Hamilton, Bottas and Sutil. But in which order? The Mercedes engine currently seems stronger than the Ferrari, but will Lewis score more than double the number of real-life points that Adrian will score? My prediction? 1. Bottas; 2. Hamilton; 3; Sutil. And as for Vettel? He'll be scoring here with car number 1, not 5, so expect him to be nowhere near the top-10! (Although when I do update this, I will see where he may be with number 5...)

EDIT: Just realised that Sutil is at Sauber and not Force India. So Definitely between Bottas and Hamilton, this one, I reckon...

[dr-baker]

And here's an article explaining why the drivers chose their numbers. Poor Jules Bianchi...

[dr-baker]

OK, so I used today's qualifying to see how the points might work out, and it looks like that one driver may dominate, if this single qualifying saession provides any kind of basis for the year... (using the final grid, to replicate any post-race penalties):

In grid order:

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 1.  Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes               25 x 44 = 1100
 2.  Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull-Renault       18 x  3 =   54
 3.  Nico Rosberg       Mercedes               15 x  6 =   90
 4.  Kevin Magnussen    McLaren-Mercedes       12 x 20 =  240
 5.  Fernando Alonso    Ferrari                10 x 14 =  140
 6.  Jean-Eric Vergne   Toro Rosso-Renault      8 x 25 =  200
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    6 x 27 =  162
 8.  Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso-Renault      4 x 26 =  104
 9.  Felipe Massa       Williams-Mercedes       2 x 19 =   38
10.  Jenson Button      McLaren-Mercedes        1 x 22 =   22

And in points order:

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 1.  Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes               25 x 44 = 1100
 4.  Kevin Magnussen    McLaren-Mercedes       12 x 20 =  240
 6.  Jean-Eric Vergne   Toro Rosso-Renault      8 x 25 =  200
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    6 x 27 =  162
 5.  Fernando Alonso    Ferrari                10 x 14 =  140
 8.  Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso-Renault      4 x 26 =  104
 3.  Nico Rosberg       Mercedes               15 x  6 =   90
 2.  Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull-Renault       18 x  3 =   54
 9.  Felipe Massa       Williams-Mercedes       2 x 19 =   38
10.  Jenson Button      McLaren-Mercedes        1 x 22 =   22 

Of course these don't count for anything, but just interesting to see if there are any patterns...

(Of course the real reason for doing this was to take a break from writing my essay, but you won't tell anyone, will you!)

[Julien]

And if Sutil scores a podium, he would win the championship

[Salamander]

And if Sutil scores a podium, he would win the championship

Unless Bottas scores a 4th place or better.

[dr-baker]

And if Sutil scores a podium, he would win the championship

Unless Bottas scores a 4th place or better.

Overall Championship Table with car numbers and drivers' teams

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year  Winner               car no. Points Originally  Driver's Team
1990  Ayrton Senna         27      2106   1st         McLaren

2006  Jenson Button        12       672   6th         Honda
2007  Kimi Raikkonen        6       660   1st         Ferrari
2008  Lewis Hamilton       22      2156   1st         McLaren
2009  Jenson Button        22      2090   1st         Brawn
2010  Fernando Alonso       8      2016   2nd         Ferrari
2011  Fernando Alonso       5      1285   4th         Ferrari

So, as you can see from 2006 to 2011, it is difficult to see how many points is required to win the title. A huge jump can be seen from 2007 to 2008, then remains exceptionally high until 2011, when it decreases by around 40 % again. Most of the time in recent decades, it's been around 1000+ points, but Senna had a significant peak in 1990, with the second-highest total to date, and the highest at the time.

Now, if Sutil were to score a 3rd-placed podium, he would have 15 x 99 = 1485 points. A win would get him 25 x 99 = 2475 points, which may likely get him the title. The problem with predicting this season's results, though, is that, while we have had big car numbers before (from 1950 to the mid-1970s), nobody has consistently run with such large numbers all season long. And as you can see in my last post, Lewis would only have to win twice to overhaul podium points hauls from Sutil, something that is more than possible, poor reliability or not. So it looks as though this year may well see a record points haul.

Now, for the actual race scores from this round:

Pre-DSQ

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Pos  Driver
 1.  Nico Rosberg      25 x  6 = 150
 2.  Daniel Ricciardo  18 x  3 =  54 
 3.  Kevin Magnussen   15 x 20 = 300
 4.  Jenson Button     12 x 22 = 264
 5.  Fernando Alonso   10 x 14 = 140
 6.  Valtteri Bottas    8 x 77 = 616
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg    6 x 27 = 162
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen     4 x  7 =  28
 9.  Jean-Eric Vergne   2 x 25 =  50
10.  Daniil Kvyat       1 x 26 =  26

And in points order, rather than race order:

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 6.  Valtteri Bottas    8 x 77 = 616
 3.  Kevin Magnussen   15 x 20 = 300
 4.  Jenson Button     12 x 22 = 264
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg    6 x 27 = 162
 1.  Nico Rosberg      25 x  6 = 150
 5.  Fernando Alonso   10 x 14 = 140
 2.  Daniel Ricciardo  18 x  3 =  54 
 9.  Jean-Eric Vergne   2 x 25 =  50
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen     4 x  7 =  28
10.  Daniil Kvyat       1 x 26 =  26

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Williams    616
McLaren     564 = 300 + 264
Ferrari     168 = 140 +  28
Force India 162
Mercedes    150
Toro Rosso   76 =  50 +  26
Red Bull     54

Post-DSQ

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 1.  Nico Rosberg      25 x  6 = 150
 2.  Kevin Magnussen   18 x 20 = 360
 3.  Jenson Button     15 x 22 = 330
 4.  Fernando Alonso   12 x 14 = 168
 5.  Valtteri Bottas   10 x 77 = 770
 6.  Nico Hulkenberg    8 x 27 = 216
 7.  Kimi Raikkonen     6 x  7 =  42
 8.  Jean-Eric Vergne   4 x 25 = 100
 9.  Daniil Kvyat       2 x 26 =  52
10.  Sergio Perez       1 x 11 =  11

And in points order, rather than race order:

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 5.  Valtteri Bottas   10 x 77 = 770
 2.  Kevin Magnussen   18 x 20 = 360
 3.  Jenson Button     15 x 22 = 330
 6.  Nico Hulkenberg    8 x 27 = 216
 4.  Fernando Alonso   12 x 14 = 168
 1.  Nico Rosberg      25 x  6 = 150
 8.  Jean-Eric Vergne   4 x 25 = 100
 9.  Daniil Kvyat       2 x 26 =  52
 7.  Kimi Raikkonen     6 x  7 =  42
10.  Sergio Perez       1 x 11 =  11

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Williams    770
McLaren     690 = 360 + 330
Force India 227 = 216 +  11
Ferrari     210 = 168 +  42
Mercedes    150
Toro Rosso  152 = 100 +  52

Now, clearly, Bottas I would imagine will score several times more during the season, and Hamilton will score a few wins, which will gain him several thousand points. Will be interesting to see how soon in the season the 2000-point barrier will be breached. Already Bottas has outscored some champions in many previous seasons...

[Ferrim]

It's clearly Hamilton vs Bottas vs Sutil here

[dr-baker]

It's clearly Hamilton vs Bottas vs Sutil here

Hamilton v. Bottas, yeah. But Sutil, perhaps not so much, given how many points Sauber are likely to be scoring...

[dr-baker]

Malaysian GP 2014

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 1. Lewis Hamilton    25 x 44 = 1100 
 8. Valtteri Bottas    4 x 77 =  308
 5. Nico Hulkenberg   10 x 27 =  270
 6. Jenson Button      8 x 22 =  176
 4. Fernando Alonso   12 x 14 =  168
 7. Felipe Massa       6 x 19 =  114
 2. Nico Rosberg      18 x  6 =  108 
 9. Kevin Magnussen    2 x 20 =   40
10. Daniil Kvyat       1 x 26 =   26
 3. Sebastian Vettel  15 x  1 =   15  

Drivers' Championship (assuming Red Bull's appeal fails!)

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1. Lewis Hamilton      0 + 1100 = 1100
2. Valtteri Bottas   770 +  308 = 1078
3. Jenson Button     330 +  176 =  506 
4. Nico Hulkenberg   216 +  270 =  486
5. Kevin Magnussen   360 +   40 =  400
6. Fernando Alonso   168 +  168 =  336
7. Nico Rosberg      150 +  108 =  258
8. Felipe Massa        0 +  114 =  114
9. Jean-Eric Vergne  100 +    0 =  100
10 Daniil Kvyat       52 +   26 =   78
11 Kimi Raikkonen     42 +    0 =   42
12 Sebastian Vettel    0 +   15 =   15
13 Sergio Perez       11 +    0 =   11  

Very clearly a two-way battle between Lewis and Valterri, although Lewis has only scored once and Valterri twice... Wiliams need to capitalize on their competitiveness to challenge Lewis.

Constructors' Championship

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Mercedes     1100 + 258 = 1358
Williams     1078 + 114 = 1192
McLaren       506 + 400 =  906
Force India   486 +  11 =  497
Ferrari       336 +  42 =  378
Toro Rosso    100 +  78 =  178
Red Bull       15 +   0 =   15  

McLaren are remaining relatively competitive here, but will need to improve to maintain their chances here, I suspect.

[dr-baker]

I was away from the internet while the Bahraini GP was on, and because it was a holiday, I am not really all that sorry that I did not update this then...

Points scores for the Bahraini GP

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 1. Lewis Hamilton     25 x 44 = 1100
 8. Valtteri Bottas     4 x 77 =  308
 5. Nico Hulkenberg    10 x 27 =  270
 3. Sergio Perez       15 x 11 =  165 
 7. Felipe Massa        6 x 19 =  114
 2. Nico Rosberg       18 x  6 =  108  
 4. Daniel Ricciardo   12 x  3 =   36 
 9. Fernando Alonso     2 x 14 =   28
 6. Sebastian Vettel    8 x  1 =    8 
10. Kimi Raikkonen      1 x  7 =    7

Pretty inevitable that those with the biggest car numbers (amongst those in the points - sorry Herr Sutil, but having a big car number does not help you when you are not actually scoring any points - 99 x 0 will always equal 0) scored the big points here. But Lewis is continuing to win and dominate. C'mon Valterri, you need to be doing better than this!!!

Which means this for the WDC:

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 2. Lewis Hamilton     50 x 44 = 2200
 8. Valtteri Bottas    18 x 77 = 1386
 3. Nico Hulkenberg    28 x 27 =  756
 5. Jenson Button      23 x 22 =  506
 7. Kevin Magnussen    20 x 20 =  400
 1. Nico Rosberg       61 x  6 =  366
 4. Fernando Alonso    26 x 14 =  364
11. Felipe Massa       12 x 19 =  228
 9. Sergio Perez       16 x 11 =  176
13. Jean-Eric Vergne    4 x 25 =  100

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14. Daniil Kvyat        3 x 26 =   78
12. Kimi Raikkonen      7 x  7 =   49
10. Daniel Ricciardo   12 x  3 =   36 
 6. Sebastian Vettel   23 x  1 =   23

Lewis is pulling away from Valterri here. And Red Bull's drivers are paying the price here for choosing such small numbers - if either of them had a number in the mid- to high-90s, they would be competing for the title...

And the WCC:

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Mercedes     2200 + 366 = 2566
Williams     1386 + 228 = 1614
Force India   756 + 176 =  932
McLaren       506 + 400 =  906
Ferrari       364 +  49 =  413
Toro Rosso    100 +  78 =  178
Red Bull       36 +  23 =   59

McLaren were leading this after Australia.... This championship was designed to help the smaller team who were more likely to have larger numbers under the old numbering system, yet here, the four Mercedes teams are still 1-2-3-4. But hey, at least Red Bull are in last place of the point-scorers... And as a Williams fan, I am happy that I can have Williams in second place in my alternative championship!

[dr-baker]

Just wanted to point out that after 3 races and 2 wins this season, Lewis Hamilton already has the largest points haul this championship has ever seen for a single season. It's a combination of large points for a win combined with large entry numbers. Just a shame that Sauber are not as competitive as in the days of Kubica and the slightly boring bearded one.

[James1978]

I'll be amazed if Bottas can stay within 4/7 (if my maths is correct) of Hamilton's total.

I'd be more interested to see what would be happening if the 1996 - 2013 numbering continued? Could have been Williams doing well there as they would have 18 and 19! (Massa would probably have the 19 he has anyway as Bottas would more likely have got 18 being the incumbent).

[dr-baker]

I'll be amazed if Bottas can stay within 4/7 (if my maths is correct) of Hamilton's total.

At the rate Williams are currently performing, I too will be amazed.

So, onto the Chinese Grand Prix:

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 1.  Lewis Hamilton     25 x 44 = 1100
 7.  Valtteri Bottas     6 x 77 =  462
 6.  Nico Hulkenberg     8 x 27 =  216
 3.  Fernando Alonso    15 x 14 =  210
 2.  Nico Rosberg       18 x  6 =  108 
 4.  Daniel Ricciardo   12 x  3 =   36
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen      4 x  7 =   28
10.  Daniil Kvyat        1 x 26 =   26
 9.  Sergio Perez        2 x 11 =   22
 5.  Sebastian Vettel   10 x  1 =   10

Again, a massive win for Lewis. Bottas takes second again, and is a looooooong way behind Lewis, therefore quickly losing ground in the WDC. And not a great haul of points for Vettel...

So the WDC here looks like this:

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 2.  Lewis Hamilton    75 x 44 = 3300
 7.  Valtteri Bottas   24 x 77 = 1848
 4.  Nico Hulkenberg   36 x 27 =  972
 3.  Fernando Alonso   41 x 14 =  574
 8.  Jenson Button     23 x 22 =  506
 1.  Nico Rosberg      79 x  6 =  474
 9.  Kevin Magnussen   20 x 20 =  400
11.  Felipe Massa      12 x 19 =  228
10.  Sergio Perez      18 x 11 =  198
14.  Daniil Kvyat       4 x 26 =  104

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13.  Jean-Eric Vergne   4 x 25 =  100
12.  Kimi Raikkonen    11 x  7 =   77
 6.  Daniel Ricciardo  24 x  3 =   72
 5.  Sebastian Vettel  33 x  1 =   33

Lewis is dominating, Bottas is in a clear second and is himself soon to score enough that he would have won the title in any other year. And Red Bull are bottom of the pile, the most rejectful of the points-scoring teams!

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Mercedes     3300 + 474 = 3774
Williams     1848 + 228 = 2076
Force India   972 + 198 = 1070
McLaren       506 + 400 =  906
Ferrari       574 +  77 =  651
Toro Rosso    104 + 100 =  204
Red Bull       72 +  33 =  105

Mercedes are where you would expect. Williams are in a comfortable 2nd place (yay! - until you see below...). And F1's least-rejectful team of recent years are crud here. And McLaren seem now a long way indeed from their Australian form.

I'd be more interested to see what would be happening if the 1996 - 2013 numbering continued? Could have been Williams doing well there as they would have 18 and 19! (Massa would probably have the 19 he has anyway as Bottas would more likely have got 18 being the incumbent).

Well, I won't update this too regularly as it is not 'reality', at least not the reality of this alternate championship, but I may return to it again once or twice during the year. So here is how I would have allocated the car numbers for the year:

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Red Bull      1 Sebastian Vettel
              2 Daniel Ricciardo
Mercedes      3 Nico Rosberg
              4 Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari       5 Fernando Alonso
              6 Kimi Raikkonen     
Lotus         7 Romain Grosjean
              8 Pastor Maldonado
McLaren       9 Kevin Magnussen
             10 Jenson Button
Force India  11 Sergio Perez
             12 Nico Hulkenberg

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Sauber       14 Adrian Sutil
             15 Esteban Gutierrez
Toro Rosso   16 Jean-Eric Vergne
             17 Daniil Kyvat
Williams     18 Felipe Massa
             19 Valtteri Bottas
Marussia     20 Jules Bianchi
             21 Max Chilton
Caterham     22 Marcus Ericsson
             23 Kamui Kobayashi

Red Bull - pre-determined, Vettel would have 1, Ricciardo 2, whether we like it or not.
Mercedes - Rosberg had more wins in 2013. Or I am British and am biased, wanting to give Lewis the larger car number?
Ferrari - Alonso was the incumbent and out-scored Kimi in 2013.
Lotus - Grosjean was the incumbent and out-scored Pasta the Pastor in 2013.
McLaren - See Mercedes.
Force India - letting Perez keep the same number in both versions.
Sauber - Sutil is the more experienced of the two drivers by a long way.
Toro Rosso - Kvyat is a rookie.
Williams - See Sauber. Plus Bottas seems to be scoring higher at the moment, therefore this way round would maximise Williams's scoring (I like Williams...)
Marussia - Talent Talent Talent more likely to score and therefore to maximise the team's score!
Caterham - See Marussia...

So hopefully not too much bias in how I allocated each driver to each number there.

This is how things would currently look under this:

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 7.  Valtteri Bottas   24 x 19 = 456
 4.  Nico Hulkenberg   36 x 12 = 432
 2.  Lewis Hamilton    75 x  4 = 300
 1.  Nico Rosberg      79 x  3 = 237 
 8.  Jenson Button     23 x 10 = 230
11.  Felipe Massa      12 x 18 = 216
 3.  Fernando Alonso   41 x  5 = 205
10.  Sergio Perez      18 x 11 = 198
 9.  Kevin Magnussen   20 x  9 = 180
14.  Daniil Kvyat       4 x 17 =  68
12.  Kimi Raikkonen    11 x  6 =  66
13.  Jean-Eric Vergne   4 x 16 =  64 
 6.  Daniel Ricciardo  24 x  2 =  48
 5.  Sebastian Vettel  33 x  1 =  33

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Williams    456 + 216 = 672
Force India 432 + 198 = 630
Mercedes    300 + 237 = 537
McLaren     230 + 180 = 410
Ferrari     205 +  66 = 271
Toro Rosso   68 +  64 = 132
Red Bull     48 +  33 =  81

Williams lead! Williams lead! Williams lead! but then that this is not reality. However, Red Bull still remain bottom of the points-scorers, not surprising considering they have the two smallest car numbers in both versions. Mercedes don't look nearly as impressive, though.

[James1978]

I think Hamilton would have had 4 rather than 3 as well - it's half of his real number after all (as would be Rosberg's but in a different way!!), plus he was much more impressive with 4 in 2012 than with 3 in 2011!

Kimi would definitely want the 6 he had on his Ferrari in 2007.

McLaren I highly doubt - though Button did make his debut with car 10, he had his first podium with 9!

I was thinking maybe Lotus and Williams may well be the other way round so Grosjean and Massa too get their chosen numbers - though that sounds go against logic really.