Driver and Team Championships - your thoughts???

[J.Clark]

Well, we are eleven races into the season, just past the half-way point.

The championship standings of both drivers' and teams' is to some extent what one might have predicted; however, there are some surprises.

DRIVERS:
POSITION        DRIVER      POINTS
1   Hamilton   Mercedes    186
2   Rosberg   Mercedes    178
3   Ricciardo   Red Bull    115
4   Raikkonen   Ferrari   114
5   Vettel   Ferrari   110
6   Verstappen   Red Bull    100
7   Bottas   Williams    56
8   Perez          Force India   47
9   Massa   Williams    38
10   Sainz          Toro Rosso   30
11   Grosjean   Haas      28
12   Hulkenberg    Force India   27
13   Alonso   McLaren   24
14   Kvyat          Toro Rosso   23
15   Button   McLaren   13
16   Magnussen   Renault    6
17   Wehrlein   Manor   1
18   Vandoorne   McLaren   1

The Hamilton/Rosberg fight is about where one would have predicted I think, even though I doubt anyone would have predicted the runaway start by Rosberg.

The first real surprise, which while it may be due in part to gremlins with the #1, is seeing Kimi leading Seb, albeit by only a few points.

Perez leading the Hulk, and by 20 points is a bit of a surprise to me at least.  I would have predicted Hulk being ahead of his teammate, even if not by 20 points.

Seeing Grosjean with 28 points, sitting in eleventh, is almost shocking.  While he is a pretty good driver, so good he gave Kimi fits when they were both at Renault, he is also in a brand new team for which each race is a first.

TEAMS:
POSITION   TEAM          POINTS   
1   Mercedes           378
2   Scuderia Ferrari      224
3   Red Bull Racing      223
4   Williams Martini Racing      94
5   Sahara Force India F1 Team      74
6   Scuderia Toro Rosso      45
7   McLaren-Honda      38
8   Haas F1 Team      28
9   Renault Sport F1      6
10   Manor      1

Without a doubt, and with argument, the biggest surprise not only to fans, but to the teams as well, is HAAS!  Partly because it is a new team.  Partly because it is an American team (although they have an overseas base of operations).  Those things, at this point, are of no consequence however.  Partnering closely with Ferrari aside, they have accomplished much more than anyone would have predicted was possible.

The next big surprise to me is Williams.  They are one of the longest running teams.  They had two really competitive years, the first of which saw them actually pushing Mercedes with no one in the rear views until mid-season.  This season, for various reasons, the car isn't performing anywhere near that level.  That they are in fourth is not as significant on its own as is the fact that they are not even in striking range to recapture third, laying some 130 points adrift of that.  Furthermore, they are likely to be overhauled by Force India in the second half of the season, IF they can't get it all in one sock, so-to-speak.

I should, I suppose, also mention the surprise points finish by Wehrlein, giving Manor a point in the Team Championship.  I don't see how anyone could have even guessed that would happen.

[F1fanaticBD]

For me Sauber not getting any point till is a bitter pill of surprise I have swallow. I guess, the remarkable debut by Haas meant those points where it would have been scrapped between Torro Rosso, Renault and Sauber got more scarce.

We had already been so much used to the performance of Haas, that we almost forget that its a new team. This have to be a remarkable complement for new team, but they must not carried away. They could be here for a long haul, if they plays their car well.

[Dare]

Looks like another WDC for Lewis....I think we all expected Nico to fold
but not this soon.

[Monty]

I am not so sure that Hamilton is currently favourite for the WDC. He is going to take an engine penalty and if Rosberg keeps being lucky he may not be looking at any technical penalties. I think it will take some bad luck for Rosberg for Hamilton to win.
I think the results show that Massa is 'past his best' although Williams have made some of their own problems this year.

[Irisado]

The only real surprises for me are Pérez being quite so far ahead of Hulkenberg, but Sergio has gone up a level this year, I think.  He has been putting in the sort of performances that ought to catch the attention of the top teams since the second half of last season, so let's see what happens.  He'll probably stay at Force India next year, but after that, a move could happen.

Haas has done an excellent job to collect 28 points on debut.  They've had a lot of help from Ferrari, but they have still had to put the package together themselves and make it work.  Just bolting on a Ferrari engine/rear end doesn't always end very well (just ask Scuderia Italia), so they have been very impressive.