Top 10 drivers by 'points per race', 2010 system adjusted

[Guest]

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[John S]

I found this list of the top 10 using a standardised formula, based on the new 2010 points system, to work out the average points per race of drivers over the years in F1. The only things this sytem cannot allow for is the higher unreliability at different times in F1 and the very great chance of death causing a premature end to a drivers career.

The most suprising thing for me is to see both Lewis and Ferd in the 10, and Lewis so high in the list above Senna.

While we do not claim to be able to solve the question of who the world's greatest driver is or was, Manipe F1 has decided to make the effort of comparing drivers with respect to points scored slightly easier and more concrete. In an effort to avoid the usual problems we have decided to use the 2010 points-scoring system of 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 for all years of the championship. For simplicity, races which awarded half-points on the day due to insufficient distance being reached are awarded full points, while races shared between drivers have the points shared equally among the drivers, regardless of the regulations of the day. No points have been awarded for fastest lap, as was the case in the 1950s.

Taking the average standardised points scored per race, the top 13 drivers turn out to be world champions, with Juan Pablo Montoya being the first non-champion in 14th.

Here is the top 10:
1. Michael Schumacher - 14.89
2. Juan Manuel Fangio - 14.06
3. Alain Prost - 12.54
4. Lewis Hamilton - 12.19
5. Alberto Ascari - 11.75
6. Ayrton Senna - 11.68
7. Nino Farina - 11.59
8. Jim Clark - 11.45
9. Jackie Stewart - 11.20
10. Fernando Alonso - 10.28


Edited from a much longer blog piece on Manipef1.com, 22nd Feb

[SennaMan]

interesting post, thanks John

i too am intrigued by the placement of SENNA and FANGIO, but apart from this the list looks objective to me

and surely Sir Stirling MOSS was a better driver than  JP MONTOYA?

[Jericoke]

interesting post, thanks John

i too am intrigued by the placement of SENNA and FANGIO, but apart from this the list looks objective to me

and surely Sir Stirling MOSS was a better driver than  JP MONTOYA?

Montoya drove in an era where reliability became a key focus of F1.  Even when I started watching F1 in the mid 90s, a champion really only needed to finish 10 races, assuming his team mate would keep other challengers from winning if there was a breakdown or accident.  Even with his early lead last season, Button couldn't win the championship by finishing only 10 races.

As for a head to head rating of driver skills... I don't know a lot about Moss, but surely he didn't have the driving schools and ladder systems available to Montoya.  Put them both in an identical race car, and there might be an unpleasant surprise.  I think the difference between 'now' and 'then' would be how tight the difference would be among the top 100 drivers in the world.  I'm betting that someone of, say, Nelson Piquet jr.'s training would be very competitve against 'gentlemen racers' of a bygone era.  (Not saying he'd be a champ, but probably fare much better than he did at Renault)

Conversely, if Moss had an arrangement with McLaren like Hamilton had in modern F1, perhaps his 'race average' would double or triple.

[Dare]

In the old days if you made too many mistakes
you payed with your life.Just that fear may have
been just enough to slow the new era drivers down

[lkjohnson1950]

This system doesn't allow for a lot of variables of bygone eras that no longer exist. For much of his career Moss drove for private teams with less than first rate equipment. Even when he drove for Mercedes, they often entered 3 or 4 cars and raced to strict team orders when Merc felt it necessary to preserve the championship. Clark's Lotuses were notoriously unreliable, he has almost no 2ND or 3RD place finishes. My vote goes to Clark, but it can never be proven.

Lonny

[Alianora La Canta]

To underline this, Jim Clark won 25 races... ...and came 2nd the grand total of once!

[John S]

To underline this, Jim Clark won 25 races... ...and came 2nd the grand total of once!

I'm in complete agreement and would add that had Jim lived his records would be out of sight.

I personally feel that Jim's the greatest of all time, by a good margin.    

[Dare]

Clark was the best ever.When he came to
Indy is what got me following F1.

I still remember where I was at when I
larned of his fatal crash.

[SennaMan]

In the old days if you made too many mistakes
you payed with your life.Just that fear may have
been just enough to slow the new era drivers down

yeah Dare, most of them would not even drive one as the old cars up to 1994 were/are too dangerous.

after roland RATZENBERGER and ayrton SENNA lost their lives during that terrible weekend of 1 May 1994, cars and tracks were improved to remove excessive danger and are constantly being 'risk' audited.