matespace
28-02-11, 04:56 AM
Vettel favourite for another F1 title
http://cdn.images.autosport.com/rankings/editorial/230211vettel373.jpg
Sebastian Vettel's testing pace in Spain has made him the favourite to defend his Formula 1 World Championship this year.
In 11 days of pre-season running that has taken place this month, Vettel has been the driver to beat, but the threat of Fernando Alonso has been ever-present while the likes of McLaren and Mercedes look likely to struggle.
Using testing pace as a barometer of a car's ultimate speed is always a risky business as different teams use different tactics during their days of pre-season running. You only have to look at headline-grabbing laps from the likes of Prost in 2000 and Sauber last year to see how inaccurate a picture they can paint.
However, by examining the three tests that have taken place so far, a more reflective order has started to emerge. By treating each day of testing as a grand prix, and awarding championship points to the top 10 finishers, the Castrol Rankings has come up with a set of results that should more accurately reflect each driver and team's pace.
Unsurprisingly, it is world champion Vettel who has come out on top with just four hastily-scheduled days of running at Barcelona on March 8-11 to come. The Castrol Rankings' number one driver of the past 48 weeks has driven on six of the 11 days so far and been quickest on three of them - two at the most recent test at Barcelona. That has given the Red Bull driver 105 points, four more than the man who pushed him hardest for the championship last year, Fernando Alonso.
Alonso's Ferrari F150th Italia has shown more consistent pace than the Red Bull in terms of the overall timesheets - recording top three times on all but one of the days the Spaniard has been at the wheel for - and has been the closest thing to the RB7 on the long runs that will prove so crucial this year.
http://cdn.images.autosport.com/rankings/editorial/230211massa373.jpg
As if to back up the summation that the early part of this year will be a Red Bull v Ferrari battle, the next two drivers in the list are their team-mates Felipe Massa and Mark Webber, their scores ensuring that Ferrari is currently best of the manufacturers. Just.
Massa's 79 points and Webber's 65 suggest that they will both be seen as backups to their world champion team-mates. However, with drivers running different programmes even within the same team, these scores cannot be taken for granted.
Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, currently lies fifth as McLaren has flattered to deceive with its MP4-26, but that is significantly better than his team-mate Jenson Button, who does not even make the top 10.
Two surprising names crop up in sixth and seventh places in the shape of Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi and Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari, who have driven on five and six of the test days so far. Kobayashi's second place on the final day at Jerez and Alguersuari's similar performance on day two at Barcelona have given each cause for optimism ahead of the new season.
Completing the top 10 so far are Williams' Rubens Barrichello, Mercedes' seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher and Renault's new signing Nick Heidfeld.
http://cdn.images.autosport.com/rankings/editorial/230211schumacher373.jpg
The positions of Barrichello and Schumacher are almost entirely down to a single fastest time each, rather than as a result of consistently good pace, while Heidfeld was only named as a Renault driver after Robert Kubica suffered the injuries that may keep him out for the season on a rally in Italy.
Interestingly, Renault is actually the third best constructor of the closed season, its score of 120 being some way off the 180 and 170 of Ferrari and Red Bull, but being the equal of McLaren. Renault edges ahead of the Working squad because of two fastest times compared to McLaren's none. If Heidfeld were to inherit Kubica's score in addition to his own, he would be third among the drivers.
The best of 2010's new teams appears to be Virgin, its 27 points comparing favorably with the 23 of Lotus and Hispania's two. Virgin's star performer so far has been Timo Glock, sixth quickest on day three at Valencia.
http://cdn.images.autosport.com/rankings/editorial/230211vettel373.jpg
Sebastian Vettel's testing pace in Spain has made him the favourite to defend his Formula 1 World Championship this year.
In 11 days of pre-season running that has taken place this month, Vettel has been the driver to beat, but the threat of Fernando Alonso has been ever-present while the likes of McLaren and Mercedes look likely to struggle.
Using testing pace as a barometer of a car's ultimate speed is always a risky business as different teams use different tactics during their days of pre-season running. You only have to look at headline-grabbing laps from the likes of Prost in 2000 and Sauber last year to see how inaccurate a picture they can paint.
However, by examining the three tests that have taken place so far, a more reflective order has started to emerge. By treating each day of testing as a grand prix, and awarding championship points to the top 10 finishers, the Castrol Rankings has come up with a set of results that should more accurately reflect each driver and team's pace.
Unsurprisingly, it is world champion Vettel who has come out on top with just four hastily-scheduled days of running at Barcelona on March 8-11 to come. The Castrol Rankings' number one driver of the past 48 weeks has driven on six of the 11 days so far and been quickest on three of them - two at the most recent test at Barcelona. That has given the Red Bull driver 105 points, four more than the man who pushed him hardest for the championship last year, Fernando Alonso.
Alonso's Ferrari F150th Italia has shown more consistent pace than the Red Bull in terms of the overall timesheets - recording top three times on all but one of the days the Spaniard has been at the wheel for - and has been the closest thing to the RB7 on the long runs that will prove so crucial this year.
http://cdn.images.autosport.com/rankings/editorial/230211massa373.jpg
As if to back up the summation that the early part of this year will be a Red Bull v Ferrari battle, the next two drivers in the list are their team-mates Felipe Massa and Mark Webber, their scores ensuring that Ferrari is currently best of the manufacturers. Just.
Massa's 79 points and Webber's 65 suggest that they will both be seen as backups to their world champion team-mates. However, with drivers running different programmes even within the same team, these scores cannot be taken for granted.
Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, currently lies fifth as McLaren has flattered to deceive with its MP4-26, but that is significantly better than his team-mate Jenson Button, who does not even make the top 10.
Two surprising names crop up in sixth and seventh places in the shape of Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi and Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari, who have driven on five and six of the test days so far. Kobayashi's second place on the final day at Jerez and Alguersuari's similar performance on day two at Barcelona have given each cause for optimism ahead of the new season.
Completing the top 10 so far are Williams' Rubens Barrichello, Mercedes' seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher and Renault's new signing Nick Heidfeld.
http://cdn.images.autosport.com/rankings/editorial/230211schumacher373.jpg
The positions of Barrichello and Schumacher are almost entirely down to a single fastest time each, rather than as a result of consistently good pace, while Heidfeld was only named as a Renault driver after Robert Kubica suffered the injuries that may keep him out for the season on a rally in Italy.
Interestingly, Renault is actually the third best constructor of the closed season, its score of 120 being some way off the 180 and 170 of Ferrari and Red Bull, but being the equal of McLaren. Renault edges ahead of the Working squad because of two fastest times compared to McLaren's none. If Heidfeld were to inherit Kubica's score in addition to his own, he would be third among the drivers.
The best of 2010's new teams appears to be Virgin, its 27 points comparing favorably with the 23 of Lotus and Hispania's two. Virgin's star performer so far has been Timo Glock, sixth quickest on day three at Valencia.