VETTEL TO END YEAR AS CASTROL DRIVER
RANKINGS NUMBER ONE
GERMAN CLINCHES F1 CROWN AND SECURES CASTROL DRIVER RANKINGS TOP SPOT
16th November 2010: Sebastian Vettel will end 2010 on top of the Castrol Driver Rankings after his Abu Dhabi Grand Prix win helped him to clinch the Formula 1 world title and become, at 23 years old, the youngest champion in the sport?s history.
Despite having never headed the F1 points table before last Sunday, the Red Bull driver has been on top of the Castrol Driver Rankings for the past 34 weeks, confirming his status as the best-performing driver in the world over the past 12 months.
Vettel?s victory in Abu Dhabi from pole position was his fifth of the year and increased his advantage in the Castrol Driver Rankings over Webber while Sebastien Loeb (3rd), Fernando Alonso (4th) and Lewis Hamilton (5th) all retained their top five positions.
Loeb, who ended his season with victory on Rally GB, began the weekend with a chance of taking the number one spot, but needed to rely on disaster befalling both Vettel and Webber to do so. In the end it was Alonso who had a disaster, finishing down in seventh in Abu Dhabi.
A strong drive to ninth place from Jaime Alguersuari (47th) at the Yas Marina circuit gained the Toro Rosso driver nine spots while Robert Kubica?s (14th) clever tyre strategy netted him fifth place and ensured he climbed two spots in the Castrol Driver Rankings.
The biggest loser in the top 100 was Sauber?s Kamui Kobayashi (62nd), who dropped 10 places. Outside the top 100, Kimi Raikkonen (178th) fared even worse losing not only his Rally GB score from 2009, but also that from last year?s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. These changes saw the Finn drop 20 Castrol Driver Rankings spots, in spite of his eighth place finish in the Welsh forests.
Carl Edwards (17th) broke a 70-race winless streak in the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Phoenix, gaining the Roush Fenway Ford man three places. There were no position changes for title contenders Jimmie Johnson (8th) and Denny Hamlin (11th) with the latter having only one race left to overtake Kevin Harvick and gain a place in the Castrol Driver Rankings top 10.
iSport driver Davide Valsecchi (43rd) is likely to end 2010 as the highest ranked GP2 driver after victory in the last race of the season at Yas Marina gained him three places. His team-mate Oliver Turvey?s maiden pole position made him the biggest climber in the top 100 as he rose 10 places to 59th, while Sergio Perez (67th) won the other race.
Mark Winterbottom (111th) gained 21 places after taking a V8 Supercar win at Symmons Plains. Craig Lowndes (153rd) won the other and climbed 15 spots while a podium finish for Paul Dumbrell (294th) ? his first for nine years ? moved the veteran up 29 places. Holden Racing Team?s Will Davison (399th) was the big loser, dropping 33 spots after failing to finish better than 22nd.
About the Castrol Rankings: Castrol has used its heritage in analysis, technology and innovation to deliver record breaking performances in sport on land, sea and in the air for more than 100 years. In partnership with leading motorsport website autosport.com, Castrol has applied the same expertise and passion it uses in the development of its oils to create the Castrol Rankings ? using expert analysis and highly advanced technology to measure and rank the performance in every single race of over 2000 drivers, across 47 major motorsport series every year.
Hot on the heels of the launch of the Castrol Rankings for football, the Castrol Rankings for motorsport is a rolling system that takes into account a driver?s performances over the past 12 months ? to produce a dynamic and authoritative comparison of the world?s best drivers. Whether it?s F1, NASCAR, World Rally or IndyCar, motorsport fans and pundits around the globe can now compare their favourite drivers against each other on a weekly basis, and find the definitive answer to the question ?Who is the best driver in the world??