Issue # 12
Monday November 30
Every Monday
The complete top ten drivers table
P7 Jackie Stewart
The missing piece of the top ten
and the Saviour of Grosjean
Stewart is alone among his peers in the top ten having never had a car that was the star of the field. Fangio and Hamilton's Mercedes, Schumacher's Ferrari, Prost and Senna with their McLarens ... Stewart won his titles and championships without that kind of advantage. For sure he had good cars but nothing categorically technologically superior to the cars he raced. With the exception of Graham Hill he blew his team mates away winning all his championships by comfortable margins.
He retired well before we saw his best. He drove in a deadly era. He'd attended too many funerals and decided his could be next. The cars had become faster and faster but safety wasn't any more important in 1970 than it was in 1950.
Stewart changed that.
At a soaking wet Spa in 1966 he crashed his BRM into a farmer's field where the car flipped upside down and trapped him underneath. He was stuck fast for 25 minutes being drenched in petrol pouring out of the ruptured fuel tank. F1 drivers were as likely to burn to death in a crash than die from the crash itself in those days. His team mate at the time, Graham Hill, borrowed a spanner from a spectator to remove the steering wheel and got him out. (This moment is behind steering wheels today being detachable.) Then he laid around for some time because there was no ambulance or doctor on site. When an ambulance finally turned up it got lost on the way to the hospital. Sir Jackie didn't see the funny side. At all. He started the moves to improve safety which continue today.
It is not an exaggeration to say Romain Grosjean can thank Jackie Stewart first among others for his life.
On the Sports Annual table Stewart is in 7th position, splitting Senna and Prost. He is 8/100ths off Prost and just over a tenth down the road from Senna. The fight between these three drivers is the closest on the grid.
THE COMPLETE TOP TEN
1st. JM Fangio
2.125 rpw / 5.941 ppr
Gap to Lewis --- 1.273
2nd. Lewis Hamilton
2.789 rpw / 5.332 ppr
Gap to Ascari --- 0.098
3rd. Alberto Ascari
2.461 rpw / 4.906 ppr
Gap to Clark --- 1.172
4th. Jim Clark
2.880 rpw / 4.153 ppr
Gap to Schumacher --- 0.298
5th. Michael Schumacher
3.373 rpw / 4.348 ppr
Gap to Prost --- 0.646
6th. Alain Prost
3.902 rpw / 4.231 ppr
Gap to Stewart --- 0.086
7th. Jackie Stewart
3.666 rpw / 3.909 ppr
Gap to Senna --- 0.145
8th. Ayrton Senna
3.926 rpw / 4.024 ppr
Gap to Vettel --- 0.898
9th. Sebastian Vettel
4.811 rpw / 4.011 ppr
Gap to Moss --- 0.235
10th. Stirling Moss
4.125 rpw / 3.090 ppr
LATEST NEWS AND MOVEMENTS
BAHRAIN. NOV 29, 2020.
Hamilton's amazing run of wins was overshadowed in Bahrain by Romain Grosjean's terrifying shunt. The derided halo almost certainly saved his life.
LEWIS P2 - 1.2 FANGIO
Lewis Hamilton pulled another tenth out of Fangio's lead on Sunday taking his 95th win from 265 starts. He is scoring 5.332 points per race ... a point scoring record second only to Fangio. His lead over Ascari stretched to a tenth.
The remaining ranked drivers ...
SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Vettel's position is safe at least until mid '21. However a continuation of his poor results could see him drop out of the "four points per race club" this year. His career long battle with Ayrton Senna is almost certainly now lost. It's 9 tenths.
8th. Ayrton Senna
3.926 rpw / 4.024 ppr
9th. Sebastian Vettel
4.811 rpw / 4.011 ppr
10th. Stirling Moss
4.125 rpw / 3.090 ppr
MAX VERSTAPPEN
Max Verstappen's 2nd at Bahrain hasn't shifted his position behind The Pampas Bull Froilan Gonzalez. His points per race ratio remains stunning but his win rate isn't good enough to get him anywhere near his place winning peers, which includes Niki Lauda and Nigel Mansell. He will not fall further than 31st this year.
28. Gilles Villeneuve
11.166 rpw / 1.686 ppr
29. Carlos Reutemann
12.166 rpw / 2.219 ppr
30. Froilan Gonzalez
13.000 rpw / 2.980 ppr
31. Max Verstappen
13.000 rpw / 2.760 ppr
32. Ronnie Peterson
12.300 rpw / 1.764 ppr
KIMI RAIKKONEN
Kimi's position is safe through 2021. He has, statistically, feet of lead. Or gold. He has a solid lead over Villeneuve on his point scoring.
39. Peter Revson
15.000 rpw / 2.100 ppr
40. Kimi Raikkonen
15.619 rpw / 2.329 ppr
41. Jacques Villeneuve
14.818 rpw / 1.349 ppr
VALTTERI BOTTAS
Bottas is one win from Raikkonen. With only 154 starts under his belt there is ample room for advancement ... which tends to get tougher once a driver hits 200 starts.
42. Phil Hill
16.000 rpw / 2.104 ppr
43. Valtteri Bottas
17.111 rpw / 2.694 ppr
44. Piero Taruffi
18.000 rpw / 2.388 ppr
RICCIARDO and LECLERC
Ricciardo holds station at Bahrain. Leclerc stays in P60 behind Mexico's Pedro Rodriguez. He has sufficient lead over Rubens Barrichello to hold his position until the end of the season but will be threatened early '21 without wins.
58. Clay Regazzoni
26.400 rpw / 1.643 ppr
59. Daniel Ricciardo
26.571 rpw / 1.494 ppr
60. Pedro Rodriguez
27.500 rpw / 1.327 ppr
61. Charles Leclerc
28.500 rpw / 1.701 ppr
62. Rubens Barrichello
29.363 rpw / 1.554 ppr
PIERRE GASLY
Bringing up the rear is Pierre Gasly. He has a full season of starts before he falls behind Carlos Pace in position 83. A second win this year would push him upwards of 20 places into the top 60. A third win would see him in the top 50.
81. Patrick Tambay
57.000 rpw / 0.921 ppr
82. Pierre Gasly
62.000 rpw / 0.516 ppr
83. Carlos Pace
72.000 rpw / 0.819 ppr
