Another record falls to Vettel after first perfect win

2011 Indian GP stats and facts

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Vettel dominated in India

Sebastian Vettel had his first ever perfect result in the Indian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver started from pole position, set fastest lap, and led every lap on his way to victory.

He is the 22nd driver to achieve this feat, also called a ‘Grand Chelem’.

Two other drivers on the grid have achieved this in the past: Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso:

Rank Driver/s Perfect results
1 Jim Clark 8
2 Alberto Ascari, Michael Schumacher 5
4 Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart 4
7 Nelson Piquet 3
8 Jack Brabham, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mika Hakkinen 2
11 Fernando Alonso, Gerhard Berger, Mike Hawthorn, Damon Hill, Jacky Ickx, Jacques Laffite, Niki Lauda, Stirling Moss, Clay Regazzoni, Jo Siffert, Sebastian Vettel, Gilles Villeneuve 1

Vettel’s pole position gave Red Bull a record 16th in a single season. It was the 28th pole of his career.

He scored his 21st career win and set fastest lap for the ninth time, the latter putting him level with Denny Hulme, Ronnie Peterson and Jacques Villeneuve.

Vettel also set a new record for most laps led during a season. He’s now led 711, beating the previous record held by Nigel Mansell.

At this point I must correct an error I made in the previous stats and facts article and on Twitter yesterday. I originally credited Mansell with leading 694 laps in 1992. In fact he led 692*, so Vettel surpassed his record after lap 42, not lap 44 as I said yesterday.

Year Driver Laps led Total laps % led
2011 Sebastian Vettel 711 1007/1133 70.61
1992 Nigel Mansell 692 1036 66.8
2004 Michael Schumacher 683 1122 60.87
1994 Michael Schumacher 646 1046 61.76

The question now is whether Vettel can also beat the record for highest percentage of laps led in a season – 71.49% by Jim Clark in 1963. To do that he needs to lead at least 99 of the remaining 126 laps in Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

Vettel has finished in the points for the last 19 races in a row – the second-longest streak of all time. He needs five more to match Michael Schumacher’s record of 24, which lasted from the 2001 Hungarian Grand Prix to the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa failed to finish in his 150th race start. This brought his run of ten consecutive points finishes to an end. Alonso has finished the last ten races in the points.

Massa also became the 18th driver to receive a penalty in a race this year. The only drivers who have started every race without receiving a penalty are Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Vitaly Petrov, Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli.

McLaren are now confirmed in the runner-up position in the constructors’ championship. They last won the constructors’ title in 1998, and have finished in second place seven times since then.

India became the 30th country to host a round of the world championship. F1 has now races in three of the world’s five most populous nations: China (population 1.3bn), India (1.2bn) and Brazil (196m). This will grow to four with the return of the United States Grand Prix (313m) next year. The most populous country without a race is Indonesia (242m).

Review the year so far in statistics here:

Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Indian Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.

*This was because I had Mansell down as having led 51 laps of the French Grand Prix that year, instead of 49. That race was stopped and restarted, with the remainder of the race run on aggregate time. Mansell took the lead on the track immediately after the restart, but it wasn’t until two laps later that he was also leading on aggregate time.

2011 Indian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    92 comments on “Another record falls to Vettel after first perfect win”

    1. is there any driver who won every practice, and get a grand chelem on same GP?

      1. the ULTRA CHELEM

      2. Kimi Raikkonen 2008 Spanish Grand Prix….I think…
        and a Lap Record too..

        1. Kimi didn’t lead all the laps.

    2. the explanation for the change in reported numbers on Nigel’s laps led is without doubt the most tedious thing I’ve read in years. :-) Your work ethic for this sort of thing is creditable, Keith!

      1. @Hairs You just wait. There’ll be someone out there who wants to debate whether leading a race on the track or on aggregate time should take precedence…

        1. jsw11984 (@jarred-walmsley)
          31st October 2011, 22:48

          Well since you brought it up…

    3. Two or three of Schumacher’s were during the re-fuelling era weren’t they? Really it’s surprising this is Vettel’s first, given his form this year – goes to show how special a Grand Slam result is.

      Might be wrong but I think it’s the first time the reigning world champion has won a new race since Bahrain 2004?

      1. They all must have been during that era, Schumacher has only two wins in non-refuelling races and he started none of those from pole.

      2. All five of them were – Monaco 94, Canada 94, Spain 02, Australia 04, Hungary 04. In fact only 2 of Schumacher’s career victories weren’t in the refuelling era – Spa 92 and Portugal 93. What#’s really impressive is Grand Chelems during the race fuel qualifying era (03-09), Schumacher’s two in 2004 were the only Grand Chelems achieved by anyone during that period…

      3. @Icthyes Looks like we got our answer!

    4. Buddh International Circuit has become the 30th Grand Prix circuit for Michael Schumacher, that is, he’s driven on 30 different circuits while participating in F1 races. Rubens Barrichello has raced on 29. I’m not sure if 30 is the all-time record but it is very likely.

      1. Looks like these figures are wrong. I decided to prove the stats myself and counted at least 32 GP circuits where Schumacher has driven during his F1 career. One should never trust the TV commentators!

    5. The only drivers who have started every race without receiving a penalty are Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Vitaly Petrov, Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli.

      Petrov had one at the start of the Indian Grand Prix.

        1. Ha, that’s a bit sneaky ;-). I had the same thought as PM did.

        2. Hm, but this was a penalty applied to the starting grid, but recieved because of his driving in the former race for Petrov, not because of a gearbox change or practice/qualli problem. I think it might have even been handed to him during the race in Korea.

    6. Whilst Schumi’s stats are during the re-fueling era, which made the Grand Slam almost impossible, Clark’s are unreal. I have always admired Jimmy and find it a bit sad that his legacy is not as well remembered as Fangio and Stewart. When you think of the real greats around that time (pre 70s) I always put Clark as the greatest despite Fangio’s undoubted greatness. Even in Scotland there is very little on him but a great deal on JYS. JYS obviously has a greater longevity and was a genius but its stats like leading 71% of the season and 8 grand slams in 73 races (with high attrition rate in the Lotuses of the day) that is simply beyond belief.

      1. Obviosuly there were no pit stops in Clarks era (which makes the lead every lap bit easier) but 8 in 73 races is amazing. As you said, given how fragile the cars were then he wouldn’t have wanted to go for too many Fastest laps at the end of races

        1. Yeah, I completely agree man, that’s why Senna’s FL ratio is so low, when your in the lead what is the point stressing the car into a fastest lap, Clark did it effortlessly.

      2. Clark started 72 races, finished 45 (though was classified 50 times) of them, and won 25 of those. Of the 20 he didn’t win, 11 of them were in his first two seasons in F1 where Clark was still learning his craft (Clark started racing in 1956 and was competing in F1 by 1960, so it’s not entirely surprising he took a couple of years to get the hang of it), and the Lotus was a bit underpowered compared to much of the competition (the only people to win in a Lotus prior to 1962 were Stirling Moss, in favourable conditions and driving the best races of his life, and Innes Ireland, rather fortunately (Moss and Brabham both retired from ahead of him, and Roy Salvadori and Graham Hill had to do so while closing rapidly on the lead).

        In five of the remaining nine races he had some kind of mechanical failure causing him to lose speed or have to come into the pits to have it fixed, and two of the remaining four were in the 1966 season where he was racing a 2-litre engined car in a 3-litre engined formula.

        From 1962 until his death, if Clark’s car was capable of winning, he won, or he broke down – other results were vanishingly rare. It’s pretty incredible.

    7. Vettels pole was his 13th this season. His engineer called that one out to him over the radio. Senna 13, Prost 13, Vettel 13.
      Only Mansell has managed 14 poles in a season (1992).
      However Mansell, Senna & Prost all had 16 race seasons.

    8. Vettel had pole position, had fastest lap, led every lap, broke the record for laps led in a season — all this can mean only one thing!

      Button is definitely Driver of the Weekend. ;-)

      1. lol. And He dominated the last practice.

      2. Like it Robyn
        and was 2nd in P1,P2 and Q1
        but he didn’t top the speed trap classification, point off!

    9. A notable mention must go to Adrian Newey. He developed both of the cars that held the most laps led record. The FW14B, the legendary car of the 90’s that Mansell drove to the record and clinched the title with in 1992 and the RB7, the ever dominant Redbull machine that Vettel also clinched the title with while surpassing Mansell’s record. The only question is…. will Vettel pass Clark’s record, I believe he will. We should have a competition, closet margin guessed wins!

      1. So he needs to lead all of Brazil and half of Abu Dhabi, or all of Abu Dhabi and most of Brazil or most of both. At Brazil its possible but Mclaren might be good round Abu Dhabi and if Hamilton can put it together, he could be a thorn in Vettels side round there.

    10. Keith do you have stats on any other grand chelems achieved at inaugural GPs? I think it is quite an achievement to have a perfect weekend on a track where everyone is even footed (bar the cars).

      1. Here’s a complete list: Juan Manel Fangio got the Grand Chelem at the inaugral Monaco GP in 1950. Alberto Ascari got it at the inaugral GPs at Rouen and Zandvoort, both in 1952, and Argentina in 1953. Stirling Moss got it at the only GP at Monsanto in 1959. Jim Clark got it at the inaugral GPs at Brands Hatch in 1964 and Clermont-Ferrand in 1965. Jackie Stewart got it at the inaugral GP at Paul Ricard in 1971. Clay Regazzoni got it at the inaugral GP at Long Beach in 1976. So officially Vettel’s was the first for 35 years and the 10th overall. However Mansell got it at South Africa 1992, which was the first race at the revised Kyalami which had little in common with the original.

        1. @Racer Nice research!

    11. I’ve never heard of a “Grand Chelem” until now. Anyone know the origin of the phrase?

      1. It means Grand Slam in french, I think it just refers to taking accolade available.

      2. Preliminary googling suggests it comes from the card game whist, a forerunner of bridge, where it means taking all of the (thirteen) tricks. Keith’s usage of the word Chelem seems to suggest that the French version is the original, from which ‘slam’ is derived. However, the French Wikipedia article on Grand Chelem seemed to say (my French is pretty poor) that Chelem is derived from the English Slam!

        1. You are absolutely right: we refer to this as the “Grand Chelem” because of the implication of France in the history of Formula 1. However, the phrase is derivative of the English bridge term “Grand Slam” through the process of typical French phonetic translation (with slight adaptation, of course). It is not even a century old.

          The “Grand Chelem” represents also other major sports achievements in France (such as in tennis and in rugby).

    12. David Livingstone
      31st October 2011, 11:28

      He’s the youngest ever to achieve a Grand Chelem as far as I know.

      1. Indeed. Was supposed to point this out.

        And the guy’s just 24! He gets his first Grand Chelem a whole year younger than Michael Schumacher (the previous youngest guy to win it). Although I think Vettel needed more GPs to achieve his first compared to Schumacher.

        1. Mansell was 39? Who is the oldest to achieve this record?

          1. Fangio got it aged 45 at the 1956 German GP

      2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        2nd November 2011, 13:12

        Yes, youngest driver ever to get a Grand Slam! For me looks really impressive to see that this kind of victory is so hard to get that even famous names like Alain Prost are not on the list. or probably the reason is that on Prost’s times, to get a long gap over the second was practically impossible due to good duels… well but Mansell can prove me wrong.
        Looks like the only way to get a Grand Slam is to have a superb car which has also the best endurance talking about tyres or about fuel efficiency (in refuelling times) and no doubt Red Bull is bringing the best machine to do it! but even though it’s so hard to get the Grand Slam that in all this year domination Vettel – RBR have “just” one

    13. Maybe we should just change the name to V1 instead of F1. :(

      1. Vettel One :D

    14. Looking for the guy who does the Damon Hill-Vettel comparison. Miss those stats.

      1. @icthyes, you’re up! (@GameR_K – Icthyes is a bit of a legend…)

        1. Doing a straight comparison between Hill and Vettel’s first 79 grands prix gives the following numbers. (Note Damon had 65/79 races in the Williams, Sebastian’s only had 53/79 races in the Red Bull)

          Hill, 79 races, 21 wins, 20 poles, 19 fastest laps, 41 podiums, 1331 laps led.

          Vettel, 79 races, 21 wins, 28 poles, 9 fastest laps, 35 podiums, 1357 laps led

          1. Unlike Damon Seb didn’t make a horlicks of 2 titles (94 he had ample opportunity against Schumacher who was banned for 3 or 4 races) and 95 when he spun off whenever the car didn’t pack up.
            And Seb won’t go to a backmarker team purely for the $$$
            And Seb had better opposition

            1. Seb hasn’t messed up winning a title yet, but very nearly did last year, and in 2009 should arguably have been closer to Button.

              Its interesting how similar the stats are for Vettel v Hill, but Hill had a more dominant car (on average) and for an extra year at Williams than Vettel has so far at Red Bull.

              At the moment, Seb seems to be trying to chase down as many of Schumacher’s records as possible. Having had only 9 fastest laps so far, its the only major stat where he’s a long way behind where Schumacher (24 FL’s) was at the same stage in his career. Perhaps that could be the reason he seems so concerned about getting fastest laps at the moment.

      2. Hello @gamer_k it’s certainly nice to be remembered and appreciated, thank you!

        During the seasons of 1994-1996 Hill racked up these stats:
        – 18 wins over 49 races, 36.7%
        – 30 podiums, 61.2%
        – 18 pole positions, 36.7%
        – 35 front-row starts, 71.4%
        – Pole-to-win ratio 7/18, 38.9%
        – Ratio of victories won from not starting on pole 11/18, 61.1%
        – Races won from all non-pole starts 11/31 35.5%
        – Points percentage 257/490 52.4%

        Over the course of 2009-present, Vettel’s in comparison look like this:
        – 20 wins over 53 races, 37.7%
        – 34 podiums, 64.2%
        – 27 pole positions, 50.9%
        – 37 front-row starts, 69.8%
        – Pole-to-win ratio 15/27, 55.5%
        – Win from non-pole ratio 5/20, 25%
        – Non-pole to win ratio 5/26 19.2%
        – Points percentage 294/530 55.5%

        Points are calculated to 10-6-4-3-2-1 system

        1. Impressive, Pisces!

          I had no clue you were keeping Hill-Vettel tabs. Interesting. *takes notes*

          1. Well I figured Damon would be as good a barometer as any when dealing with someone driving in a top, but not totally unbeatable car!

            1. Those statistics are really incredible. This leads me to two thoughts; One, that Hill was and still remains underrated, and Two, that I hope Vettel can continue on with far more success than Damon was able to do so.

            2. It’s a great comparison, Icthyes. Surely it showcases both Hill & Vettel in a new-ish light with regards to their cashing in on the dominance capacities of their car.

              It takes more than firing the engine to get the work done.

            3. The basic difference, as I see it, between Hill and Vettel, is that Sebastian started driving open-wheel racers when he was about 8, whereas Damon did so in his early twenties. Therefore, Hill’s career at the top was extremely short whereas Vettel’s is likely to be rather long.

        2. Thank you :)

    15. As @Enigma has pointed out before, we are only 2 races from getting the first season where only world champions have won every race. Normally this would show a lack of competition, and that is true to an extent, but as that means 4 race winners from 3 teams (showing some amount of competition) I think it mainly shows the calibre of the champions we have.

      1. Agreed, but I know Webber will be desperately hoping to change that!

    16. I’m glad @keith-collantine is looking at this with percentages. Relativity is all important.

      These stats yet again underline just how impressive Vettel has been this year. There’s having a good car and being a good driver. I would argue Vettel is the better half of the two. The RB7 is incredible, clearly. But to drive the pants off it almost every other weekend? We have something special on our hands.

      1. What a difference a few months makes… Now the statistics are starting to secure Vettel’s achievements of the year (as the season progresses and reaches its end), I see a lot more of admiration for Vettel on here. Deservedly so, of course.

    17. Hi Keith and Fanatics.

      I`ve heard another stat on the Argentinean transmission of the Indian GP that impressed me, Can someone check if it`s true plese?

      They said that out of the last 20 seasons, Newey`s cars took the constructor championship 8 times.
      Considering he`s been out of the bussines for 4 of those 20, and also that that period includes the Shcumacher-Ferrari strake, his cars should have won almost everything but the build up years with Red Bull.

      Both Alonso`s with renault, and 7 Scumacher (2 with Bennetton and 5 with Ferrari)

      BTW: with Safari browser I got logged out when getting to this article. Not happening with others..

      1. They said that out of the last 20 seasons, Newey`s cars took the constructor championship 8 times.

        It’s true. Newey-designed Williams won the WCC in 1992-94 and 1996-97 (five), Newey-McLarens won in 1998 (one) and Newey-Red Bulls won in 2010 and 2011 (two, so eight in total).

      2. Ross Brawn also has 8 Constructors Championship under him.
        Between Newey and Brawn in the last 20 years they had 16 Constructors Under their Name.

        Brawn Like Newey has won them with 3 teams.
        1995 Benetton Renault(1), 1999 – 2004 – Ferrari (6), 2009 Brawn GP(1) [Engines: 1 Renault, 6 Ferrari, 1 Mercedes]

        Newey has 1992- 1994 Williams Renault (3), 1996-1997 Williams Renault(2), 1998 Mclaren Mercedes(1), 2010-2011Red Bull Renault(2) [Engines: 7 Renault , 1 Mercedes ]

        Technically Mclaren has underutilized Newey the most. From 1998 – 2006 he spent 9 years in Mclaren with just 1 Win.

    18. Just read on Autoweek that Horner says they did everything they could to keep Vettel from going for FL at the end. “We had done our best to manage it, we had turned all the engine modes down, KERS off, and short of putting a cow on the circuit there was not a lot else we could do.” Under those circumstances, even more astonishing!

      By the way, do they keep records on (not sure what to call it) “multiple fastest laps”? That is, say for example Vettel not only has the FL, but that his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fastest laps are also faster than the next fastest driver. That would be some arcane data to explore.

      1. “We had done our best to manage it, we had turned all the engine modes down, KERS off, and short of putting a cow on the circuit there was not a lot else we could do.”

        Hahahaha! I love it. :-D

      2. I guess, now that the tittle fight is over, he is just realy having fun. In Singapore he didn´t do the fastest lap after Rocky manage to talk him out of it…

        Good for him, just hope he doesn´pt get his team so mad…

        1. I don’t get why the team is mad about Vettel going for FL at the end of the race. (Supposedly he apologized for it after Korea.) Both championships are decided. I don’t think they get more money from F1 for winning the team title with an even greater point margin. So if Vettel does crash while going for FL, it really only has two *positive* effects: 1) More points available for Webber, in his effort to get second. 2) More coverage for Red Bull — since at this point, a Vettel crash would get a lot more publicity than yet another win!

          1. Records! At the end Sebastian Vettel is pay employee, so in the end he has to do wath is best for the team, thats means win as much races as he can.

            Funny enough I follow one of Mark Webber mechanics on twitter and even he was excited about the posibility of Vettel reaching Schumi´s win record.

            1. Ok, I get that. But then it’s a case of the team looking out for Vettel’s best interest. (Meaning that he can legitimately decide for himself.) Breaking Shumi’s record is a very nice goal. But it is a *driver* record, not a team record. If Vettel wants to risk that driver record by going for FL, it should be up to him.

          2. 1) More points available for Webber, in his effort to get second.

            Not strictly true, he’d gain 3 points, while Alonso would gain the same and utton would gain 7 points. So it doesn’t help Webber at all.

    19. Back in the seventies I heard the hockey term “hat trick” being used in Grand Prix racing. The “hat trick” meant winning the Race, being on the Pole and leading the most Laps. Has anyone else heard or used that phrase as we used to?? Good to see Piquets name on the list at #7. He was a damn good driver who sacrificed his popularity because he wouldn’t play the media game and would rather let his driving do the talking. When his car was right he was a tough cookie to handle.

      1. I would use ‘hat-trick’ to refer to three of the same thing, e.g. three wins in a row.

        1. I’ve never before heard of a ‘hat-trick’ describing winning from pole whilst leading every lap. (I only started watching in 1996, so it might be an older use for the term perhaps) I have however seen it used on all sorts of stats sites to describe a driver taking pole, the win and fastest lap.

    20. I’ve been looking at the stats for first-time race winners, which have been becoming rarer over the last few years as a small group of drivers are winning almost all the races. This year like last will probably end up as a season without anyone taking their debut win. If this happens again next year, as looks likely, it’ll be the first time this has happened three years on the trot.

      1. Realistically the driver most likely to get a debut win next year would have to be Nico Rosberg if Mercedes can put together a competitive car. Otherwise we’re relying on a freak wet race, safety car influenced race or one of the smaller teams to pull a Brawn GP and build a rocket of a car for next year. I’d love to see a new winner but I think you might be right about it being unlikely.

        1. While I’d love to see Nico take his first win, I think the next first time winner will come not next year but in 2013 and will be either Webber’s replacement at RBR or Massa’s at Ferrari.

    21. Vettel came close to a Grand Chelem several times before:

      Britain 2009- Won the race form pole and set fastest lap, but Webber led three laps
      Japan 2009- Led the entire race from pole, but Webber got fastest lap
      Valencia 2010- Led the entire race from pole, but Button got fastest lap
      Valencia 2011- Won the race from pole and set fastest lap, but Massa led one lap
      Singapore 2011- Led the entire race from pole, but Button got fastest lap

      Other who have come close:
      Australia 2009: Button led the entire race from pole, but Rosberg got fastest lap
      Spain 2010: Webber led the entire race from pole, but Hamilton got fastest lap
      Monaco 2010: Webber led the entire race from pole, but Vettel got fastest lap
      Belgium 2010: Hamilton led the entire race and set fastest lap, but Webber got pole

      1. That is almost ominous how close he has come to getting it so many times before!

    22. “The only drivers who have started every race without receiving a penalty are Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Vitaly Petrov, Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli.”

      Petrov has received a penalty for his collision with Schumacher in Korea.

        1. Yeah, sorry.

          I read the article and immediately tried to correct you.

          Should have read the comments first.

    23. I like that Vettel’s streak of 19 GP’s on points is independent of point system, he was always in top four.

    24. what I have always found to be a brilliant outcome in these last 30-odd years of formula 1:
      Schumacher 91
      Prost 51
      Senna 41
      Mansell 31
      and now Vettel 21

      I imagine he won’t stop at 21, so here’s to Vettel having an (x)x1 win record by the end of his career and maybe for Schumi to win 10 races next year

      1. Wow, for Sebastian to reach Schumacher over ten years form now he will hace to win at least 7 races a year. Thats a lot!!!!

        1. Thats an interesting one.
          Can’t see that happening with the quality of the opposition to Vettel.

          That being said at 24 Vettel surely has more than 10 years left in F1 if he wants…

        2. Jelle van der Meer (@)
          1st November 2011, 8:28

          Just to indicate how impressive MSC 91 race wins are you only need to look at win %.

          MSC has won 91 times in 286 races (31.8%)
          Vettel has won 21 times in 79 races (26.6%)

          So Vettel not only needs to continue winning races over many years he also needs to start winning that more frequently.
          When MSC retired he had won 91 times out of 250 races which comes to 36.4% over a 16 season career.

      2. Even if Vettel doesn’t reach the 91 of Schumacher, (Which may increase before he retires for good) I can definitely see him reaching the 41 of Senna or the 51 of Prost.

    25. I also find it interesting that Prost never scored a grand chelem.

    26. Jelle van der Meer (@)
      1st November 2011, 8:16

      Interesting comparison on constructor points between 2010 and 2011 based only on the first 17 races in both years
      Red Bull 595 vs. 426 = +169 points
      McLaren 442 vs. 399 = +43 points
      Ferrari 325 vs. 374 = -49 points
      Mercedes 145 vs. 188 = -43 points
      Renault 72 vs. 143 = -71 points
      Force India 51 vs. 65 = -14 points
      Sauber 41 vs. 68 = -27 points
      Toro Rosso 41 vs. 43 = -2 points
      Williams 5 vs. 11 = -6 points
      New teams 0 vs. 0 = same

      Only Mclaren and Red Bull have more points 17 races into the season that last year – the main reason I would say is reliability as unless a major jump is made the outside top 3 teams are always fighting over what is left and will in most cases only score well if there are accidents or reliability issues witht the top 3 teams.
      Top 3 teams have 79.3% of the points (69.8% in 2010) and 91% of the max possible points (1-6 finish every race).
      If you look at top 6 finishes of non top 3 team you have:
      In total 17 times with total points 168 – last year that was 33 times with total points 353 points.
      In 2011 there were 10 DNS of top 3 vs. 20 DNS in 2010.

      So next to reliability issues the performance gap between top 3 and rest have increased as well, in 17 races the top 3 have got 163 points more than last year all of which has gone to Vettel as he has 168 more points than last year while Webber, Alonso, Massa, Button and Hamilton have together 5 points less.

      1. Funny, the total of points that RBR have improve this year are the total of the points that Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Williams had loss. All very legendary teams.

    27. Jelle van der Meer (@)
      1st November 2011, 8:19

      Massa also became the 18th driver to receive a penalty in a race this year. The only drivers who have started every race without receiving a penalty are Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Vitaly Petrov, Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli.

      Keith – Petrov did get a penalty for the India race – he got a 5 place grid penalty for crashing Schumacher out of the Korean race

    28. I think this is a little interesting:

      There have being 824 F1 drivers on 61 years of history.
      Only 32 have been World Champions: 3.9% probability
      Only 13 have been multiple world champion: 1.5% probability
      Only 7 have been two time champions of the world: 0.85% probability
      Only 5 have been 3 time champions or the world: 0.6% probability
      Only 1 have been 4 time champion: 0.1% probability
      Only 1 have been 5 time champion:0.1% probability
      Only 1 have been 7 time champion:0.1% probability

      There for nationality:
      United Kindom have had 158 drivers on F1 history, only 10 have become world champion 6.3%
      German have had 50 drivers on F1 history, only two have become world champion 4%
      Brasil have had 30 F1 drivers, only 3 have become world champion 10%

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