Who really is the fastest in this crazy F1 season? The numbers crunched - F1 News

F1 News - Who really is the fastest in this crazy F1 season? The numbers, crunched

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Lewis Hamilton is leading the championship heading into this weekend's first European race of 2018, but he is doing so despite a wobbly start to the season.

The championship positions are only one set of numbers - and there are others that tell a more complex story about the season.

For example, Hamilton's Mercedes is not the fastest car. That's the Ferrari. And there are other key stats, too.

Which driver is out-performing his car the most? Which set of team-mates are the most competitive - and the least?

We've crunched the numbers so you don't have to - and here they are, revealing the partially hidden real story of F1 2018 so far.

Team-mate comparison - qualifying battle

Team	Drivers
Ferrari	Vettel 3-1 Raikkonen
Mercedes	Hamilton 2-2 Bottas
Red Bull	Ricciardo 2-2 Verstappen
McLaren	Alonso 4-0 Vandoorne
Renault	Hulkenberg 4-0 Sainz
Force India	Perez 2-2 Ocon
Toro Rosso	Gasly 2-2 Hartley
Haas	Grosjean 1-3 Magnussen
Sauber	Ericsson 2-2 Leclerc
Williams	Stroll 2-2 Sirotkin

Qualifying pace*
*Calculated by an average of the drivers' fastest qualifying times, omitting races where a comparison is not possible, eg if one crashed or broke down
Ferrari	Vettel +0.303secs Raikkonen
Mercedes	Hamilton +0.259s Bottas
Red Bull	Verstappen +0.114s Ricciardo
McLaren	Alonso +0.304s Vandoorne
Renault	Hulkenberg +0.258s Sainz
Force India	Perez +0.194s Ocon
Toro Rosso	Hartley +0.098s Gasly
Haas	Magnussen +0.287s Grosjean
Williams	Stroll +0.170s Sirotkin
Sauber	Leclerc +0.373s Ericsson

Who is getting the most out of car?

This chart shows each drivers' average qualifying position so far this season. Their actual championship positions are also provided to compare the pace of car the versus driver's effectiveness in races.

Fernando Alonso has arguably been the most effective at getting the best out of his resources during the race. His average qualifying position is 12.5 but he currently sits sixth in the drivers' championship after four top-seven finishes so far this season.

#F1

via BBC Sport - Formula 1 https://ift.tt/OHg7x6

May 10, 2018 at 02:06PM