How soon can Vettel win 2011 WDC?

[mike]

most wins without a world championship = 7
im pretty sure in 2005 and 2006 Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher had a second place, mathematically anything can happen if Vettel gets 8 wins, then he is the world champion

Coulthard IIRC has this honor.

IIRC??

[Giblet]

If I Remember Correctly.

[raymondu999]

Actually IIRC that was Raikkonen in 2005 with 7 wins and no championship. The car was so fast and fragile it either won or DNF (mostly)

[n smikle]

Hamilton has the lowest DNF rate of any driver in the last 20 or so years.

Wrong!

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10148

Nope I am partially right. I should have been more precise.

However your list is a lump of all types of DNF.. I will get the list where I saw him 2nd the top of the list.. I think it was mechanical DNF or unforced error DNF.. I will get it and post it.

[richard_leeds]

Most career wins without a WDC is Stirling Moss on 16 wins. Coulthard is second on 12.
Least career wins for a WDC are Phill Hill (1961) and Mike Hawthorn (1958) with 3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fo ... ne_drivers

As for WDC season stats ...
Mike Hawthorn & Keke Rosberg both won just 1 race in their WDC seasons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fo ... _Champions

I haven't been able to find most number of wins in a season without a WDC

[andrew]

Coulthard has 13 wins.

[andrew]

I haven't been able to find most number of wins in a season without a WDC

I have!

The most wins in a season without that particular driver becoming champion is 7. A dubious record held by Alain Prost (1984), Alain Prost (1988), Kimi Räikkönen (2005) and Michael Schumacher (2006).

[richard_leeds]

Thanks Andrew. How does that translate to a 19 race season?

[n smikle]

1984 - 16 races - % wins by prost = 7/16 = 43.75%
1988 - 16 races - % wins by prost = 7/16 = 43.75%
2005 - 19 races - % wins by Kimi = 7/19 = 36.842%
2006 - 18 races - % wins by MSC = 7/18 = 38.89%

So Prost had the highest % wins.. and if you translate that to 19 races it is 8.3125 wins. If you translate it to 20 races (Bahrain) it is 8.75 wins...

So Vettel will break the record if he gets 4 more wins.

[andrew]

Thanks Andrew. How does that translate to a 19 race season?

Sorry, I was going to work out the %ages, then I someone phoned me and I completely forgot (must have been the 7 mile walk on a very hot beach this afternoon - I'm sure I heard my skin sizzling at one point).

Thanks n smikle for doing it for me!

[Mandrake]

It's already becoming obvious that Vettel is a comparative slowpoke during the races and he apparently had a ridiculous amount of luck in Monaco.

McLaren fan, right? ^^

[Giblet]

This season is shaping up to be more competitive than it looks. It's already becoming obvious that Vettel is a comparative slowpoke during the races and he apparently had a ridiculous amount of luck in Monaco. We're only 1/3 there. He will probably win the title (based on historical precedent) but he'll be pushed a lot harder than most people think at the moment...

Perspective is a difficult thing for humans to come by.

It's only obvious if you don't fully understand what is happening in the race. When you are ahead you need to manage your tires and make it on the prescribed number of pitstops. If he gains 1 extra second per lap on a 15 lap stint, but you have to come in for an extra stop, you have just added more then 20 seconds to your race for a net los of 5seconds. That would have given Alonso or Button the win. It's quite obvious that he can pull a gap at the beginning of the race, and he does that to get ahead by a couple of seconds on the first lap then manage the race from the front. It is how he wins, and how he stays dominant, but it requires the absolutely fastest car o the bunch, and he won't always have that.

If you are Seb in a RB7, you don't drive as fast as you can, you drive as fast as you should.

[HampusA]

They have to catch him in T1. Otherwise he will ju run away with it.

[rfs]

As for me being a McLaren fan, I am not in particular. Hasn't it been established that numerous incidents went Vettel's way over the weekend? Two separate red flags and a bungled pit stop that turned out to be genius.

I guess that's what they call "champion's luck".

[n smikle]

The sad thing is, the only men who can beat Vettel to the WDC are more than 70 points behind. Any how either Alonso or Lewis wins this year, he HAS to be the greatest driver EVER.