Formula 1 is about to begin its weekend of glamour in Monaco. Before getting into some serious Monaco related posts, let’s have a look where the teams and drivers stand after 5 races and compare it with where they were a year ago. Rememeber that last year the 5th race of the season was Monaco, this year it was Turkey. So 2007 point tally is after Monaco, 2008 is before Monaco.
First the drivers:
Drivers points - Comparison 2007 and 2008 after 5 races
| Driver | 2007 | 2008 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kimi Raikkonen | 23 | 35 | +12 |
| Felipe Massa | 33 | 28 | -5 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 38 | 28 | -10 |
| Robert Kubica | 12 | 24 | +12 |
| Nick Heidfeld | 18 | 20 | +2 |
| Heikki Kovalainen | 3 | 14 | +11 |
| Mark Webber | 0 | 10 | +10 |
| Jarno Trulli | 4 | 9 | +5 |
| Fernando Alonso | 38 | 9 | -29 |
| Nico Rosberg | 5 | 8 | +3 |
| Kazuki Nakajima | 0 | 5 | +5 |
| Jenson Button | 0 | 3 | +3 |
| David Coulthard | 4 | 0 | -4 |
| Giancarlo Fisichella | 13 | 0 | -13 |
| Rubens Barrichello | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Adrian Sutil | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Only drivers that took part in 2007 and are still involved in 2008 season are included in the table. For some the stats may be a bit misleading. It is hard to compare Fernando Alonso’s results in 2007 in top of the field McLaren with his 2008 midfield Renault run for example. But it is interesting to look at drivers like Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Mark Webber, Robert Kubica, Nick Heidfeld.
Now the teams:
Constructor points - Comparison 2007 and 2008 after 5 races
| Constructor | 2007 | 2008 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ferrari | 56 | 63 | +7 |
| McLaren | 76 | 42 | -34 |
| BMW Sauber | 30 | 44 | +14 |
| Williams | 7 | 13 | +6 |
| Red Bull | 4 | 10 | +6 |
| Toyota | 5 | 9 | +4 |
| Renault | 16 | 9 | -7 |
| Honda | 0 | 3 | +3 |
| Toro Rosso | 0 | 2 | +2 |
| Force India | 0 | 0 | 0 |
This table can probably be considered more fair than the one above. Most of the teams improved their point tally grabbing those 41 points dropped by McLaren and Renault (and one point that Super Aguri had at this stage of last season). McLaren’s points drop is quite big, but it should be noted that the 2007 results include their 1-2 finish in Monaco GP.
The biggest looser is however me … Last year this time I was enroute to Monaco, this year this time I am enroute to the office 
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I had expected Massa to be better off this season, not sure why though! Interesting to see Raikkonen and Hamilton’s differential from last year
Shaun’s last blog post..MotoGP – Rossi moves onto 90 GP wins at Le Mans
Massa could have been leading the championship by now, if he did not spin off in Malaysia from 2nd place …
The drivers that stand out to me in that list are Robert Kubica and Mark Webber. Both have really turned it up a notch and are enjoying the affects. I’ve been very impressed with Webber so far this year. Looks good on him.
BMW-Sauber and Renault stand out to me here. McLaren isn’t a surprise as I expect a slower progress. Renault on the other hand, after a poor 2007 are still down. Not Alonso’s fault that’s for sure, but Piquet isn’t contributing at all.
BMW-Sauber had a lot of critics in the off season, but have picked up right where they left off in 2007. A tall order for a newer team and impressive.
Stew’s last blog post..Max Mosely, The FIA, MI5. Who Else Wants to Join in?
Bad luck for Fisi (Force Inda did not surprised anyone), good start for Kubica and Webber!
The first five races turned out to be not so good for David Coulthard, if we compare them with the first five races from the 2007 season.
[...] Drivers and teams – How they compare with 2007 season after 5 races – F1 Wolf Very interesting tables here. McLaren aren’t looking too great at the moment (tags: constructors drivers championship McLaren) [...]
Whilst I’m not really a fan, I’m impressed with Massa’s comeback. From zero points and a questionable future, he’s now right back up there fighting for the championship.
Christine’s last blog post..The Trulliometer Must Be Low Right Now
Haha…in office on race weekend? How unfortunate.
Looks like Alonso is the biggest looser. I think his move to Renault cost the most shift of points- individually and between the teams.
Raikonnen did very well in the starting stint. If McLaren cars failed to outshine the Ferraris in the Monaco track, I think Raikonnen is an easy bet for championship.
Black Zedd’s last blog post..Your Work Is Full of Gaps!
I was on the way to office right after finishing this post. I think I can confidently say that I will not be on the way to office on this race weekend.
Unfortunately I can also confidently say, I will not be on the way to Monaco this weekend