The two tables below show the number of places a driver gained or lost relative to his grid position. I have compared the 1984 season which we know from our data saw the most number of overtakes, with the 2009 season which was on course for the lowest number of overtakes since our records began.
What these tables show are all the drivers who finished in the top 6 in both 1984 and 2009 and in all 16 races in 84 and in the first 16 in 09, that way we can get a good comparison.
These charts do not show how a driver gains a place (an overtake or passing cars due to mechanical failure or due to penalties). These charts are just designed to show how many places were gained or lost.
The score is calculated by taking the total number of points finishes and dividing that by 16 for the number of races and then multiplying that by the total number of places gained. The reason for that is simple, it weights the drivers who finish in the points more often against those who have a one off finish.
What can we see from these charts?
1) If you qualify on poll in 1984 you have a 50 percent chance of a top 3 finish
2) If you qualify on poll in 2009 you have a 81 percent chance of a top 3 finish
3) Suprisingly Japan saw the smallest movement up the order with just 1 net move in 2009
4) There were almost 2 1/2 more net moves up the order in 1984 than 2009
5) Lauda failed to score a single pole in 1984 but still won the title.
6) Button and Lauda gained more places than anyone else in the last 4 races.
7) Both Button and Lauda gained 9 places to win the title in the final race.
8) Before he was injured Massa had a good run of form.
9) Vettel lost the most places between qualification and finish with -6 and Rubens was 2nd with -5
10) Lauda gained the most places in 1984 and was WDC, Button and Vettel finished on equal terms in the number of places gained. The difference for Vettel though was that he lost more places in total. On such things championships turn.
11) In 1984 Nelson Piquet put the car on pole 9 times but only managed to stay there to the flag twice
12) Everytime both Prost in 1984 and Jenson in 2009 put the car on pole they kept it there to the finish.
13) Brazil 2009 was a return to 1984 style racing.
What these tables show are all the drivers who finished in the top 6 in both 1984 and 2009 and in all 16 races in 84 and in the first 16 in 09, that way we can get a good comparison.
These charts do not show how a driver gains a place (an overtake or passing cars due to mechanical failure or due to penalties). These charts are just designed to show how many places were gained or lost.
The score is calculated by taking the total number of points finishes and dividing that by 16 for the number of races and then multiplying that by the total number of places gained. The reason for that is simple, it weights the drivers who finish in the points more often against those who have a one off finish.
| 1984 | Brazil | RSA | Belgium | SMR | France | Monaco | Canada | Detroit | Dallas | GBR | Gemany | Austria | Ned | Italy | Europe | Portugal | Totals | Number of top 6 points finishes | Score |
| Lauda | ~ | 7 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 6 | ~ | ~ | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 50 | 9 | 28.13 |
| Prost | 4 | 3 | ~ | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -2 | ~ | ~ | 0 | ~ | 0 | ~ | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 4.81 |
| De Angelis | -3 | ~ | 0 | 8 | 6 | 6 | -1 | 3 | -1 | 0 | ~ | ~ | -1 | ~ | ~ | 0 | 17 | 11 | 11.69 |
| Albereto | ~ | ~ | 0 | ~ | -2 | -2 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 4 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 2.63 |
| Piquet | 8 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 0 | 0 | ~ | ~ | ~ | -1 | ~ | ~ | -2 | -5 | 0 | 6 | 0.00 |
| Arnoux | 14 | ~ | -1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ~ | 2 | 7 | 4 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 1 | ~ | 31 | 10 | 19.38 |
| Warwick | ~ | 6 | 2 | 0 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 4 | 0 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 12 | 5 | 3.75 |
| Rosberg | 7 | ~ | -1 | ~ | 6 | 6 | ~ | ~ | 7 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 25 | 5 | 7.81 |
| Senna | ~ | 7 | 13 | ~ | 11 | 11 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 4 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 0 | 46 | 6 | 17.25 |
| Mansell | ~ | ~ | ~ | 3 | ~ | ~ | 1 | ~ | -6 | ~ | 12 | 9 | 9 | 9 | ~ | ~ | 37 | 7 | 16.19 |
| Tambay | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | -1 | ~ | -1 | ~ | ~ | ~ | -2 | 2 | -0.25 |
| Fabi T | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 20 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 3 | 5 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 28 | 3 | 5.25 |
| Patrase | ~ | 14 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 6 | 3 | ~ | 23 | 3 | 4.31 |
| Laffite | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 14 | 20 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 34 | 2 | 4.25 |
| Boutson | ~ | ~ | ~ | 15 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 12 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 27 | 2 | 3.38 |
| Cheever | 3 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 3 | 1 | 0.19 |
| Johanson | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 13 | ~ | ~ | 13 | 1 | 0.81 |
| De Ceseris | ~ | 9 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 9 | 1 | 0.56 |
| Ghinzani | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 14 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 14 | 1 | 0.88 |
| Surer | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 13 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 13 | 1 | 0.81 |
| Gartner | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 19 | ~ | ~ | 19 | 1 | 1.19 |
| Berger | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 14 | ~ | ~ | 14 | 1 | 0.88 |
| Net total per race | 33 | 46 | 13 | 31 | 21 | 21 | 5 | 35 | 36 | 21 | 20 | 39 | 16 | 64 | 17 | 9 | 427 |
| 2009 | Australia | Malaysia | China | Bahrain | Spain | Monaco | Turkey | GBR | Germany | Hungary | Europe | Belgium | Italy | Singapore | Japan | Brazil | Totals | Number of top 6 points finishes | Score |
| Button | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -2 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 4 | 6 | ~ | 9 | 23 | 12 | 17.25 |
| Vettel | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | -2 | ~ | -2 | 0 | 2 | ~ | ~ | 5 | ~ | -2 | 0 | 11 | 23 | 12 | 17.25 |
| Rubens | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ~ | -1 | -4 | ~ | 2 | ~ | 4 | 3 | ~ | ~ | 11 | 11 | 7.56 |
| Webber | ~ | ~ | 1 | ~ | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 1 | 10 | 8 | 5.00 |
| Hamilton | ~ | ~ | 3 | 1 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 3 | -1 | ~ | ~ | 0 | 0 | 14 | 20 | 7 | 8.75 |
| Kimi | ~ | ~ | ~ | 4 | ~ | -1 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | ~ | 1 | -1 | 16 | 8 | 8.00 |
| Rosberg | 0 | -2 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 0 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 2 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 2 | ~ | 20 | 9 | 11.25 |
| Trulli | ~ | 0 | ~ | -2 | ~ | ~ | 1 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 0 | ~ | -1 | 4 | 0.25 |
| Alonso | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 3 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 2 | ~ | 3 | 2 | ~ | ~ | 10 | 4 | 2.50 |
| Glock | 13 | -2 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 7 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 4 | ~ | ~ | 22 | 4 | 5.50 |
| Massa | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | -2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 12 | 5 | 3.75 |
| Kovalainen | ~ | ~ | 7 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 1 | -2 | 9 | -2 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 13 | 5 | 4.06 |
| Kubica | 0 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | 2 | ~ | ~ | ~ | 6 | 8 | 3 | 1.50 |
| Heidfeld | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | -2 | ~ | ~ | -2 | ~ | -4 | 2 | -0.50 |
| Fisichella | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | -1 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | -1 | 1 | -0.06 |
| Sutil | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | -2 | ~ | ~ | ~ | -2 | 1 | -0.13 |
| Net total per race | 13 | 10 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 6 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 1 | 40 | 180 |
What can we see from these charts?
1) If you qualify on poll in 1984 you have a 50 percent chance of a top 3 finish
2) If you qualify on poll in 2009 you have a 81 percent chance of a top 3 finish
3) Suprisingly Japan saw the smallest movement up the order with just 1 net move in 2009
4) There were almost 2 1/2 more net moves up the order in 1984 than 2009
5) Lauda failed to score a single pole in 1984 but still won the title.
6) Button and Lauda gained more places than anyone else in the last 4 races.
7) Both Button and Lauda gained 9 places to win the title in the final race.
8) Before he was injured Massa had a good run of form.
9) Vettel lost the most places between qualification and finish with -6 and Rubens was 2nd with -5
10) Lauda gained the most places in 1984 and was WDC, Button and Vettel finished on equal terms in the number of places gained. The difference for Vettel though was that he lost more places in total. On such things championships turn.
11) In 1984 Nelson Piquet put the car on pole 9 times but only managed to stay there to the flag twice
12) Everytime both Prost in 1984 and Jenson in 2009 put the car on pole they kept it there to the finish.
13) Brazil 2009 was a return to 1984 style racing.
