The six degrees of Formula 1

[The Artist.....]

Following my comment on the "How good is Sebastian Vettel" thread, it got me thinking that almost every driver on the current F1 grid can be linked...The rules are that the drivers must have been team-mates with another driver, or have a link through team-mates to another driver.

I'll start with some examples from the current grid:

Vettel is linked to Webber as he is a current team-mate, but he is also linked to every other member of the grid in one form or another:

Going down the grid (in no particular order)
1. Fernando Alonso. Fernando Alonso was team-mates with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren (2007); Hamilton was team-mates with Jenson Button at McLaren (2010-2012); Button was previously a team-mate of Rubens Barrichello (at Honda/Brawn), who was team-mates with Michael Schumacher at Ferrari and Schumacher was team-mates with Rosberg at Williams, who had previously been team-mates with Webber at Williams, and Webber is currently Vettel's team-mate. (7 steps) - but this also means we have found links for Hamilton (6 steps), Button (5 steps), Barrichello (4 steps), Schumacher (3 steps) Rosberg (2 steps) and Webber (1 step)

(A more efficient link, using ex-drivers would have been Alonso->Massa->Raikkonen->Coulthard->Webber->Vettel (5 steps)

2. Narain Karthikeyan. Karthikeyan was team-mates with de La Rosa at HRT (2012). de la Rosa was team-mates with Raikkonen at McLaren (2006), then Raikkonen was team-mates with Coulthard (at McLaren). Coulthard was Webber's team-mate at Red Bull, and Webber and Vettel are currently team-mates.
(Karthikeyan->de la Rosa->Raikkonen->Coulthard->Webber->Vettel (5 steps)

Now, one challenge for everyone would be to find the optimal route from one driver to another.

A more challenging test would be to find a link from any one world drivers champion to any other, only using team-mates.

I'll start: Trying to link Farina (first world champion) to Vettel (most recent world champion).

1. Farina was team-mates with Juan Manuel Fangio at Alfa Romeo;
2. Fangio was team-mates with Stirling Moss at Mercedes
3. Stirling Moss was team-mates with Tony Brooks at Vanwall (1958)
4. Tony Brooks was team-mates with Graham Hill at BRM (1961)
5. Graham Hill was team-mates with Carlos Reutemann (Brabham 1972)
6. Carlos Reutemann was team-mates with Keke Rosberg (Williams 1982)
7. Keke Rosberg was team-mates with Nigel Mansell (Williams 1985)
8. Mansell was team-mates with Riccardo Patrese (Williams 1992)
9. Patrese was team-mates with Michael Schumacher (Benetton 1993)
10. Schumacher was team-mates with Nico Rosberg (Mercedes 2010-2012)
11. Rosberg was team-mates with Webber (Williams 2006)
12. Webber is team-mates with Vettel (Red Bull 2009-2012)

So, that's a range of 62 years of F1 world championships in 12 links.... Can you do any better?

 

[Mephistopheles]

An Hungarian author by the name of Frigyes Karinthy first came up with the idea that everyone on the planet is linked by about six steps he called it the six degrees of separation but I believe it only pertains to people who are alive.

And so if this is true and I can be linked to Vettel in six steps I reckon it should be possible to link each driver with one another by less than that.

I'll have a think about it and get back to you....

 

[Galahad]

1. Farina was team mates with Maurice Trintignant at Ferrari (1955)
2. Trintignant was team mates with Chris Amon at Lola (1963)
3. Amon was team mates with Mario Andretti at March (1970)
4. Andretti was team mates with Elio de Angelis at Lotus (1980)
5. de Angelis was team mates with Riccardo Patrese at Brabham (1986)
(from here as The Artist..... )
6. Patrese was team-mates with Michael Schumacher (Benetton 1993)
7. Schumacher was team-mates with Nico Rosberg (Mercedes 2010-2012)
8. Rosberg was team-mates with Webber (Williams 2006)
9. Webber is team-mates with Vettel (Red Bull 2009-2012)

That's 9 links with one asterisk - not sure if Trintignant was driving a works Ferrari or running his own private one in 1955. But still, same car.

 

[The Artist.....]

Galahad - I think Trintingnant doubly counts - as he shared a car with Farina - at the Argentinian Grand prix - where 3 drivers came 2nd and 3 drivers came third!

 

[Galahad]

Ah yes, the hottest Grand Prix in history (probably). Well, that's ok then!

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Mephistopheles It could be even less than 6...

Skip to 2:51

 

[tooncheese]

There is a quicker route for Alonso - Vettel

Alonso - Massa (Ferrari 2010-2012)
Massa - Heidfeld (Sauber 2002)
Heidfeld - Vettel (Sauber USA 2007)

EDIT
Just thought of:
Alonso - Yoong (Minardi 2001)
Yoong - Webber (Minardi 2002)
Webber - Vettel (RBR 2009-2012)

 

[RasputinLives]

Can't I do it this way?

1. Farina was team-mates with Juan Manuel Fangio at Alfa Romeo;
2. Fangio was team-mates with Stirling Moss at Mercedes
3. Mercedes currently have Nico Rosberg in their race seat
4. Nico Rosberg was team-mates with Mark Webber at Williams
5. Mark Webber is Sebastian Vettels team-mate.

 

[Kamui-FastestChefInTheWorld]

Only use teammates - 3 isn't a teammate.

 

[RasputinLives]

Thats not the rules of the Kevin Bacon version (sulks)

 

[teabagyokel]

Is it possible to go from (say) Nuvolari to Kobayashi?

 

[Galahad]

How about Duncan Hamilton to Lewis Hamilton? Or Jacques Villeneuve to Jacques Villeneuve?

 

[Mephistopheles]

Did you mean Gilles Villeneuve to Jacques?

 

[teabagyokel]

Mephistopheles - JV Senior.
Uncle Jacques not Daddy Gilles.

 

[Mephistopheles]

As soon as I posted I thought that was what was probably meant teabagyokel

 

[teabagyokel]

To answer Galahad's teasers

JV to JV:

Villeneuve Sr. had only one team-mate in F1. Thankfully, it was Riccardo Patrese:

1. Jacques Villeneuve Sr. to Riccardo Patrese
2. Patrese to Nigel Mansell
3. Mansell to Damon Hill
4. Hill to Jacques Villeneuve Jr.

Hamilton to Hamilton

1. Duncan Hamilton to Peter Collins
2. Collins to Maurice Trintignant
3. Trintignant to Chris Amon
4. Amon to Jacky Ickx
5. Ickx to Jacques Laffite
6. Laffite to Andrea de Cesaris
7. de Cesaris to Rubens Barrichello
8. Barrichello to Jenson Button
9. Button to Lewis Hamilton

 

[The Artist.....]

Trintignant to Amon really is a useful link for getting to the modern day- are they the most important junction in F1 history?

 

[The Artist.....]

A similar one might be
Graham Hill to Damon Hill

1. Graham Hill was team-mates to Carlos Reutemann (Brabham)
2. Carlos Reutemann was team-mates with Keke Rosberg (Williams)
3. Keke Rosberg was team-mates with Alain Prost (McLaren, 1986)
4. Alain Prost was team-mates with Damon Hill (Williams)

 

[teabagyokel]

The Artist..... - Depends when you start.

The Graham Hill/Andretti junction is rather fruitful, and of course if you're finishing in the 21st Century chances are Schumacher or Barrichello could cut 20 years off your search.

 

[teabagyokel]

To my own question:

Nuvolari to Kobayashi

1. Tazio Nuvolari was a team-mate of Luigi Fagioli (Auto Union, Swiss GP 1937)
2. Fagioli was a team-mate of Guiseppe Farina
3. Farina was a team-mate of that man Trintignant
4. ... who was a team-mate of Chris Amon
5. ... who was a team-mate of Jean-Pierre Beltoise
6. ... who was a team-mate of Andreas-Nikolaus Lauda
7. ... who was a team-mate of Nelson Piquet
8. ... who was a team-mate of Michael Schumacher
9. ... who was a team-mate of Eddie Irvine
10. ... who was a team-mate of Pedro de la Rosa
11. ... who was, of course, Kamui Kobayashi's team-mate at Sauber.