This raucous argument of a season may need to be resolved by arbitration. There are five races remaining, starting here on the streets of Singapore on Sunday night, and it certainly looks likely to go to the final race in Abu Dhabi on 14 November. The greater speed of the Red Bull cars and the superior reliability of McLaren have given a tortoise and hare element to the narrative, if only superficially. In reality it is not that simple. McLaren are more powerful than Red Bull on the long straights, while if you take away driver error there is nothing unreliable about Red Bull these days.
Who would be world champion if the drivers all had the same car? That has long been Formula One’s intriguing question. Most people consider Lewis Hamilton and Alonso to be the best drivers. But only just. The famous five are separated by 24 points, which means it could be the closest finish since 1981, when the top five drivers were seven points apart. Points were given out more sparingly then. Now every point counts. “From here on in we’re all looking for a podium position in every race,” Jenson Button says. “Even fifth isn’t good enough.”
There are three world champions out there, squeezed between the Red Bull pair who have never won the title. Hamilton and Button appear on top of their game, despite recent setbacks. Mark Webber just won’t go away, is determined and an ace qualifier. Alonso has made a number of errors but, with two wins in the past four outings, he may be timing his push to perfection. Sebastian Vettel, most agree, is a champion of the future, perhaps a multi-title winner. But this may not be his year after converting only one of his seven pole positions into a win. He has been too impetuous.
“I fancy Mark to win the thing, but only just,” says Patrick Head, one of the most respected voices in Formula One and the driving force behind the Williams team for a generation. “He’s got this incredible hunger. He’s not making the mistakes he used to when he was a younger driver. But while we’re all talking about who is the best driver, or who has the fastest car, I think the title could be decided by an accident or a reliability issue.” The Guardian
Pos Driver Points 1 Mark Webber 187 2 Lewis Hamilton 182 3 Fernando Alonso 166 4 Jenson Button 165 5 Sebastian Vettel163 6 Felipe Massa 124 7 Nico Rosberg 112 8 Robert Kubica 108 9 Michael Schumacher46 10 Adrian Sutil 45 11 Rubens Barrichello31 12 Kamui Kobayashi 21 13 Vitaly Petrov 19 14 Nico Hulkenberg 16 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi13 16 Sebastien Buemi 7 17 Pedro de la Rosa6 18 Jaime Alguersuari3 19 Heikki Kovalainen0 20 Karun Chandhok 0 21 Lucas di Grassi 0 22 Jarno Trulli 0 23 Bruno Senna 0 24 Timo Glock 0 25 Sakon Yamamoto 0
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