According to a mathematical study, Alonso is the best driver of 2016

Fernando Alonso named “the best driver of the 2016 season”: according to an American mathematical study, in fact, the Spaniard is in first position in the ranking of this season's top drivers. The F1Metrics blog has drawn up a ranking based on the performance of the drivers compared to their teammates and the value of the cars.

The work is based on a detailed analysis of the 21 races on the calendar, on the performance of each individual driver without the influence of the car. The author of this work is Dr Andrew Phillips, an American applied mathematician with a passion for Formula 1. Phillips has developed a model to evaluate the performance of each driver, not only in 2016 but also throughout the history of the premier class of motorsport. The goal is to find out how each driver would drive if there were differences in cars.

To develop his rankings, Phillips takes each driver's average points. To calculate the final ranking he excludes retirements due to accidents or breakdowns. The remaining races are called “qualifying races”. Drivers outside the top 10 also get points: 0,1th 16 points, 0,01th XNUMX points, etc. The final calculation is quite complex, but the result is excellent: according to this measurement system, the best driver of all time is Jim Clark followed by Jackie Stewart and Fernando Alonso. Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio they occupy the room e fifth place, while Ayrton Senna è 19 °.

But as far as 2016 is concerned, the ranking says Fernando Alonso in first place:

1. Fernando Alonso
2. Max Verstappen
3. Carlos Sainz
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Daniel Ricciardo
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Nico Rosberg
8. Kimi Räikkönen
9. Jenson Button
10. Valtteri Bottas
11. Felipe Nasr
12. Sergio Pérez
13. Marcus Ericsson
14. Romain Grosjean
15. Daniil Kvyat
16. Felipe Massa
17. pascal wehrlein
18. Kevin Magnussen
19. Esteban Ocon
20. Nico Hulkenberg
21. Jolyon Palmer
22. Haryanto River
23. Esteban Gutierrez

“It can be said that Sainz was the surprise of the season,” writes on the blog. “Last year two factors played against him: Verstappen's points and the end of the season. So much so that they then led Red Bull to promotion to Red Bull.", continues the doctor.

For Alonso then: “The model chooses him as the best driver of the whole year. Alonso was able to maximize points in three ways. He was very aggressive in his driving, secondly, he was consistently faster in qualifying than Button and thirdly and most importantly, he always made up a lot of positions in the race. Alonso finished, on average, 1,6 positions ahead of his teammate.", continues on his study.

After the publication of this analysis, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz they joked about social network. The McLaren driver shared by writing: “I always liked mathematics at school”, while Carlos replied: “I didn't like him, but he was jealous of children who did well”.

Fabiola Granier