The Formula One Rookies' Championship - Albon 2019 Champion

[Bobby Doorknobs]

I thought I'd do another alternate championship, this time to find out who were the most impressive rookies in every season (or who had the best car!). The rules for eligibility are simple: For a driver to be considered a rookie they must have started no World Championship Grands Prix before the beginning of the current season. Every season will use the points system of its time, dropped scores and all, except no extra points will be awarded for fastest laps in the 1950s due to a lack of data. In the event of a shared drive points will only be awarded if the car was shared between two rookies. We already know the results of the inaugural season, seeing as all drivers were effectively rookies that year, so we start with 1951.

List of champions

1950: Giuseppe Farina (Alfa Romeo)
1951: Rudi Fischer (Ferrari)
1952: Mike Hawthorn (Cooper-Bristol)
1953: Óscar Alfredo Gálvez (Maserati)
1954: Karl Kling (Mercedes)
1955: Eugenio Castellotti (Lancia & Ferrari)
1956: Olivier Gendebien (Ferrari)
1957: Masten Gregory (Maserati)
1958: Cliff Allison (Lotus-Climax)
1959: Bruce McLaren (Cooper-Climax)
1960: Jim Clark (Lotus-Climax)
1961: Jackie Lewis (Cooper-Climax)
1962: Jo Siffert (Lotus-Climax & Lotus-BRM)
1963: Chris Amon (Lola-Climax & Lotus-BRM)
1964: Peter Arundell (Lotus-Climax)
1965: Jackie Stewart (BRM)
1966: Mike Parkes (Ferrari)
1967: Jean-Pierre Beltoise (Matra-Ford)
1968: Jackie Oliver (Lotus-Ford)
1969: John Miles (Lotus-Ford)
1970: Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari)
1971: Howden Ganley (BRM)
1972: Carlos Pace (March-Ford)
1973: James Hunt (March-Ford)
1974: Vittorio Brambilla (March-Ford)
1975: Tony Brise (Williams-Ford & Hill-Ford)
1976: Gunnar Nilsson (Lotus-Ford)
1977: Rupert Keegan (Hesketh-Ford)
1978: Didier Pironi (Tyrrell-Ford)
1979: Elio de Angelis (Shadow-Ford)
1980: Alain Prost (McLaren-Ford)
1981: Michele Alboreto (Tyrrell-Ford)
1982: Mauro Baldi (Arrows-Ford)
1983: Thierry Boutsen (Arrows-Ford)
1984: Ayrton Senna (Toleman-Hart)
1985: Pierluigi Martini (Minardi-Ford & Minardi-Motori Moderni)
1986: Johnny Dumfries (Lotus-Renault)
1987: Satoru Nakajima (Lotus-Honda)
1988: Maurício Gugelmin (March-Judd)
1989: Jean Alesi (Tyrrell-Ford)
1990: Gregor Foitek (Brabham-Judd & Onyx-Ford)
1991: Mika Häkkinen (Lotus-Judd)
1992: Christian Fittipaldi (Minardi-Lamborghini)
1993: Rubens Barrichello (Jordan-Hart)
1994: Olivier Panis (Ligier-Renault)
1995: Jean-Christophe Boullion (Sauber-Ford)
1996: Jacques Villeneuve (Williams-Renault)
1997: Jarno Trulli (Minardi-Hart & Prost-Mugen-Honda)
1998: Toranosuke Takagi (Tyrrell-Ford)
1999: Marc Gené (Minardi-Ford)
2000: Jenson Button (Williams-BMW)
2001: Kimi Räikkönen (Sauber-Petronas)
2002: Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas)
2003: Cristiano da Matta (Toyota)
2004: Christian Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth)
2005: Tiago Monteiro (Jordan-Toyota)
2006: Scott Speed (Toro Rosso-Cosworth)
2007: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
2008: Sébastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
2009: Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
2010: Nico Hülkenberg (Williams-Cosworth)
2011: Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes)
2012: Jean-Éric Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
2013: Esteban Gutiérrez (Sauber-Ferrari)
2014: Kevin Magnussen (McLaren-Mercedes)
2015: Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso-Renault)
2016: Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
2017: Lance Stroll (Williams-Mercedes)
2018: Sergey Sirotkin (Williams-Mercedes)
2019: Alexander Albon (Toro Rosso-Honda & Red Bull-Honda)

1951

For the first proper season of this the rookie champion is actually the only one who finished more than one race. It's successful restaurant owner and gentleman racer Rudi Fischer of Écurie Espadon in his Ferrari 212 who finished both of the races in which he took part.

Final standings:

1. Rudi Fischer 14 pts.
2. André Simon 8 pts.
2. Duncan Hamilton 8 pts.
3. Mike Nazaruk 8 pts.
4. André Pilette 8 pts.
5. Stirling Moss 8 pts.
6. Paco Godia 8 pts.
7. Jacques Swaters 6 pts.
8. Andy Linden 6 pts.
9. Bobby Ball 4 pts.
10. Carl Forberg 4 pts.

1952

Thanks to the new F2 regulations we see more new faces in the paddock and an actual fight for the championship. This fight was between future Ferrari World Champion Mike Hawthorn in the little Cooper-Bristol and future Ferrari manager-fighting Frenchman Jean Behra in the Gordini. The championship was decided rather anti-climactically in Hawthorn's favour when both drivers retired at Monza.

Final standings:

1. Mike Hawthorn 24 pts.
2. Jean Behra 22 pts.
3. Ken Wharton 14 pts.
4. Dennis Poore 10 pts.
5. Alan Brown 10 pts.
6. Lance Macklin 10 pts.
7. Art Cross 8 pts.
8. Peter Collins 8 pts.
9. Eric Brandon 8 pts.
10. Paul Frère 6 pts.
11. Roger Laurent 6 pts.
12. Jimmy Bryan 6 pts.
13. Eitel Cantoni 6 pts.
14. Eric Thompson 4 pts.
15. Jimmy Reece 4 pts.
16. Fritz Riess 4 pts.
17. Charles de Tornaco 3 pts.
18. Toni Ulmen 3 pts.
19. Roy Salvadori 3 pts.
20. Jim Rigsby 3 pts.
21. Ken Downing 2 pts.
22. Helmut Niedermayr 2 pts.
23. Eddie Johnson 2 pts.

1953

This one was actually a complete joke due to the fact that just about every rookie only raced once all season. As a result there was a six-way tie. I gave this one to Óscar Gálvez because he's the highest placed rookie in the actual standings.

Final standings:

1. Óscar Alfredo Gálvez 8 pts.
2. Hermann Lang 8 pts.
3. Roberto Mieres 8 pts.
4. Jimmy Daywalt 8 pts.
5. Fred Wacker 8 pts.
6. Hans Herrmann 8 pts.
7. John Barber 6 pts.
8. Ernie McCoy 6 pts.
9. Albert Scherrer 6 pts.
10. Rodney Nuckey 6 pts.
11. Umberto Maglioli 4 pts.
12. Wolfgang Seidel 4 pts.
13. Sergio Mantovani 3 pts.
14. Luigi Musso 3 pts.

1954

Karl Kling was the only regular and he was also driving a Mercedes, so it comes as no surprise that he gets this one.

Final standings:

1. Karl Kling 32 pts.
2. Larry Crockett 8 pts.
3. Jorge Daponte 8 pts.
4. Don Beauman 6 pts.
5. Leslie Marr 4 pts.
6. Leslie Thorne 3 pts.
7. Horace Gould 2 pts.

[dr-baker]

By the looks of it, I think you're including the Indy 500 in this?

[Bobby Doorknobs]

By the looks of it, I think you're including the Indy 500 in this?

Don't worry, there won't be any Indy 500 champions.

[tommykl]

Pretty interesting. I wonder if things would change if you did it a bit closer to the NASCAR way, ie. a driver is considered a rookie if he entered less than five races previously, for example.

[dr-baker]

By the looks of it, I think you're including the Indy 500 in this?

Don't worry, there won't be any Indy 500 champions.

Well, I had a driver who finished 2nd in an Indy 500 win one year in my alternative championship, and I'm proud of it!

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Pretty interesting. I wonder if things would change if you did it a bit closer to the NASCAR way, ie. a driver is considered a rookie if he entered less than five races previously, for example.

That would be interesting and fairer for drivers who started late in a season. I might do that once this season is over.

Well, I had a driver who finished 2nd in an Indy 500 win one year in my alternative championship, and I'm proud of it!

Well, finishing 2nd is acceptable and there will be an Indy 500 runner-up in one of the years that I will be posting tomorrow, but can you imagine the massive uproar that would be caused if an "outsider" were to win this championship?

[tommykl]

Thinking about it, I think and Indy-only champion would be impossible. A tie could occur if no one scores more points than are available for a win and all race winners enter only that particular race, but then order of precedence goes to the first driver who set the result, and Indy never opened the season. So basically, you'd need for every race bar Indy to have zero rookie finishers, and that's highly unlikely

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1955

Another case of the only regular winning, but to be fair, Eugenio Castellotti was a promising talent (and a snappy dresser too!).

Final standings:

1. Eugenio Castellotti 24 pts.
2. Al Herman 8 pts.
3. Mike Sparken 8 pts.
4. Chuck Weyant 6 pts.
5. Hermano da Silva Ramos 6 pts.

1956

It was 1953 all over again, this time with a three-way tie. Once again it went to the man who finished 5th in Argentina; Sportscar legend Olivier Gendebien.

Final standings:

1. Olivier Gendebien 8 pts.
2. Luigi Piotti 8 pts.
3. Bob Veith 8 pts.
4. Gerino Gerini 6 pts.
5. Bob Christie 6 pts.
6. Billy Garrett 4 pts.

1957

First time in five years there was an actual fight for the championship, with the Kansas City Flash taking home the imaginary trophy.

Final standings:

1. Masten Gregory 30 pts.
2. Stuart Lewis-Evans 20 pts.
3. Wolfgang von Trips 8 pts.
4. Alejandro de Tomaso 8 pts.
5. Ivor Bueb 6 pts.

1958

Drivers who took part in the F2 class in Germany and Morocco weren't counted. De Beaufort is eligible because he only drove in the F2 class in the previous year's German GP. Phil Hill would have had a better shot at the title if he made his debut earlier in the season.

Final standings:

1. Cliff Allison 42 pts.
2. Phil Hill 24 pts.
3. George Amick 8 pts.
4. Carroll Shelby 8 pts.
5. Graham Hill 6 pts.
6. Jud Larson 6 pts.
7. Maria Teresa de Filippis 6 pts.
8. Carel Godin de Beaufort 6 pts.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1959

McLaren and Gurney were tied for the lead going into the final round. Gurney's absence virtually guaranteed the championship for the Kiwi.

Final standings:

1. Bruce McLaren 32 pts.
2. Dan Gurney 24 pts.
3. Innes Ireland 14 pts.
4. Chuck Arnold 8 pts.
5. Fritz d'Orey 6 pts.
6. Chris Bristow 6 pts.
7. Jim McWithey 6 pts.
8. Mário de Araújo Cabral 6 pts.
9. Colin Davis 6 pts.
10. Harry Blanchard 4 pts.
11. Henry Taylor 4 pts.
12. Peter Ashdown 3 pts.

1960

Another American loses out due to missing out on half the races.

Final standings:

1. Jim Clark 30 pts.
2. Richie Ginther 24 pts.
3. Gino Munaron 10 pts.
4. John Surtees 8 pts.
5. Lloyd Ruby 8 pts.
6. Jim Hall 8 pts.
7. Alberto Rodríguez Larreta 8 pts.
8. Willy Mairesse 6 pts.
9. Lucien Bianchi 6 pts.
10. Bud Tingelstad 6 pts.
11. Chuck Daigh 6 pts.
12. Roberto Bonomi 6 pts.
13. Piero Drogo 4 pts.
14. Pete Lovely 4 pts.
15. Fred Gamble 3 pts.
16. Bob Drake 3 pts.
17. Nasif Estéfano 3 pts.

1961

So Baghetti won a race but he was a one-hit wonder anyway (well, OK he did also win two non-championship races but they don't count ). Rookie of the year 1961 goes to the man who did a JIm Clark in reverse: Jackie Lewis.

Final standings:

1. Jackie Lewis 27 pts.
2. Lorenzo Bandini 15 pts.
3. Tony Maggs 12 pts.
4. Giancarlo Baghetti 9 pts.
5. Roger Penske 9 pts.
6. Trevor Taylor 9 pts.
7. Peter Ryan 6 pts.
8. Michael May 6 pts.
9. Tim Parnell 4 pts.
10. Hap Sharp 4 pts.
11. Tony Marsh 4 pts.
12. Renato Pirocchi 3 pts.
13. Gerry Ashmore 3 pts.

1962

11 years after Rudi Fischer, fellow Swiss driver Jo Siffert is Formula One's top rookie under very similar circumstances.

Final standings:

1. Jo Siffert 18 pts.
2. Neville Lederle 9 pts.
3. Rob Schroeder 9 pts.
4. Tony Settember 9 pts.
5. John Love 6 pts.
6. John Campbell-Jones 6 pts.
7. Heini Walter 6 pts.
8. Jay Chamberlain 6 pts.
9. Bruce Johnstone 4 pts.
10. Ernie Pieterse 3 pts.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1963

Pretty close between Kiwi teenager Chris Amon and former motorcycle racers Mike Hailwood and Bob Anderson but in the end one of Grand Prix racing's unluckiest drivers won.

Final standings:

1. Chris Amon 18 pts.
2. Mike Hailwood 15 pts.
3. Bob Anderson 10 pts.
4. Gerhard Mitter 9 pts.
5. Ludovico Scarfiotti 9 pts.
6. Peter Broeker 9 pts.
7. Moisés Solana 9 pts.
8. Trevor Blokdyk 9 pts.
9. Brausch Niemann 6 pts.
10. Mike Spence 4 pts.

1964

Peter Arundell ran away with it despite his serious F2 crash at Reims.

Final standings:

1. Peter Arundell 36 pts.
2. Peter Revson 15 pts.
3. Ronnie Bucknam 9 pts.
4. John Taylor 9 pts.

1965

A no-brainer really as Stewart scored maximum points.

Final standings:

1. Jackie Stewart 54 (63) pts.
2. Richard Attwood 37 pts.
3. Denny Hulme 18 pts.
4. Paul Hawkins 10 pts.
5. Bob Bondurant 9 pts.

1966

Guy Ligier would have taken this if he'd completed more laps in the first three races but alas it was Ferrari driver Mike Parkes the took the rookie title.

Final standings:

1. Mike Parkes 18 pts.
2. Guy Ligier 15 pts.
3. Chris Irwin 9 pts.
4. Chris Lawrence 4 pts.

[James1978]

Like the sound of this! Won't do predictions this time but look forward to seeing some of the champions for 80s onwards where there isn't an obvious winner (Hamilton, Jacques Villeneuve etc).

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1967

A tie for the lead between Beltoise and Hobbs but the Frenchman gets it in the end for his best result of 7th as opposed to Hobbs' best of 8th.

Final standings:

1. Jean-Pierre Beltoise 18 pts.
2. David Hobbs 18 pts.
3. Jacky Ickx 9 pts.
4. Alan Rees 6 pts.
5. Jonathan Williams 6 pts.
6. Mike Fisher 6 pts.

1968

Arrows co-founder Jackie Oliver beats Vic Elford by just 3 points after they finished 1-2 in the final round in Mexico.

Final standings:

1. Jackie Oliver 27 pts.
2. Vic Elford 24 pts.
3. Brian Redman 9 pts.
4. Kurt Ahrens, Jr. 6 pts.
5. Henri Pescarolo 4 pts.

1969

It wasn't until Silverstone that there was a rookie in the field in John Miles and it wasn't until Canada that he got some competition from John Cordts. George Eaton was the only other rookie in the entire season. Miles won by default, being the only one to actually finish a race.

Final standings:

1. John Miles 9 pts.

1970

In contrast to the previous year there were plenty of rookies in the field in 1970, two of whom would win a Grand Prix during the season. In the end it was Ferrari's Clay Regazzoni who claimed the rookie championship and 3rd in the overall standings.

Final standings:

1. Clay Regazzoni 56 pts.
2. Rolf Stommelen 36 pts.
3. Emerson Fittipaldi 24 pts.
4. François Cevert 24 pts.
5. Ronnie Peterson 22 pts.
6. Ignazio Giunti 17 pts.
7. Peter Gethin 10 pts.
8. Reine Wisell 6 pts.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1971

BRM's Howden Ganley wins the title in what was really the last good year for the team.

Final standings:

1. Howden Ganley 54 pts.
2. Nanni Galli 25 pts.
3. Helmut Marko 21 pts.
4. Mark Donohue 9 pts.
5. Gijs van Lennep 6 pts.
6. François Mazet 6 pts.
7. John Cannon 4 pts.

1972

Three points separated Pace, Fittipaldi and Reutemann going into the final round. None of the three finished, so Pace won.

Final standings:

1. Carlos Pace 39 pts.
2. Wilson Fittipaldi 37 pts.
3. Carlos Reutemann 36 pts.
4. Arturo Merzario 15 pts.
5. Patrick Depailler 9 pts.
6. Jody Scheckter 6 pts.

1973

Hunt and Follmer were tied for the lead at the Glen. Hunt won and was 2nd overall in the race after battling for the lead with Ronnie Peterson.

Final standings:

1. James Hunt 54 pts.
2. George Follmer 51 pts.
3. David Purley 15 pts.
4. Rikky von Opel 12 pts.
5. Jochen Mass 9 pts.
6. Luiz Bueno 9 pts.

1974

The Monza Gorilla takes it in what was the first year for quite a few drivers.

Final standings:

1. Vittorio Brambilla 50 pts.
2. Guy Edwards 39 pts.
3. Hans-Joachim Stuck 28 pts.
4. Tom Pryce 27 pts.
5. Richard Robarts 12 pts.
6. Helmuth Koinigg 9 pts.
7. Tom Belsø 6 pts.
8. Dieter Quester 6 pts.
9. Jacques Laffite 6 pts.
10. Ian Scheckter 4 pts.
11. Vern Schuppan 4 pts.
12. Ian Ashley 3 pts.
13. Teddy Pilette 3 pts.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Every time I tried to post this I've been redirected to some unrelated website, so if you can read this you know I've finally succeeded.

1975

This year it's the protegé of Graham Hill that wins. Sadly he would lose his life in the plane crash that also killed the double World Champion.

Final standings:

1. Tony Brise 39
2. Alan Jones 32
3. Bob Evans 21
4. Lella Lombardi 18.5
5. Harald Ertl 13
6. Brett Lunger 10.5
7. Guy Tunmer 9
8. Torsten Palm 6
9. Jean-Pierre Jabouille 6
10. Jim Crawford 4
11. Brian Henton 4
12. Renzo Zorzi 3
13. John Nicholson 3
14. Damien Magee 2
15. Dave Morgan 2

1976

Gunnar Nilsson wins despite an unreliable car.

Final standings:

1. Gunnar Nilsson 54
2. Larry Perkins 21
3. Alessandro Pesenti-Rossi 18
4. Ingo Hoffmann 9
5. Alex Ribeiro 9
6. Patrick Neve 9
7. Noritake Takahara 6
8. Loris Kessel 6
9. Warwick Brown 6
10. Masahiro Hasemi 4

1977

The reject version of James Hunt is 1977's top rookie.

Final standings:

1. Rupert Keegan 51
2. Riccardo Patrese 34
3. Patrick Tambay 27
4. Emilio de Villota 15
5. Gilles VIlleneuve 12
6. Danny Ongais 6
7. Kunimtsu Takahashi 6

1978

Pironi walks it as he's the only rookie with a decent car.

Final standings:

1. Didier Pironi 82
2. René Arnoux 27
3. Derek Daly 24
4. Keke Rosberg 19
5. Nelson Piquet 13
6. Bobby Rahal 3

[dr-baker]

Happy to see Lella Lombardi finish 4th out of 15! Better than Maria Teresa de Filippis managed in 1958 (7th of 8).

And I'm guessing that, as these two women are the only two to have qualified for a GP, that these two are the only ones to feature in this championship? i.e. those who never qualify don't feature?

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Happy to see Lella Lombardi finish 4th out of 15! Better than Maria Teresa de Filippis managed in 1958 (7th of 8).

And I'm guessing that, as these two women are the only two to have qualified for a GP, that these two are the only ones to feature in this championship? i.e. those who never qualify don't feature?

Sadly that is correct.

The next four years will be up in a few hours when I get home.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1979

It was a very close fight between the two Shadow drivers but in the end the pianist won.

Final standings:

1. Elio de Angelis 55 pts.
2. Jan Lammers 51 pts.
3. Ricardo Zunino 9 pts.
4. Geoff Lees 9 pts.
5. Patrick Gaillard 4 pts.

1980

Prost was the only rookie to actually see the chequered flag all season.

Final standings:

1. Alain Prost 63 pts.

1981

The man who would go on to become Tyrrell's last Grand Prix winner was the top rookie of 1981, beating a man who accidentally broke a mechanic's legs, a drummer, two men who got into separate fights with other drivers and the man who kept going back to Osella.

Final standings:

1. Michele Alboreto 40 pts.
2. Siegfried Stohr 24 pts.
3. Slim Borgudd 21 pts.
4. Chico Serra 18 pts.
5. Eliseo Salazar 15 pts.
6. Piercarlo Ghinzani 6 pts.

1982

Close fight for the title between the top three with Baldi emerging victorious.

Final standings:

1. Mauro Baldi 60 pts.
2. Manfred Winkelhock 33 pts.
3. Raul Boesel 30 pts.
4. Roberto Guerrero 9 pts.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1983

A two-horse race between Sullivan and Cecotto until Boutsen was thrown into the mix when he won in Detroit. The three drivers were separated by 7 points in Kyalami. Sullivan won, but with Boutsen 2nd Danny couldn't overhaul the Belgian's tally and the Arrows driver won.

Final standings:

1. Thierry Boutsen 56 pts.
2. Danny Sullivan 52 pts.
3. Johnny Cecotto 48 pts.
4. Stefan Johansson 19 pts.
5. Corrado Fabi 15 pts.
6. Jonathan Palmer 6 pts.
7. Kenny Acheson 4 pts.

1984

With the disqualification of Tyrrell ruining Brundle and Bellof's chances Senna had a very good chance, but had François Hesnault for competition and was even 1.5 points behind going into Estoril. Senna qualified and finished 3rd overall and 1st of the rookies to take a well-deserved title. Despite the fact that they were ineligible for points in the regular championship, Gartner and Berger were allowed to score points here.

Final standings:

1. Ayrton Senna 49.5 pts,
2. François Hesnault 42 pts.
3. Philippe Alliot 18 pts.
4. Jo Gartner 17 pts.
5. Gerhard Berger 16 pts.
6. Huub Rothengatter 10 pts.

1985

The only rookie in the field for most of the season was struggling to even finish races in a very unreliable Minardi. It wasn't until Hockenheim that Pierluigi Martini scored his first 9 points. The only other rokkie to see the chequered flag was Ivan Capelli, who only finished once to Martini's three.

Final standings:

1. Pierluigi Martini 24 pts.
2. Ivan Capelli 9 pts.

1986

Lucky Bastard Johnny Dumfries easily wins this one, with his only competition coming from two Italian backmarker teams.

Final standings:

1. Johnny Dumfries 54 pts.
2. Allen Berg 21 pts.
3. Alessandro Nannini 9 pts.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1987

Fabre led for a while until Monza, but in the end F1's first full-time Japanese driver took the honours.

Final standings:

1. Satoru Nakajima 90 pts.
2. Pascal Fabre 57 pts.
3. Yannick Dalmas 24 pts.
4. Roberto Moreno 6 pts.
5. Adrián Campos 6 pts.

1988

The future HRT team principal led for a significant portion of the season until Gugelmin in the faster March caught up at Hockenheim.

Final standings:

1. Maurício Gugelmin 60 pts.
2. Luis Pérez-Sala 52 pts.
3. Julian Bailey 27 pts.
4. Bernd Schneider 15 pts.
5. Oscar Larrauri 10 pts.
6. Jean-Louis Schlesser 9 pts.
7. Aguri Suzuki 3 pts.

1989

Herbert looked set to win until he was dropped by Benetton after Canada and a whole host of rookies came at the French Grand Prix. Herbert still held a substantial lead, but for the first time since 1967 there was a tie, and Johnny was beaten by Sicilian sensation Jean Alesi.

Final standings:

1. Jean Alesi 42 pts.
2. Johnny Herbert 42 pts.
3. Emanuele Pirro 37 pts.
4. Olivier Grouillard 36 pts.
5. Bertrand Gachot 5 pts.
6. Éric Bernard 3 pts.
7. Martin Donnelly 2 pts.

1990

Another Swiss driver puts in a Rudi Fischer-like performance.

Final standings:

1. Gregor Foitek 18 pts.
2. Gianni Morbidelli 9 pts.
3. David Brabham 9 pts.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1991

A Finnish future World Champion makes his mark as 1991 rookie champion.

Final standings:

1. Mika Häkkinen 64.5 pts.
2. Érik Comas 57 pts.
3. Mark Blundell 33 pts.
4. Michael Schumacher 30 pts.
5. Alessandro Zanardi 11 pts.
6. Eric van de Poele 4 pts.
7. Karl Wendlinger 1 pt.

1992

A battle between Emerson's nephew, the greatest driver that Grand Prix racing has ever produced and somehow Paul Belmondo was in the mix as well. In the end though, Fittipaldi won.

Final standings:

1. Christian Fittipaldi 56 pts.
2. Ukyo Katayama 52 pts.
3. Paul Belmondo 42 pts.
4. Emanuele Naspetti 24 pts.
5. Damon Hill 16 pts.

1993

Barrichello only took the lead at the final round, overhauling what was a 26-point deficit to Andretti after Monza.

Final standings:

1. Rubens Barrichello 64 pts.
2. Michael Andretti 60 pts.
3. Luca Badoer 40 pts.
4. Fabrizio Barbazza 24 pts.
5. Toshio Suzuki 10 pts.
6. Pedro Lamy 7 pts.
7. Eddie Irvine 6 pts.

1994

Panis is 1994's top rookie in a season that saw plenty of new faces throughout the field.

Final standings:

1. Olivier Panis 93 pts.
2. Heinz-Harald Frentzen 62 pts.
3. David Coulthard 46 pts.
4. Jos Verstappen 30 pts.
5. Olivier Beretta 22 pts.
6. Mika Salo 6 pts.
7. Franck Lagorce 4 pts.
8. Roland Ratzenberger 4 pts.
9. Philippe Adams 4 pts.
10. Domenico Schiattarella 4 pts.

[James1978]

Oh dear to McLaren for firing Andretti. You cost him a championship!!

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1995

Boullion was the only rookie with a decent car, so it's no surprise that he gets this.

Final standings:

1. Jean-Christophe Boullion 70 pts.
2. Pedro Diniz 50 pts.
3. Andrea Montermini 22 pts.
4. Massimiliano Papis 16 pts.
5. Jan Magnussen 10 pts.

1996

No surprises here.

Final standings:

1. Jacques Villeneuve 130 pts.
2. Ricardo Rosset 52 pts.
3. Giancarlo Fisichella 16 pts.

1997

With a more reliable car Ralf Schumacher could easily have won this but instead it was Jarno Trulli.

Final standings:

1. Jarno Trulli 76 pts.
2. Ralf Schumacher 62 pts.
3. Shinji Nakano 54 pts.
4. Norberto Fontana 12 pts.
5. Alexander Wurz 10 pts.

1998

This entire season was just between Tuero and Takagi, the only two rookies in the field. Tora gave Tyrrell their last hurrah by dominating the season.

Final standings:

1. Toranosuke Takagi 80 pts.
2. Esteban Tuero 28 pts.

[James1978]

Epic failure for Ralf and Nakano in '97 - Trulli didn't even complete the season!

[Ducktanian]

Huzzah for Tora Takagi
But shame that Villeneuve exists otherwise Rosset wouldve taken '96!

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1999

This season was set to be a repeat of the Minardi-Tyrrell showdown of 1998, with BAR taking the place of Tyrrell, and Arrows were thrown in for good measure. This time however, it was Minardi who won out in the end with Marc Gené. The combination of Zonta's injury and an unreliable car forfeited the title for BAR, with similar problems minus the injury costing de la Rosa.

Final standings:

1. Marc Gené 94 pts.
2. Ricardo Zonta 42 pts.
3. Pedro de la Rosa 38 pts.

2000

Mazzacane surprisingly led for much of the first half of the season until Button was no longer being let down by the reliability of the Williams.

Final standings:

1. Jenson Button 100 pts.
2. Gastón Mazzacane 84 pts.
3. Nick Heidfeld 46 pts.
4. Luciano Burti 6 pts.

2001

The Iceman defied pre-season expectations and won the 2001 rookie championship. Although I am mystified by the fact that Bernoldi beat Montoya...

Final standings:

1. Kimi Räikkönen 80 pts.
2. Enrique Bernoldi 58 pts.
3. Juan Pablo Montoya 56 pts.
4. Fernando Alonso 48 pts.
5. Tomáš Enge 10 pts.
6. Alex Yoong 3 pts.

2002

A late-season charge from Sato saw him move from 4th to 2nd, but he couldn't beat Felipe.

Final standings:

1. Felipe Massa 80 pts.
2. Takuma Sato 71 pts.
3. Mark Webber 65 pts.
4. Allan McNish 54 pts.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

2003

Jungle Boy was robbed of a realistic shot at the title when Jaguar dropped him, handing it to da Matta. HWNSNBM won the only race he finished.

Final standings:

1. Cristiano da Matta 120 pts.
2. Ralph Firman 59 pts.
3. Antônio Pizzonia 58 pts.
4. Justin Wilson 47 pts.
5. Nicolas Kiesa 35 pts.
6. HWNSNBM 10 pts.

2004

Klien won easily, being the only rookie not driving for a backmarker.

Final standings:

1. Christian Klien 138 pts.
2. Gianmaria Bruni 58 pts.
3. Giorgio Pantano 48 pts.
4. Timo Glock 36 pts.

2005

It was a Minardi-versus-Jordan battle and Jordan dominated with Monteiro scoring 160 out of a possible 190 points.

Final standings:

1. Tiago Monteiro 160 pts.
2. Narain Karthikeyan 106 pts.
3. Christijan Albers 89 pts.
4. Robert Doornbos 44 pts.
5. Patrick Friesacher 29 pts.
6. Vitantonio Liuzzi 20 pts.

2006

This one was a surprise as future title contender Nico Rosberg was beaten by the man with the most ironic name in the field.

Final standings:

1. Scott Speed 119 pts.
2, Nico Rosberg 86 pts.
3. Robert Kubica 48 pts.
4. Franck Montagny 22 pts.
5. Sakon Yamamoto 17 pts.
6. Yuji Ide 8 pts.

[James1978]

Scott Speed beating Nico Rosberg is LEGENDARY.

[good_Ralf]

Scott Speed beating Nico Rosberg is LEGENDARY.

It definitely have been a role reversal if the Williams had better reliability.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

2007

No surprises.

Final standings:

1. Lewis Hamilton 158 pts.
2. Heikki Kovalainen 130 pts.
3. Adrian Sutil 56 pts.
4. Sebastian Vettel 34 pts.
5. Kazuki Nakajima 8 pts.

2008

Only two rookies this year and it's the former Champ Car champion that's ahead.

Final standings:

1. Sébastien Bourdais 126 pts.
2. Nelsinho Piquet 90 pts.

2009

Buemi won pretty much by default, having a 65 point lead by the time Alguersuari made his début.

Final standings:

1. Sébastien Buemi 111 pts.
2. Romain Grosjean 40 pts.
3. Jaime Alguersuari 23 pts.
4. Kamui Kobayashi 18 pts.

2010

The Hulk takes it after a season-long battle with Petrov in the faster Renault.

Final standings:

1. Nico Hülkenberg 326 pts.
2. Vitaly Petrov 315 pts.
3. Lucas di Grassi 150 pts.
4. Bruno Senna 139 pts.
5. Karun Chandhok 127 pts.

[Bleu]

How did Buemi have half-points?

Btw, looking closer on Bernoldi situation: He took very good advantage of double retirements for Kimi and JPM, and actually won five races!

[Bobby Doorknobs]

How did Buemi have half-points?

Btw, looking closer on Bernoldi situation: He took very good advantage of double retirements for Kimi and JPM, and actually won five races!

Oh dear. I gave him 4.5 instead of 5 points for Malaysia! I must have been thinking of previous half-point races when I calculated that one!

[James1978]

Pleased that the deliberate crasher didn't win 2008.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

And now we catch up with the present.

2011

Glass of Milk wins this one by quite a margin.

Final standings:

1. Paul di Resta 381 pts.
2. Sergio Pérez 263 pts.
3. Jérôme d'Ambrosio 227 pts.
4. Pastor Maldonado 214 pts.
5. Daniel Ricciardo 91 pts.

2012

A battle between two Frenchmen but it was clear that JEV was going to win.

Final standings:

1. Jean-Éric Vergne 400 pts.
2. Charles Pic 298 pts.

2013

Bottas looked certain to take the title until Sauber's improving form in the second half of the season gave Gutiérrez a chance. Valtteri's collision with Hamilton in Brazil handed the title to the Mexican. Also, Talent beat Bianchi!

Final standings:

1. Esteban Gutiérrez 365 pts.
2. Valtteri Bottas 355 pts.
3. Max Chilton 234 pts.
4. Jules Bianchi 232 pts.
5. Giedo van der Garde 208 pts.

2014 (as of Russian Grand Prix)

Magnussen has already wrapped up this year's title by winning in Sochi and with Ericsson out for at least the next two races Kvyat has effectively secured the runner-up spot.

Current standings:

1. Kevin Magnussen 344 pts.
2. Daniil Kvyat 244 pts.
3. Marcus Ericsson 174 pts.

[Miguel98]

Gutierrez won something?

[James1978]

I love the way people like Gutierrez, Buemi, Bourdais, Klien, Speed, Da Matta, Monteiro, Gene, Takagi, Boullion etc are all champions but Schumacher and Vettel totally miss out due to starting midway through their debut seasons.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

2014 (as of United States Grand Prix):

1. Kevin Magnussen 369 pts.
2. Daniil Kvyat 262 pts.
3. Marcus Ericsson 174 pts.

[Nessafox]

2014 (as of United States Grand Prix):

1. Kevin Magnussen 369 pts.
2. Daniil Kvyat 262 pts.
3. Marcus Ericsson 174 pts.

In our hearts, Lotterer is rookie of the year.

[Frogfoot9013]

2014 (as of United States Grand Prix):

1. Kevin Magnussen 369 pts.
2. Daniil Kvyat 262 pts.
3. Marcus Ericsson 174 pts.

In our hearts, Lotterer is rookie of the decade.

Fixed.

[FullMetalJack]

2014 (as of United States Grand Prix):

1. Kevin Magnussen 369 pts.
2. Daniil Kvyat 262 pts.
3. Marcus Ericsson 174 pts.

In our hearts, Lotterer is the greatest rookie/driver of all time

Fixed.

A proper fix.

[Salamander]

2014 (as of United States Grand Prix):

1. Kevin Magnussen 369 pts.
2. Daniil Kvyat 262 pts.
3. Marcus Ericsson 174 pts.

In our hearts, Lotterer is god

Fixed.

A proper fix.

Now it's fixed.