Tony Fernandes Memorial Trophy

[Aislabie]

1951
Ineligible constructors: Alfa Romeo, Talbot Lago, ERA, Ferrari, Maserati, Gordini

Drivers Championship
1/ Reg Parnell - 10 points (1 win, 1 DNS)
2/ Stirling Moss - 10 points (1 win)
3/ Franco Rol - 10 points (1 win)
4/ Paco Godia - 10 points (1 win)
5/ Peter Walker - 6 points (Best: 2nd)
6/ Joe Kelly - 4 points (Best: 3rd)
7/ George Abecassis - 0 points (Best: DNF)
8/ Peter Hirt - 0 points (Best: DNF)
9/ Onofre Marimon - 0 points (Best: DNF)
10/ Ken Richardson - 0 points (Best: DNS)
11/ Juan Jover - 0 points (Best: DNS)
12/ Hans Stuck - 0 points (Best: DNP)

Constructors Championship
1/ BRM - 16 points (1 win)
2/ Milano - 10 points (1 win)
3/ HWM-Alta - 10 points (1 win)
4/ OSCA - 10 points (1 win)
5/ Alta - 4 points (Best: 3rd)
6/ Veritas - 0 points (Best: DNF)

This season, there wasn't much in the way of crossover in terms of which races the manufacturers entered, meaning that there was very rarely any on-track competition between them. This reduced the Championship to a straightforward contest of endurance, and the only manufacturer to have two cars reach the finish line was British Racing Motors.

[Aislabie]

1950
Ineligible constructors: Maserati, ERA, Talbot Lago, Ferrari

Drivers Championship
1/ Giuseppe Farina - 37 points (3 wins)
2/ Juan Manuel Fangio - 30 points (3 wins)
3/ Luigi Fagioli - 30 points (Best: 2nd)
4/ Robert Manzon - 4 points (Best: 3rd)
5/ Geoffrey Crossley - 3 points (Best: 4th)
6/ Joe Kelly - 0 points (Best: NC)
7/ Maurice Trintignant - 0 points (Best: DNF)
8/ Harry Schell - 0 points (Best: DNF)
9/ Felice Bonetto - 0 points (Best: DNS)

Constructors Championship
1/ Alfa Romeo - 97 points (6 wins)
2/ Gordini - 4 points (Best: 3rd)
3/ Alta - 3 points (Best: 4th)
4/ Cooper-JAP - 0 points (Best: DNF)
5/ Milano-Speluzzi - 0 points (Best: DNS)

The very first Championship season, and one that was utterly dominated by Alfa Romeo. The Drivers standings were won by Giuseppe Farina, but he was only able to win races when his team-mate Fangio retired from them. He was also the only Alfa Romeo driver to have been beaten by another constructor - in France, he was beaten not only by Fangio and Fagioli, but also by Robert Manzon's Gordini as he came home in fourth place. Ho-hum, it's still three more points.

[Aislabie]

From then to now

From 1950 to 2016, the Tony Fernandes Memorial Trophy has seen 60 different Drivers Champions, driving for 53 different Constructors Champions.

The most statistically successful constructor of all time in this series is Minardi F1 Team, who won the Constructors Championship on four occasions (1988, 1998, 1999, 2004) out of their thirteen appearances.

Inarguably the greatest driver in the history of the series is Jenson Button. He competed in only three seasons (2002, 2006, 2009) but triumphed in the Drivers Championship on every occasion, each time for a different team. He also won an incredible amount of races: of his 53 career Grands Prix, he claimed no fewer than 32 victories - another record.

The closest equivalent to Button's success in this Championship is Mercedes AMG. They have competed only twice (1954, 2010) in the Tony Fernandes Memorial Trophy, winning both Constructors Championships and 100% of their 23 Grands Prix. Their race winning drivers were Juan Manuel Fangio (6 from 6), Nico Rosberg (13 wins from 17) and Michael Schumacher (4 wins from 17).

In five seasons, the real-life World Champions have been the same as the Tony Fernandes Memorial Trophy champions: 1950, 1954, 1971, 2008 and 2009. Of these, 2008 is unique in the Drivers Championships matching, but the Constructors Championships differing.

[Aislabie]

After five of twenty rounds.
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India, Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso, Haas

Drivers Championship
1/ Nico Hulkenberg - 50 points (5 wins)
2/ Pascal Wehrlein - 16 points (Best: 2nd)
3/ Marcus Ericsson - 14 points (Best: 2nd)
4/ Jolyon Palmer - 13 points (Best: 2nd)
5/ Antonio Giovinazzi - 6 points (Best: 2nd)

Constructors Championship
1/ Renault - 63 points (5 wins)
2/ Sauber Ferrari - 36 points (Best: 2nd)

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Chinese Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Russian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Spanish Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)

[Aislabie]

Hulkenberg is absolutely bossing things this season, but genuinely alarming is that Palmer has fallen behind both regular Saubers, one of which has only been in 60% of the races so far. Pretty unforgivable really.

With his impressive one-stop, Wehrlein became the first driver to finish in second place twice.

[Aislabie]

After seven of twenty rounds.
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India, Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso, Haas

Drivers Championship
1/ Nico Hulkenberg - 60 points (6 wins)
2/ Jolyon Palmer - 29 points (1 win)
3/ Pascal Wehrlein - 19 points (Best: 2nd)
4/ Marcus Ericsson - 18 points (Best: 2nd)
5/ Antonio Giovinazzi - 6 points (Best: 2nd)

Constructors Championship
1/ Renault - 89 points (6 wins)
2/ Sauber Ferrari - 43 points (Best: 2nd)

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Chinese Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Russian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Spanish Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Monaco Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Canadian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)

[Aislabie]

After ten of twenty rounds.
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India, Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso, Haas

Drivers Championship
1/ Nico Hulkenberg - 76 points (7 wins)
2/ Jolyon Palmer - 39 points (2 wins)
3/ Pascal Wehrlein - 37 points (1 win)
4/ Marcus Ericsson - 33 points (Best: 2nd)
5/ Antonio Giovinazzi - 6 points (Best: 2nd)

Constructors Championship
1/ Renault - 115 points (8 wins)
2/ Sauber Ferrari - 76 points (1 win)

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Chinese Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Russian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Spanish Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Monaco Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Canadian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber)
Austrian Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
British Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)

[Aislabie]

After thirteen of twenty rounds.
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India, Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso, Haas

Drivers Championship
1/ Nico Hulkenberg - 99 points (8 wins)
2/ Jolyon Palmer - 55 points (3 wins)
3/ Pascal Wehrlein - 49 points (1 win)
4/ Marcus Ericsson - 45 points (Best: 2nd)
5/ Antonio Giovinazzi - 6 points (Best: 2nd)

Constructors Championship
1/ Renault - 154 points (12 wins)
2/ Sauber Ferrari - 100 points (1 win)

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Chinese Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Russian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Spanish Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Monaco Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Canadian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber)
Austrian Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
British Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Hungarian Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Belgian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Italian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)

[Aislabie]

After eighteen of twenty rounds.
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India, Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso, Haas

Drivers Championship
1/ Nico Hulkenberg - 105 points (9 wins)
2/ Jolyon Palmer - 85 points (6 wins)
3/ Pascal Wehrlein - 74 points (2 wins)
4/ Marcus Ericsson - 54 points (Best: 2nd)
5/ Carlos Sainz - 10 points (1 win)
6/ Antonio Giovinazzi - 6 points (Best: 2nd)

Constructors Championship
1/ Renault - 200 points (17 wins)
2/ Sauber Ferrari - 134 points (2 wins)

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Chinese Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Russian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Spanish Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Monaco Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Canadian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber)
Austrian Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
British Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Hungarian Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Belgian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Italian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Singapore Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Malaysian Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Japanese Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
United States Grand Prix - Carlos Sainz (Renault)
Mexican Grand Prix - Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber)

Conspiracy theories abound as Jolyon Palmer is replaced just as he begins to mount a credible Championship challenge against Hulkenberg.

[Aislabie]

2017
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India, Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso, Haas

Drivers Championship
1/ Nico Hulkenberg - 125 points (11 wins)
2/ Jolyon Palmer - 85 points (6 wins)
3/ Pascal Wehrlein - 83 points (2 wins)
4/ Marcus Ericsson - 62 points (Best: 2nd)
5/ Carlos Sainz - 16 points (1 win)
6/ Antonio Giovinazzi - 6 points (Best: 2nd)

Constructors Championship
1/ Renault - 226 points (18 wins)
2/ Sauber Ferrari - 151 points (2 wins)

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Chinese Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Russian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Spanish Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Monaco Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Canadian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber)
Austrian Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
British Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Hungarian Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Belgian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Italian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Singapore Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Malaysian Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
Japanese Grand Prix - Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
United States Grand Prix - Carlos Sainz (Renault)
Mexican Grand Prix - Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber)
Brazilian Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

- - - - - -

As things currently stand, the only participating team in the 2018 season looks likely to be Alfa Romeo Sauber, with their driver line-up of Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc. The two teams closest to joining them were McLaren-Honda (disqualified by Fernando Alonso's 6th at Hungary) and Haas-Ferrari (previously disqualified by Romain Grosjean's sixth at Austria). Could be a slightly turgid season ahead.

[Aislabie]

2018
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Force India, Williams, Renault, Toro Rosso, Haas, McLaren

Drivers Championship
1/ Charles Leclerc - 111 points (3 wins)
2/ Marcus Ericsson - 86 points (2 wins)

Constructors Championship
1/ Sauber Ferrari - 197 points (5 wins)

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Chinese Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Spanish Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)

Figured it was probably time to update this. If Force India had had their name change, this would have actually been an interesting season. Instead... not so much.

[Ciaran]

The 2019 season should be fun.

[Aislabie]

The 2019 season should be fun.

At the minute, Williams are looking very much like they will qualify

[Rob Dylan]

...If Force India had had their name change, this would have actually been an interesting season. Instead... not so much.

Well, in the end they not only had a name change! Does that make them eligible for 2019 after their DSQ?

[Bobby Doorknobs]

...If Force India had had their name change, this would have actually been an interesting season. Instead... not so much.

Well, in the end they not only had a name change! Does that make them eligible for 2019 after their DSQ?

Taking McLaren's 2008 as an example, Force India would be eligible on account of having all of their points annulled. On the other hand, Force India would be ineligible because of their top six finish in Belgium. This is unfortunately a moot point though: as a result of Force India folding and Force India getting a top six finish, neither Force India nor Force India would be able to compete in 2019.

[Aislabie]

Well, in the end they not only had a name change! Does that make them eligible for 2019 after their DSQ?

It has made them eligible for 2018, from Belgium onwards, as they are a new entry.

Taking McLaren's 2008 as an example, Force India would be eligible on account of having all of their points annulled. On the other hand, Force India would be ineligible because of their top six finish in Belgium. This is unfortunately a moot point though: as a result of Force India folding and Force India getting a top six finish, neither Force India nor Force India would be able to compete in 2019.

While neither Sahara Force India nor Racing Point Force India will be eligible for 2019, it's possible that Racing Point might be

[Aislabie]

2018
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Sahara Force India, Williams, Renault, Toro Rosso, Haas, McLaren

Drivers Championship
1/ Marcus Ericsson - 244 points (5 wins)
2/ Charles Leclerc - 237 points (6 wins)
3/ Esteban Ocon - 43 points (1 win)
=/ Sergio Perez - 43 points (1 win)

Constructors Championship
1/ Sauber Ferrari - 481 points (11 wins)
2/ Racing Point Force India-Mercedes - 86 points (2 wins)

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Chinese Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Spanish Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Monaco Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Canadian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
French Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Austrian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
British Grand Prix - None
German Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Hungarian Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Belgian Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (RPFI)
Italian Grand Prix - Esteban Ocon (RPFI)

This latest update to the Championship follows the mid-season entry of a new team, Racing Point Force India, who have moved straight to the front of the Tony Fernandes Memorial Trophy. While it is impossible for them to win either Championship, their presence does make a huge difference to the eventual winner of the Drivers' classification: with the two Sauber drivers usually fighting only for a three-point gain over one another as opposed to the the seven that is the difference between first and second, Marcus Ericsson's advantage of seven points over his young teammate suddenly looks a lot less slender.

[Aislabie]

2018
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Sahara Force India, Williams, Renault, Toro Rosso, Haas, McLaren

Drivers Championship
1/ Marcus Ericsson - 295 points (5 wins)
2/ Charles Leclerc - 287 points (8 wins)
3/ Sergio Perez - 120 points (3 wins)
4/ Esteban Ocon - 79 points (1 win)

Constructors Championship
1/ Sauber Ferrari - 582 points (13 wins)
2/ Racing Point Force India-Mercedes - 199 points (4 wins)

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Chinese Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Spanish Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Monaco Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Canadian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
French Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Austrian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
British Grand Prix - None
German Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Hungarian Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Belgian Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (RPFI)
Italian Grand Prix - Esteban Ocon (RPFI)
Singapore Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Russian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Japanese Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (RPFI)
United States Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (RPFI)

After back-to-back wins at the Singapore and Russian Grands Prix, it looked like Charles Leclerc had the TFMT Drivers Championship all sewn up. That was before a brace of retirements in the following two rounds though: one at the hands of his own car's reliability, and one at the hands of Romain Grosjean's cavalier approach to driving a Haas Formula One car. Meanwhile, Marcus Ericsson's knack for staying out of trouble and keeping the car in one piece has served him well: he now opens up an eight-point advantage and the Championship battle is wide open going into the Mexican, Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix. Esteban Ocon, meanwhile, will be looking to redress the balance that has seen him fall right back from his teammate in the standings.

[Aislabie]

2018
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Sahara Force India, Williams, Renault, Toro Rosso, Haas, McLaren

Drivers Championship
1/ Charles Leclerc - 362 points (11 wins)
2/ Marcus Ericsson - 313 points (5 wins)
3/ Sergio Perez - 156 points (3 wins)
4/ Esteban Ocon - 109 points (1 win)

Constructors Championship
1/ Sauber Ferrari - 675 points (16 wins)
2/ Racing Point Force India-Mercedes - 265 points (4 wins)

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Chinese Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Spanish Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Monaco Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Canadian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
French Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Austrian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
British Grand Prix - None
German Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Hungarian Grand Prix - Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
Belgian Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (RPFI)
Italian Grand Prix - Esteban Ocon (RPFI)
Singapore Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Russian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Japanese Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (RPFI)
United States Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (RPFI)
Mexican Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Brazilian Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc (Sauber)

After that season-long see-saw battle between Leclerc and Ericsson, it ultimately proved to be a win by some distance for Charles Leclerc who romped home to untouchable victories when it really mattered in the final three rounds of the season. Even if his teammate had not been afflicted by unreliability, there would have been no stopping Leclerc.

Currently, only Williams (George Russell and Robert Kubica) have qualified for the TFMT for next season, although with some uncertainty over the Racing Point name ahead of next season it is still entirely possible that we will see them (Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll) as well. Sauber (Leclerc at Baku) and McLaren (Alonso at Melbourne) were each made ineligible by a single result in the 2018 season.

[Yannick]

2004: Unsurprisingly, the great HWNSNBM takes this cake as well. Thank you for staging a very entertaining championship.

Also, this thread's 1980 is the first thing I've read about Patrick Gaillard. How did that happen? Looks like he has now outscored Geoff Lees as the least memorable F1 driver (of mine).

[Aislabie]

2004: Unsurprisingly, the great HWNSNBM takes this cake as well. Thank you for staging a very entertaining championship.

Also, this thread's 1980 is the first thing I've read about Patrick Gaillard. How did that happen? Looks like he has now outscored Geoff Lees as the least memorable F1 driver (of mine).

This Championship was like a repository for the fabulously forgettable. How many other Alt-Championships have an Eifelland WCC?

[dr-baker]

2004: Unsurprisingly, the great HWNSNBM takes this cake as well. Thank you for staging a very entertaining championship.

Also, this thread's 1980 is the first thing I've read about Patrick Gaillard. How did that happen? Looks like he has now outscored Geoff Lees as the least memorable F1 driver (of mine).

This Championship was like a repository for the fabulously forgettable. How many other Alt-Championships have an Eifelland WCC?

In my car numbers alternative championship, I have George Amick win the 1958 title in an Epperly...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Amick
https://www.gprejects.com/forum/viewtop ... =12&t=3747

[Aislabie]

2004: Unsurprisingly, the great HWNSNBM takes this cake as well. Thank you for staging a very entertaining championship.

Also, this thread's 1980 is the first thing I've read about Patrick Gaillard. How did that happen? Looks like he has now outscored Geoff Lees as the least memorable F1 driver (of mine).

This Championship was like a repository for the fabulously forgettable. How many other Alt-Championships have an Eifelland WCC?

In my car numbers alternative championship, I have George Amick win the 1958 title in an Epperly...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Amick
https://www.gprejects.com/forum/viewtop ... =12&t=3747

An Alt-Championship won by someone who never drove a Formula One car is pretty damn remarkable

[Aislabie]

Some good silly-season news for the 2019 Tony Fernandes Memorial Trophy. Firstly, we will be looking at a return to a slightly larger field, with three teams set to compete for the first time since 2016. The entry list is as follows:

Alfa Romeo Racing (Alfa Romeo-Ferrari)
[ 7 ] Kimi Raikkonen
[99] Antonio Giovinazzi
Qualified due to "Alfa Romeo" not competing as a constructor in 2018.

Racing Point F1 Team (Racing Point-Mercedes)
[11] Sergio Perez
[18] Lance Stroll
Qualified due to "Racing Point" not competing as a constructor in 2018.

Williams Racing (Williams-Mercedes)
[63] George Russell
[88] Robert Kubica
Qualified due to Williams not earning a top-six race result in 2018.

This also means a bevy of potential narratives for the year ahead. Can Alfa Romeo draw level with Honda and Tyrrell with a third constructors' title? Can Kimi Raikkonen win a second Drivers Championship, levelling Alan Jones and Jackie Stewart? If he did so, he would be the oldest Champion since Graham Hill's successful 1974 campaign. Elsewhere, Robert Kubica's return will generate serious hype at the early-season rounds, while the Racing Point cars could be anything from electric to eccentric.

But Raikkonen remains my title favourite.

[Rob Dylan]

This is the one positive outcome of the recent Alfa Romeo news: this was maybe a perfect move to make within this very specific context

[Aislabie]

Practice Report
FP1 Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 1:24.816
FP2 Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 1:23.572
FP3 Fastest Lap: Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) - 1:23.831

While we are taught never to read too much into FP1 performances, it is hard to look past the clear hierarchy that emerged across Free Practice for the Australian Grand Prix. At the top of it was Alfa Romeo: consistently quicker and more stable than the bright pink Racing Point cars. However, twitching and rumbling along several seconds adrift were the toothpaste-blue Williams machines of Robert Kubica and George Russell. Their only realistic hope for this season will be that the others all have chronic unreliability.

Qualifying Report

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 1:22.314 (Q3)
2. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) - + 0.467 (Q3)
3. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) - + 0.460 (Q2)
4. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) - + 0.703 (Q1)
5. George Russell (Williams) - + 2.054 (Q1)
6. Robert Kubica (Williams) - + 3.761 (Q1)

Oh Williams, what a horrid mess your car has become. The front-end of the field is much more interesting though, as the Alfa and Racing Point cars have demonstrated some overlap in the pace that can be extracted from each car. As will be the case through the season, Lance Stroll's skills off the race start could prove to be crucial.

Race Report

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 57 laps
2. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) - + 0.752
3. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) - + 42.080
4. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) + 1:04.153
5. George Russell (Williams) - + 1 lap
6. Robert Kubica (Williams) - + 2 laps
   Fastest Lap: Lance Stroll (Racing Point) - 1'27.568

A solid start from Kimi Raikkonen was enough that most observers will have thought the race win was settled by the end of Turn One. Further down the field, Lance Stroll jumped Giovinazzi and Kubica ran into something at Turn One as the first stint of the Grand Prix settled into a holding pattern. That all changed when the pit stops started, though.

Perez pitted early, trying to force an undercut on Raikkonen who therefore pitted to cover it. As a result, Lance Stroll would lead roughly fifteen laps in the middle of the race and took full advantage of being able to lap in clean air. His second place was made secure as Raikkonen's rear-gunner Giovinazzi turned mobile chicane to obstruct Perez for laps on end.

In the final stint of the race, Lance Stroll's freshly-rubbered Racing Point continued to close on Kimi Raikkonen, spending most of the final twenty laps within two seconds of the Alfa man. It wasn't enough though - Raikkonen stayed in front by a few tenths to take the first TFMT win of the season.

Oh, and Williams also drove the race.

Drivers Championship so far

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 25 points (1 win)
2. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) - 19 points
3. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) - 15 points
4. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) - 12 points
5. George Russell (Williams) - 10 points
6. Robert Kubica (Williams) - 8 points

Constructors Championship so far

1. Alfa Romeo-Ferrari - 37 points (1 win)
2. Racing Point-BWT Mercedes - 34 points
3. Williams-Mercedes - 18 points

[Aislabie]

Practice Report
FP1 Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 1:32.385
FP2 Fastest Lap: Sergio Perez (Racing Point) - 1:30.458
FP3 Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 1:31.333

On the one hand, it looks as if Alfa Romeo put in a fairly dominant performance in Free Practice. They topped both of the daytime practice sessions comfortably in the trusted hands of Kimi Raikkonen after all, which could only be a good sign. However, the fastest lap of the three sessions belonged to Mexico's Sergio Perez, indicating that Racing Point could be in the mix. Not in the mix, of course, was the poor Williams team.

Qualifying Report

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 1:29.022 (Q3)
2. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) - + 0.734 (Q2)
3. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) - + 1.004 (Q1)
4. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) - + 1.195 (Q1)
5. George Russell (Williams) - + 2.737 (Q1)
6. Robert Kubica (Williams) - + 2.777 (Q1)

After all of that speculation, we see the exact same grid for the TFMT Bahrain Grand Prix as we saw in Melbourne. Antonio Giovinazzi will be starting to worry about the margins between himself and stellar teammate Kimi Raikkonen, while Williams will continue to worry about literally every aspect of their car. As for Lance Stroll? It's another fourth place, which he will be wanting to improve upon as soon as possible.

Race Report

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 57 laps
2. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) - + 16.226
3. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) + 17.219
4. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) - + 1 lap
5. George Russell (Williams) - + 1 lap
6. Robert Kubica (Williams) - + 2 laps
   Fastest Lap: Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) - 1:35.237

A second race of the season led to a second win of the season for the already-dominant Kimi Raikkonen, relinquishing the lead only to his teammate during the pitstop phases and never for long. Indeed, he ran a particularly dominant race compared to Giovinazzi, who spent much of the race in a scrap with Sergio Perez. They would swap position one way then t'other in throughout the race, but the decisive move came on Lap 41, when the pink car overtook the red and white and then made itself very wide indeed.

Perhaps this was part of the problem, as Lance Stroll was caught up in an opening-lap incident and had to run the rest of the race as a comeback from last place, horribly out of sync with the rest of the grid. He would climb back to fourth, although as a result of this event and some tactical squabbling, Robert Kubica did briefly run in P3 and could have forgiven for desperately hoping that the race would end on Lap 9 or 10. It did not, and the Williams would prop up the rest of the grid.

Drivers Championship so far

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 50 points (2 wins)
2. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) - 33 points
3. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) - 31 points
4. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) - 28 points
5. George Russell (Williams) - 20 points
6. Robert Kubica (Williams) - 16 points

Constructors Championship so far

1. Alfa Romeo-Ferrari - 78 points (2 wins)
2. Racing Point-BWT Mercedes - 64 points
3. Williams-Mercedes - 36 points

[Aislabie]

2019
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault, Toro Rosso, Haas, McLaren

Drivers Championship

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 221 points (6 wins)
2. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) - 188 points (3 wins)
3. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) - 177 points (2 wins)
4. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) - 134 points
5. George Russell (Williams) - 128 points
6. Robert Kubica (Williams) - 108 points

Constructors Championship

1. Racing Point-BWT Mercedes - 365 points (5 wins)
2. Alfa Romeo-Ferrari - 355 points (6 wins)
3. Williams-Mercedes - 236 points

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Chinese Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Spanish Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Monaco Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Canadian Grand Prix - Lance Stroll (Racing Point)
French Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Austrian Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
British Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
German Grand Prix - Lance Stroll (Racing Point)

Okay so the race-by-race updates were definitely too much effort, but the Tony Fernandes Memorial Trophy is back!

I realised as I was putting this together that for the 2018 season and this one I rather abandoned the founding principle of this Championship which was the 10-6-4-3-2-1 points system. I was still using top-six finishes as the arbiter for a team's qualification or disqualification from the TFMT, but had entirely accidentally abandoned it as the means of deciding the Championship. Given that it took eighteen months for anyone to notice, and that this year's Championship is looking to be really rather thrilling with the usual system, I think I'll keep it for the time being unless anyone objects.

So, what's been going on since I last updated F1's least prestigious classification? Well, Kimi Raikkonen has opened up an unsurprising advantage at the top of the table. Given that he is almost undoubtedly the best driver in the field, this isn't that surprising. More interesting is the battle for the Constructors Championship, which is fiercely tight between the more evenly-matched Racing Point pair, and the relative one-car team of Alfa Romeo. At the German Grand Prix the lead in that classification changed hands, owing almost singularly to the imposition of a penalty on the Alfa Romeo cars for having launch control at the start which robbed them of eleven points. Without that penalty, they would be on 366 points to Racing Point's 365, but no matter as that battle is only going to get more interesting as the season progresses.

The inclusion of the Fastest Lap point has had ramifications already: Antonio Giovinazzi owes almost his entire advantage over George Russell to his five fastest laps; more than any other driver (next is Lance Stroll with four).

Finally, a lot of teams have already disqualified themselves from the 2020 Championship. Barring any name-changes, the constructors with sixth-or-better finishes in the 2019 season so far are: Mercedes (Bottas, P1 ), Red Bull (Verstappen, P3 ), Ferrari (Vettel, P4 ), Haas (Magnussen, P6 ), McLaren (Norris, P6 ), Racing Point (Perez, P6 ), Renault (Ricciardo, P6 ) and Toro Rosso (Kvyat, P3 )

[Aislabie]

2019
Ineligible constructors: Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault, Toro Rosso, Haas, McLaren

Drivers Championship

1. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) - 144 points (10 wins, 5 2nd, 3 3rd)
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) - 124 points (8 wins, 3 2nd, 3 3rd)
3. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) - 98 points (2 wins, 8 2nd, 5 3rd)
4. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) - 75 points (1 win, 3 2nd, 4 3rd)
5. George Russell (Williams) - 54 points (1 2nd, 4 3rd)
6. Robert Kubica (Williams) - 36 points (1 2nd, 1 3rd)

Constructors Championship

1. Racing Point-BWT Mercedes - 242 points (12 wins)
2. Alfa Romeo-Ferrari - 199 points (9 wins)
3. Williams-Mercedes - 90 points

Race Winners
Australian Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Bahrain Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Chinese Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Spanish Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Monaco Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Canadian Grand Prix - Lance Stroll (Racing Point)
French Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Austrian Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
British Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
German Grand Prix - Lance Stroll (Racing Point)
Hungarian Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Belgian Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Italian Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Singapore Grand Prix - Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
Russian Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Japanese Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Mexican Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
United States Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
Brazilian Grand Prix - Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Sergio Perez (Racing Point)

It sounds like a cliché, but the 2019 season was a year of two halves. In the first half, the Championship was dominated by the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen, although his teammate Giovinazzi allowed the Racing Points to relatively well keep pace in the Constructors standings.

In the second half, however, the Racing Point team really unleashed the potential of its car, particularly in the hands of Mexico's Sergio Perez, who ultimately finished only one race off the podium all season and won seven of the last nine Grands Prix leaving Kimi Raikkonen powerless to counter him. Ultimately, he sealed the title at the United States Grand Prix, one race after the Constructors championship had been sealed.

Barring a change in team names (which appears not to be immediately on the horizon - but watch this space for 2021), neither Racing Point nor Alfa Romeo will be present for the 2020 Tony Fernandes Memorial Trophy.

Instead, it will be contested between only two teams: the returning Williams-Mercedes outfit, with their driver pairing of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi, and the renamed Alpha Tauri-Honda with their more experienced drivers Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat, both of whom picked up podiums for the team last year while it was still called Toro Rosso.