Highest Position Championship - Fangio & Senna Cup

[Zenarcher]

2008 Season - Points Used 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1

The late 2000s throws up another close championship this time between Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen. We saw Hamilton lead the championship for most of the season and he went on to claim his second driver's title he finished 12 points ahead of Massa and Raikkonen was only 1 point behind Massa. What's amazing about this season is that 18 of the 22 drivers managed a podium and 15 managed a race win as well.

Today's driver highlights go to Ralf Schumacher,

Races 180
Wins 20
Podiums 74
Pole positions 6
Fastest laps 8
Championships 0

And David Coulthard,

Races 246
Wins 65
Podiums 134
Pole positions 12
Fastest laps 18
Championships 0

Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton - Points 158 - Wins 12
2. Felipe Massa - Points 146 - Wins 11
3. Kimi Räikkönen - Points 145 - Wins 7
4. Heikki Kovalainen - Points 133 - Wins 7
5. Robert Kubica - Points 130 - Wins 6
6. Fernando Alonso - Points 109 - Wins 3
7. Nick Heidfeld - Points 108 - Wins 5
8. Jarno Trulli - Points 96 - Wins 4
9. Mark Webber - Points 76
10. Timo Glock - Points 65 - Wins 1



Constructors

It was also a close fight for the title between the teams with McLaren and Ferrari scoring the same number of points. This year's championship was awarded to McLaren for having just one more race win than Ferrari.

[Zenarcher]

2009 Season - Points Used 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1

Jenson Button started the season off on a strong note winning 7 of the first races in a row but as the season progressed into the second half he saw his championship hopes disappear and his non-point finish in Belgium didn't help so Sebastian Vettel just managed to grab the championship in the end with 7 points more than Button. Further down the field, Barrichello did a pretty good job to finish just 2 points behind Button and Rosberg had a very strong season scoring 108 points compared to his teammate Nakajima who managed just 32. Also, it's worth mentioning that only half points were awarded in Malaysia just like the real event.

Today's driver highlight goes to Giancarlo Fisichella,

Races 229
Wins 16
Podiums 50
Pole positions 4
Fastest laps 2
Championships 0

Top 10

1. Sebastian Vettel - Points 132.5 - Wins 8
2. Jenson Button - Points 125 - Wins 7
3. Rubens Barrichello - Points 123 - Wins 6
4. Nico Rosberg - Points 108 - Wins 2
5. Mark Webber - Points 102 - Wins 5
6. Kimi Räikkönen - Points 98 - Wins 4
7. Lewis Hamilton - Points 86 - Wins 5
8. Jarno Trulli - Points 74 - Wins 2
9. Fernando Alonso - Points 70.5 - Wins 2
10. Heikki Kovalainen - Points 64 - Wins 2



Constructors

Despite both of the Brawn drivers missing out on the driver's championship, Brawn managed to secure the constructor's title.

[Rob Dylan]

How did Vettel win in Turkey? Wasn't he leading for less than half a lap?

[Zenarcher]

How did Vettel win in Turkey? Wasn't he leading for less than half a lap?

It also counts for where they started in the race so since Vettel started on pole his highest position in the race was first that is how every driver in the championship cannot retire from a race even if they failed to complete the first lap wherever they started will count as their result instead. But drivers must still at least start the race for it to be allowed and drivers can also still be disqualified. Someone asked this a while ago too so when I'm finished with this championship I'm also going to quickly work out how things would look if you make them complete the first lap before it counts.

2010 Season - Points Used 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

Sebastian Vettel secured his second title ahead of his teammate Mark Webber who finished in second. Vettel managed to lead the entire championship from start to finish but sometimes Webber came close to leading the championship. One notable teammate battle further down the field worth mentioning was Robert Kubica who managed to score 156 more points than his teammate Vitaly Petrov. Also, Hulkenberg manages two podiums here one being a race win!

Top 10

1. Sebastian Vettel - Points 424 - Wins 13
2. Mark Webber - Points 388 - Wins 11
3. Fernando Alonso - Points 327 - Wins 7
4. Lewis Hamilton - Points 320 - Wins 3
5. Jenson Button - Points 308 - Wins 7
6. Robert Kubica - Points 230
7. Nico Rosberg - Points 219 - Wins 1
8. Felipe Massa - Points 210 - Wins 2
9. Michael Schumacher - Points 163
10. Rubens Barrichello - Points 131



Constructors

Red Bull-Renault managed their first championship win and seemed to be comfortably ahead of second-place having a 184 point lead over McLaren.

[Zenarcher]

2011 Season - Points Used 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

No real surprise to see Vettel completely dominate this year, he won all but one race and now has three championships to his name. Alonso came second 90 points behind and then Button third.

We have two driver highlights for today first up Nick Heidfeld,

Races 185
Wins 8
Podiums 44
Pole positions 1
Fastest laps 3
Championships 0

Next Rubens Barrichello,

Races 326
Wins 53
Podiums 123
Pole positions 14
Fastest laps 17
Championships 0

Top 10

1. Sebastian Vettel - Points 465 - Wins 18
2. Fernando Alonso - Points 383 - Wins 10
3. Jenson Button - Points 365 - Wins 7
4. Lewis Hamilton - Points 351 - Wins 8
5. Mark Webber - Points 340 - Wins 5
6. Felipe Massa - Points 319 - Wins 5
7. Nico Rosberg - Points 215 - Wins 2
8. Michael Schumacher - Points 176 - Wins 1
9. Vitaly Petrov - Points 149
10. Adrian Sutil - Points 116



Constructors

Red Bull-Renault secured their second championship although surprisingly not as dominant compared to 2010 as McLaren and Ferrari managed to close the point gap slightly.

[Zenarcher]

2012 Season - Points Used 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

It was one of the closest F1 seasons ever with 7 different winners in the first 7 races so how did it pan out in the highest position championship? How about 12 different winners in the first 7 races!

Since this year was going to be close I kept track of how the top 5 changed over time,

After the first 5 races the championship looked like this I've also included on the right side the real-life points for comparison,

1. Sebastian Vettel 98 - 61
2. Lewis Hamilton 95 - 53
3. Kimi Räikkönen 89 - 49
4. Fernando Alonso 87 - 61
5. Sergio Pérez 82 - 18

Vettel leads with Hamilton just behind also Perez has had an amazing start winning in both Malaysia and China.

After 10 races,

1. Sebastian Vettel 213 - 110
2. Fernando Alonso 212 - 154
3. Lewis Hamilton 187 - 92
4. Kimi Räikkönen 152 - 98
5. Mark Webber 147 - 120

Vettel still continues to lead while Alonso has moved up to second. Perez is no longer in the top 5 as Webber moves up.

After 15 races,

1. Sebastian Vettel 311 - 190
2. Lewis Hamilton 283 - 152
3. Fernando Alonso 278 - 194
4. Kimi Räikkönen 223 - 157
5. Jenson Button 214 - 131

Hamilton moves up to second while Alonso falls down to third. Button now just makes it into the top 5.

How the championship standings look before the final race at Brazil,

1. Sebastian Vettel 404 - 273
2. Lewis Hamilton 366 - 190
3. Fernando Alonso 347 - 260
4. Mark Webber 293 - 167
5. Kimi Räikkönen 286 - 206

We wouldn't have any dramatic last race for the championship as Vettel wraps the championship up the race before in America.

Notes on each driver,

Vettel - Stills wins the championship.
Hamilton - Finishes 2nd instead of 4th.
Alonso - Still didn't win a race after Germany.
Webber - Finishes 4th instead of 6th but only manages 1 more win.
Raikkonen - Won 3 races instead of just 1.
Button - Finished 104 points behind teammate Hamilton.
Massa - Didn't do too bad managed a win and 7 other podiums but still he was 127 points behind teammate Alonso.
Grosjean - Won 3 races the same amount as his teammate Raikkonen.
Perez - Won 3 races and beat both Mercedes drivers in the points.
Rosberg - Wins a race but only managed 3 other podiums.
Schumacher - Never won a race but finished on the podium 7 times which is 4 more than Rosberg.
Maldonado - Spain is still his only win but he did finish on the podium 3 more times.
Kobayashi - Got 6 podiums but no wins.
Hulkenberg - Won a race.
di Resta - Like his teammate, Hulkenberg also won a race but managed to get 1 more podium.
Ricciardo - Toro Rosso driver on the podium at the European race.
Senna - Fails to get a single podium while his teammate Maldonado managed 4 while 1 was a win.
Vergne - Put a Toro Rosso on the podium twice 1 more than his teammate Ricciardo.
Kovalainen - Scores 22 points in a Caterham incredible.
Petrov - Also scores some points in a Caterham.
Glock - Beaten by Pic all season until the last where he scored 6 points.
Pic - Was ahead of Glock in the points all season until the last race.
Karthikeyan and de la Rosa - Both scored 2 points each in an HRT.

Top 10

1. Sebastian Vettel - Points 416 - Wins 11
2. Lewis Hamilton - Points 391 - Wins 10
3. Fernando Alonso - Points 365 - Wins 7
4. Mark Webber - Points 308 - Wins 3
5. Kimi Räikkönen - Points 290 - Wins 3
6. Jenson Button - Points 287 - Wins 5
7. Felipe Massa - Points 238 - Wins 1
8. Romain Grosjean - Points 234 - Wins 3
9. Sergio Pérez - Points 222 - Wins 3
10. Nico Rosberg - Points 182 - Wins1



Constructors

Red Bull win the constructors championship again but McLaren was this time just 46 points behind.

[Rob Dylan]

To me 2011 just shows how dominant Red Bull really were. At the time there were of course arguments of "Who was more dominant / more boring? the early 2000s or the early 2010s?" I was so bored watching 2011 in particular because of that hyper-reliability, that with the exception of when the FiA nerfed Red Bull in that one race in Germany, they could have won every single race basically.

It's funny how these fictional championships can often say a lot about the real championships they differ from.

[Zenarcher]

First of all, I would like to say I'm glad to see GP Rejects back online I have missed this forum and although I only tend to post in this section with my silly championship ideas (yes I have some more championship ideas coming soon) I do love the other content everyone posts here! Good to be back!

2013 Season - Points Used 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

Vettel completely dominated this season winning all but one race and even then he still came second! Vettel has now become a 5-time champion. Further down the grid it was interesting to see only 1 point between Button and his teammate Perez while Hulkenberg scored 100 points more than his teammate Gutiérrez and Ricciardo managed 2 podiums with Toro Rosso which seems to have impressed Red Bull since he's going there for 2014.

Top 10

1. Sebastian Vettel - Points 468 - Wins 18
2. Lewis Hamilton - Points 359 - Wins 7
3. Mark Webber - Points 347 - Wins 6
4. Nico Rosberg - Points 336 - Wins 6
5. Fernando Alonso - Points 328 - Wins 4
6. Romain Grosjean - Points 312 - Wins 4
7. Kimi Räikkönen - Points 265 - Wins 4
8. Felipe Massa - Points 244 - Wins 3
9. Jenson Button - Points 187 - Wins 2
10. Sergio Pérez - Points 186



Constructors

Red Bull-Renault won their fourth championship. Also, Lotus-Renault managed to beat Ferrari and took 3rd place by 9 points.

[Rob Dylan]

Sutil goes away for a year, comes back and immediately wins in a Force India. Glorious.

[Zenarcher]

2014 Season - Points Used 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

While Mercedes dominated we did see a close championship fight between Hamilton and Rosberg it was surprising to see Rosberg actually leading the championship after winning 9 races in a row from Spain to Italy however in Singapore he started from the pitlane and failed to score any points after retiring with technical issues this then handed the championship over to Hamilton who would go onto eventually be the overall winner. This is Hamilton's third title his first since 2008.

Further down the grid, Ricciardo managed to beat the 5-time highest position champion, Vettel, by 34 points despite being disqualified on the first race. Alonso finished 88 points ahead of teammate Raikkonen, Hulkenberg beat Perez by 63 points and Bianchi managed 4 point finishes in a Marussia and the best result of his career was 4th which was in Japan which was, unfortunately, his last ever race.

Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton - Points 447 - Wins 15
2. Nico Rosberg - Points 429 - Wins 15
3. Daniel Ricciardo - Points 292 - Wins 4
4. Valtteri Bottas - Points 281 - Wins 2
5. Fernando Alonso - Points 271 - Wins 2
6. Sebastian Vettel - Points 258 - Wins 1
7. Felipe Massa - Points 240 - Wins 3
8. Jenson Button - Points 231 - Wins 1
9. Kimi Räikkönen - Points 193
10. Kevin Magnussen - Points 189



Constructors

Mercedes dominated more than Red Bull in 2013 with both drivers either finishing 1st or 2nd and Rosbergs 17th in Singapore being the only non-point finish for the team.

[Rob Dylan]

If Rosberg had got a 2nd like all the other races in Singapore, he and Hamilton would be absolutely equal on points. Crazy.

[Zenarcher]

If Rosberg had got a 2nd like all the other races in Singapore, he and Hamilton would be absolutely equal on points. Crazy.

I wonder how the championship would be decided then? Since they would then have the same number of wins and second places.

2015 Season - Points Used 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

Hamilton had a similar season as Vettel did back in 2013 by winning all but one race and it was Singapore again causing trouble for Mercedes. Hamilton went onto win his fourth title.

Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton - Points 462 - Wins 18
2. Nico Rosberg - Points 438 - Wins 15
3. Sebastian Vettel - Points 352 - Wins 4
4. Kimi Räikkönen - Points 294 - Wins 4
5. Valtteri Bottas - Points 223 - Wins 1
6. Daniel Ricciardo - Points 185 - Wins 1
7. Felipe Massa - Points 184 - Wins 1
8. Sergio Pérez - Points 161
9. Daniil Kvyat - Points 157
10. Nico Hülkenberg - Points 138



Constructors

Mercedes won again comfortably ahead of Ferrari in second with an incredible 254 points difference between them. Red Bull continue to fall down the order since their championship-winning days in 2013. Marussia was the only team to score no points but they did come close twice when reaching 11th.

[Zenarcher]

2016 Season - Points Used 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

Yet another close championship between the Mercedes drivers Hamilton and Rosberg. However, this time and just like in real life Rosberg managed to just win the championship by 5 points. This year every single driver managed to score points even Manor's Haryanto scored 6!

Top 10

1. Nico Rosberg - Points 483 - Wins 15
2. Lewis Hamilton - Points 478 - Wins 16
3. Daniel Ricciardo - Points 364 - Wins 5
4. Sebastian Vettel - Points 360 - Wins 8
5. Kimi Räikkönen - Points 350 - Wins 4
6. Max Verstappen - Points 345 - Wins 5
7. Sergio Pérez - Points 212
8. Valtteri Bottas - Points 206
9. Felipe Massa - Points 191
10. Nico Hülkenberg - Points 171



Constructors

Mercedes dominated again but Ferrari did show some signs of improvement this year. As for McLaren they didn't do too badly either managing 3 podiums!

[Zenarcher]

2017 Season - Points Used 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

A close call between Vettel and Hamilton which saw Hamilton winning the championship by just 7 points making him now a 5 time highest position champion the same as Vettel.

Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton - Points 436 - Wins 14
2. Sebastian Vettel - Points 429 - Wins 12
3. Valtteri Bottas - Points 398 - Wins 8
4. Kimi Räikkönen - Points 354 - Wins 6
5. Max Verstappen - Points 304 - Wins 4
6. Daniel Ricciardo - Points 287 - Wins 3
7. Sergio Pérez - Points 179
8. Esteban Ocon - Points 165
9. Nico Hülkenberg - Points 137
10. Felipe Massa - Points 136



Constructors

Mercedes won their fourth constructors championship but Ferrari was only 51 points behind.

[Rob Dylan]

Remember that time when Haas scored a podium in their seventh race?