NewsOnF1 - The Real Race - Round 2

Who are the Alpha Males in the pack? M Schumacher (despite Melbourne), that's a given. Analysis of the comparative gaps in qualifying over the first two rounds shows an interesting situation. Those players that, at first thought, are the team leaders haven't delivered the goods. Fisichella has convincingly out qualified Sato. Salo has beaten McNish. No other lead driver has asserted any real dominance over his team mate. Trulli, a brilliant qualifier, holds an average advantage of just 100th of a second over Button. Only three drivers achieved an average advantage over their second driver of more than 0.4 seconds. Fisichella (even discounting Sato's Melbourne time) and Salo have asserted themselves. Coulthard has been given the wake-up call by the junior burger Flying Finn (mark II), he better answer it pretty quickly if he doesn't want to become the near-rookies number two.

Discounting the Sato Melbourne result the greatest differential between drivers comes not at the front or middle of the pack, but at the tail end. The most significant qualifying performer this year has been Mark Webber! Where both drivers have qualified within the 107% range only Webber has averaged more than 1 second advantage over his team mate. Given the hype of the Frentzen's and Heidfeld's etc, both quality drivers not withstanding, it is a little surprising that they have been unable to convincingly outpace their less experienced partners.

And the Also Ran award goes to: Eddie Irvine

Your a legend in your own mind, you are the PR king of the circus, damn shame your cars so slow. Its also a shame that your opponent just shuts up and gets the job done with what he has. Ahh well, what's 0.85 seconds between team mates.

Introducing Eddie Irvine, Malaysian GP 'Also Ran' winner.

The Malaysian GP Qualifying Heroes

1. Mika Salo, 2. Nick Heidfeld, 3. Pedro de la Rosa

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The Real Race - Drivers Standings - Round 2

Grid	Driver	Car	Team	Wins	Losses	Best	QualiPoints
1	M. Schumacher	1	Ferrari (B)	1	1	1	16
2	JP. Montoya	6	BMW WilliamsF1 (M)	1	1	2	7
3	R. Barrichello	2	Ferrari (B)	1	1	1	14
4	R. Schumacher	5	BMW WilliamsF1 (M)	1	1	3	7
5	K. Raikkonen	4	McLaren Mercedes (M)	1	1	5	4
6	D. Coulthard	3	McLaren Mercedes (M)	1	1	4	4
7	N. Heidfeld	7	Sauber Petronas (B)	1	1	7
8	J. Button	15	Renault (M)	1	1	8
9	G. Fisichella	9	Jordan Honda (B)	2	0	8
10	M. Salo	24	Toyota (M)	2	0	10
11	H. Frentzen	20	Arrows Cosworth (B)	2	0	11
12	J. Trulli	14	Renault (M)	1	1	7
13	J. Villeneuve	11	BAR Honda (B)	1	1	13
14	F. Massa	8	Sauber Petronas (B)	1	1	9
15	T. Sato	10	Jordan Honda (B)	0	2	15
16	E. Bernoldi	21	Arrows Cosworth (B)	0	2	16
17	P. de la Rosa	17	Jaguar Cosworth (M)	1	1	17
18	O. Panis	12	BAR Honda (B)	1	1	12
19	A. McNish	25	Toyota (M)	0	2	16
20	E. Irvine	16	Jaguar Cosworth (M)	1	1	19
21	M. Webber	23	Minardi Asiatech (M)	2	0	18
22	A. Yoong	22	Minardi Asiatech (M)	0	2	21

QualiPoints are awarded in the same way points are awarded to the top 6 drivers in a race. (i.e. 10, 6, 4, 3, 2,1)

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The Real Race Round 2 - Malaysia

The Real Race - Drivers Standings - Round 2

The Real Race
Round 2 - Malaysia