1997

Believe it or not, Michael Schumacher actually would have gone to the final round in Jerez with a seven point lead meaning he never would have needed to crash into Jacques after the Canadian and past him. Michael instead would have let him go and took it easy to the checkered flag. The reason for this is because Villeneuve (the actual winner), would never have won two of his seven wins he achieved in 97. Mika Häkkinen and Damon Hill were both running well for wins (Spanish & Hungarian GP’s) until their cars cut out and when they failed, Villeneuve was their to pick up all ten points. If Mika and Damon didn’t have their reliability problems, Villeneuve wouldn’t have won these two races and probably wouldn’t have won the title

(Actual champion: Villeneuve)  -  (Should have: Schumacher)

1998 and 1999

In both these years it was Mika who won fairly, even having a few reliability problems along the way. Getting rid of everyone’s issues in these years and Mika still would have won the title (more comfortably as well). During these two seasons Mika drover for McLaren and managed to hold of two big Ferrari names of Michael Schumacher (in 1998) and then Eddie Ervine (in 1999). At the time, it seemed as if Michael would have gone on to take the title in 1999, however a huge crash in the British Grand Prix, left him with a broken foot and was forced to miss six races.

(Actual Winners: Häkkinen)  - ( Should haves: Häkkinen)

2000 

The 2000 F1 season finished with Schumacher finally getting the title with Ferrari, whilst the two McLaren’s were left to settle with second and third. The top four ended the season with an average of three retirements with the most going to the actual winner, so I think we can safely say that the German deserved this title.(Actual Winner: Schumacher)  -  (Should have – Schumacher)

2001

This is the year many remember as the year were Scotland’s David Coulthard should have been crowned world champion. He led so many races, only for his McLaren MP4-16 to keep failing on him. If we look at the final standings, Schumacher won by a very comfortable 58 points, but this in an unfair reflection on what actually happened that year. Coulthard was leading four races before his McLaren failed on him (which was 40pts gone, plus the 5pts Schumi gained thanks to David retiring), he also had races were it looked as if he would get on the podium, but finished the race either out of the points or down in fifth and sixth. Without all these failures for DC, he would have won the championship by a single point.

(Actual Winner: Schumacher)  -  (Should have – Coulthard)

2002

Now this is an easy one. Schumacher took his fifth title and his third consecutive with Ferrari. The German finished 67 points ahead of his team mate in second place. So because of this, it’s funny to think Ferrari asked their second driver to let Schumacher past once because they were worried their number one could miss out on the title. Eight points were gained for Schumi over his team mate out of all of this, but even if the lead had been eight points less, Michael still would have won it comfortably. The reason Michael was so far ahead was because he was just clearly the fastest driver, in the fastest car. He picked up eleven wins in this year out of a possible seventeen. The unluckiest guy this season for reliability problems was Kimi Raikkonen who retired ten times over the course of the season with eight of them coming from reliability problems. The fin finished down in sixth in the final standings.

(Actual Winner: Schumacher)  -  (Should have – Schumacher)

2003

While Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher had won the 2002 championship by 67 points from his team-mate Rubens Barrichello, the 2003 season was much closer with eight different drivers winning at some point during 2003′s 16 race calendar. There is no doubt who would have been champion in 2003, and in only his third season it would have been McLarens Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn led the championship from rounds two to seven, but Michael Schumacher soon got past him after he managed to get the best from his Ferrari. Kimi stayed close to Schumacher though throughout the season and the battle went down to the last race, Schumacher went on the clinch the title by just two points. The only reliability issues between the top three this season had ended in retirement, nothing went wrong on Michael’s car in 2003 whilst Montoya (third place driver) had two retirement issues. It was the European Grand Prix and Raikkonen was dominating, holding a huge lead after just lap ten, but then his Mercedes engine went bang on him and he was forced to retire, without this and Kimi would have been world champion.

(Actual Winner: Schumacher)  -  (Should have – Raikkonen)

2004

Once again Reliability issue’s hit Kimi, who suffered a horrible year taking just one win thanks to his failing Mercedes engines. Meanwhile, Michael was going on to win nearly every race he went to and ended the championship as winner with a huge 34 point lead over his team mate. The Ferrari was the fastest car yet again as Michael took his seventh world title.

(Actual Winner: Schumacher)  -  (Should have – Schumacher)

2005

Everything changed in 2005, with Schumacher now battling for fifth places and not the wins he was so used to in previous years. A young Spaniard with the name of Fernando Alonso stepped up this season to take the championship off the German. However once again it was Raikkonen, who really should have won it. He led two races only for his engine to go burst and for his tire to fail on him on the last lap of a race. Raikkonen was also leading the German GP later on in the year, and same story… Kimi retired thanks to his horrific McLaren. Getting rid off these gremlins and Kimi would have taken his second title; instead after 2005 he was still looking for this prize.

(Actual Winner: Alonso)  -  (Should have – Raikkonen)

2006

Schumacher was back and it was a battle between Fernando and Michael. Seeing as both drivers had their fair share of bad luck, it’s only fair Alonso ended up with the title.

(Actual Winner: Alonso)  -  (Should have – Alonso)

2007

What a year! The top three (Raikkonen, Hamilton & Alonso) ended the season separated by just a single point. It was Kimi who came out on top and derservingly. Three times during the season he suffered real bad luck, whilst McLaren had no problems at all. Kimi was the champion and he should have got it anyway. It was only fair Kimi won 2007 after the poor luck of 2003 and 2005.

(Actual Winner: Raikkonen)  -  (Should have – Raikkonen)

2008

It was the year it all came down to the last corner on the last lap in the last race of the season. Lewis Hamilton was taking on Felipe Massa for the title and whilst Massa was up in first doing his job, Hamilton was down in sixth and it looked as if the title would go away from him again. However a struggling Glock went very slow on the last lap, and Hamilton caught him up and got passed him. Hamilton got the title, but did he deserve it? Answer is No. Massa had poor luck picking up nothing in the first two races whilst an engine failure at the Hungarian Grand Prix with three laps to go whilst leading, which has gone on to loose him the title.

(Actual Winner: Hamilton)  -  (Should have – Massa)

2009

Vettel had a few problems, but he still wouldn’t have caught Button. Jenson was supreme and two words… “No change”.

(Actual Winner: Button)  -  (Should have – Button)

 —

One more thing. If Vettel goes on to loose the title this year by only a few points we’ll be blaming the cars reliability at the start of this season!

Renault may loose Kubica next year to Ferrari, who is currently at the French team on a one year deal (meaning he could go somewhere else next season). If Robert did decide to join Ferrari, Renault would then be looking for another big name. Felipe Massa would be out of contract so the Brazilian would probably go to Renault, whilst Petrov; who has brought money and a new sponsor to the team is likely to stay at Renault in 2011 as well.

This just leaves the door open at Red Bull. After the first two rounds this season, Webber hadn’t picked up very good results and rumors started to rise that he would retire or be forced out by the team, leaving a place available for Kimi Raikkonen. Three races later and then people started to suggest Webber could possibly in the running for a Ferrari drive. A move to Ferrari from Mark seems unlikely as Webber knows Red Bull have a fast car and that he can beat his team mate. Money seems to be the only thing that could tempt the Australian to the Italian giants.

So it now seems that Mark will be staying at Red Bull next season (The team have said they would love to keep Mark). Mark’s manager (Flavio) was seen with Red Bull team boss Horner at the Monaco Grand Prix, however Red Bull went on to deny any contract talks had began. All of this means Kimi Raikkonen would probably stay in WRC (if the Citroen Junior team didn’t decide to suddenly the drop the Finn) for at least another season. (Or until Mark or Seb would leave the team).

These last two results from Mark may have just gone and kept Kimi out of F1 for 2011.

• So lets look at some stats…

After this year’s Monaco GP, Michael Schumacher has now started 255 grand prix’s and he’s managed to achieve a very strong 76 fastest laps (1 fastest lap every 3.5 races). Meanwhile second place Alain Prost has set 41 fastest laps in the 199 races he has started in (1 fastest lap in 4.9 races). Kimi Raikkonen has been racing in the sport for nine years and has started 156 races, setting 35 fastest laps (1 fastest lap in 4.5 races).

If we go by these, Juan Manuel Fangio is technically the fastest driver ever with Jim Clark, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Alain Prost closely behind. Many do believe that these five are actually the fastest five guys ever in the sport. Missing from this short list of five is the names of Alonso, Senna, Vettel & Hamilton. These four are clearly drivers who can shine in the races and make it look as if they’re they real business, but they aren’t very good at setting the fastest lap in a race. Senna to millions of people is the best driver ever, however for some reason he couldn’t quite set the fastest lap out of all the other drivers in the race. The reason Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel may not have many fast laps as because firstly Alonso and Vettel did start their careers in lower teams (but then again it’s the same for the likes of Schumi, Raikkonen, and the other big guys – Hamilton doesn’t have that excuse though as he started his career in a very fast car that really should have won both championships) and secondly these three drivers raced at the same time as Kimi Raikkonen (who was setting all the fastest laps – clearly the fastest guy at the time). Now that Kimi has left F1 for WRC, Hamilton has gone on to set 2 more fastest laps, taking his total up to five. Webber and Vettel are now also setting the laps needed.

We know all of you will have your own opinion, but in ours we believe the top five fastest f1 drivers ever are as followed…

5 Ayrton Senna

4 Alain Prost

3 Kimi Raikkonen

2 Juan Manuel Fangio

1 Michael Schumacher

Robert Kubica put in yet another stunning drive, to take third position in a car that really should be down in sixth to tenth places. Kubica (currently only on a one year deal with Renault) is a possibility for Ferrari who may try and offload Massa to another team. The Brazilian currently doesn’t have a contract for next season although he has told the media that a drive for next year with the Italian team remains likely. Webber was another name tipped to join Ferrari and replace Massa, however Mark seems to have suited in well with Red Bull and Mark knows he can beat his quick German team mate. Money seems to be the only chance that Ferrari have off grabbing Webber.

Both McLaren drivers (Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton) currently have contracts to the end of 2012, however if Button can’t improve his pace in the dry and starts to slip down the leader board, the team may try and bring in another fast driver [maybe a new young talent, Kimi Raikkonen (who will be less greedy for money now that he won’t be getting paid more for taking a year out of F1 next season) or Nick Heidfeld, who came very close to joining McLaren back in 2002]. However this seems very unlikely and the British team look to be very happy with their all British line up and the drivers work very well together. Lewis Hamilton however could be on the lookout for a Red Bull drive in the next few years if  his current team can’t get him the wins he wants. 

If Renault did go on to loose Kubica to Ferrari, they may make a move for Massa. Petrov has had a solid season with some great moves; however he is yet to score any points. It is believed the Russian is actually paying for his drive, and seeing as the Renault team have a new Russian sponsor for 2010 they may want to keep young Vitaly.

Trulli and Kovalainen are likely to remain in lotus, apart of their five year plan, whilst In Virgin Glock or di Grassi could look for a seat else where (Possibly Toro Rosso, Sauber or Williams). Klien is a possibility for a drive in HRT next year, but it is unknown who would loose their seat out of Senna and Chandohk.

Before the race began, three Renault powered engines made up the first three places on the grid with Mark Webber taking Red Bull’s sixth straight pole position. Felipe Massa would start the race from fourth, although it could have so easily have been ninth after he destroyed one of Button’s fast laps in Q3. However, the Monaco stewards (led by Damon Hill) felt that no penalty was needed and Massa got to keep his second row grid place.

24 hours later and as the clock stroke 14:03, the five red lights went out and the race began. It was a fantastic start from Vettel, who managed to get passed Kubica at Sainte Devote. Webber got a clean start from pole and kept his advantage up to Beau Rivage. Hamilton meanwhile, who promised his fans he would be more aggressive this weekend got alongside Kubica and Massa up to turn one, however he decided to take it easy and let the top drivers keep position. At the back of the grid, Hulkenburg seemed to have problems after starting the race dead last on the grid, even though he had qualified in a very strong eleventh place. This wouldn’t be the last of Nico’s problems though, as just 40 seconds later he smashed his car in the tunnel, which ended his race and brought out the safety car.

The safety car would appear four times during the race, nearly forcing the Monaco Grand Prix to be ended early, as the race time of Webber was very close to the maximum of two hours. The first safety car was deployed after Hulkenburg crashed on lap one, whilst the second visit from the safety car was due to Hulkenburg’s team mate (Barrichello), who crashed out at turn two leaving his car in the middle of the track. A loose drain pipe was the reason for the next visit (which seemed to have been a false alarm), whilst a crash at the end of the race between Trulli and Chandohk brought out the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG for the fourth and final time.

Thanks to the safety car bunching up the field after lap one, this allowed Alonso to pit for the harder set of tyres and meaning he wouldn’t have to pit again during the race. This was the fifth straight row, were Alonso really should have finished a lot lower down in the standings, however yet more luck in Monaco gifted him more serious points, and these very lucky incidents this season have kept Fernando right in the title hunt. Once Hamilton had made his stop, it became clear Alonso was still in this race, as just behind Hamilton was car number seven. This then brought in all four cars ahead of Hamilton before the Brit’s stop. Rosberg however decided to stay out and try something crafty, but unfortunately Webber rejoined the circuit after his pit stop, right in front of Nico’s Mercedes, preventing the German to set very quick laps and have a shot of getting past Alonso, Hamilton and Massa.

Webber would go on to set a high amount of fast laps and build up a strong lead only for it to disappear four times as the safety car would come out. However, Mark kept a cool head and still pushed for the win each and every lap. He seemed to be in a world of his own setting times, constantly over three tenths quicker than anyone else on the track. Anything but a win for the Australian would seem harsh and wouldn’t have been taken by the Red Bull driver, there was only one position he was going to finish, and there as only one position he deserved (obviously 1^st place).

Kubica stuck to the second Red Bull through the race, but unfortunately for the pole, there was just no way past the German in the streets of Monte Carlo. Massa thought hard for all off the 78 laps and managed to beat his team mate for the third time this season.

As the race entered the final four laps, ahead of Mark were two back markers in Trulli and Chandohk who were fighting for the reward of highest finisher out of the new teams. Trulli made an ambitious move on the Indian into La Rascasse and was launched over the HRT car after hitting the side of Karun, and narrowly missing his head. Chandohk decided to place his hands on his head, but was that really going to stop a 600kg car from snapping his neck if the car made contact? Obviously not, but you could tell Karun was frightened and we’ll let him off. Webber was right behind these two cars and was lucky to not be involved in the crash. With Mark slowing down, Vettel cut Webber’s lead down to 1.5 seconds from 4.0 in just two corners, however with the safety car coming out it looked as if the race would finish under the car and no more overtaking would be aloud.

The safety car came in on the last lap and all of the remaining 12 cars still went flat out to the finish line as they were all aware of the new rule this year that allows you to overtake, just before the last corner. However Schumacher sneaked past Alonso and it looked as if the seven time world champion had pulled of a stunning move. However one of the many, many rules in Formula one states that you can not overtake before just before the final lap if the safety car is out. The safety car came in and I, like 85% of F1 fans agree that Schumacher made a fair overtake and was right to take sixth place at the end of the race. But guess what? Damon Hill happened to be one of the stewards this weekend (who was taken out by Schumacher on purpose in 1994, stopping from Hill from taking the title and giving it to Michael) and had other ideas. Hill and the stewards decided to hand Schumacher a 20 second time penalty which seems very unfair and it means Michael picks up no points this weekend whilst Alonso gets his sixth place back. It seems as if this is part of Damon Hill’s revenge on the German after that horrific incident in Adelaide 1994. Mercedes say they’ll be appealing against the penalty, rightly so. However there is one problem though. In 2008, after Hamilton was stripped off his Belgian GP win and given a 25 second penalty, the McLaren team appealed against the decision, only to be told you can not appeal against a time penalty given by the stewards.

Overall, I feel we were treated to an eventful action packed race and were robbed of a fantastic result with the decision to give Michael Schumacher a penalty for a fare overtake at the end of the race. Next we head to Turkey were it look’s as if we’ll get a nice dry Red Bull race. See you all in two weeks.

Jenson Button out smarted the others once again with yet another great decision, but we can’t forget about Rosberg, Kubica, Petrov and some others who also made the right choice when it mattered most. Hamilton was going to stay out, but changed his mind at the very last moment and ducked into the pits… a mistake? Yes, if he had stayed out, I’m sure he would have gone on to win the race.

Fernando Alonso ended the race in fourth, having made five pit stops, which was pretty impressive. He was 70 seconds down on button at one point, but with parts or Alguersuari’s front wing on the track a safety car was deployed and helped Fernando massively. A great drive passing several drivers helped him to fourth and is now still firmly in the championship battle.

I believe the safety car was un-necessary and think it ruined the race slightly. Kubica, Petrov, Alguersuari & Rosberg would have all finished higher in the race and made a much better and exciting result. But instead we had the usual guys up at the top and pushing the guys in the slower cars down the field.

First lap drama, brought out the safety car with some skilful driving by Hulkenberg, swerving through the damaged cars. The rain then started to fall as nearly all the drivers pitted for intermediate tyres. However, there wasn’t enough rain and once again all the drivers that pitted for inter’s had to stop again and go back to dry’s. Button stayed out and the decision got him the race win, just like in Melbourne.

Lewis Hamilton got himself in yet more trouble this week end after making a late call to pits, facing in a different way to other cars coming into the pits, fighting with Vettel dangerously in the pit lane and pushing off Mark Webber after the second safety car came in. Hamilton was only given a reprimand after the race, which I feel was not enough. I believe Hamilton should have been given some sort of penalty for hitting Webber, however the stewards thought different, and it’s their decision that counts.

Button crossed the line, 1.5 seconds ahead of his team mate and now leads the standings by ten points over Rosberg. Jenson now has his second win of the season; the ninth of his career, whilst Hamilton is still on zero. Rosberg and Kubica drove superbly and a fight from Schumacher on Hamilton showed that the German still has something in him.

A great race and let’s hope in Spain we are treated with more rain and another eventful race.