Does the best car always win?

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Does the best car always win?

#1

Post by PTRACER »

I am trying to think back over the years and it is hard to pick an F1 season where the championship wasn't won by the best car.

The only exceptions I can think of are 1982 and 2009. The Brawn was definitely not the best car by the second half of the season and still won, but only on the strength of its early season performances. And in 1982, the Renault was easily the fastest car, but kept breaking down. Ferrari's car was probably the second best and was more reliable, but they could not have won after the death of their star driver and career ending accident of their other one.

Are there any other occasions where the best car didn't win the championship?
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#2

Post by erwin greven »

In 1979 the Williams FW-07 came too late to have the full impact on the season. It was clearly better than the Ferrari 312T4.
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#3

Post by acerogers58 »

Dodge finished stone cold last in the manufacturer championship when Brad Keselowski won the NASCAR Cup championship in 2012 if that counts.
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#4

Post by Michael Ferner »

Lotus in 1986. Something like nine or ten pole positions, but only two or three wins.
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#5

Post by PTRACER »

acerogers58 wrote: 3 years ago Dodge finished stone cold last in the manufacturer championship when Brad Keselowski won the NASCAR Cup championship in 2012 if that counts.
It depends how NASCAR points are awarded. If he was in the only Dodge, and there were 20 Chevrolet drivers, then I could see why he would finish last...

@Michael Ferner Prost won in '86 in a McLaren, Williams won the Constructors'... :huh:
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#6

Post by acerogers58 »

He was one of only 2 Dodge's as it was their last year.
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#7

Post by MonteCristo »

Michael Ferner wrote: 3 years ago Lotus in 1986. Something like nine or ten pole positions, but only two or three wins.
Similarly: Williams in 2002. JPM had seven poles, and Ralf got one win.
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#8

Post by White six »

Michael Ferner wrote: 3 years ago Lotus in 1986. Something like nine or ten pole positions, but only two or three wins.
Some kind of rose tinted lotus glasses?

The williams fw11 was easily the best car in 1986, and Prost snatching the title is the best example I can think of of the best car not winning the WDC

79 also a good example but the Williams wasn't consistently the best all season as in 86
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#9

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

White six wrote: 3 years ago
Michael Ferner wrote: 3 years ago Lotus in 1986. Something like nine or ten pole positions, but only two or three wins.
Some kind of rose tinted lotus glasses?

The williams fw11 was easily the best car in 1986, and Prost snatching the title is the best example I can think of of the best car not winning the WDC

79 also a good example but the Williams wasn't consistently the best all season as in 86
1979 the FW07 was streets ahead in the second half of the season.... after France they only failed to win two races.... and one of those Jones was leading when a wheel nut failed. Yet Ferrari took a 1-2 in the WDC and comfortably won the Constructors.

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#10

Post by White six »

Everso Biggyballies wrote: 3 years ago
White six wrote: 3 years ago
Michael Ferner wrote: 3 years ago Lotus in 1986. Something like nine or ten pole positions, but only two or three wins.
Some kind of rose tinted lotus glasses?

The williams fw11 was easily the best car in 1986, and Prost snatching the title is the best example I can think of of the best car not winning the WDC

79 also a good example but the Williams wasn't consistently the best all season as in 86
1979 the FW07 was streets ahead in the second half of the season.... after France they only failed to win two races.... and one of those Jones was leading when a wheel nut failed. Yet Ferrari took a 1-2 in the WDC and comfortably won the Constructors.
Yeah, like I said, it wasn't the best all season like the Fw11. It was an amazing turnaround from hopelessly unreliable to finishing umpteen successive races in 80 and 81. In the first half of 79 they were nearly as bad as Brabham for popping, and not really outpacing ferrari
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#11

Post by SBan83 »

In 1967, the Lotus 49 contested 9 of 11 races after debuting at the third round, in Zandvoort, and was undoubtedly the class of the field in virtually every race since but Hulme won the title in the Brabham BT24 because of the 49's reliability issues (and Colin Chapman's fuel calculation issues at Monza).
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#12

Post by White six »

You could claim the bt54 was best in 1984, though it rarely made it past lap 20 even with the engine turned down
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#13

Post by PTRACER »

White six wrote: 3 years ago You could claim the bt54 was best in 1984, though it rarely made it past lap 20 even with the engine turned down
I wonder whether you could call it the best car if it was unable to complete more than 20 laps at a time...That is why I'm reluctant to call the Renault the best car of '82, even though it was the fastest by a long way.
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#14

Post by Michael Ferner »

Which is exactly why I discounted it, reliability is a key issue in being the "best". The 1986 Lotus, however, had more than decent reliability, but still didn't win very often despite being the fastest car on the grid. Ferrari in 1974 is another example, ten pole positions but only three wins.
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#15

Post by Michael Ferner »

MonteCristo wrote: 3 years ago
Michael Ferner wrote: 3 years ago Lotus in 1986. Something like nine or ten pole positions, but only two or three wins.
Similarly: Williams in 2002. JPM had seven poles, and Ralf got one win.
But Ferrari had ten poles, so Williams wasn't the best car. Plus, the red cars were bullet proof.
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