Consistency puts Mild Seven Renault in solid second

Formula One (F1) racing is not only about speed. It is also about consistency.

With the way the 2004 F1 Grand Prix season is unfolding, it is increasingly clear that to dominate at the highest levels of motoring and motor sports, a car and driver must be in perfect sync — both fast, and both able to finish.

It is neither a stroke of chance nor a streak of coincidence that Ferrari and Mild Seven Renault happen to be, at the moment, the top two teams in F1 racing. Both cars of these two teams have consistently finished within the top eight in all of the five races — Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, San Marino, and Spain — that have been run this season.

The rules of the F1 Championships generously rewards the top finishers of each race with points — first place is equivalent to 10 points; second place, 8 points; and third place, 6 points. The rules, however, also recognize the efforts of drivers that finish within the top eight even if they do not make it to the podium — fourth place is worth 5 points; fifth, 4 points; sixth, 3 points; seventh, 2 points; and eight, 1 point.

Under this type of reward system, for example, a driver that finishes three races in fifth place earns 12 points. Another driver who finishes one race at first place and lands dead last in two other races receives only 10 points. This shows how that how fast a driver can drive in a given race is only as important as how well he finishes in all the races.

As Ferrari, at first place with 82 points, pulls away from the rest of the pack, the excitement in the 2004 season is shifting to the three-way tug-of war for second and third place in the Constructors’ Championship amongst Mild Seven Renault, Bar-Honda, and Williams-BMW. And, thus far, it is the most consistent among teams that has a firm grip of second place.

Trulli and Alonso bagged a 3-4 finish at the Spanish Grand Prix to move Mild Seven Renault ten points ahead of BAR-Honda and 12 points ahead of Williams-BMW. The scores now stand at 42 for Mild Seven Renault, 32 for Bar-Honda, and 30 for Williams-BMW.

The same consistency is equally valuable in the Drivers’ Championship. A look at the leading performers in the 2004 season shows that all of the top five drivers have finished within the top eight of every race this year.

Michael Schumacher’s perfect start puts him in the lead with 50 points and he is followed by Ferrari teammate Brazilian Rubens Barrichello with 32. Three drivers are stiffly contesting third place — Bar Honda’s Jenson Button with 24 points; and Alonso and Trulli who are tied at 21 points each. By finishing within the top eight in each race, these drivers have steadily been collecting points that may prove to be the deciding margin at the end of the season.