FORMULA ONE: THE REAL SCORE?
This book’s subtitle is: A Reassessment of Driver Ability Based on an Analysis of All F1 and Equivalent Race Results Since 1947. Perhaps I could stop there …!
Brian Harvey has taken on an enormous task with this 352-page book, in an attempt to demonstrate that annual World Championship results do not necessarily reflect the best drivers, because, among other things, they do not represent the results of each year’s ‘significant’ races. It really is a fascinating alternative look at races and results, while demonstrating that simply taking account of ‘championship’ Grands Prix (GPS) is a fairly limited way of assessing the respective merits of drivers.
The amount of research that has gone into assembling the brief race summaries is very impressive, and it is worth a read on its own as a reminder of how different racing was in the past. Brief examples include: • the small number of championship races in the 1950s and ’60s compared with non-title events, many of which had entries that were as good or better • the lack of consistency among organizers of ‘championship GPS’ in terms of which entries they accepted or invited, in effect taking advantage of teams’ desire to score championship points. The Dutch GP seemed to be particularly illogical in this regard • the lack of commitment by a number of teams — Ferrari being a prime example — to entering all the races • endless changes in scoring systems and, particularly, how many championship GP scores could be counted each season. This created end-of-year totals that would have been quite different if every race had counted. It also affected the Constructors’ Championship (e.g., there’s at least one season when British Racing Motors [BRM] would have won this title, rather than Lotus) • how much drivers’ reputations revolve around their GP wins and titles. When nonchampionship races are taken into account, drivers like Chris Amon and Jean Behra are shown to have many more successes than they are usually remembered for • the sad price paid in terms of death and serious injury to drivers and spectators well into the 1970s, and how the races carried on regardless.
Harvey supplements race ‘ facts’ with his own views and assumptions — for example, the Leads Lost to Lady Luck chapter, which I found a bit strange. Yes, some races really were lost at the last moment, but Harvey also lists drivers who retired from the lead when a race was only a few laps old. What does that prove?
However, you don’t have to agree with all of the author’s conclusions to acknowledge the amount of thought that he has put in to them. He has come up with a grading system for all races from 1946 that were based on the current Formula 1 (F1) regulations, depending on their length and the number of top teams and drivers entered. He also includes summaries of the Tasman races between 1959 and ’69, which is excellent — so we’ll forgive the incorrect captioning of a couple of the New Zealand photos. This leads to an overall ranking system (‘ The Real Score’) in which his top three are Fangio, Clark, and Ascari. The year-by-year summaries end at 1972, after which championship races increasingly outnumbered their non-title counterparts and teams committed themselves much more firmly to a full season.
This is an intriguing and, I think, important book. Read it for yourself and see what you think of this alternative way of looking at F1 races and their outcomes.