Alonso to celebrate questionable record on his helmet

"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll)
10/23/2013 at 15:51 • Filed to: F1

Fernando Alonso's new helmet for the Indian GP is covered with the number 1571 and several discreet hints at a "F1 Points World Record". Besides the fact that such a thing doesn't officially exist, he is giving us a discreet hint that he now has scored more championship points than Schumacher. While this is a fact that can't be denied, it's also true that the point system has been changed since the times of Schumachers big successes. So they are basically comparing apples to pears.

Well, it's not like he has much else to celebrate these days, so let's give him this little victory if it cheers him up.

DISCUSSION (55)

getchapopcorn > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 15:54

Well it is and it isn't — you would just need to pick a point system and apply all results to get a decent comparison. If you were to do that, though, you would still have the problem that a person may or may have not have driven the way that they did in any specific race if the point system were different.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 15:58

It's Ivory to fit in there?

EL_ULY > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 16:01

why do I feel like this has been a really sad season specifically feeling sorry for the drivers. What could it be? I see Massa for example and it pulls a heart string just thinking about how much that dude deserves for his hard work. But idk must be just be

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 16:01

As he's only got two championships, surely that's just a display of his inconsitency...

/troll

Klaus Schmoll > getchapopcorn
10/23/2013 at 16:06

I wouldn't have a problem with him celebrating more GP wins, or more podium finishes or something else that is comparable, but this seems just arbitrary.

When the German soccer league changed their point system they quit all comparisons with the old system. And boy does our media llike to tell you that at this point in time a should have this many points to... or has never... when they had XX points and so on.

OtherBarry > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 16:17

Throw him a bone. With Kimi going there and the regs reset next year, this might be the only thing he is going cling to going forward.

micky > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 16:43

I'm suprised that he has it on his helmet as he's not gonna win this years championship.

captdownshift > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 16:46

A thinnly vailed attempt at some seat time in a Suzuki Laina before retirement

interrogator-chaplain > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 16:49

Yeah, except that they changed 1st place to pay out 25 points a win a few years ago, so it's not exactly as gigantic an accomplishment as he's trying to make it.

Long story short, people remember Championship wins, not how many points you got.

stephen mcknight 2011@ hotmail.co.uk > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 16:50

been driving a crap Ferrari for two year travis. in 2012 he took that Ferrari, beyond it limits and showed what a fine racing driver he is.

Also showcased Vettel talents, as Alonso put him more than any other driver. my Brother reckons in Webber car, Alonso win 2 titles, Vettel wins two titles. have to agree with him, Vettel is a fine racing driver, but could he win a world title in this Ferrari i have my doubts.

Klaus Schmoll > interrogator-chaplain
10/23/2013 at 16:50

Exactly my point!

RelentlessSlacker > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 16:52

Autosport did a great feature on this back in September, and basically went through and looked at the entire history of the sport in a few ways: A) comparing all drivers using today's point system (wherein Alonso is 3rd, just behind Prost, but still a long way behind Schumacher) B) average points per finish using the current system (wherein Alonso only is the 18th best in the sport, which is a similar slide to other modern, long-lived, consistently scoring F1 drivers such as Hamilton and Coulthard). So basically, Alonso is legitimately one of the best the sport's ever seen in overall scoring (I mean, not only does the guy have two championships in the bag, he's had several close calls, often in inferior machinery...in fact, Alonso is only 11 career points off from being a 5x champion instead of a 2x! 1 point in 2007 and the rest under the current points system)

Raphael Orlove > getchapopcorn
10/23/2013 at 16:57

don't forget also that the number of races per championship changes

nikiaf27 > getchapopcorn
10/23/2013 at 17:00

It's especially arbitrary since there was a time when only your X best finishes of the season counted; so in addition to the different scoring systems there's that to consider.

JimSlade > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 17:05

you mean...Exactly your (1571) point(s)

JimSlade > OtherBarry
10/23/2013 at 17:06

that and his bank account...the bank account would probably make me sleep better at night...champ or not!

McLarry > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 17:09

It's like how everyone went on and on about how Avatar was the highest-grossing film ever but failed to realize that this was artificially inflated due to...well, inflation, coupled with higher ticket costs for all those suckers shelling out to see it in ass-tastic 3D or AMC's faux-IMAX. Adjust for inflation, and Gone With The Wind still made more money.

GotWake > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 17:10

SoI'mgonnahavetodealwiththisguy....again...

Devlin Munion > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 17:12

All he needs to do is add an asterisk.....Then he can be like Roger Maris.

With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 17:16

Let's say they never changed the points system, and he did this. Isn't he still kind of a tool for doing it?

RX > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 17:16

Give him something to be smug about for now. Vettel is only 220 behind and should pass him by the end of next year.

RX > RelentlessSlacker
10/23/2013 at 17:24

Even giving equal points per position doesnt really tell the whole story. There were roughly half as many races in the 60s that there are now. So a driver would accumulate half as many points over a career.

4play > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 17:35

With race wins alone, Schumi would be at 2275 with the new points system. Not to mention the 60+ P2/P3 finishes he had.

But, uh, sure Fernando, you win...

Shaggy SoCal > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 17:52

Alonso may have scored more Championship points than Schumacher, but Schumi's points won him five more World Championships than Alonso. I highly doubt Herr Schumacher is losing any sleep over this. :-)

J-Tenno > RX
10/23/2013 at 18:01

And let's not forget Vettel has been in the business since 2007, Alonso since 2001.

supersonicatx > interrogator-chaplain
10/23/2013 at 18:07

"people remember Championship wins, not how many points you got"

/thread

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > RX
10/23/2013 at 18:10

that's why he also mentions the average points per finish, and why Alonso is 18th greatest on that scale.

getchapopcorn > Raphael Orlove
10/23/2013 at 18:21

I see this as just being a person who has raced more races, whether they are in the same season or not, although it certainly could get down to 'well if we had had more races that season when I had that car and I was in my prime' yadda, yadda, yadda — it's all shoula, coulda, woulda ultimately.

I think the remark regarding the best results in "x" amount of races is relevant to the larger conversation but wouldn't necessarily be here because I think that was done with by 1991 and well before Michael was vying for championships.

At the end of the day, for me, the only time that the amount of points matter is within each season for deciding driver and constructor championships. I think you may be able to talk about 'consecutive point finishes' but its really just stupid at the end of the day — pole, podiums, wins, fastest laps, championships, personality define your function by whatever variables you want — I just go based on the immediate emotion/feeling that a name immediately effects.

RX > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
10/23/2013 at 18:32

Which I would say is an accurate rank.

F1guy hates duck billed F1 cars > With-a-G is back to not having anything written after his username
10/23/2013 at 18:35

Alonso is a walking toolbag already. He's a dick, on and off the track. See the 2007 Hungarian GP for one of many cases.

Talented driver yes, but also a dick's dick.

onerunjunior > J-Tenno
10/23/2013 at 18:44

And Vettel hasn't driven a single shitty car, while Alonso has.

onerunjunior > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 18:49

Apparently things like points awarded only counts for Alonso and not any other driver over the last 50 years. Yeah, he's boasting about it but he's Fernando Alonso. He can toot his horn all he wants, the man is a living legend. Let him have something, Red Bull have been beating everyone like a rented mule for the last five years and guys like Alonso and Hamilton should get to have some of the spotlight considering what they've done in vastly inferior machinery. So what the points system is different, the man drives way outside the envelope the Ferrari is inherently capable of.

Jeez, who shit in everyones cereal this morning?

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > RX
10/23/2013 at 19:17

eh I'd personally rank him a little higher, he's a two time world champion, which puts him at equal 10th if you go off that alone.

and the fact he won his two championships against pre-retirement Schumacher.

(2006 goes down as my favourite season that I've ever followed)

off that I'd put him in the top 10, but only just.

CzechMonster > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 19:20

Did someone do the math and convert Schumachers points to current standard? I'm to lazy.

McMike > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 19:48

Look, he figured it out.

I can't tell if he's happy or upset about it since I removed his eyebrows.

McMike > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 19:49

I can't tell if he happy or upset about it since I removed his eyebrows.

Kinja'd!!!

But he figured it out.

whitecollar > interrogator-chaplain
10/23/2013 at 22:24

Totally agree with this, but still, it is an accomplishment. Alanso is a great driver so I don't really have a problem with him celebrating this. Anyone who know F1 knows about the point system change. I had more of a problem with Hamilton painting his helmet like Senna.

interrogator-chaplain > whitecollar
10/23/2013 at 22:44

An accomplishment? No question. Great driver? Agreed. Celebration? Of course. Better than another world title? Not in my eyes.

Hamilton stated in the past that his helmet has been yellow for a long time, since he was a kid so his dad could keep track of him on the kart track. He's just kept it that way. Even if it's got a green stripe, there's nothing wrong with someone having an homage to their hero's.

Jartosz > Klaus Schmoll
10/23/2013 at 23:50

Who cares, Schumacher and Alonso can suck pears for all I care.

EmotionalFriend > Klaus Schmoll
10/24/2013 at 01:10

Drew Carey (and I guess Lana Kane?) approves of this helmet.

Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) > Klaus Schmoll
10/24/2013 at 03:23

Go with GP wins instead. It will be a hard one to beat.

Carl Macedo > McLarry
10/24/2013 at 03:55

I agree with you, at the time it came out i saw a big fuss about the movie and i thought it wasn't a great movie because of the history, i saw the movie a few months ago just to see if it was as good as people said, it took me 3 attempts to see the hole movie, and guess what, i hate the movie, was one the worst movies i ever have seen.

lucky's pepper > OtherBarry
10/24/2013 at 05:29

I hope Ferrari gives them a decent car next year. The battle between Alonso and Kimi will hopefully be fantastic to watch anyway, but it'll be SO much better if they're contending for the driver's championship.

JBr_518 > getchapopcorn
10/24/2013 at 06:09

Yeah I agree. Or make an average finishing position throughout a career or something and then compare average finish with total starts

Ntovorni > Klaus Schmoll
10/24/2013 at 08:47

This reminds me of Bills fans being so proud of their however many AFL titles. Then their lack of mentioning the 4 Super Bowl losses.

(wide right!)

Ntovorni > Klaus Schmoll
10/24/2013 at 08:49

Oh man, when he takes ownership of the Basque cycling team I wonder how he's going to count their success against the other teams. He's going to figure in ALL the revoked results he can!

gometz > F1guy hates duck billed F1 cars
10/24/2013 at 09:03

Honestly it seems like there aren't many top tier drivers that aren't dicks. Kimi often gets a pass because he doesn't even try to hide it, whereas the rest of them act nice for PR purposes in front of the cameras. Off the top of my head, I would say only Button comes off as genuinely nice.

turbo_everything > Klaus Schmoll
10/24/2013 at 09:47

I guess he needed something to feel good about lol

highmodulus > Klaus Schmoll
10/24/2013 at 10:37

In small letters it says "Kimi's Back-Up Driver".

McLarry > Carl Macedo
10/24/2013 at 10:46

Still haven't seen it... I wasn't a huge fan of Disney's Pocahontas the first time around, so I figured there wasn't much motivation to see the gussied-up version.

F1guy hates duck billed F1 cars > gometz
10/24/2013 at 12:11

He, and Rubens. I've met Rubens many times, and he's an awesome, down-to-earth man.

Lyle Petersminkle > EL_ULY
10/24/2013 at 13:03

Bro, it's Formula 1. All the drivers work hard. It's not some show-up-on-Sunday thing.

So you think in the most competitive level of racing on the planet, that Massa deserves to keep his seat at Ferrari even though he is underperforming and not getting the results that Ferrari wants, just because he works hard??

It's good the teams haven't brought you on as Team Principal!

Bs Baldwin > Klaus Schmoll
10/27/2013 at 21:42

Why did F1 change the point system in the first place?

getchapopcorn > Klaus Schmoll
10/28/2013 at 14:40

bahahaha — well played, sir!

ncasolowork2 > Klaus Schmoll
10/28/2013 at 14:43

Quick. Someone do the math. Using the current points formula how many would Schumi have?