Exactly right. Coulda/Woulda/Shoulda makes for, I suppose, interesting internet debates, but HISTORY sides with how they actually end up.
It happened with Keke Rosberg became WDC on regularity with only one win on a Williams atmo. Other drivers had faster cars and won more GPs than him, but suffered numerous failures in the early days of the turbo era.
Not to mention the deadly accident of Villeneuve and the one that ended Pironi's F1 career. Considering the driver winning the championship is the best one is just as questionable as considering he's only the luckiest; could be, could not be, but more likely it's a combination of factors that results in determining the champion.
It's only questionable for those who entertain the notion of "moral winner". Unreliablity, accidents, injuries and even death are part of the risks. The rules are simple: who accumulates the highest number of points over a season becomes the WDC. In 1958, Stirling Moss won 4 GPs, but Mike Hawthorn became the WDC with only one !!!
There is no question about who is the WDC, neither about defining a hypothetical alternative winner. Defining the best driver (whatever it could mean) as the one winning the WDC is however a choice that is as debatable as any other.
I wonder if other sports have the same dilemma. Would the "best" Tour de France rider be the one who win most stages, or the one who wears the Yellow Jersey on the Champs Elysées the last day ? Would the best Marathon runner be the one who leads at the 10th or 20th kilometer marks, or the one who breaks the tape first ? I am conventional, and I accept the rules to determine the WDC, as criteria good enough to show the best driver of the year.
Trying to judge driver's performance and not car / team performance here: Best overall: Verstappen (by far) Fastest over one lap: Leclerc (probably) Best race craft: Alonso (probably) Best at staying out of trouble: Gasley (no significant damage on the car & no significant penalties, if i remember correctly) Least whiny: Piastri (probably) Just my personal USD 0.02
Next time F1 includes dirt short track, ovals, and rally races we can debate this. Next time a marathon runner wins 50% of the races in a single yr we can debate this. As already noted by others, who wins WDC has nothing to do with the question posed by this thread.
It's a fact that the driver standings are set only by the points scored, but it is also a fact that a sport that is dictated 90% by the car, not to mention numerous other variables, you cannot grade the drivers season performance on the WDC position alone. By your own criteria, Perez is the 8th best driver in Formula 1. Better than Alonso, Gasly, Albon or Tsunoda. However, I believe you have expressed your opinion of Perez being under-achieving and lousy in other conversations. Like you said, you are entitled to your opinion, and if that's how you see it then that's how you see it. But you did choose to engage in a discussion that leaves your opinions subject to debate. I don't think you'll find too many that will agree with you.
