MS: The best starter in F1 at the moment?

I noticed the same thing last season. If only he could get the qualifying and/or race pace better and he'd be a serious threat. He drove really well today.

 

Vettel's stopped working as well..

Does webbo not have it installed at all or is it broken all the time?

 

Webbers just keeps breaking so he has 35kg of extra weight that could be put into ballast and also it messes up the brake bias.

 

This is not an easy question to answer for a couple of reasons:

1) Kinda depends on how you define "best starter": When is the "start" over? At the turn-in of the first corner, after the first corner or at the end of lap 1 since the over/under changes of positions normally carry on for several turns until a single file line is established? Position gain/loss data is normally only available after the cars pass the s/f line for the first time (which is the data I used). So any other definition of a good starter would require some detailed video analysis.

2) How do you account for a collision/mishap in that first lap? Obviously passing a bunch of cars in the melee of the start is not just heroic but also carries a big risk of tangling up with another car. So if you have to pit in the aftermath of that, do you count those lost positions as negatives or do you just chalk them up to "bad luck" that could have happened anytime during the race?

Here the data of the 3 races so far. I picked Heidfeld because I think he did best overall compared to the rest of the field:

Heidfeld
Melbourne: +5
Sepang: +4
Shanghai: +2
Total: +11

MS:
Melbourne: -12
Sepang: +3
Shanghai: +5
Total: -4 or 8

MS lost 12 positions in lap 1 of the Australian GP because Alguersuari touched his tire and he had to pit to get a new one. Again it depends on whether you count that against him or not at all. If you leave it off the table, he collects 8 positions, which is respectable but still 3 shy of Heidfeld's 11.

 

Interesting, it would be good to see who was the best at the end of season, out of all the drivers.

 

I'm happy to run the numbers if we can all agree that we'll take positions after lap 1 and if we find a consensus re: positions lost through going back to the pits. The worst approach/answer would be a "it depends on the situation" because then it gets awfully subjective and requires endless video analysis and interpretation.

I like the data myself. I had no idea where it would lead me and was surprised to see Heidi come out on top.

 

Yes its a good one, I think you should give it a whirl nice one your happy to do it.

As you said luck and risk its a bit of a trade off, the simple the better if possible although yes there could be endless interpretations.

 

Of course we all know what the outcome of the data will be regardless:

The haters will always claim that it doesn't count because the guy just got lucky and the fans will always disregard it as well claiming that some other driver prevented their man from passing the entire field before turn 1.

 

LOL well there is that of course..terrible thing those blinkers..

 

Yea, i think MS is one of the best starter at the moment...don't forget Phil too!

 

Er, Heidfelds 6.

You can't leave off Melbourne just for one driver, thus if you take Melbourne out of the equation we have:
- Heidfeld with 6.
- MS with 8.

Anyway as far as I am concerned the start finishes after the first corner (ie. you are NO longer starting you are now lapping), not the end of the first lap ... thus MS would not have lost 12 places by the first corner.
Pete

 

Anyway if MS ever gets another pole, we will witness another dreadful start because that was always his problem, not mid grid starts but pole or front row starts.
Pete