Belgian GP Facts, Stats & Memoirs

While we know the results of the races so far and what they've brought us in the Championship, it might be interesting to see how things developed throughout the races. When we look at the average position over all laps driven - excluding the US Grand Prix farce - Fernando Alonso beats Kimi Raikkonen with 3.1 against 3.8. The Renault driver clearly wins it by driving more laps in the top three, even though Raikkonen led 349 laps against his 278.

Driver        Avg Pos   Top 8    Top 3
Alonso          3.1     89.88%   83.06%
Raikkonen       3.8     86.07%   63.36%
Montoya         4.9     85.12%   42.77%
Fisichella      5.6     78.23%   33.29%
Trulli          5.9     80.34%   25.52%
Button          6.2     77.78%   23.15%
M.Schumacher    6.8     70.53%   30.37%
Heidfeld        8.4     44.73%    4.36%
Barrichello     8.7     48.33%   12.64%
R.Schumacher    8.7     50.18%    6.68%
Webber          9.1     52.47%    7.74%
Coulthard       9.3     47.00%    6.66%
Massa          10.2     27.73%    0.00%
Sato           11.4     33.06%    0.49%
Villeneuve     11.7     12.96%    0.00%
Monteiro       15.3      0.00%    0.00%
Karthikeyan    15.5      0.00%    0.00%
Albers         16.2      0.00%    0.00%

When looking at average position, Michael Schumacher ranks only seventh. There are several possible reasons why the German's so much further up in the Championship than seventh. Either he maximised every opportunity he got or the drivers ahead of him failed when they had the chance to beat him. In the first half of the season, Schumacher certainly maximised his opportunities. Of the seven races he finished up to Silverstone, he only drove eleven laps on a position higher than which he finished. However, for Hockenheim, Hungaroring and Monza it was a very different story. In three races, Schumacher drove 112 laps in a position higher than where he ended up.