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Would Verstappen have an advantage over Hamilton in other racing classes as well?
- GPblog.com
There are currently seventeen Grands Prix in the 2021 Formula 1 season. As is well known, with five GP weekends remaining in the F1 World Championship, Max Verstappen is twelve points ahead of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. But what would the standings look like if Verstappen and Hamilton had competed neck-and-neck in another race class?
We tackle four major racing championships from auto and motorsports, namely: IndyCar Series, NASCAR, MotoGP and the MXGP. The latter is the class in which Dutchman and Red Bull driver Jeffrey Herlings competes in motocross for the world title.
In these championships, a different scoring system is used, which makes the current World Championship standings change. It gives a nice insight into how Verstappen and Hamilton would fare in other racing categories. Of course, it is not completely representative because in for example the IndyCar and Nascar many more drivers participate per Grand Prix. So in the United States, it is easier to score points, even if you don't finish in the top ten. That makes a DNF even more disastrous than in Formula 1.
IndyCar
In IndyCar, besides regular points for your final classification, you also get a point if you have been in the lead for at least one lap of the race. The driver who leads the most laps also receives two points. Verstappen and Hamilton both drove at least one lap in the lead in eleven GP's. Verstappen has been on P1 for the most laps in eleven of the seventeen GP's (of all drivers on the grid). Hamilton only managed this twice. The 24-year old driver from Limburg receives more 'bonus points' than his rival.
He needs those too, otherwise, he would have been behind Hamilton according to the IndyCar points system. Thanks to these points Verstappen now has 655 points. Hamilton only has 645 points, which is a difference of only ten points. In Formula 1, the Mercedes driver's gap is twelve points, so this makes almost no difference.
Verstappen has retired three times already this season, while Hamilton only DNF'd once. With so many cars scoring points in IndyCar, the Briton has the advantage. Nevertheless, Verstappen would still be at P1 in the championship at the end of the race.
NASCAR
In NASCAR, there are also extra points to be earned. The winners of Stage 1 and/or Stage 2 will receive a playoff bonus point. These have been omitted from the count, as there is no such system in Formula 1.
Just like in IndyCar, even with a poor performance a lot of points can be scored for the championship, partly due to the large number of participants. The fact that Hamilton has two DNF's less than Verstappen plays into his hands again. Hamilton has a lead of 37 points: 560 points to 523 points.
MotoGP
In MotoGP, the difference is eight points in Verstappen's favour. After seventeen GP's in the highest class of motorsports the Dutchman's final F1 rankings would have brought him 307 points. Hamilton is on 299 points.
The way of counting points in MotoGP is the most similar to that of Formula 1. The winner gets 25 points, the runner up gets twenty points and the driver in P3 gets sixteen points. Verstappen is now eight points ahead of his British rival after the current seventeen Grands Prix.
MXGP
In MXGP, as in NASCAR, the World Championship standings would be in Hamilton's favour. According to the MXGP point standings, the 36-year old driver will have 323 points after the US Grand Prix at COTA, two more than Verstappen. This is again due to the fact that a fifteenth place finish (like Hamilton's in Baku) still earns you four points.
Verstappen vs. Hamilton in other racing categories
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