Alternative 1997 Championship (without M Schumacher!)

[James1978]

AS we all know, Michael Schumacher was stripped of his 2nd place in the 1997 WC standings due to his professional foul at Jerez in the last race of the season. However, in an alternative reality, it is deemed that losing a 2nd place in the championship but keeping all his results throughout the year is hardly any punishment at all - instead, he loses all his race results and as a precursor done in 1984 when the Tyrrell team were banned, anyone who finished a race behind Schumacher was promoted up a place, and points redistibuted.

I'll work out the full standings soon, but a few short things it means are:

In Australia McLaren get their first 1-2 since Japan 1991 and don't have to wait till Jerez
Shinji Nakano gets promoted from 7th to 6th and scores a point on debut.
Barrichello/Stewart win the first race at Monaco, 3 and 2 years before the each won a race respectively.
Fisichella/Jordan win their first race at Spa, a year early for Jordan and 6 years early for Fisi!
Irvine lost the chance for his first win at Suzuka thanks to playing the team game when his team-mate would ultimately be disqualified!

Also Shinji Nakano would unrejectify himself as his 6th place finishes in Canada and Hungary will become 5ths!

[James1978]

Also 1st podium for Trulli (in a Prost!) at Hockenheim!

[James1978]

Villenueve is confirmed chapion after Austria - with 3 races left, he is 31 points ahead of closest challenger Frentzen, and 33 points ahead of the nearest opposition from a rival team (Alesi).

[FullMetalJack]

Also 1st podium for Trulli (in a Prost!) at Hockenheim!

To be fair, the Prost was a very competitive car in 1997, Panis was 3rd in the championship before his injury.

[James1978]

Final standings:

1. Villeneuve 83 (7 wins, 2 3rds)
2. Frentzen 53 (3 wins, 1 2nd, 4 3rds)
3. Alesi 45 (1 win, 3 2nds, 1 3rd)
4. Coulthard 39 (2 wins, 2 2nds)
5. Hakkinen 34 (1 win, 2 2nds, 1 3rd)
6. Irvine 32 (5 2nds)
7. Berger 30 (1 win, 1 2nd, 1 3rd)
8. Fisichella 29 (1 win, 1 2nd, 1 3rd)
9. Herbert 20 (2 3rds)
10. Panis 18 (1 2nd)
11. R. Schumacher 16 (1 3rd)
12. Barrichello 10 (1 win - NO other points finishes!)
13. Hill 8 (1 2nd)
14. Nakano 6 (2 5ths)
15. Trulli 5 (1 3rd) (all points for Prost)
16. Wurz 4 (1 3rd)
17. Salo 3 (1 4th)
18. Diniz 3 (1 5th, 1 6th)
19. Larini 3 (1 5th, 1 6th))
20. Magnussen 1 (1 6th) - promoted from 7th in Monaco

Diniz beats Larini in the 18th place tiebreak due to his next best result being 7th in Canada, Larini's next best result was 10th in Brazil.

[James1978]

Also 1st podium for Trulli (in a Prost!) at Hockenheim!

To be fair, the Prost was a very competitive car in 1997, Panis was 3rd in the championship before his injury.

Actually you're right - Panis was challenging for 2nd in this championship, before his Canada crash.