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The Formula One Cup Series, 1981-present
Posted: 16 Apr 2020, 12:07
by Aislabie
The year is 1981, and the FIA are taking control of Formula One. They have done away with the antiquated World Championship of Drivers and are instead bringing in a Championship format that is decades ahead of its time:
The Formula One Cup Series.
In addition to the FIA now sanctioning every Grand Prix that will make up the season, they are making a raft of changes to how the Championship is conducted. The old format of having the winner be whoever scores most points over their best 12 races has been done away with: instead, the World Champion will have to perform well throughout the season with a guaranteed Championship decider at the last race of the season.
This will be done with a seven-race playoff series to finish the season: the top ten drivers (usually the top ten on points, but race winners will automatically progress) will advance to the playoffs, with two lowest-scoring drivers eliminated at the Round of 10, Round of 8 and Round of 6 stage to leave a Championship Final for the top four drivers at the last race of the season.
Additionally, the old system of points for the top six drivers has been completely abandoned: instead, Formula One will award points to the top fifteen classified finishers at any given Grand Prix, incentivising drivers to fight for position all the way down the field. The points system shall be:
25 - 20 - 16 - 13 - 11 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1.
This is a new era for Formula One.
- - - - - - - - - -
Formula One Cup Series Champions1981 -
Season Summary- Cup Champion - Alain Prost (Renault, 1st title)
Constructors Cup - Williams
Regular Season Leader - Carlos Reutemann (Williams)
1982 -
Season Summary- Cup Champion - Michele Alboreto (Tyrrell, 1st title)
Constructors Cup - Ferrari
Regular Season Leader - John Watson (McLaren)
The Formula One Cup Series, 1981
Posted: 16 Apr 2020, 13:35
by Aislabie
Lockdown has hit HARD. I'm hoping to get through roughly one of these per day until I'm allowed to go outside again, or until we finish 2019.
Regular Season- - United States Grand Prix West - Alan Jones
- - Brazilian Grand Prix - Carlos Reutemann
- - Argentine Grand Prix - Nelson Piquet
- - San Marino Grand Prix - Nelson Piquet
- - Belgian Grand Prix - Carlos Reutemann
- - Monaco Grand Prix - Gilles Villeneuve
- - Spanish Grand Prix - Gilles Villeneuve
- - French Grand Prix - Alain Prost
Standings- Carlos Reutemann - 125 points (2 wins)
- Alan Jones - 91 points (1 win)
- Nelson Piquet - 86 points (2 wins)
- Gilles Villeneuve - 72 points (2 wins)
- Jacques Laffite - 66 points
- John Watson - 59 points
- Elio de Angelis - 53 points
- Riccardo Patrese - 47 points
- Rene Arnoux - 47 points
- Didier Pironi - 44 points
- Mario Andretti - 43 points
- Alain Prost - 41 points (1 win)
- Nigel Mansell - 40 points
- Marc Surer - 39 points
- Eddie Cheever - 35 points
- Patrick Tambay - 33 points
- Hector Rebaque - 20 points
- Patrick Tambay - 20 points
- Bruno Giacomelli - 20 points
- Chico Serra - 14 points
- Keke Rosberg - 11 points
- Jean-Pierre Jarier - 9 points
- Siegfried Stohr - 7 points
- Ricardo Zunino - 6 points
- Michele Alboreto - 4 points
- Jan Lammers - 4 points
- Slim Borgudd - 3 points
- Piercarlo Ghinzani - 3 points
- Eliseo Salazar - 2 points
- REST - 0 points
Doesn't this just show the magic of the "Win-And-You're-In" format? Going into the final race of the Regular Season, Renault's Alain Prost was stuck all the way down in 17th. He was one of the many drivers with only one route into the playoffs: to win the French Grand Prix. But, like an absolute mad lad, he did exactly that. His regular season - only two finishes, a 1st and a 3rd - was the absolute opposite of his Renault teammate Rene Arnoux - five finishes, none of them on the podium; but they both scraped into the playoffs.- - -
PlayoffsRound of 10- - British Grand Prix - John Watson
- - German Grand Prix - Nelson Piquet
Standings- John Watson - 35 points (1 win)
- Jacques Laffite - 32 points
- Nelson Piquet - 25 points (1 win)
- Carlos Reutemann - 20 points (Total: 145)
- Alain Prost - 20 points (Total: 61)
- Rene Arnoux - 10 points
- Elio de Angelis - 9 points
- Gilles Villeneuve - 6 points (Total : 78)
- Riccardo Patrese - 6 points (Total: 53)
- Alan Jones - 5 points
And doesn't this just go to show how quickly things can change? Alan Jones, one of the very top drivers in the Regular Season, has fallen at the first hurdle in the Playoffs. Gilles Villeneuve survives by the skin of his teeth thanks to total points across the season being used as a tie-breaker, bur he'd certainly prefer to be a little bit safer in the next round.Round of 8- - Austrian Grand Prix - Jacques Laffite
- - Dutch Grand Prix - Alain Prost
Standings- Nelson Piquet - 36 points
- Jacques Laffite - 25 points (1 win, Total: 123)
- Alain Prost - 25 points (1 win, Total: 86)
- Elio de Angelis - 20 points (Total: 82)
- Rene Arnoux - 20 points (Total: 77)
- Carlos Reutemann - 11 points
- John Watson - 10 points
- Gilles Villeneuve - 0 points
Just like that, Ferrari's Gilles Villeneuve and McLaren's John Watson fall out of Championship contention. This really does go to show the danger of poor reliability coming at the wrong time; even if you dominate the Regular Season, a double-DNF in a playoff round will likely be terminal.Round of 6- - Italian Grand Prix - Alain Prost
- - Canadian Grand Prix - Jacques Laffite
Standings- Jacques Laffite - 25 points (1 win, Total: 148)
- Alain Prost - 25 points (1 win, Total: 111)
- Elio de Angelis - 23 points
- Carlos Reutemann - 22 points
- Nelson Piquet - 21 points
- Rene Arnoux - 0 points
It doesn't get much closer than that! The 1981 Canadian Grand Prix became one of the most dramatic the sport has ever seen, thanks almost entirely to the drama unfolding in the Playoff race. At the front of the field, Jacques Laffite led the way, but if the rapidly advancing John Watson was able to catch and pass him, then he'd fall out of the Championship Four. Then further back was a three-way joust for the last two spots: de Angelis, in sixth, had to keep Mario Andretti behind him. Piquet, in fifth, needed to catch and pass Bruno Giacomelli's Alfa. And Carlos Reutemann had a big scare when his Williams bit the dust a few laps from the end - but he only dropped as far as tenth.
But now we know our Championship Four:- Elio de Angelis (Lotus)
- Jacques Laffite (Ligier)
- Alain Prost (Prost)
- Carlos Reutemann (Williams)
Championship Final- - Caesars Palace Grand Prix - Alan Jones
Standings- Alain Prost - 20 points
- Jacques Laffite - 10 points
- Carlos Reutemann - 8 points
- Elio de Angelis - 0 points
With the Championship Four's points tallies all reset to 500, the race for the Championship was completely even at the start of the decider in Las Vegas. So, did the first ever four-way shootout for a World Championship have all the drama we might have hoped? Well not exactly, as Prost ended up more than a minute ahead of his nearest Championship challenger. That said, there was still the constant jeopardy of reliability: by the end of the race, Prost had eased off so far that he'd been caught and almost past by Giacomelli. Just imagine how that might have played out if they had tangled?
And it's worth remembering the fairy tale nature of this Championship win: with only one race left of the regular season, Prost had been rooted all the way down in 17th place. Eight races later, he returned to the Renault garage in Las Vegas as a World Champion. - - -
Final Championship StandingsFormula One Cup Series- Alain Prost - 520 points (3 wins)
- Jacques Laffite - 510 points (2 wins)
- Carlos Reutemann - 508 points (2 wins)
- Elio de Angelis - 500 points
- Nelson Piquet - 179 points (3 wins)
- Alan Jones - 170 points (2 wins)
- John Watson - 133 points (1 win)
- Gilles Villeneuve - 94 points (2 wins)
- Rene Arnoux - 77 points
- Didier Pironi - 69 points
- Eddie Cheever - 63 points
- Marc Surer - 61 points
- Mario Andretti - 59 points
- Riccardo Patrese - 58 points (Best: 2nd)
- Bruno Giacomelli - 58 points (Best: 3rd)
- Hector Rebaque - 57 points
- Nigel Mansell - 53 points
- Andrea de Cesaris - 41 points
- Jean-Pierre Jarier - 38 points
- Patrick Tambay - 33 points
- Derek Daly - 22 points
- Siegfried Stohr - 20 points
- Slim Borgudd - 19 points (Best: 6th)
- Michele Alboreto - 19 points (Best: 9th)
- Keke Rosberg - 17 points
- Chico Serra - 14 points
- Eliseo Salazar - 12 points
- Brian Henton - 6 points
- Ricardo Zunino - 6 points
- Jan Lammers - 4 points
- Piercarlo Ghinzani - 3 points
- REST - 0 points
Constructors Cup- Williams - 326 points (4 wins)
- Brabham - 236 points (3 wins)
- Renault - 208 points (3 wins)
- McLaren - 174 points (1 win)
- Ligier - 167 points (2 wins)
- Ferrari - 163 points (2 wins)
- Lotus - 158 points
- Alfa Romeo - 117 points
- Tyrrell - 81 points
- Arrows - 78 points
- Theodore - 54 points
- Ensign - 47 points
- Osella - 32 points
- Fittipaldi - 31 points
- ATS - 23 points
- March - 17 points
- Toleman - 6 points
The Formula One Cup Series, 1982
Posted: 17 Apr 2020, 11:17
by Aislabie
Regular Season- - South African Grand Prix - Alain Prost
- - Brazilian Grand Prix - Alain Prost
- - United States Grand Prix West - Niki Lauda
- - San Marino Grand Prix - Didier Pironi
- - Belgian Grand Prix - John Watson
- - Monaco Grand Prix - Riccardo Patrese
- - Detroit Grand Prix - John Watson
- - Canadian Grand Prix - Nelson Piquet
- - Dutch Grand Prix - Didier Pironi
Standings- John Watson - 113 points (2 wins)
- Didier Pironi - 103 points (2 wins)
- Keke Rosberg - 80 points
- Michele Alboreto - 66 points
- Riccardo Patrese - 62 points (1 win)
- Alain Prost - 59 points (2 wins)
- Nelson Piquet - 56 points (1 win)
- Elio de Angelis - 56 points
- Niki Lauda - 51 points (1 win)
- Derek Daly - 43 points
- Eddie Cheever - 42 points
- Marc Surer - 41 points
- Nigel Mansell - 38 points
- Jochen Mass - 34 points
- Andrea de Cesaris - 29 points
- Mauro Baldi - 24 points
- Rene Arnoux - 22 points
- Jean-Pierre Jarier - 22 points
- Eliseo Salazar - 21 points
- Manfred Winkelhock - 21 points
- Gilles Villeneuve - 20 points
- Carlos Reutemann - 20 points
- Jacques Laffite - 17 points
- Raul Boesel - 16 points
- Chico Serra - 15 points
- Slim Borgudd - 15 points
- Brian Henton - 15 points
- Bruno Giacomelli - 10 points
- Patrick Tambay - 8 points
- REST - 0 points
What a strange and tragic Regular Season; while the whole Formula One paddock mourns the loss of Gilles Villeneuve and salutes the retirement of Carlos Reutemann, the old adage that the show must go on certainly applies. It wasn't just Reutemann who went missing out of the previous year's Championship Four - Jacques Laffite had a horrendous Regular Season in which he only saw the chequered flag twice, and never in a better finishing position than sixth. He would not be making it to the Playoffs.- - -
PlayoffsRound of 10- - British Grand Prix - Niki Lauda
- - French Grand Prix - Rene Arnoux
Standings- Didier Pironi - 36 points
- Niki Lauda - 33 points (1 win)
- Alain Prost - 30 points
- Derek Daly - 20 points
- Elio de Angelis - 13 points
- Keke Rosberg - 11 points
- Michele Alboreto - 10 points
- John Watson - 0 points (Total: 113)
- Riccardo Patrese - 0 points (Total: 62)
- Nelson Piquet - 0 points (Total: 56)
That was an exceptionally strange round of playoff races where, as it turned out, even a single point would have been enough to avert disaster. Some truly shocking reliability saw three of the ten drivers fail to finish either race, with the resulting elimination battle coming down to who had scored fewest points across the entire season.Round of 8- - German Grand Prix - Patrick Tambay
- - Austrian Grand Prix - Elio de Angelis
Standings- Keke Rosberg - 36 points
- Elio de Angelis - 25 points (1 win)
- Michele Alboreto - 13 points
- Niki Lauda - 11 points
- Alain Prost - 8 points
- John Watson - 7 points
- Derek Daly - 0 points
- Didier Pironi - 0 points
Another bizarre playoff round, seemingly characterised by the race to be least bad. In the end, it was Derek Daly who lost that race. While all that was going on, the Formula One community again had its thoughts with Didier Pironi, who suffered a horrific injury at the German Grand Prix.Round of 6- - Swiss Grand Prix - Keke Rosberg
- - Italian Grand Prix - Rene Arnoux
Standings- Keke Rosberg - 33 points (1 win)
- Alain Prost - 20 points
- Michele Alboreto - 20 points
- John Watson - 16 points (Total: 136)
- Niki Lauda - 16 points (Total: 111)
- Elio de Angelis - 10 points
Finally the Playoff race got into full swing and once again the final race of the Round of 6 was a thriller: this time, the person on the cusp was John Watson, who needed to hold off a charging Michele Alboreto to stay in contention. As it turned out, he managed that and squeaked through on the total points rule, which will have riled Niki Lauda somewhat.
But we now know out Championship Four:- Michele Alboreto (Tyrrell)
- Alain Prost (Renault)
- Keke Rosberg (Williams)
- John Watson (McLaren)
Championship Final- - Caesars Palace Grand Prix - Michele Alboreto
Standings- Michele Alboreto - 25 points
- John Watson - 20 points
- Alain Prost - 13 points
- Keke Rosberg - 11 points
And the absolute underdog wins it! I don't think anyone can have gone into the race weekend thinking that Michele Alboreto was about to become a World Champion, but that's exactly what happened. When Alain Prost took pole position it looked as though it would be back-to-back titles for the Frenchman, but his nearest challenger on the grid was Alboreto. However, the Italian got himself clear of the field and build a near 30-second lead that he carried all the way to the finish line and an unlikely World Championship.- - -
StandingsCup Series- Michele Alboreto - 525 points (1 win)
- John Watson - 520 points (2 wins)
- Alain Prost - 513 points (2 wins)
- Keke Rosberg - 511 points (1 win)
- Didier Pironi - 139 points (2 wins)
- Niki Lauda - 111 points (2 wins)
- Elio de Angelis - 104 points (1 win)
- Patrick Tambay - 95 points (1 win)
- Rene Arnoux - 92 points (2 wins)
- Derek Daly - 80 points
- Riccardo Patrese - 73 points (1 win)
- Nelson Piquet - 69 points (1 win)
- Eddie Cheever - 68 points
- Marc Surer - 64 points
- Nigel Mansell - 62 points
- Brian Henton - 51 points
- Mauro Baldi - 50 points
- Andrea de Cesaris - 48 points
- Bruno Giacomelli - 47 points
- Jochen Mass - 40 points
- Jacques Laffite - 35 points
- Chico Serra - 34 points
- Eliseo Salazar - 30 points
- Manfred Winkelhock - 26 points
- Jean-Pierre Jarier - 22 poitns
- Gilles Villeneuve - 20 points
- Carlos Reutemann - 20 points
- Raul Boesel - 19 points
- Mario Andretti - 16 points
- Slim Borgudd - 15 points
- Roberto Guerrero - 8 points
- Derek Warwick - 7 points
- Rupert Keegan - 4 points
- Geoff Lees - 4 points
- REST - 0 points
Constructors Cup- Ferrari - 275 points (3 wins)
- Williams - 273 points (1 win)
- McLaren - 266 points (4 wins)
- Renault - 222 points (4 wins)
- Tyrrell - 200 points (1 win)
- Lotus - 170 points (1 win)
- Brabham - 147 points (2 wins)
- Arrows - 114 points
- Ligier - 103 points
- Alfa Romeo - 95 points
- March - 63 points
- ATS - 56 points
- Fittipaldi - 34 points
- Osella - 22 points
- Ensign - 8 points
- Toleman - 7 points
- Theodore - 2 points
Re: The Formula One Cup Series, 1981-present
Posted: 17 Apr 2020, 23:33
by Abbaschand
I don't know how you did it, but you managed to make the Caesars Place races somewhat interesting!