Catchup on Season Grades
All the drivers with 5+ F1 wins, 5+ Cup wins, or 6+ IndyCar wins who I haven't done yet.
I didn’t really have time to write any updates in the past couple weeks both because my mom was transitioned back from the nursing home to the hospital because she had a case of pneumonia and was extremely dehydrated the Friday before last. She was transitioned back to the hospital on Wednesday and it took me a while to even figure out which hospital she had been taken to in order to find out what was going on. In addition, I had to read through over a megabyte of notes for one of my new jobs so this kind of fell by the wayside, but I was still determining single-season grades for all the F1, IndyCar, and Cup drivers for columns that I ended up not releasing. As a result, this column (which catches me up to date on my initially planned columns) includes a staggering 54 drivers.
Because I acknowledge both that this is a lot to read and also too much for me to write summaries for each driver up to my usual standard, I’m going to just list the grades for each driver for each year. I sorted these 54 drivers based on cumulative points. Once again, is this the exact order that I would rank these drivers? No, but it’s probably pretty close. The cumulative points are just to determine which drivers I will select for the list and then I will re-rank them based on a series of criteria as I said many times before. I think 25 cumulative points roughly equates to lock status, and if you look at the drivers above/below that threshold, this should make sense to you. Obviously, with his performance this year, Oscar Piastri will obviously be elevated to lock status, but I don’t think either Ross Chastain or Tyler Reddick will quite get there. There are drivers who I did not consier locks who I have now bumped up to lock status: Jim Reed (take a look at his record in the NASCAR Short Track Series and who he beat and you’ll be knocked out; his Wikipedia page is an atrocity), Jacques Laffite, David Coulthard, John Watson, Riccardo Patrese, Valtteri Bottas, Gary Bettenhausen, Don Branson, Bill Cummings, Graham Rahal, Tony Brooks, and Clay Regazzoni. Almost all those drivers I already had as near locks, but I had nagging doubts about them: either their lack of competition, their poor ratings in my teammate model, their lack of longevity, and/or their lack of dominance, but I’m now ready to give all of them the full endorsement. Anyway, here are all the remaining drivers with 5+ F1 wins, 6+ IndyCar wins, and/or 5+ NASCAR Cup wins who I haven’t done yet, from best (Alberto Ascari) to worst (Austin Dillon). Enjoy.
Alberto Ascari
1948: E-
1949: 1
1950: E
1951: E
1952: 1
1953: 1
1954: C+
1955: C+
Cumulative points: 331
Jacky Ickx
1965: C+
1966: E-
1967: E-
1968: E
1969: 2
1970: E
1971: E-
1972: 5
1973: C+
1974: C
1975: C+
1976: 3
1977: E
1978: C-
1979: E
1981: C+
1982: E
1983: 2
1984: C+
1985: E-
Cumulative points: 298
Denny Hulme
1963: C-
1964: C
1965: C+
1966: C
1967: 4
1968: 1
1969: E-
1970: 3
1971: C+
1972: E
1973: E-
Cumulative points: 213
Nino Farina
1937: C+
1938: C+
1940: C+
1946: C+
1948: E
1949: C+
1950: 2
1951: E
1952: E
1953: 3
1954: C+
1955: E-
Cumulative points: 167
Ralph DePalma
1909: E-
1910: C+
1911: C+
1912: 1
1913: E
1914: 1
1915: 3
1916: 3
1919: E-
1920: E
1921: 5
1922: C+
1925: C+
1926: C+
Cumulative points: 160
Carlos Reutemann
1971: C
1972: C
1973: E
1974: 2
1975: E-
1976: C-
1977: C
1978: E
1979: C+
1980: C+
1981: E
1982: C-
Cumulative points: 119
Rubens Barrichello
1991: C
1992: C-
1993: C
1994: E-
1995: C+
1996: C+
1997: C+
1998: E-
1999: E-
2000: C+
2001: C+
2002: E
2003: E-
2004: C+
2007: C
2008: C
2009: C+
2010: C+
2011: C-
2012: C-
2013: C+
2014: C+
2015: C
2016: E-
2017: C+
2018: E
2019: E-
2020: C+
2021: C+
2022: E
2023: C
Cumulative points: 114
Jody Scheckter
1973: E-
1974: E
1975: C+
1976: C+
1977: 2
1978: C+
1979: C+
Cumulative points: 97
Charles Leclerc
2016: C
2017: C+
2018: E-
2019: E
2020: E
2021: E
2022: 4
2023: E-
2024: E
Cumulative points: 85
Marshall Teague
1951: E
1952: 3
1953: C+
1954: E
1955: C+
1956: E-
1957: C-
1958: C
Cumulative points: 84
Parnelli Jones
1958: C+
1959: C
1960: C+
1961: E-
1962: E
1963: E
1964: 5
1965: C+
1966: C
1967: E-
1969: C+
1970: E
1971: C
1972: C
Cumulative points: 80
Jim Reed
1951: C
1952: C
1953: E
1954: E
1955: E
1956: E
1957: E-
1958: E
1959: E-
1960: C
1961: C
Cumulative points: 68
Ralf Schumacher
1996: E-
1997: C
1998: C+
1999: E
2000: E
2001: E
2002: E
2003: C+
2004: C+
2005: C+
2006: C+
2007: C
2008: C-
2011: C
Cumulative points: 67
Felipe Massa
2000: C-
2001: C-
2002: C-
2004: C
2005: C+
2006: C+
2007: E
2008: 4
2009: C+
2010: C-
2011: C-
2014: C
2015: C-
2016: C-
2017: C-
2019: C
2024: C
Cumulative points: 66
Mauri Rose
1932: C+
1933: C+
1934: E
1936: E-
1939: C+
1940: C+
1941: 3
1946: C
1947: E
1948: 5
1949: C
Cumulative points: 63
Daniel Ricciardo
2009: C-
2010: C-
2011: C-
2012: C
2013: C
2014: E
2015: C
2016: E
2017: E
2018: E-
2019: E-
2020: E-
2021: C-
Cumulative points: 55
Mark Webber
1998: C+
2000: C
2001: C-
2002: C
2003: E-
2004: C+
2005: C+
2006: C+
2007: C+
2008: E-
2009: C+
2010: E
2011: C-
2012: C
2015: E-
2016: C+
Cumulative points: 54
Jacques Laffite
1972: C-
1973: C-
1974: C-
1975: E-
1976: C+
1977: C+
1978: C+
1979: E
1980: C+
1981: E
1982: C-
1985: C
1986: C-
1988: C
1990: C+
Cumulative points: 49
Lando Norris
2015: C-
2016: C+
2017: C
2018: C
2019: C
2020: C+
2021: E
2022: E
2023: E-
2024: E
Cumulative points: 48
David Coulthard
1991: C-
1993: C
1994: C-
1995: E-
1996: C+
1997: E
1998: C
1999: C+
2000: E-
2001: E
2002: C
2005: C-
2014: C-
2018: C-
Cumulative points: 47
Danny Ongais
1969: C
1976: C+
1977: C+
1978: 4
1979: C+
1982: C+
1984: C-
Cumulative points: 45
John Watson
1974: C
1976: E-
1977: C+
1978: E-
1979: E-
1980: C+
1981: E-
1982: E-
1983: C+
1984: C-
1987: E-
Cumulative points: 42
Riccardo Patrese
1976: C
1977: C-
1978: C+
1979: C
1980: C+
1981: C
1982: C+
1983: C+
1984: C
1985: C
1986: C+
1987: C
1988: C
1989: C+
1990: C
1991: C
1992: C-
1993: C
Cumulative points: 40
Sergio Pérez
2010: C-
2011: C
2012: C+
2013: C+
2014: C
2015: C+
2016: C+
2017: C+
2018: C+
2019: C+
2020: E-
2021: C+
2022: C+
2023: C-
Cumulative points: 38
Valtteri Bottas
2008: C-
2009: C-
2010: C-
2011: C-
2013: C-
2014: C+
2015: E-
2016: C+
2017: E
2018: C-
2019: E-
2020: C
2021: C-
2022: C
Cumulative points: 37
Gary Bettenhausen
1967: C
1968: E-
1969: C+
1970: C+
1971: C+
1972: E-
1973: C
1975: C-
1976: C
1978: C-
1979: C-
1980: C+
1983: C+
Cumulative points: 34
Joe Leonard
1964: C-
1965: C+
1966: C+
1967: C
1968: C+
1970: C-
1971: E
1972: E
1973: C-
Cumulative points: 34
Don Branson
1958: C
1959: E-
1960: C+
1962: E-
1963: C
1964: C+
1965: E
1966: C+
Cumulative points: 33
Bill Cummings
1930: E
1931: C+
1932: C+
1933: 3
1934: E
1935: E-
1937: C+
Cumulative points: 31
Christopher Bell
2013: C
2014: C
2017: C+
2018: C
2019: C
2020: C-
2021: C
2022: C+
2023: C+
2024: E
Cumulative points: 30
Graham Rahal
2006: C-
2008: C
2009: C+
2010: C
2011: C-
2012: C-
2015: E-
2016: C+
2017: C+
2018: C
2019: C
2020: C
2021: C
2022: C-
Cumulative points: 30
Tony Brooks
1955: C-
1957: C
1958: E
1959: E
1960: C
1961: C
Cumulative points: 27
Clay Regazzoni
1970: C+
1971: C+
1972: C+
1973: C
1974: E-
1975: C
1976: C
1977: C
1978: C-
1979: C
Cumulative points: 25
René Arnoux
1977: C
1979: C
1980: C+
1981: C
1982: C+
1983: E-
1984: C
1986: C
Cumulative points: 21
Clint Bowyer
2007: C
2008: C
2009: C-
2010: C
2011: C+
2012: C+
2013: C+
2014: C-
2015: C-
2018: C
2019: C-
Cumulative points: 21
Donnie Allison
1968: C
1969: C
1970: C+
1974: C-
1976: C
1977: E-
1978: C
1979: C
1980: C-
Cumulative points: 20
Ross Chastain
2018: C-
2019: C-
2021: C
2022: E
2023: C+
2024: C+
Cumulative points: 20
Tiny Lund
1957: C
1963: C
1965: C
1966: C+
1968: C
1969: C-
1970: C+
1971: C+
1973: C
Cumulative points: 20
Takuma Sato
2001: C-
2004: C-
2006: C
2007: C-
2011: C-
2012: C-
2013: C
2014: C-
2015: C-
2016: C-
2017: C
2018: C-
2019: C
2020: C+
Cumulative points: 20
Kyle Petty
1985: C
1986: C-
1987: C-
1990: C+
1991: C-
1992: E-
1993: C+
1997: C-
Cumulative points: 17
Oscar Piastri
2019: C-
2020: C-
2021: C+
2023: C
2024: E
Cumulative points: 17
Tyler Reddick
2019: C-
2020: C-
2021: C
2022: E-
2023: C+
2024: E-
Cumulative points: 17
Darel Dieringer
1956: C-
1963: C+
1964: C
1965: C+
1966: C+
1967: C+
Cumulative points: 15
Jamie McMurray
2002: C-
2003: C
2004: C+
2005: C
2010: C+
2014: C
2015: C
Cumulative points: 15
Dave Marcis
1971: C
1974: C
1975: C+
1976: C+
1978: C
1981: C-
1982: C-
Cumulative points: 14
Cotton Owens
1954: C-
1955: C-
1957: C
1958: C
1959: C+
1960: C
1961: C+
Cumulative points: 14
James Hinchcliffe
2011: C-
2012: C
2013: C+
2015: C-
2016: C-
2017: C
2018: C-
2019: C
Cumulative points: 13
Ward Burton
1995: C-
1998: C-
1999: C+
2000: C+
2001: C
2002: C-
Cumulative points: 11
George Robson
1940: C+
1946: E
Cumulative points: 11
Chris Buescher
2015: C-
2019: C-
2020: C-
2021: C-
2022: C-
2023: C+
2024: C
Cumulative points: 10
Jeremy Mayfield
1997: C-
1998: C+
1999: C-
2000: C
2004: C
2005: C-
Cumulative points: 10
Alex Bowman
2018: C-
2019: C
2020: C+
2021: C
2022: C-
Cumulative points: 9
Ralph Moody
1955: C-
1956: C+
1957: C+
Cumulative points: 7
Austin Dillon
2016: C-
2020: C-
Cumulative points: 2
Thanks to these updates, we now know the #1 driver for 96 of the past 118 years. Still missing 2018, 2010, 2005-2008, 2002, 1996, 1983-84, 1935-1938, 1931, 1928-29 (oddly enough, we still don't have a single top five driver from '29), 1923, 1913 and 1908-1910.