First race winner usually becomes F1 world champion

[garycat]

It seems to be that the winner of the first race each season usually goes on to become world champion...

i.e. 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990

Any theories as to why this is so common or is it simply a case of the best driver in the best prepared car prevailing.

[williamp]

Maybe its because the world champion usually wins mroe races then everyone else, so the chances are better. I bet if you look at any race number- 5th, 11th, last etc etc then you'll find a simmilar pattern.

[kevin ritson]

The traditional pattern is usually that it's easier to start with a good car than play catch-up and many seasons have been about one team being better than the others. More often than not a team has a clear number one driver, usually from performances rather than contract.

[DrTre]

Dominance maybe? Certainly in the time frame in which you're talking.

F1 tends to have teams dominate for periods of time then wane. Roughly speaking: Mclaren, Williams, Renault, Williams, Macca, Ferrari, Renault, and now..

Not since 82/83/84 have we had three different constructors win the WDC such as in the last 3 years now. I think...

Strange situation..Mind you, it is skewed by a certain Mr Schumacher...

ETA what I mean is that for any given year, there's a higher chance that the previous years winning team will win again (I think, probability is not my strong suit)...not really sure how this affects your observation though except that the winning team is more likely to remain the winning team at the beginning of the following season....I'll shut up now..

Edited by DrTre on Thursday 15th January 12:16