Sidepodcast - All for F1 and F1 for all

Christine's Rankings returns for 2011 - now with added teams - F1's definitive rankings system makes a welcome (expanded) comeback

Published by Christine

Timo Glock is set to defend his title
Timo Glock is set to defend his titleCredit: Virgin Racing

Formula One is beginning to spring into life again, with teams and drivers showing off their new cars by way of launches and then putting them to the test out on various tracks in Spain. After a quiet winter, the 2011 season is barrelling towards us at full speed and that can only mean one thing - the return of Christine's Rankings.

Last year, Sidepodcast debuted the most in-depth and accurate global driver ranking system ever produced by me, whereby points were accrued for the fan-friendly drivers, and points were docked for those who wore silly hats. It's important stuff, and this is the only place where you will find the drivers ranked in an open and transparent fashion for more than 40 weeks of the year.

In 2010, Christine's Rankings crowned the inaugural champion, with Timo Glock picking up top honours. He fought off some close competition from Karun Chandhok and Heikki Kovalainen. All three of them made good use of social media throughout the season to give us insights into the world of racing fast cars, cooking nice meals, and posing for sponsor ads.

PositionDriverPoints Total
1Timo Glock75
2Heikki Kovalainen74
3Karun Chandhok73

New faces for 2011

For 2011, there are new drivers entering into the mix, and the grid is shaping up quite differently from it's former self. Will Pérez be able to make an impression on his first year in F1? What mischief can D'Ambrosio get up to at the back of the grid?

Another important change for 2011 is a second rankings table - the team's edition. Not satisfied with judging the drivers individually, it seems only fair to weigh up each team against each other away from the track as well. We'll likely be starting with a glimpse at how well their launches went, and who has been most open during the hours and hours of testing we've seen so far.

Christine's Rankings is going to be bigger and better in 2011, but don't forget that although I have the final say on who gets points and why, it would be nothing without you guys. Throughout the year, whenever you spot anything that could have an effect on a driver's points - for better or worse - you need to let me know about it. From photographs posted via Twitter, to blog entries and video diaries, I need everyone to keep their eyes peeled.

One final tweak is the weekly updates will appear on Tuesdays this year rather than the Monday tables of 2010. This means there is plenty of time to scope out what the drivers have done throughout a race weekend and feed back your findings in the comments. I will be back in two days time with our first update for 2011!