Hamilton 50
Massa 49
Alonso 48


This despite the Renault still being some way off. Given some improvement over the winter, Alonso is in the right place for next year.

next year.......................................anything can happen.

although i do hope alonso and renault are quick. (with a new livery).

All new rules for next year so it's not as simple as improving the current car. It's going to be interesting to see which which teams get it right and which ones don't, but wouldnt use this season as the indication of where they will stand.

During the second half of the season, Alonso really has shown what he is made of

Driving slower cars and putting them where they should not be, now that is sign of greatness.

Honda used that logic to show that they were going to be the team to beat in 2007, look how that turned out.

Of course there are new rules, but I think Alonso and Renault are back to that intimate relationship that gave Alonso his WDC´s. It will pay off. Alonso doesn't even need a car that is on par with the best to be a threat.

Perhaps even more remarkable is #4 of the second half......

4. Vettel 30
5. Kovalainen 29
6. Kubica 29
7. Raikkonen 27
8. Heidfeld 24
9. Glock 20
10. Piquet 17
11. Trulli 11
12. Rosberg 9

So true. Puts Raikkonen and Kovalainens results in a bad light, doesn't it? Great work by Vettel. Never thought he had it in him. One of the few times I've been wrong about a driver but perhaps that was a reflection of a certain bias against him - he cost a friend of mine a WRbR-car at Spa (thats where Vettel almost lost a finger).

I really hope that this trend continues, in 2008 the cars were very close in the midfield and having great drivers in Renault, BMW and Toro Rosso made the races quite exciting. If they can close the gap and make it so that many cars can fight for the win, it should be an amazing 2009 season.

Unfortunately 2009 will probably not be so close and will spread out of the field.

I find it strange how quickly renault and toyota have improved in the last few races, have fia given them some leeway to improve there engines?

Exactly my thoughts.

More likely Ferrari and McLaren were quite maxed already, so they were harder to improve without drastic redesigns.

True, if the top teams keep messing up like this year (Singapore, Fuji for instance). Otherwise, I don't think so.

Yes.
Both Renault and Toyota were better than the BMW in the second half.
Don't know about Toyota but Renault got an extra 3o+hp after Montreal when they made some "reliability" changes to the engine.
That's why I don't give Alonso as much credit as I should.

Weren't Button and Honda in a similar position in the 2nd half of 2006 as Alonso is now? And in the last 6 races of 2006 Button scored more points than either Alonso or Schumacher. Then I thought also it would be an indication of 2007 regarding Honda's form but it turned out nothing at the end. Of course it still could be an indication of the future, but we cannot be sure, especially with the rule changes for next year. IMO BMW will be very strong in 2009.

If we could continue the close racing from this year into next I'm sure most F1 fans would be happy. To regularly get different cars in the top 4-5 positions makes for a much more exiciting sport to watch. Still, Hamilton, after winning the championship, will be an awsome force to be racing against next year.

Absolutely agreed. This year we've had some amazing parity btwn the teams, this is a result of rules stability imo. Looking at yesterday's qualifying in Q1 Massa topped the timesheet with a 1:11.830 but Nakajima and Button were eliminated with 1:12.800 and 1:12.810, less than a second back. Now that's something: less than a second covers 17 cars!!! Makes the honda look not so bad after all. I'd say all the teams have done a great job this year, even the Force Indias are within 1.5 to 2 seconds. Really a remarkable year. a shame that its gonna get effed up with max's never-ending rules changes.

Sure, and you could probably find even more examples of that in the history of the sport. Thing is, there is a pattern of Alonso and Renault continually improving that has a sense of inevitability about it. I have no doubt that Alonso has been operative in getting Renault back on track. Onboard shots at the end of the season seems to indicate that Alonso has gotten the car where he wants it to be and given his specific demands, I think his part of improving the car cannot be understated.

The rule changes for next year can upset everything of course but generally there has been no real suprises over the last decade from one year to another regardless of rule changes. Biggest threat to Renault might be the financial crisis which has affected their main sponsor, ING, while at the same time, Renault itself doesn't seem to be doing too good on the car market.

2009 will be a toss-up with so many changes but have to say Renault were as impressive in 2008 towards the end in comparison to Williams who went downhill from the first race.

Regards

Andy

38 of Fred's points were scored after the FIA arbitrarily removed the right of veto for the engine changes Renault made. According to the other teams these should not have been permitted under the spirit of the regulations. I think the dramatic change in performance says it all really. Toyota can rightly feel hard done by.

I agree that we can't make a lot of prediction for the 2009 season based on the 2008 one due to alot of rule changes.

Nevertheless I truely hope it won't be a 2 / 3 team race for the title. The more cars really capable of winning races, the better!

Also, Alonso wasn't onboard early enough to have an impact on the design and development of this years car. Next season will be different, rather, it is already different.