I decided to create what I call the Driver Progression Ranking (DPR). This isn't about who's the best driver but rather an attempt to answer a question I often ask myself: Which driver entertained me the most this weekend? By this I mean a good qualifying performance but mostly a notable progression during the race.
Thus I'm using a very simple formula to calculate the DPR of each driver during the weekend:
DPR = (Q_WEIGHT * (NUM_DRIVERS - Q_POS)) + (R_WEIGHT * (Q_POS - R_POS))
This gives a point for each position a driver conquers during qualifying and the race but since I find it more difficult and entertaining to progress on Sunday I'm using Q_WEIGHT = 1 and R_WEIGHT = 2.
This is obviously subjective and prone to many errors like for instance when a driver has a very negative progress because he DNFs due to mechanical issues, nevertheless I can say that with a few exceptions the results are more or less what I expected from watching the races.
I guess considering the current position of the driver before the mechanical DNF would be the best shot, but there are two problems: first I guess the only place where this info can be found is in the race footage (or maybe using the F1LT software) and second we'd never know how fair it would be since we can't say where the driver in question would finish without the problem. Anyway, suggestions are more than welcome.
Edited by gluon, 21 October 2013 - 19:43.