Points table after 4 races (and the points system)

[x_dt]

Drivers championship after 4 races:

1   Paul TRACY          65
2   Bruno JUNQUEIRA     54
3   Michel JOURDAIN, Jr 42
4   Adrián FERNÁNDEZ    29
5   Patrick CARPENTIER  28
6   Sébastien BOURDAIS  27
7=  Roberto MORENO      24
7=  Mario DOMINGUEZ     24
9   Alexandre TAGLIANI  22
10= Jimmy VASSER        20
10= Mario HABERFELD     20
12= Darren MANNING      14
12= Oriol SERVIA        14
14= Tiago MONTEIRO       8
14= Patrick LEMARIÉ      8
16  Ryan HUNTER-REAY     7
17  Joël CAMATHIAS       6
18  Alex YOONG           4

Despite winning 3 out of 4 races Tracy's lead is down to just 11 points (over Bruno who has no wins) as a result of retiring from the Brands Hatch race.
Compare the above with how the points table would look if the points system used by F1 until last year (10-6-4-3-2-1) was used:

1   Paul TRACY          30
2   Bruno JUNQUEIRA     16
3   Michel JOURDAIN, Jr 13
4   Sébastien BOURDAIS  10
5   Adrián FERNÁNDEZ     9
6   Mario DOMINGUEZ      6
7=  Alexandre TAGLIANI   4
7=  Jimmy VASSER         4
9=  Oriol SERVIA         3
9=  Mario HABERFELD      3
9=  Patrick CARPENTIER   3
9=  Roberto MORENO       3

Thus PT would, despite retiring yesterday, still lead the championship by a margin more than 1 race win.

There has been plenty of debate in F1 (and WRC etc) with regard to the changing of their points system - that it doesn't put as much of a premium on winning races as it should. The same argument applies to CART and its points system; PT could win more races than any of his rivals and yet lose the title to one of them.

Any thoughts?

[evo]

I always liked the CART system... back when there were 26-28 cars in the field. With only 19 cars, it seems like the points go a little deep into the field. Another good thing about the old F1 system is that you get more of a sense of accomplishment when you score points. The new F1 system kinda takes that away.

[x_dt]

Points table after 5 races:

1=  Paul TRACY          66
1=  Bruno JUNQUEIRA     66
3   Michel JOURDAIN, Jr 56
4   Sébastien BOURDAIS  49
5   Mario DOMINGUEZ     40
6   Patrick CARPENTIER  34
7   Adrián FERNÁNDEZ    29
8   Roberto MORENO      27
9   Jimmy VASSER        25
10  Oriol SERVIA        24
11= Alexandre TAGLIANI  22
11= Darren MANNING      22
13  Mario HABERFELD     20
14  Ryan HUNTER-REAY     7
15= Tiago MONTEIRO       8
15= Patrick LEMARIÉ      8
17  Joël CAMATHIAS       6
18= Alex YOONG           4
18= Rodolfo LAVÍN        4

Hypothetical points table after 5 races using 10-6-4-3-2-1 points system:

1   Paul TRACY          30
2   Sébastien BOURDAIS  20
3   Bruno JUNQUEIRA     19
4   Michel JOURDAIN, Jr 17
5   Mario DOMINGUEZ     12
6   Adrián FERNÁNDEZ     9
7   Oriol SERVIA         5
8=  Alexandre TAGLIANI   4
8=  Jimmy VASSER         4
10= Mario HABERFELD      3
10= Patrick CARPENTIER   3
10= Roberto MORENO       3
13  Darren MANNING       1

Compare and contrast...

[Snrub]

No points system is truely just. I've found in the past CART's system better then F1s. However, I agree in this case PT deserves more points then Junky.

Take the results today, did Dominguez put in a result worth 60% of Bourdais? Clearly not.