Patrick O'Brien's Grand Prix Rating System: Season Summaries
http://www.lulu.com/shop/patrick-obrien/patrick-obriens-grand-prix-rating-system-season-summaries-2000-2009/paperback/product-21395285.html
How can my Rating System be replicated and checked?
I explain various aspects in separate documents. A section entitled ‘Guidelines for interpreting my Rating System’ is included in all books which briefly explains my System.
Five chapters form my thesis. Chapter 1 introduces the problem that my study seeks to address as well as its implications; Chapter 2 reviews the literature on this topic; Chapter 3 discusses my methodology; Chapter 4, contains my findings (the Season Summaries from 1894-2013); and Chapter 5 is the conclusion (summarising the extent to which my Rating System is replicable).
At present, there are eight ‘Season Summaries’ that comprise Chapter 4: 1940-1949, 1950-1959, 1960-1969,1970-1979,1980-1989,1990-1999, 2000-2009, and 2010-2013. I have also similarly analysed racing from the era 1894-1949, before Formula One commenced in 1950.
Each season is in three sections, Package, Driver and Car, with the whole field rated and tabulated, and text discussing mainly the winners and the front-runners. My own illustrations are used, and reflect a spread of competitors for each season.
Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 5 may also be made available.
***
After 12 years of
development and refinement from its 2002 inception, my Rating System is being
published. The Patrick O’Brien Grand Prix Rating System is divided into
14 volumes, one for each decade of the pre-Formula One era (1894-1949) and
Formula One era (1950-2016). The Formula One era, 1950-2013, was published in 2014. The Explanatory Chapters constitute the 15th volume, published in December 2016.
The thirteenth book contains the 1910-1919 seasons, is 122 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
The twelfth book contains the 1920-1929 seasons, is 188 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/patrick-obrien/patrick-obriens-grand-prix-rating-system-season-summaries-1920-1929/paperback/product-23234350.html
The eleventh book contains the 1930-1939 seasons, is 165 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/patrick-obrien/patrick-obriens-grand-prix-rating-system-season-summaries-1930-1939/paperback/product-22362853.html
The tenth book contains the 1940-1949 seasons, is 80 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/patrick-obrien/patrick-obriens-grand-prix-rating-system-season-summaries-1940-1949/paperback/product-22298647.html
The ninth book contains the 2014-2016 seasons, is 42 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/patrick-obrien/patrick-obriens-grand-prix-rating-system-season-summaries-2014-2016/paperback/product-23180321.html
The eighth book, the Explanatory Chapters 1894-2013, is 186 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/patrick-obrien/patrick-obriens-grand-prix-rating-system-explanatory-chapters-1894-2013/paperback/product-23176833.html
The seventh book contains the 1950-1959 seasons, is 91 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
The tenth book contains the 1940-1949 seasons, is 80 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/patrick-obrien/patrick-obriens-grand-prix-rating-system-season-summaries-1940-1949/paperback/product-22298647.html
The ninth book contains the 2014-2016 seasons, is 42 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/patrick-obrien/patrick-obriens-grand-prix-rating-system-season-summaries-2014-2016/paperback/product-23180321.html
The eighth book, the Explanatory Chapters 1894-2013, is 186 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/patrick-obrien/patrick-obriens-grand-prix-rating-system-explanatory-chapters-1894-2013/paperback/product-23176833.html
The seventh book contains the 1950-1959 seasons, is 91 pages, soft-cover bound and available now online here.
The sixth book
contains the 1960-1969 seasons, is 82 pages, soft-cover bound and available now
online here.
The fifth book
contains the 1970-1979 seasons, is 90 pages, soft-cover bound and available now
online here.
The fourth book
contains the 1980-1989 seasons, is 81 pages, soft-cover bound and is available
online here.
The third book
contains the 1990-1999 seasons, is 80 pages, soft-cover bound and available
online here.
The second book
contains the 2010-2013 seasons, is 50 pages, soft-cover bound and available now
online here.
The first book
contains the 2000-2009 seasons, is 80 pages, soft-cover bound and available now
online here.
***
For
my research, I corresponded with numerous prominent figures in Grand Prix racing.
Below are some excerpts.
In 2007 I wrote to
John Surtees and told of my Rating System referring to his competitiveness in
the Sixties:
“Your
basic assessment of my career is I think relatively accurate in that I believe
I was as competitive as anyone through to at least 1968.”
~ John Surtees,
personal communication, April 2007.
In 2007 I wrote to
Stirling Moss about some of my Rating System referring to his battles with
Fangio:
“I
have taken your very interesting attachment [on
some of my Rating System referring to his
battles with Fangio] off my Apple and will try to answer it. I must say
that I could beat Juan [Fangio] in sports cars, but in F1 he was usually
faster. Not at Aintree in our W196 cars […] The Vanwall was not a nice car to
drive, like a Maserati 250F, but it did win the World Championship. It was
probably faster than the other cars at Pescara, but far harder to drive.”
~ Sir Stirling Moss
O.B.E., personal communication, September 2007.
In 1982 I wrote to
Fangio and asked about his strongest rival drivers:
“Alberto
Ascari and Stirling Moss were my most serious opponents […] Perhaps two
different temperaments, but Ascari was more aggressive than Farina.[...]
Perhaps he [Gonzalez] was similar to Moss in certain respects. [...] I always
considered Moss and Ascari to be the most complete drivers of my era.”
~ Juan-Manuel Fangio,
personal communication, July 1982.
In 1982 I wrote to
Stirling Moss to ask about his greatest rival drivers:
“Ascari
was a personable man, charming and helpful. As a driver, he had sufficient dash,
combined with great talent. The difference between him and Fangio was very
small, but then the division between great drivers is minimal. Ascari was
certainly one of the best drivers of his era, but in my opinion, Fangio was the
best of all time.”
~ Sir Stirling Moss
O.B.E., personal communication, June 1982.
In 1982 I wrote to
Jackie Stewart to ask about his strongest rival drivers (after Clark’s death):
“I
feel that Jochen Rindt was one of the better drivers in the history of Grand
Prix racing. Even though Ronnie Peterson was fast, I think Jochen [Rindt] perhaps
had the edge. Emerson Fittipaldi certainly was a very tough competitor […]
However, again Jochen [Rindt] seemed to have that little extra flair…”
~ Jackie Stewart,
personal communication, November 1982.
In the early eighties
I spent some time with Giulio Ramponi at his home in Nelspruit, near South
Africa’s Kruger National Park, and asked him about the drivers he had known in
his career with Alfa Romeo from 1918-1933 and later:
“The
top three drivers of the twenties were Pietro Bordino, Antonio Ascari and
Giulio Masetti. Ascari was such a gentle driver, no wear and tear on the car;
he was the first Nuvolari”.
~ Giulio Ramponi,
about Twenties drivers, personal interviews, South Africa, 1982.
“Nuvolari
was the best, very soft on the brakes. Caracciola was excellent, very delicate,
faster than Varzi and Chiron. Seaman was going to be very good, but he was too
ambitious.”
~ Giulio Ramponi,
about Thirties drivers, personal interviews, South Africa, 1982.
“Wimille
was very good, too fast for Varzi and Trossi.”
~ Giulio Ramponi,
about Forties drivers, personal interviews, South Africa, 1982.
“Let’s
try to eliminate all the extraneous factors-penalties, safety-cars, rain,
mechanical problems – and look at the raw speed of the cars. For such analysis
I usually consult Patrick O’Brien, a South African-based expert who has made it
his business over the past three decades to devise an Absolute Measurement of
F1 performance levels. His ratings are season averages and measure speed alone
[…] His work is time-consuming and intricate, and I am grateful for his
cooperation with this feature.”
~ Peter Windsor,
‘Autosport’ magazine (Japan), ‘2008 Season Review’, November 2008.
***
Review by Blinky McSquinty, 27 May 2018, Re: Who is the best F1 driver ever? - posted on http://forum.planetf1.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15022&sid=5ed641fc185fbed37c5f476ebf5d119d
Review by mas, 21 Jun 2015 20:50 - posted on http://forum.planet-f1.com
http://forum.planet-f1.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2103&start=480
POBRatings, I quite like the rating system you have done. It may not be the complete last word on rating drivers but it's not bad at all and sure tries to objectify what can be a very subjective topic. I would not put its accuracy at any less than 70% and probably closer to 80-90%. I would suggest others to visit his site and read the posts comparing drivers/champions in detail if you have not already.http://forum.planet-f1.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2103&start=480
Review by Blinky McSquinty, 27 May 2018, Re: Who is the best F1 driver ever? - posted on http://forum.planetf1.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15022&sid=5ed641fc185fbed37c5f476ebf5d119d
I put more stock in Patrick O'Brien's assessments.
http://grandprixratings.blogspot.ca/
I still miss you Patrick, RIP my friend
Review by minchy, 27 May 2018, Re: Who is the best F1 driver ever? - posted on http://forum.planetf1.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15022&sid=5ed641fc185fbed37c5f476ebf5d119d
I was also going to say Patrick's ratings are still the best by far. He worked on his formula for so long, taking driver, car and overall package into account from their entire f1 career.
Always loved his posts and discussions and echo your sentiments.
