Fantasy F1: What would happen if everyone drove the same car?

The 2017 Formula 1 season saw 19 drivers gain points across the 20 races, with champion Lewis Hamilton gaining 363, compared to Daniil Kvyat and Pascal Wehrlein's total of just five.

A further six drivers scored no points.

But what if everyone drove the same car? How would the points difference, and perhaps even the standings, look if that happened?

It's perhaps been one of the most thought about questions by many fans and even pundits over the years, but it is, of course, complete fantasy – although F1 bosses have attempted to create a more level playing field at times.

The simple answer is no, the points gap almost certainly wouldn't be so vast if everyone drove the same cars – with engines these days perhaps more of a factor in a race than even the drivers.

Fernando Alonso, McLaren.

Looking down the final standings in 2017, there is no doubting that F1 legend and double world champion Fernando Alonso is among the best current drivers.

But his McLaren car's lack of power and reliability once again meant that he failed to finish (or even start on one occasion) in 11 of the 19 races he took part in – and thus came 15th overall, gaining just 17 points.

The Spaniard's younger Belgian teammate Stoffel Vandoorne also showed much promise, but similar issues meant he could only achieve 13 points and finish one place behind Alonso, who is actually currently ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in the 2018 F1 outright market at 14/1 for those who bet online.

As for at the top of the standings, viewers were able to get a better picture of how drivers were compared to their teammates.

Eventual champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel were a level above their Finnish F1 partners, Valtteri Bottas and Raikkonen, respectively.

Although Bottas actually finished higher than Hamilton on eight occasions out of 20 races, the gulf in quality was clear as the Brit won nine times compared to the Finn's three victories.

Fellow four-time world champion Vettel, meanwhile, totally outclassed 2007 winner Raikkonen, who was unable to claim a single race triumph in 2017 and finished 112 points behind his German teammate.

What would've been all the more fascinating too, is whether the fight between Hamilton and Vettel would've been even closer or the outcome even reversed if both were in the same car.

Vettel led the way in the Championship for over half a season, before Hamilton was able to put his foot down on the peddle and take advantage of Ferrari's problems. Maybe things will be different in 2018.

Of course, Max Verstappen's final standing of sixth belied his talents too, as his many retirements perhaps overshadowed his two race wins – more than teammate Daniel Ricciardo and Raikkonen, who finished above him.

Many believe he is capable of challenging for a world title right now, but as the luck of the draw would have it there is no free space at Mercedes or Ferrari, and he'll have to be hopeful on huge improvements made by Red Bull.

There are plenty of other names in F1, or even some who can't currently get a seat in the sport, that could argue a case for being level with the best, but for now, fans will have to keep those thoughts to being pure fantasy. Next season does, however, promise to be closer – at the top anyway...

✅ Check out more posts with related topics: