Battle for top spot heating up
The battle for the top spot in the Castrol Rankings is getting more tense by the week, and it could come to a head this weekend as the top five drivers are all in action.
Chief among the rivalries on display will be that between the two highest-ranked drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Loeb, who could switch places next week if results go the right (or the wrong) way.
Vettel has another chance to boost his score as the Formula 1 World Championship moves onto the Italian Grand Prix, but is defending a third place from last year's corresponding race in Belgium. That means that anything less than a podium finish for the German would result in a decreased score.
A decreased score might be on the cards though. The RB6 may be the fastest car around quick corners, but Monza doesn't have many of those. What it does have is long straights and chicanes.
Last year's Red Bull shared many of its successor's characteristics and Vettel only managed ninth on the grid and eighth in the race then. With the McLarens, Ferraris and even Force Indias all likely to show podium pace thanks to greater power provided by their Mercedes and Ferrari engines (compared to Red Bull's Renault), Vettel will have to be at his best to prevent Loeb from closing in.
Frenchman Loeb's assault on the number one position, which he held for 23 weeks from April to September last year, takes him to the latest round of the World Rally Championship, Rally Japan.
The Citroen driver finished second on the corresponding event last year - Rally Australia - and so needs to win this weekend in order to boost his current Castrol Rankings score.
Five wins from the first nine rounds of this year's championship undoubtedly make him the favourite - and it is even mathematically possible that he could wrap up a seventh world title on the Sapporo-based event as well.
Japan, however, has not been his happiest hunting ground, just a single victory in 2006 coming his way in five appearances there.
A retirement could let in either Vettel's Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber (3), or World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton (4).
Although neither has won the Italian Grand Prix before, Webber needs only a top-eight finish to boost his Castrol Rankings score while Hamilton can do likewise just by finishing, as he retired from the corresponding race a year ago. Mouthwatering, isn't it?
