Australian Formula One ace Mark Webber has dropped from second to third place in the Castrol EDGE Rankings following the Canadian Grand Prix.
The rankings, which compares drivers using a mathematical formula based on results in each of the world’s top motorsport categories, work on a 12 month cycle.
With Webber’s points from winning the 2010 Spanish and Monaco Grand Prix victories having fallen off the table in recent weeks, the Red Bull Racing driver now sits behind Citroen’s World Rally Championship ace Sebastien Loeb.
Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel is not surprisingly dominating the standings. Having won eight of the past 11 Grands Prix, Vettel has almost 50% more Castrol EDGE Ranking points than his nearest competitor.
The Canadian Grand Prix also saw Lewis Hamilton lose fourth place to Fernando Alonso – who overtook the Briton in the rankings despite failing to finish the Montreal race.
Australian IndyCar driver Will Power remains sixth after taking his maiden oval race victory in Texas, while team-mate Ryan Briscoe sits 18th.
Marcos Ambrose (66th), Jamie Whincup (71st) and David Brabham (77) are the only other Australians in the top 100.
Interestingly, when only points scored in 2011 are taken into account, Whincup is the highest ranked touring car driver in the world in 27th overall, ahead of the World Touring Car Championship’s Rob Huff (46th) and the DTM’s Bruno Spengler (54).
The V8 Supercars Championship and the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship are the only two Australian classes to be included in the rankings.
The points weightings, which are based on prestige and depth of competition, sees V8 Supercars ranked among the top dozen championships in the world.
Speedcafe.com will keep you updated on the Castrol EDGE Rankings every Wednesday.
CLICK HERE for further information on how the rankings work
See below for the current top 10 Australian drivers in the rankings, and their relative positions on the overall chart. Australia currently sits second to Germany in the Nations Cup standings.
| Pos. | Driver | Core Series | Rank | Score |
| 1 | Mark Webber | F1 | 3 | 20,593 |
| 2 | Will Power | IndyCar | 6 | 18,721 |
| 3 | Ryan Briscoe | IndyCar | 18 | 12,865 |
| 4 | Marcos Ambrose | Sprint Cup | 66 | 7,657 |
| 5 | Jamie Whincup | V8 Supercars | 71 | 7,584 |
| 6 | David Brabham | World GT1 | 77 | 7,431 |
| 7 | Mark Winterbottom | V8 Supercars | 122 | 5,564 |
| 8 | Craig Lowndes | V8 Supercars | 131 | 5,304 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | FR3.5 | 134 | 5,251 |
| 10 | Garth Tander | V8 Supercars | 145 | 4,891 |
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