That has left him almost two clear wins behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren in the points table.
The other reason, possibly linked to the first, is that a series of unpredictable results has produced a midterm points table that bears little resemblance to anything anyone expected.
Instead, they lost and cost themselves not only 3 points in the table but also nearly 1.75 points in the residual standings.
FORBES: The Premier League's Over & Under Performing Clubs - August 2012
Burton stumbled over the finishing line on the final day of the season, pipping Cambridge by just two points, having led the table by 18 points at one stage.
Dingwall club County and the Caley Jags are level on 41 points, with Celtic topping the table with 62 points.
Liverpool are 13 points off the top of the table - and five points adrift of a top-four place.
The Conservatives fired an early shot last week, saying they would award more league table points for "harder" A-levels.
She said the number of vocational qualifications had increased "40 fold" in recent years and that some of these courses are "unquestionably about schools chasing league table points".
Professor Alison Wolf, who authored a government-commissioned review of vocational courses published earlier this year, said schools had been "under enormous pressure to pile up league table points".
For the fiscal third quarter all the geographies had at least 420 basis points of operating income compression except for the US, which only had 190 basis points (see table below).
New Zealand, with three wins from five games, now lead Australia by five points in the Tri-Nations table with South Africa a further four points adrift.
Portsmouth started the day bottom of the table four points adrift of the teams above them.
The win moved United to within two points of Premier League table-toppers Chelsea, who play Arsenal on Sunday.
Ryan Lamb's drop goal sealed the win which, with London Irish losing, sent them four points clear in the table.
With four of its eight games already played, Spain is second with eight points, two behind table-topping France, whom it visits on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Group H favorites Arsenal top the table with six points from two matches after a comfortable 2-0 home win over Olympaikos, who remain second in the table.
United's win -- their third in a row -- puts them on 36 points at the top of the table, three clear of reigning champions Manchester City who dropped precious points on Saturday, drawing 1-1 with Everton at the Etihad Stadium.
The win extends Lynn's lead at the top of the table to five points.
Leinster now lead the league table by four points while Connacht are rotted to the bottom.
Inter topped the final table on 82 points, two above Claudio Ranieri's Roma side.
The U's are currently 11 points behind Burton in the table having played two more matches.
Wolves are, along with West Ham, bottom of the Premier League table with five points from seven matches.
The Reds lie eighth in the league table, seven points behind sixth-placed Hearts, who have played a game more.
BBC: Aberdeen boss McGhee aims to revitalise stuttering Dons
Having played four matches, Scotland top the ICC Intercontinental Cup table with 69 points, eight more than second-placed Afghanistan.
Opponents Cardiff are in mid-table, 10 points better off than their Yorkshire counterparts.
Bournemouth now sit top of the table, two points clear Rochdale in second.
The result leaves Bath seventh in the Premiership table, 13 points behind the top four and a place in the play-offs.
Esher lead the National One league table by four points and have three games in hand over their nearest rivals, London Welsh.
Wasps' defeat by Castres meant Leinster topped the table by three points.
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