looking good

the blog looks great James. Looking forward to the up dates.

Race Report 2: So long to Sepang

Race two has come and gone and do we know anything more now than we did after race 1? Well maybe a little but the topsy turvey nature of Malaysia’s GP has left us pretty much in that same place as after the first race in that it seems Mclaren have the fastest car but are keeping up with tradition and failing to turn that into wins. I’m being reminded of Raikkonen’s seasons with the team. Mercedes definitely look quick but Rosberg is driving as if towing a caravan. He builds up a nice parade behind him and then waves the lot of them through without any defense at all. Schumacher on the other hand looks the best he has since comeback and with the perfect storm of conditions and retirements I can actually see him winning a race this year. Although it would require another Malaysia-esq sequence of events. The Red Bulls look off the pace and Vettel in particular seems to be struggling. However the year he won his first title he had numerous accidents so some of the criticism he has received writing off his season seems far too quick in rushing to judgment.

Particular thoughts from the race;

It rains every year in Malaysia. Which causes delays, safety cars, red flags. It’s not that great a circuit or race. What is the point of the Malaysian GP? Another wallet fattener for Bernie?

As mentioned above Mclaren failed to turn Lewis’ second pole into a win. Whilst Ferrari have clearly spent the winter practicing pit stops and forgetting to work on the car. Mclaren must have done the opposite. Their car is superb but their pit stops are abysmal. This race Lewis was pitted second after Button, possibly not on the correct lap. His stop was slow as the mechanics fumbled his tyres again. Then they held Lewis to let Massa past delaying Lewis and then causing him to get backed up behind a Williams in the pit lane and loose further places on track. The last element was particularly galling as Massa was so far off that delaying Lewis’ release seemed totally unnecessary.

I believe my prediction of a Button win was a solid sign of my genius. Unfortunately I hadn’t seen that Jenson would be having an off day or had partaken in a few shandys before the race and ends up running into the back of Karthikeyan.

The Mercedes seems to be strong in qualifying but less impressive in the race. I assume this must be down to their, should be, illegal innovation of channeling the air flow from the DRS to their front wing. They can use it as freely as they like in qualifying but only in one place during the race thus it becomes fairly redundant in racing.

Sepang saw good drives from Senna, Kobayashi, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Pires and Alonso who all impressed in average to good cars. Pires obviously was the most impressive with another great strategy using far fewer tyres than the other teams and timing their stops to perfection. The only thing that went wrong was Pires made an inevitable error under the pressure of pursuing Alonso and possibly winning Sauber’s first GP. It was disappointing that the mistake occurred as it would have been great if Perez had won but it was only slightly less entertaining to see him finish second and Alonso somehow drag his terrible Ferrari to a totally unexpected win. Which of course further highlights the desperate driving of Massa and the need for Ferarri to accept they really need to move the guy on.

It struck me during the race that the problem with David Coulthard is that he has no sense of humor at all. Every joke a fellow commentator or pundit makes he fails to understand and answers seriously. His jokes are painful in the extreme and now Brundle’s gone he feels that he is the F1 master mind and explains the most obvious, simple basic elements of F1 as if we the audience are complete novices. I think by the end of the season I will be screaming for him to leave.

Coulthard and his new buddy Ben Edwards seem to fail to understand the simplest bits of team radio. They may not have the same feed as we the audience or their commentary booth may not be as quiet as my room but I wonder if it is in fact the case that Coulthard is too distracted explaining tyre ware again or thinking up a ‘hilarious’ joke?

Final thoughts; I mentioned Ricciardo above as one of the drivers that impressed me in Sepang. His drives in a Torro Roso in both GPs so far have really impressed me and reversed my feeling that they had made an error in getting rid of Buemi and Alguersuari. I didn’t think either was a particularly great driver but I wasn’t convinced jettisoning both at the same time was a great idea. However I must eat my own hat as Ricciardo who did nothing particularly impressive last year in a HRT has looked like a revelatory rocket in his new Torro Roso this season. I look forward to keeping an eye on him throughout the rest of the season and waiting for the surely inevitable Massa sacking.

So China next. Currently I can’t recall last years race at all but I’ll do a little research before submitting my prediction that need to be in by 14/04/12.

Best of luck.

Below the standings after race 2 and now onto China.

Race 2 Malaysia Sepang

1 Alan D            50

2 Becx               46

3 Alan WA        41

4 Jack                40

5 Alex               38

6 Simon             33

= James             33

8 Martin            29

9 George           26

Race Report 1: Advance Australia Fair

When gallant Button from Albion sailed,

To trace wide oceans o'er,

True British courage bore him on,

Til he landed on our shore.

Then here he raised Old England's flag,

The standard of the brave;

"With all her faults we love her still"

"Britannia rules the wave."

In joyful strains then let us sing

Advance Australia fair

The words there of the original 1878 Australian national anthem adapted oh so subtlety to represent last weekends’ endeavours by a Mr Jenson Button.

The 2012 championship has got the green flag, the red lights have gone out and we have raced clear of the grid with an excellent first race. Australia has once again given us an entertaining opening to the season and provided further proof if it were required that Bernie doesn’t take race quality and levels of entertainment into account when considering which races will remain on future F1 calendars. Prior to the Grand Prix Mr Eccelstone was once again threatening certain circuits, cities and countries with the removal of their GP hosting rights. He went onto comment that Australia was most in threat of losing their GP, which is odd as he defends Bahrain so strongly. Clearly Bernie’s priority is the size of the brown envelope in his back pocket. Australia has always provided great racing where as there are at least 3 tracks on the calendar that offer us the viewer nothing for example Bahrain but offer Bernie a retirement fund.

Anyway all that aside it was an entertaining race and it’s great to have F1 back.

Thoughts:

A bad start from Hamilton. A good start from Button. Okay but how then was Button shortly 10 secs down the road?

Hopefully this race signifies a potentially competitive season with Red Bull not at their previously dominating best, Mercedes joining the party, Mclaren seemingly back on form, and Ferrari? Well who knows? It’s too early to tell but the midfield also seems to be very tight this year with Sauber, Lotus, Toro Rosso & joy of joys Williams looking quite strong. In the mean time Force India might be slipping back slightly.

The back three teams look as far off the pace as ever and one does start to wonder if it’s perhaps time to demand improvement or removal?

Kimi Raikkonen is back! That’s most likely more fanfare than we can expect from the man himself this season in interview at least. It seems he’s lost none of his abilities on the track and with a reasonably good car it’s exciting anticipating future races with him back in the field. Belgium leaps to mind as a potential moment for a Raikkonen podium appearance.

In regards to the broadcasting of the race I have to say despite my pre season fears I couldn’t spot the edits in the racing and enjoyed the 2 hours of coverage.

The main commentator Ben Edwards wasn’t that bad really. He’s enthusiastic without being shouty. He seems to know the teams, drivers and corners. I just can’t remember whether I recognize his voice from Champions League Football, Transworld Sport or late night ITV Motor Racing. Overall, could have been worse. Although I can’t understand half of what the new pit expert guy Gary Anderson is talking about.

Mumble mumble tyres. Mumble mumble mumble pit crew mumble mumble.

Two final points both based on irritation inspired by the two pundits;

Irvine thought the Massa/Senna incident was the same as the Raikkonen /Kobayashi incident. Odd as Raikkonen went around the outside of Kobayashi without incident in a skillful maneuver. Senna attempted the same move and Massa forced Senna completely off the track. He pushed him so far in fact that Massa him self was more than half a cars width away from the edge of the track. The contact and sparks caused by the collision seemed to me to signify a more aggressive and possibly more punishable piece of driving from the increasingly desperate and pitiable Massa.

The second odd piece of “expert” observation from the BBC pundit geniuses was Coulthards statement that tyre wear was heavy when the cars are loaded down with fuel just before a Ferrari pit stop only to follow that only moments after the same pit stop by stating that tyre wear is of course heavy when the cars are lighter and thus going faster.

There’s logic n there somewhere but where? I don’t know.

Below the standings after race 1 and now onto Malaysia.

Race 1 Australia Melbourne

1 Jack                30

2 Alan D            25

3 Simon             23

= James             23

= Martin            23

6 Becx               21

7 Alan WA        20

= George           20

9 Alex               17

Welcome

Here we are again, happy as can be all good friends and jolly good company.

Driving round the town, out upon a spree all good friends and jolly good company.

Yes welcome to season 3 of the F1 GP Fantasy Prediction League. This year may prove harder to follow due to the BBC's knee bending for SKY. However thanks to the wisdom of George we have a blog to post all results and bits and bobs of interest on.

So I'll put up all the stats from the past two seasons of Simon based dominance and any points of interest over the next few weeks.

This format should also allow you guys to post up your predictions and comments which will be dated and timed making redundant the need for me to chase you guys up for your predictions before qualifying kicks off.

Here is the lowdown for this season.
2012 will feature 19 or 20 races depending on Bahrain between March 18th and November 25th

Our league is in two parts formed from the prediction of Drivers Championship winner and Constructors Championship winner made before the season begins and then the prediction of pole position, fastest race lap and race winner at each event. 

The prediction of overall champion driver and team is the constructors of our club as it doesn't earn one the prestigious title of F1 GP Fantasy Prediction League Champion but amongst us in the know we recognize the principle predictor who produced such a pointedly, prestigious, prompt, prolific, pre-season, prediction of peak accuracy before a wheel turned in anger on the track. This title is of course held by the Nigel Mansell of our group Alan Dewfall for the second year running and new champ Simon Aldworth.

The second part of our championship is the prediction of Pole Position Driver, a Fastest Lap Setter and or course Race Winner, for each race weekend submitted after third practise but before qualifying begins on the Saturday morning. This allows you to base your decision on the pre qualifying testing should you wish and therefore be even more frustrated when Ferrari reveal themselves to have been sandbagging until the last minute.

This format continues through the season with predictions required pre-qualifying on each race weekend. No late entries will be accepted, unless genuine mitigating circumstances can be proven and taken before the court for arbitration on predictive sporting matters, the Independent Automobile and Motorsport Association Network Incorporation Division International Ombudsman Taskforce
or IAMANIDIOT for short.

As with last year the points scoring is as follows

For pole prediction a correct pole sitter prediction scores 10 points, second on the grid gets you 9, third gets 8, forth gets 7, fifth gets 6, sixth gets 5, seventh gets 4, eighth gets 3, ninth gets 2 and tenth gets 1 point. If the driver you predicted for pole gets 11th you will be deducted 1 point if they qualify twelfth you get deducted 2 points and so on down the field until you are on such a huge negative score you be best of staying the garage rather than predicting Bruno Senna that unlikely pole position.

The correct predictor of the fastest lap (possibly the most random of the prediction outcomes) will score 10 points. There are no other points available here. It's correct or nothing for this one.

The scores for final race placings are a mirror of the actual F1 points scoring so a correct winner scores 25 and second 18 etc etc. If at the end of the season two predictors are tied I look back at who had the most correct race winner predictions and that person takes the title. An event that was almost required last year as Alan White-Aldworth (the Prost) and Simon White-Aldworth (the Schumacher) finished so close but Simon managed to pinch the win in the closing stages of the season and in any event had the most correct race winners predicted over the calender on count back. My advice, don’t rashly predict Massa to suddenly find a vein of great form. It will only end badly for all involved.

Here are the standings from the 2010 & 2011 seasons just as a reminder. Perhaps these will reignite those fires of bitterness and revenge to power you into a new season of competition.

2010

Most winners = Simon

Most pole positions = Alan WA

Most fastest laps = Alan WA

1^st half season champ = Alan WA

2^nd half season champ = James

Best average score = Simon

1 Simon	452
2 Alan WA	433
3 James	417
4 George*	379
5 Alan D	331
6 Becx*	265

*Becx’s score was accrued whilst only predicting 13 of the 19 races and George 18 of the 19

2011

Most winners = Simon

Most pole positions = Alan WA/Simon

Most fastest laps = Alan WA/Alan D

1^st half season champ = Alan WA

2^nd half season champ = James

Best average score = Simon

1 Simon	569
2 Alan WA	555
3 James	524
4 Martin	466
5 Becx	461
6 Alan D	421
7 Jack	402
8 George	380
9 Alex	349

*Martin & Becx’s scores were accrued whilst only predicting 18 of the 19 races and George, Alex & Jack’s 16 of the 19