2023 F1 season, but only 19 cars.

[hollus]

In the spirit of a thread I made lino ago: viewtopic.php?p=525016#p525016, welcome to an alternative universe.

In this universe, after the budget cap sanctions last year, FIA went for maximum pain, and DSQ'd one driver, the best placed driver form the team, from the NEXT F1 season. And thus, in this parallel universe, Max is serving a 12 month gardening leave (can you imagine him actually gardening?!). That leaves 19 cars, including the expectedly dominant single Red Bull in the hands of a capable Perez.

Let's go, one post per race.

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Bahrain grand prix.

Yes, there was a race amid the outraging outrage over the outrage over the sanction.eventually there is always a race.

Bahrain result:

1 - PER - 25
2 - ALO - 18
3 - SAI - 15
4 - HAM - 12
5 - STR - 10
6 - RUS - 8
7 - BOT - 6
8 - GAS - 4
9 - ALB - 2
10 - TSU - 1
F.L. ZHO (no points)

Race (new) narratives:

Dominant car dominates with the other driver anyways, the season is over!

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Jeddah grand prix.

Jeddah result:

1 - PER - 25
2 - ALO - 18
3 - RUS - 15
4 - HAM - 12
5 - SAI - 10
6 - LEC - 8
7 - OCO - 6
8 - GAS - 4
9 - MAG - 2
10 - TSU - 1
F.L. - PER (1)

Championship points:

PER - 51
ALO - 36
SAI - 25
HAM - 24
RUS - 23
STR - 10
GAS - 8
LEC - 8
BOT - 6
OCO - 6
ALB - 2
TSU - 2
MAG - 2


Race (new) narratives:

Boo-ring!

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Australian grand prix.

Melbourne result:

1 - HAM - 25
2 - ALO - 18
3 - STR - 15
4 - PER - 12
5 - NOR - 10
6 - HUL - 8
7 - PIA - 6
8 - ZHO - 4
9 - TSU - 2
10 - BOT - 1
F.L. - PER (1)

Championship points:

PER - 64
ALO - 54
HAM - 49
SAI - 25
STR - 25
RUS - 23
NOR - 10
GAS - 8
LEC - 8
HUL - 8
BOT - 7
OCO - 6
PIA - 6
ZHO - 4
TSU - 4
MAG - 2
ALB - 2


Race (new) narratives:

From Q: A Mercedes front row! That RUS kid is fast!
Tsunoda scoring in every race.
Can Alonso pose a championship threat by being always second?
HAM wins a race. Hype!
Perez shows up a chink, pressure from leading? And suddenly... Is there a championship after all?

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Baku grand prix.

Baku sprint race result: PER - LEC - RUS - SAI -ALO - HAM -STR -ALB

Baku result:

1 - PER - 25
2 - LEC - 18
3 - ALO - 15
4 - SAI - 12
5 - HAM - 10
6 - STR - 8
7 - RUS - 6
8 - NOR - 4
9 - TSU - 2
10 - PIA - 1
F.L. - RUS (1)

Championship points:

PER - 97
ALO - 73
HAM - 62
SAI - 42
RUS - 36
STR - 35
LEC - 33
NOR - 14
GAS - 8
HUL - 8
PIA - 7
BOT - 7
OCO - 6
TSU - 6
ZHO - 4
ALB - 3
MAG - 2


Race (new) narratives:

Worst result so far for Alonso, still a podium in every race.
That Red Bull is just sooo dominant.

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Miami grand prix.

Miami result:

1 - PER - 25
2 - ALO - 18
3 - RUS - 15
4 - SAI - 12
5 - HAM - 10
6 - LEC - 8
7 - GAS - 6
8 - OCO - 4
9 - MAG - 2
10 - TSU - 1
F.L. - ALO (1)

Championship points:

PER - 122
ALO - 92
HAM - 72
SAI - 54
RUS - 51
LEC - 41
STR - 35
NOR - 14
GAS - 14
OCO - 10
HUL - 8
PIA - 7
BOT - 7
TSU - 7
ZHO - 4
MAG - 4
ALB - 3


Race (new) narratives:

Tsunoda continues to score at every race.
Alonso continues string of podiums.
Yet another easy race for Perez, losing the lead only during pit stops and cruising to victory again. The only poins missing are due to his own error getting stranded in a single Q1 session. Perez has finished 1-1-4-(1)-1-1.
Behind them, the competition alternates being best of the rest, so no battle for the championship.

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Imola grand prix.

Eventually there is always a race.

Yeah,


Season narratives being discussed during the long break:
That single Red Bull is as dominant as the one we know from the real summer 2023 universe.
Perez has matured, commits few mistakes and can safely take the fastest car home without tangling with anyone.
He will obviously cruise to a DWC with 5-6 races to do and we will have a bore-fest for the rest of the season.
Let's find some crumbs:
The revival of Alonso is amazing, easily best of the rest, only podiums, exciting battles on track... if only the blue car was not a rocketship!
The HAM-RUS battle is intense, and maybe, just maybe, even matters if Perez were to collapse, but that is obviously impossible. Both are common faces in the podium but the debate, and the difference, is dominated by that HAM victory in Australia.

To be continued.

[Big Tea]

What if there was another driver in the other RBR? would the points and wins be split?
Don't know how that could reasonably be calculated except maybe relaying Checo as a clone

[tok-tokkie]

I really like this. I have been keeping track of the competition for 2nd - but by simply ignoring #1.

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Monaco grand prix.

Monaco result:

1 - ALO - 25
2 - OCO - 18
3 - HAM - 15
4 - RUS - 12
5 - LEC - 10
6 - GAS - 8
7 - SAI - 6
8 - NOR - 4
9 - PIA - 2
10 - BOT - 1
F.L. - HAM (1)

Championship points:

PER - 122
ALO - 117
HAM - 88
RUS - 63
SAI - 60
LEC - 51
STR - 35
OCO - 28
GAS - 22
NOR - 18
PIA - 9
HUL - 8
BOT - 8
TSU - 7
ZHO - 4
MAG - 4
ALB - 3


Race (new) narratives:

Alonso gets a pole position after how many years?!
Alonso wins!!!! Hype!!! The hype is real!!! More hype!!!!!
And so Perez ruins Q, then manages to be nowhere in the race and just like that, we have a championship in our hands. Hype!!!
Hamilton's experience showing up, long game and all that, still hanging on to the WDC leaders and a whole race ahead of Russell.
Tsunoda's string of points comes to an end.

[AR3-GP]

My time machine has malfunctioned

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Spanish grand prix.

Barcelona result:

1 - HAM - 25
2 - RUS - 18
3 - PER - 15
4 - SAI - 12
5 - STR - 10
6 - ALO - 8
7 - OCO - 6
8 - ZHO - 4
9 - GAS - 2
10 - LEC - 1
F.L. - PER (1)

Championship points:

PER - 138
ALO - 125
HAM - 113
RUS - 81
SAI - 72
LEC - 52
STR - 45
OCO - 34
GAS - 24
NOR - 18
PIA - 9
HUL - 8
BOT - 8
ZHO - 8
TSU - 7
MAG - 4
ALB - 3


Race (new) narratives:

Perez ruins his Q again... wait, no, in this universe, Perez ended Q2 in 10th... let's delete that lap due to track limits and keep him out in Q2, moving on, nothing to see here, do not pay attention to the giant man holding the strings.
Mercedes' domination at this race. It did look like Perez had the fastest car, and people talk of how good the Red Bull is at overtaking, but there is no longer talk of a rocketship and passing seems to be sticking too often even for Red Bull.
The weirdest team orders in history happened, with Alonso asking the team NOT to swap him with Stroll, no one can explain this when being so close to leading the championship.
Alonso's streak of podiums also ended, but not because of that.
Is that a 3-way championship fight?!?!

I'd like to point out that the championship order from 2nd to 11th is identical to that in certain other parallel universe at this point.

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Canadian grand prix.

Montreal result:

1 - ALO - 25
2 - HAM - 18
3 - LEC - 15
4 - SAI - 12
5 - PER - 10
6 - ALB - 8
7 - OCO - 6
8 - STR - 4
9 - BOT - 2
10 - PIA - 1
F.L. - PER (1)

Championship points:

ALO - 150
PER - 149
HAM - 131
SAI - 84
RUS - 81
LEC - 67
STR - 49
OCO - 40
GAS - 24
NOR - 18
ALB - 11
PIA - 10
BOT - 10
HUL - 8
ZHO - 8
TSU - 7
MAG - 4



Race (new) narratives:

Perez ruins his Q again... with his two pursuers closing the front row. He only recovers to 5th and for once looks like 5th on pace.
ALO wins again, HAM follows, it is clear that PER cannot afford any more mistakes, his pursuers have hundreds of years of experience. In this race those two passed each other and chased each other, for the lead, all race long.
ALONSO leads the championship!!!!! 3 drivers in 19 points!!!!! They start to buy the TV rights to 2023 - The Movie, already now.
Nobody knows yet that Alonso's car has been slowed down by FIA. With this win it is impossible to guess it. When the news erupt two months later, internet explodes.
With Alonso leading, Stroll's 7th in the championship, fighting OCO, looks mega puny.

[the EDGE]

Hollus, are we getting the rest of the 1st half of the season? I was waiting to see where we are so far before commenting

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Austrian grand prix.

Austria sprint result: PER - SAI - STR - ALO - HUL - OCO - RUS - NOR

Austria result:

1 - LEC - 25
2 - PER - 18
3 - NOR - 15
4 - ALO - 12
5 - SAI - 10
6 - RUS - 8
7 - HAM - 6
8 - STR - 4
9 - GAS - 2
10 - ALB - 1
F.L. - PER (1)

Championship points:

PER - 176
ALO - 167
HAM - 137
SAI - 101
LEC - 92
RUS - 91
STR - 59
OCO - 43
NOR - 34
GAS - 26
ALB - 12
HUL - 12
PIA - 10
BOT - 10
ZHO - 8
TSU - 7
MAG - 4



Race (new) narratives:

Ferrari front row and Ferrari win! Now 4 teams have won. Ferrari drivers are now sitting 4t and 5th and the car appears to be fast again... too little too late?
McLaren also shows up in the podium for the first time.
Perez dominates the sprint, messes up Q again, and comes back to 2nd. OK, it is a rocketship after all, how is he so little ahead?