2023 F1 season, but only 19 cars.

[hollus]

19-car 2023 British grand prix.

Silverstone result:

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

Championship points:

PER - 186
ALO - 175
HAM - 155
SAI - 103
RUS - 103
LEC - 96
NOR - 60
STR - 59
OCO - 43
GAS - 26
PIA - 25
ALB - 18
HUL - 12
BOT - 10
ZHO - 8
TSU - 7
MAG - 4
SAR - 1


Race (new) narratives:

McLaren front row in Q!!!
Perez messes up Q, nobody is surprised anymore.
Norris wins! McLaren wins!!! And it is a lights to flag win with a beautiful hard-tire vs soft-tire brit to brit battle for the lead late in the race. Several journos had a heart attack and Sky needed a new commentator after that. Piastri tastes the podium in his rookie season. Macca fans start to talk about a late championship charge.
With Perez meh, and Alonso meh-meh, the championship heats up for three way battle once more.
And, believe it or not, Sargeant got a point.

[SiLo]

Interesting that taking out 1 car that is usually first opens up a much larger gap between Alonso and Lewis.

[Stu]

And the championship lead swings about as well. It would make for a fascinating race season!!

[Just_a_fan]

Interesting that taking out 1 car that is usually first opens up a much larger gap between Alonso and Lewis.

It's thanks to the weighting of the scoring system. Without Max, both would have 2 wins each. But Fernando would have four 2nds to Lewis's two 2nds. It's also missing two races. Add in Hungary (4th becomes 3rd for Lewis, 9th becomes 8th for Fernando) and Belgium (4th becomes 3rd for Lewis, 5th becomes 4th for Fernando) and it's closer although not as close as it currently is.

When one looks at the actual season, the early run of 3rds really helped Fernando. After that, he's done slightly less well compared to Lewis. Both had 2 5ths, but then Lewis had 2 6ths to Fernando's 2 7ths, Lewis had an 8th to Fernando's 9th. It's the 2 3rds that Fernando has in place of 2 of Lewis's 4ths that just tip the balance for Fernando (1 4th and 4 3rds for F vs 3 4ths and 2 3rds for L). It's quite interesting to look at the way their respective seasons have progressed. If it carries on for the rest of the season, it could come down to the last race to see who finishes ahead of whom.

[organic]

Interesting that taking out 1 car that is usually first opens up a much larger gap between Alonso and Lewis.

It's quite interesting to look at the way their respective seasons have progressed. If it carries on for the rest of the season, it could come down to the last race to see who finishes ahead of whom.

It will probably tip on whether the imminent AMR upgrade package can rectify their car 'balance' problems

[Just_a_fan]

Interesting that taking out 1 car that is usually first opens up a much larger gap between Alonso and Lewis.

It's quite interesting to look at the way their respective seasons have progressed. If it carries on for the rest of the season, it could come down to the last race to see who finishes ahead of whom.

It will probably tip on whether the imminent AMR upgrade package can rectify their car 'balance' problems

Oh, indeed. Between those two it's going to come down to one car being a bit better than the other one. We know that otherwise there is precious little difference between the two drivers.

[Just_a_fan]

Oh, I so much wish that Max, Fernando and Lewis had equal machinery. That would be the ultimate classic season.

Just think, if the three had had this for last few years how great F1 would be. No need for DTS and the like. Oh my.

[langedweil]

Oh, I so much wish that Max, Fernando and Lewis had equal machinery. That would be the ultimate classic season.

Just think, if the three had had this for last few years how great F1 would be. No need for DTS and the like. Oh my.

If few = 10

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Hungarian grand prix.

Budapest result:

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

Championship points:

PER - 204
ALO - 179
HAM - 171
RUS - 113
SAI - 109
LEC - 104
NOR - 85
STR - 61
OCO - 43
PIA - 37
GAS - 26
ALB - 19
HUL - 12
BOT - 10
ZHO - 8
TSU - 7
MAG - 4
SAR - 1


Race (new) narratives:

Q: Perez reaches Q3, which is news, then... ugh!
Perez still recovers to finish 2nd, the usual. People start to talk of a Red Bull car optimized for the race only.
Norris wins again! 2 in a row. Yep, re-vamped car, more than half a season ahead, this is totally an hones championship shot! These ideas must have been running through his head when he crashed his own champagne bottle in one hand against the trophy in the other, knocking the race winning trophy to the floor. Good that it was his second.
What's with Aston Martin's sudden deflation? It is costing Alonso his honest shot at the championship.

[Stu]

With half a season left you would get pretty good odds on Norris getting WDC. He’d need a very good hit rate, but it would be possible (if not plausible!)

[organic]

With half a season left you would get pretty good odds on Norris getting WDC. He’d need a very good hit rate, but it would be possible (if not plausible!)

The 'title fight' between Perez, Hamilton and Norris is what I'll be following in the second half of the season more than anything else thanks to this thread

For the good of the championship, hopefully Perez continues to have shockers and Singapore won't ruin Norris' chances too much

[hollus]

19-car 2023 Belgian grand prix.

Spa sprint result: PIA - GAS - SAI - LEC - NOR - HAM - RUS - OCO

Spa result:

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

Championship points:

PER - 229
ALO - 191
HAM - 190
LEC - 127
RUS - 125
SAI - 115
NOR - 97
STR - 65
OCO - 50
PIA - 45
GAS - 34
ALB - 19
HUL - 12
BOT - 10
TSU - 9
ZHO - 8
MAG - 4
SAR - 1


Race (new) narratives:

Q: Perez finally figured out the long game and simply qualifies near the top... although not in the sprint.
Sprint: Piastri's maiden win, it is a baby win in a baby race.
Perez figures out that he has the fastest car and qualifying near the top is enough to sail during the race, as passing is easy for him. He'll win the championship by a landslide if only he remembers that.

[hollus]

New and old season narratives at the summer break.

Perez clearly has the fastest car, and can pass with ease on track thanks to an excellent top speed... the only reason he still has to fight is his own chain of ----ups in Q.
ALO and HAM, head to head, keeping him honest at roughly one race distance. Alonso seem to be deflating, though while Hamilton seems to be in the up.
Alonso leading Hamilton by one point is the same as in that fictitious universe with 20 cars, but Perez is further ahead in the real universe thanks to his 5 race wins.
Russell is a decent chunk behind Hamilton, LEC just ahead of SAI, just as if 20 car had run.
Norris has to be the Cinderella story, he looks poised to win most high downforce races after the car update. Those race win points put him at the tail of the leading group instead of at the head of the midfield. Too late for a championship charge, but 4th in the WDC looks more than possible, even 3rd given Aston Martin's late form?
Stroll still has 1/3 as many points as Alonso.

[the EDGE]

So... With his 10th place finish in Silverstone gaining Sargent the points scoring finish Marko said he needed to retain his seat, what excuse to RB us for dropping him & replacing him with Ricciardo?

[Wouter]

So... With his 10th place finish in Silverstone gaining Sargent the points scoring finish Marko said he needed to retain his seat, what excuse to RB us for dropping him & replacing him with Ricciardo?

.
What do you mean?