Topic: 🏁🏎️ Sportsbet.io🏁 FORMULA 1 2023 Season🏁🏎️Prediction Pool Discussion Thread - page 97. (Read 20569 times)

When we look at the drivers on the podium of the Australian GP we can see that these names are the legends of their own generations.
It is wonderful to see that three different generations are still racing at a high level on the track.

Hamilton managed to complete the race without making a mistake despite Alonso's heavy pressure during the race. Although Perez was selected for the driver of the day I'm voting for Hamilton.Lastly, the name I was sad about the most at the weekend was Albon. He was deserving a good degree in the race especially after his performance in the 2nd sector.

I don't think Mercedes has improved dramatically at the point to beat Redbull.We saw in this last race as both drivers of Mercedes had a much better start than Redbull during the restarts of the race but when it come to Verstappen overtaking these drivers on track it looked like a Playstation game more than like a race competition as Redbull seem to have an additional gear compared to the other cars which makes me pessimistic in predicting some team catching up with them.

As for Baku which is 3 weeks away because China race is suspended,I only hope that we don't see mechanical failures like we saw last race as both Ferraris were out because of such problems.

I dont know what to expect on Baku, the only thing i want its to any team to catch a little RedBull they make the race really boring, they are a flash against the other cars.

Lets see if the step forward of Mercedes was only a good mood with the track of if they really find some pace.

The big surprise for me in this track was Alpine, really in pace and fighting against Ferrari. But i think its not so mensurable because i see a lot of teams in the fight when they normally cant fight, so i dont know.

I agree with your assessment. It seems like the implementation of these "safety" rules can sometimes lead to more confusion and unpredictability, and it's possible that this is intentional. Restarting the race with only 2 laps to go doesn't seem like the safest option, and it could have put the drivers at risk!! Safety should always be the top priority in these situations, and it's important to find a balance between introducing new rules and maintaining a safe environment for the drivers and fans alike!!!
Now let's think about the Baku circuit, which will take place at the end of this month. I believe that both Max and Perez will have a say in this race. What do you think?

Congrats.  I really thought I got this race close to a tee.  I'm not sure what happened towards the end as I wasn't able to finish the race.  I left for a while during the red flag at the start of the race the when I came back I saw Russell's car was burning.  Lol.  After a couple of minutes or so I had to leave.

How did the McLarens, Tsunoda and Zhou creep up the grid?  And how did Sainz drop to 12?  Wtf.

Can't wait for the next one!

I do have to say that I agree with most of the points made here. They are using 'safety' rules to introduce more chaos and I do feel that sometimes it is planned.
Restarting the race like that with 2 laps to go is definitely not the safe option.

I'm very regretful really for not watching the race after watching the replay of it. It was very sad for Sainz that the result of that 5-second penalty was this heavy. If the race was completed without problems after the second red flag, we could have witnessed Hamilton to get a win after a long break.


I side with not giving up on EBP points in no case. However boltz wasn't in need of EBP points this week to win a yellow hat.

What a race, many unexpected red flags and safety cars.
Mercedes really looked strong here, even stronger compared to Aston Martin, if Russell doesn't get his engine issue. Very bad luck for him, but it didn't look good for Russell anyways after he got screwed by pitting early and a red flag shortly after it, where everyone changed tyres for free.
In general, half of the grid had bad luck today.  
Russell engine issue, both Alpine and Williams out and Magnussen hitting a wall.
Probably the worst weekend for Ferrari (once again): Leclerc gets hit by Stroll in Lap 1, Leclerc is stuck in gravel and later, Sainz crashes into Alonso, Sainz gets a 5 seconds penalty resulting in rank 12 for him, where he gets 0 points.  

Turned out to be a very bad decision to change predictions and lose our EBP.  
See you next round (Baku / Azerbaijan), everyone.

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I believe, it's a situation similar to Baku 2021, where only few laps were left when Verstappen had a crash. Session red flagged and standing restart (where Hamilton locked up and Perez won  )
Today, FIA had basically 2 choices:
- Option 1 like in Baku 2021 (Session red flagged and later standing restart)
- Option 2 like in Monza 2022 (Safety car finish)
Mabye race control decided to go for Option 1 because Magnussen distributed many parts of his car on the track, which needed to be cleaned up. And as it's about safety of Marshalls when tidying it up, race control made a red flag. After red flag, a standing start is done (as in Baku 2021). Of course, it's also about action because after Monza 2022, many people complained to FIA, that the race ended under Safety Car.
And yes, final laps destroyed my Alpine both cars points finish bet.
It's always a difficult situation for race control because not matter what's decided, someone will be pissed but Gasly made a really stupid move there when he re-joined the track, by going back to racing line immediately and he took out Ocon.  

Congratulations on getting the yellow cap for this weekend! It's a great achievement!!!
Regarding the wheel to wheel battle between Hamilton and Max, I agree that it was a fair one and there are no grounds for Max to start throwing words about Hamilton and the FIA. It seems like Max himself has been involved in incidents where he has not followed regulations and rules in the past, so he is not in a position to criticize others for the same. It's important to acknowledge a fair and competitive race, and I hope to see more exciting and sportsmanlike performances in the future.

Yeah FIA's decision about especially the final red flag might be disputable. But all these incidents and decisions made this race very interesting to watch for us. Especially after the last red flag Alonso was really lucky that the grid was back to its previous version. Otherwise it was going to be really unlucky for him to finish the race even out of top 10.

Sainz deserved that time penalty for sure. He pushed too hard there and hit Alonso as a result. It was a really great race for Hamilton as well. He already started to believe that they can catch up with Red Bull but it isn't easy at all.

Congratulations with yellow cap and extra prize from Sportsbet. I really wanted to win that hoodie and hat from Sportsbet and I were so close :/

I agree and disagree with some your thoughts. I think that today we hat situations when no matter what decision stewards will make, there will be someone who is unhappy about it. First red flag is somewhat understandable, there was lot of gravel on track. Though, maybe it was possible to clean traack without red flag.
Second red flag - it's not about safety, they just didn't wanted to finish races behind safety car like season in Monza.
And third red flag was joke, but decision to return positions was right according to the rules because they didn't completed full lap after restart. That last lap behind safety car was ridiculous. I like what NASCAR is doing in similar situations, they just add some extra lap.
Maybe all these security concerns killing sport, but thanks to it now we avoid fatal accidents. Remember when most of us were complaining about Halo when F1 introduced it, but now there is no questions about it.

From what you are describing it is great that I didn't wake up at all in the morning to watch such a boring race,with a lot of red flags I think that the race total time at 3 hours is not enough to see all that great racing.They are intentionally killing the sport then and I think Max was right in his complaints that the race direction is taking non well thought decisions and that indirectly he was complaining that they were trying to ruin his race and now I understand why Hamilton was near him all the time,it is all because of the stewards and race direction and not because Mercedes has truly improved.

Im going to do a unpopular opinion, for me was a good race but totally thrown away by race direction.

Man you cant pull a red flag for every minimal thing in the track. Im getting tired about the security concerns excuse, they are killing the sport. In the first Safety car, and then Red flag , it was no chance to that was a red flag, the car was really well placed and the crane was near to took off really fast, for cleaning the track?, yes no problem, for what you have ton of personel and 97356363 cameras plus GPS and the safety car on track, it was only sweep some gravel.

And the red flag from the final.... absolute shameless. WHY? and we come back to the so called "SAFETY" and you put the drivers in a new standidng start and you know hey are gonna go ALL IN in the first turn, and the chance of chaos are HUGE.

This is pure TV order to get drama not matter a what cost, they destroyed strategies, and in some case the whole race (like Alpine).

About the pool..... with that end destroy all the predictions we can make.

Congrats to you for the yellow cap.I had put my alarm at 6.45 AM to wake up to watch the race at 7 AM but I woke up at almost 2 PM and I don't know why I was so tired,only to see the results in the Superbru and saw really a race with few points for everyone compared to the other two so I am a bit sad that I did not wake up to watch it as I saw Ferrari doing the worst,Mercedes improving a lot and Russell not in the top 10,probably a race with a lot of events I am assuming so I am going to watch the highlights in Youtube.

Well it looks like Redbull domination is gradually fading away and other cars are starting to catch up,also Perez not making it in the podium is another indication of such thing.

Looks like I got the yellow cap for this weekend. First time when this happens and even if my picks were on point , it was still a very controversial race that will continue to spark discussion until next race.

I also think that Hamilton got a fair wheel to wheel battle with Max and there are no reasons for him to start and trow words here and there about Hamilton and Fia ...because he is the last guy who can talk about regulation and rules.

When race like this happens I almost feel sorry I never watch them Who knows, couple of races like this in a row and maybe you guys will manage to convert me.
At least I am not bottom of the pool and i even got a green arrow.

it was a great race, pity that ended up with another Max victory
nevertheless, it suggests that we can see competitive Mercedes throughout the season, new car suits them well, and Hamilton showed that he can compete with it, Russell was not that lucky for a car to suit him till the end

Perez could not end up on podium, it was too much to overtake during the race, and LeClerc had another early incident

I also changed my prediction and I earned 0.5 point for guessing the exact position of Sergio Perez(5th) thanks to that but because I changed Alonso from the third position to the 2nd I lost 1 point for this initially exact podium position in addition to the 2 EBP sacrificed. So in the end this decision cost me 2.5 points overall (-3+0.5). This Grand Prix has been crazy for me with half of my top 10 drivers retiring due to the unexpected high number of accidents that occurred during the race. Anyway congrats to the winners.

Truth spoken and undeniably the race that won't be forgotten come the next season of Drive to Survive season 6 just for the sheer drama that it has been so far.
Only 2 laps left then that crash which took out all of Alpine drivers and dropped the Aston Martins out to the bottom upon the next restart.
To do what.. 1 more lap?
I have lost count of how many red flags and safety cars they have had in the entire race because it has felt after each one there were 30 minutes inbetween.
Drivers whom didn't imagine they would be getting points are going to if this restart doesn't have another crash.

🔥🔥🔥🔥It has been a race that won't be forgotten for many years. Fortunately I woke up.🔥🔥🔥🔥