Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

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Who is your pick for Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race?

Poll ended at 13 Apr 2018, 21:08

Marcus Ericsson [tommykl]
3
16%
Sebastian Vettel [Simtek]
0
No votes
Honda [WaffleCat]
2
11%
Pierre Gasly [RobDylan]
14
74%
 
Total votes: 19

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This Could Be You
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Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by This Could Be You »

IIDotR:
1. Gasly: 4th, in a Toro Rosso, powered by a Honda, on a power circuit- the definition of improbable. Also, this unrejectifies him as well.
2. Ericsson: Sauber's first points of 2018, and his first since 2015, and entirely on merit.
HM:
Vettel: Great tyre management on the wrong compounds, and a good, clean defence (for once...) from Bottas
Alonso: Another solid drive, leaving him 4th in the WDC for now
Hartley: Almost scored points, was much improved in both qualifying and the race from Melbourne

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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by Enforcer »

Easy one:

1st Gasly: Both unrejectified himself and equalled Torro Rosso's best results since their win in 2008.

2nd Ericsson: Fancy a Sauber being in the points.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by Bobby Doorknobs »

As Biscione has announced last week, the voting procedure for ROTR and IIDOTR will be changed, so until we hear from him (hopefully soon, don't want this to be too disruptive), I'm locking the thread.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by DemocalypseNow »

Hello all, apologies, this was on my to-do list but fell to the bottom of the pile as things cropped up. I haven't actually watched the race yet, which gives you an idea of what my Sunday has been like!

We want to turn ROTR into a discussion, instead of having someone manually slog through the points nominations, instead we'll have a debate centred around the choices of a 'panel' of 'judges'.

1st and 2nd picks, 10pts and 6pts respectively has been binned. Now, our editorial contributors will put forward their choices for ROTR and IIDOTR respectively, and a poll will be created at the beginning of the thread, where everyone can vote to declare an outright winner.

This change is to address two primary problems;

1. Time. Counting votes manually is time consuming. This is much quicker!
2. It avoids posts containing only put "1. Pleb A, 2. Pleb B" that doesn't contribute much to the ROTR and IIDOTR discourse.

There will be five panel members at any given time. Four will be rotating editorial contributors. The fifth will be the winner of the previous grand prix weekend's Predicament Predictions forum game. Once those five have made their sole ROTR / IIDOTR picks and the rationale behind it, they'll all be added to a forum poll, to be voted on over the next 48 hours. We'll still want to know who you voted for and why on the thread though!

So, thread unlocked, let's hear your arguments and see what we collectively decide!
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by tommykl »

As I'm certain that the other contenders for this award will also be nominated, my pick for this race is Marcus Ericsson. The Sauber doesn't seem to be much of an improvement on last year's car relative to the frontrunners, he is up against an extremely highly-rated rookie of a teammate in Charles Leclerc, and he had not scored points in over two years. All of this taken into account, running as high as sixth, always ahead of his teammate and finishing in a comfortable ninth place, was well enough to get my vote.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by Miguel98 »

There are two persons we should consider here: Marcus Ericsson and Pierre Gasly.

I'll nominate Marcus Ericsson, because I didn't expect Marcus to beat Leclerc and impose himself over one of the highly touted drivers in the field as he has done so far (even though Charles seems to be struggling with addapting and finding the limits as he claimed in an interview), and he was one of 4 people in the field who made the 1 stop work - the other 3 being the guys who finished on the podium. Ran great pace, made some moves, and ran as high as 6th. It was Ericsson's best drive in F1.

Of course, Gasly is to be discussed as well. I never rated Gasly that high, but after this weekend, that changed, as Pierre did a phenomenal performance. Obviously, we need to find out if it was a fluke, but he's already equaled Verstappen's and Sainz's best result for the team (and if you exclude Vettel's win at Monza 2008, his best result as well), and much sooner than them. Might impressive stuff.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by Bobby Doorknobs »

With the obvious candidates of Ericsson and Gasly out of the way, I'll make a brief case for Sebastian Vettel.

Mercedes quite clearly had the pace on that medium tyre, and Ferrari risked a lot switching Vettel onto a one-stopper. Even as the softs rapidly deteriorated at the end and the relatively simple task of keeping the car on the racing line was turning into a chore, he somehow was able to give it just enough to keep Bottas at bay and win a second race in a row, the first time a Ferrari driver has achieved this feat at the start of a season since 2004.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by Spectoremg »

1. Gasly.
2. Honda.
In this format cos I like the way it was before martial law was imposed on a whim.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by Alextrax52 »

In my eyes this'll probably be a straight shoot out between Gasly and Ericsson and I choose the latter. While Gasly's performance was incredible and full of praise, What Ericsson did was completely unexpected. Indeed circumstances are against him (Leclerc, The Sauber Car, His points drought) and yet he's outqualified Leclerc 2-0 (OK we'll never know if Charles would have been level without his spin yesterday) The Sauber seems quicker than last season too if not by a stride. He ran as high as 6th and was 8th after the stops before coming 9th. Being the only man outside the podium finishers to do the 1 stop was very impressive.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by dinizintheoven »

I will nominate the strange way the cars stood still while the circuit raced around them, Pierre Gasly turning into a penguin, Marcus Ericsson's legs falling off and then reattaching themselves, an elderberry bush full of kippers where the multi-tier grandstand should have been, and the million-gallon vats of custard that the drivers on the podium celebrated with, at 2^267709:1 against.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by WaffleCat »

My pick for IIDOTR won't be a driver. For me, it has to be one engine manufacturer in particular: Honda.

They had three years of hell with McLaren. It was very much just three years to get used to Formula One. For this season, in their switch to Toro Rosso, we saw them improve dramatically. It seemed like Honda would finally be a decent engine for the midfield, maybe earning the Toro Rosso's consistent Q3 appearances

Instead, in this race, it feels like Honda have performed way above all of those expectations. Gasly finished 4th, an incredible result for Toro Rosso, and their tied best since Vettel's win ten years ago. Even Hartley, who I feel we can all agree to be slower than Gasly in F1, had a very decent run going for him in the points before his series of penalties dropped him down the order. Compared to their engine nightmares last year, it seems Toro Rosso have the engine of dreams behind them at the moment.

Or, more specifically, the Power of Dreams. ;)
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by Benetton »

1. Pierre Gasly - Wow! Where did the pace and consistency come from. Only blunder was nearly letting Magnussen past after the VSC.

2. Marcus Ericsson - Showed Leclerc some pretty good racecraft by nursing the car home to 9th.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by RAK »

My pick is Pierre Gasly. Despite issues on the opening race weekend, he was quietly lingering well within the points until his retirement; this time around, he managed to keep everything going and ended up in a very favourable position indeed and well ahead of his team mate. Marcus Ericsson is worthy of mention as well, scoring points with what looks like a dismal car for Sauber.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by CarloSpace »

I am waiting for the poll to go up before chimin in properly but I must say I'm amazed no one has mentioned Hamilton's quadruple overtake yet. I don't remember anyone making such a move in the middle of the race, it was an absolute highlight of the race for me. Gasly and Ericsson did well, yeah, but it was more or less down to Ferrari and Red Bull messing around. Had Gasly finished seventh and Ericsson 12th (assuming the top teams finished where everyone expected them to) I don't think there would be so much fuss about them.

Hamilton's move was the most improbable drive of the day and I think it deserves some recognition.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by Rob Dylan »

Whoever gets the award today, there's a bunch of others who also deserve it.

If I had to give it to one, it would have to be Pierre Gasly and a fourth place in a Toro Rosso, with a Honda engine, in the year 2018. Though I really wanted to give it to Ericsson, there was just such a nice feeling to see the TR-Honda mechanics cheering and dancing at their success after the grand prix was over, and it was a feel-good moment F1 doesn't have enough of. So, for making me feel all bubbly inside, along with its complete improbability, I'm giving it to the above.

Other contenders in my book were Vettel and Bottas. Great race for both of them. They both did unusual strategies, and both coped a lot better under the circumstances than I was expecting. Had Bottas won, for me it would have been the cherry on an already-quality race. Marcus Ericsson obviously can't be forgotten - he's becoming quite a fixture of rejectdom in the last few years, and it's good to see him, and Sauber for that matter, getting points on the table despite every difficulty facing them. McLaren as well deserve some credit for their consistent quality this year so far. A bit of a disaster in qualifying, but 3 out of 4 great sessions ain't bad, and Alonso's is in fourth place in the championship. That's flipping insane!



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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by takagi_for_the_win »

Has to be Monsieur Gasly. 4th place in a Honda powered Toro Rosso, pretty much on merit. Also was adorable seeing how happy they were afterwards, a real positive show of emotions that wins my nomination.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by Bobby Doorknobs »

Rob Dylan wrote:
Spectoremg wrote:In this format cos I like the way it was before martial law was imposed on a whim.

Do not fear: one day Captain Hammer shall return from his exile on a faraway forum, and reign once again. i wonder how that guy's getting on...

He's getting into heated arguments with people on Wikipedia over how the F1 pages should look.

...I'm not making this up either.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by dinizintheoven »

Rob Dylan wrote:Do not fear: one day Captain Hammer shall return from his exile on a faraway forum, and reign once again. i wonder how that guy's getting on...

Simtek wrote:He's getting into heated arguments with people on Wikipedia over how the F1 pages should look.
...I'm not making this up either.

Imagine my shock.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by CaptainGetz12 »

dinizintheoven wrote:
Rob Dylan wrote:Do not fear: one day Captain Hammer shall return from his exile on a faraway forum, and reign once again. i wonder how that guy's getting on...

Simtek wrote:He's getting into heated arguments with people on Wikipedia over how the F1 pages should look.
...I'm not making this up either.

Imagine my shock.


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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by UncreativeUsername37 »

Simtek wrote:
Rob Dylan wrote:
Spectoremg wrote:In this format cos I like the way it was before martial law was imposed on a whim.

Do not fear: one day Captain Hammer shall return from his exile on a faraway forum, and reign once again. i wonder how that guy's getting on...

He's getting into heated arguments with people on Wikipedia over how the F1 pages should look.

...I'm not making this up either.

Not only that, a lot of his opinions have been... not things that hold up against an attack ray of pure logic....
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by yannicksamlad »

I'd mention Gasly as the prime, and Ericsson as the runner up ( he made the one stop work, and if you made it work..you did well )
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by James1978 »

Can't resist using my silly nickname for him - it's gotta be Pierre Gas Leak (closely followed by Marcus Sony Ericsson). :)
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by DemocalypseNow »

Hello all,

We've discussed who should earn IIDOTR for Bahrain; now time to vote on it!

Scroll up to the thread's first post for our poll to select an outright winner. I won't be making my own nomination because one of the other editorial people has taken my pick. Let's see who wins it.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Bahrain 2018

Post by Rob Dylan »

And the results are in!

Bahrain's winner of the IIDOTR award goes through majority opinion to Pierre Gasly, for his heroics last weekend. Not only did it un-rejecify the Frenchman, who is still technically a rookie, but it brought the double surprise of Honda's best finish in Formula 1 in their new guise. For Toro Rosso to finish so highly was likewise a surprise, and so the reactions from the team in the pitlane were a positive surprise that warmed many a heart, and made them perfect candidates for this award.
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