2017 Bahrain Grand Prix - Predicament Predictions!

[Rob Dylan]

Welcome to the 2017™ Formula™ 1™ Gulf Air™ Bahrain™ Grand Prix™ – Predicament Predictions!
With this race only one week after the Chinese Grand Prix, you'd all better hurry and get those predictions in! For this weekend I shall pick:

1. Valtteri Bottas
2. Sebastian Vettel
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Max Verstappen
5. Kimi Raikkonen
6. Daniel Ricciardo
7. Felipe Massa
8. Esteban Ocon
9. Carlos Sainz Jr
10. Romain Grosjean

Pole: Lewis Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Kimi Räikkönen
First retirement: Marcus Ericsson
Reject of the Race: Daniil Kvyat
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: The new rules finally coming good
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Marcus Ericsson
Minor League Premiership (Rookies): Esteban Ocon
DNQ: Vandoorne

And don't forget: during any weekend you have the opportunity to use up your one-time use double points.
And on that note, I will run with double points for this race.

[This Could Be You]

2017 "there goes Ferrari's challenge" Bahrain GP
1. Hamilton
2. Bottas
3. Vettel
4. Verstappen
5. Ricciardo
6. Raikkonen
7. Sainz
8. Hulkenberg
9. Perez
10. Massa

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Bottas
RoTR: The race itself/ Ferrari strategy/pace
IIDoTR: Alonso, who runs well yet breaks down again
1st Retirement: Vandoorne
Minor League Prem.: Ocon, if he counts, otherwise Stroll

[Enforcer]

2017 Norain so it'll be boring Grand Prix.

1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Bottas
4. Verstappen
5. Raikkonen
6. Ricciardo
7. Hulkenberg
8. Perez
9. Alonso
10. Magnussen

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Vettel
RotR: Williams
IIDotR: Alonso
First Retirement: Stroll
DBTMotR: Jolyon Palmer
Minor League Prem.: Ocon
DNQ: None

[Miguel98]

2017 Sheiks Grand Prix

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Sebastian Vettel
3. Valtteri Bottas
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Daniel Ricciardo
6. Lance Stroll
7. Sergio Perez
8. Esteban Ocon
9. Carlos Sainz Jr
10. Kevin Magnussen

Pole: Lewis Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton
First retirement: Felipe Massa
Reject of the Race: Romain Grosjean
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Lance Stroll
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Daniil Kvyat
Minor League Premiership (Rookies): Lance Stroll
DNQ: Palmer

[Aguvazk]

2017 Bwoah, i mean Bah Grand prix

1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Raikkonen
4. Verstappen
5. Bottas
6. Ricciardo
7. Sainz Jr
8. Alonso
9. Hulkenberg
10. Perez

Pole: Hamilton (again)
Fastest Lap: Raikkonen
First retirement: Stroll (again)
Reject of the Race: Ericsson
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Alonso
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Ocon

[UncreativeUsername37]

2017 Bah, Rain? Grand Prix

1. Hamilton
2. Bottas
3. Vettel
4. Räikkönen
5. Verstappen
6. Ricciardo
7. Pérez
8. Ocon
9. Grosjean
10. Magnussen

Pole: Hamilton
FL: Bottas
First Ret: Vandoorne
RotR: Williams
IIDotR: Massa
DbTmotR: Stroll
MLP: Ocon
DNQ: ...

[AdrianBelmonte_]

2017 "The country of the Ayatollah Jemini (sic)" Grand Prix

1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Bottas
4. Verstappen
5. Räikkönen
6. Ricciardo
7. Pérez
8. Sainz
9. Grosjean
10. Massa

Pole: Hamilton
FL: Raikkonen
First Ret: Stroll
RotR: McLaren
IIDotR: Giovinazzi
DbTmotR: Stroll
MLP: Ocon
DNQ: Mñeh

[watka]

2017 I Had No Idea The Country Is An Island Grand Prix.

1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Bottas
4. Raikkonen
5. Verstappen
6. Massa
7. Ricciardo
8. Sainz
9. Perez
10. Grosjean

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Vettel
RotR: Kvyat, on for a good points finish but messes up somehow
IIDotR: Massa
First Retirement: Ericsson
DBTMotR: Vandoorne (think it will be quite "Noah's Ark" though)
Minor League Prem.: Giovinazzi
DNQ: Do bears defecate in the forest?

[CoopsII]

Sorry, I can't concentrate on this right now I'm still reeling from the Indy/Alonso news.

[takagi_for_the_win]

2017 Purple Bahrain Grand Prix

1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Verstappen
4. Ricciardo
5. Bottas
6. Raikkonen
7. Perez
8. Grosjean
9. Sainz
10. Kyvat

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Vettel
ROTR: Williams
IIDOTR: Grosjean
First retirement: Stroll
DBTMOTR: Raikkonen
MLP: I think Ocon is eligible for this? If not idk
DNQ: Not tonight, son.

[Aislabie]

2017 Straight-hairpin-straight-hairpin-wiggle-hairpin-straight-hairpin-wiggle-hairpin-straight-hairpin-straight Grand Prix

1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Valtteri Bottas
4. Felipe Massa
5. Kimi Raikkonen
6. Daniel Ricciardo
7. Max Verstappen
8. Carlos Sainz
9. Sergio Perez
10. Lance Stroll

Pole - Lewis Hamilton
Fastest Lap - Lewis Hamilton
ROTR - Pascal Wehrlein, "all that wait for a Turn One crash"
IIDOTR - Felipe Massa, for hinting at the fact that the Williams may be the third-best dry weather car on the grid (it is)
Deadbeat Teammate - Kimi Raikkonen
Minor League Premiership - Lance Stroll
DNQ - Stoffel Vandoorne fails to set a time in Q1 due to driveshaft problems, but is allowed to race anyway

[CoopsII]

The Marginalistion And Persecution Of The Native Shia Muslim Population Through Torture And Forced Dissapearences With A Human Rights Record The Human Rights Watchdog Describes As 'Dismal' Bahrain Grand Prix 2017

1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Raikkonen
4. Ricciardo
5. Bottas
6. Verstappen
7. Magnussen
8. Grosjean
9. Giovinazzi (Bounce back boy! BOUNCE BACK!)
10. Massa

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Vettel
First retirement: Palmer
Reject of the Race: Palmer
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Gionvinazzi
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Palmer

I'll use double point please Mr collater of numbers.

[Dexter249]

2017 Gulf Air Flight 072 Plane Crash Bahrain Grand Prix
1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonen
3. Vettel
4. Ricciardo
5. Verstappen
6. Magnussen
7. Grosjean
8. Sainz
9. Massa
10. Hulkenberg

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Vettel
First retirement: Alonso
Reject of the Race: Alonso
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Hulkenberg
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Alonso
Minor League Premiership : Giovinazzi
Did Not Qualify : The Dead-Weight Canadian (Stroll).

[RAK]

Might as well actually get an entry in this week, since I forgot last week.

2017 Darude - Sandstorm Grand Prix
1) Hamilton
2) Vettel
3) Raikkonen
4) Bottas
5) Verstappen
6) Ricciardo
7) Grosjean
8) Kvyat
9) Massa
10) Sainz

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Raikkonen
First Retirement: Stroll
ROTR: Stroll
IIDOTR: Grosjean
DBTMOTR: Ericsson
MLP: Giovinazzi
DNQ: None

[tommykl]

2017 "This Race IS Memorable, Because It's a Night Race" Grand Prix
1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Räikkönen
4. Bottas
5. Ricciardo
6. Pérez
7. Verstappen
8. Sainz
9. Ocon
10. Massa

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Vettel
ROTR: Palmer
IIDOTR: Pérez
1st Retirement: Wehrlein
MLP: Ocon
DNQs: Nobody

[dr-baker]

2017 Operation Desert Sandstorm "Catchphrase: Let's Hope Something Exciting Happens" Grand Prix of Bahrain

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Sebastien Vettel
3. Valterri Bottas
4. Max Verstappen
5. Kimi Raikkonen
6. Daniel Riccardo
7. Felipe Massa
8. Sergio Perez
9. Nico Hulkenberg
10. Romain Grosjean
11. Pascal Wehrlein!

Pole: Lewis Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel
First retirement: Marcus Ericsson
Reject of the Race: Marcus Ericcson
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Wehrlein
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Palmer (not Jonathan, the other one, his son)
Minor League Premiership (Rookies): Lance Stroll
DNQ: Alonso

[pasta_maldonado]

2017 "Nothing to Sheikh a leg at" Grand Prix

1. Sebastien Vettel
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Daniel Ricciardo
5. Felipe Massa
6. Sergio Perez
7. Romain Grosjean
8. Nico Hulkenberg
9. Jan, err, Kevin Magnussen
10. Lance Stroll

Pole: Sebastien Vettel
Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen
First retirement: Max Verstappen
Reject of the Race: Max Verstappen
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Tough one. Er, Ricciardo? Stroll for not binning it?
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Esteban Ocon
Minor League Premiership (Rookies): Lance Stroll
DNQ: None

[mario]

1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Raikkonen
4. Bottas
5. Ricciardo
6. Verstappen
7. Massa
8. Sainz
9. Perez
10. Hulkenberg

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Raikkonen
First retirement: Vandoorne (he's already had a lot of problems in practise)
Reject of the Race: Palmer
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Sainz
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Ocon
Did Not Qualify: None

[CarloSpace]

1. Sebastien Vettel
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Valtteri Bottas
4. Kimi Räikkönen
5. Max Verstappen
6. Daniel Ricciardo
7. Sergio Perez
8. Nico Hülkenberg
9. Lance Stroll
10. Felipe Massa

Pole: Sebastien Vettel
Fastest Lap: Sebastien Vettel
First retirement: Stoffel Vandoorne
Reject of the Race: Daniil Kvyat
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Sergio Perez
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Jolyon Palmer
Minor League Premiership (Rookies): Lance Stroll

[Dj_bereta]

1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Bottas
4. Raikkonen
5. Verstappen
6. Ricciardo
7. Massa
8. Magnussen
9. Grosjean
10. Perez

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Bottas
First retirement: Vandoorne
Reject of the Race: McLaren (second double retirement in-a-row)
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Magnussen
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Vandoorne
Minor League Premiership (Rookies): Stroll
DNQ: none

[pi314159]

2017 Bahrain Grand Prix

1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Valtteri Bottas
4. Daniel Ricciardo
5. Kimi Räikkönen
6. Max Verstappen
7. Romain Grosjean
8. Carlos Sainz jr.
9. Felipe Massa
10. Kevin Magnussen

Pole: Sebastian Vettel
Fastest Lap: Kimi Räikkönen
First retirement: Stoffel Vandoorne
Reject of the Race: T-wings
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Romain Grosjean
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Lance Stroll
Minor League Premiership (Rookies): Esteban Ocon
DNQ: No one

[mash]

2017 Bahrain Grand Prix

1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Bottas
4. Raikkonen
5. Ricciardo
6. Verstappen
7. Massa
8. Perez
9. Sainz
10. Grosjean

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Vettel
First retirement: Stroll
Reject of the Race: Palmer
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: Grosjean
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: Palmer
Minor League Premiership (Rookies): Ocon
DNQ: No one

[CoopsII]

Oh for crying out loud. I only went and forgot Wehrlein was back this weekend. Minus twenty points for blatant stupidity please.

[Rob Dylan]

Oh for crying out loud. I only went and forgot Wehrlein was back this weekend. Minus twenty points for blatant stupidity please.

Is that an official request?

But yes, nobody predicted a Bottas pole, leaving two points nobody got.

[Rob Dylan]

FYI, regardless of what the timing screens indicate, Vandoorne did not start the race, and so will not be counted as the first retirement.

[Rob Dylan]

So, the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend is over, and the winner of the predicament predictions is........me. This shows the importance of using double points, people! Even with a crappy 10-point score, I doubled it to 20, and you can too, when you use your double points. I swear it's not rigged! Anyhoo, here are the scores from the race. I gave Dr-Baker the point for best race title.

Results:
1. Rob Dylan 20*
2. Watka 18
- CarloSpace 18
4. Enforcer 17
- Mario 17
- Dj_bereta 17
- Pi314159 17
8. Aguvazk 16
- Aislabie 16
- CoopsII 16*
- Dr-baker 16
12. Mash 14
13. Miguel98 13
- AdrianBelmonte_ 13
- Pasta_Maldonado 13
16. Ugncreativeusergname 12
17. This Could Be You 11
- Takagi_for_the_win 11
- Tommykl 11
20. Dexter249 7
- RAK 7
*used double points

There were a lot of interesting predictions. A lot of people suggested that either Massa or Giovinazzi would win IIDOTR, when in the end Giovinazzi's replacement won it, and Massa came a solid second. Podium predictions are starting to get easy, however...

So after three round of the championship, here are the standings:

Championship standings
1. Aislabie 56
2. Mario 56
3. CarloSpace 51
4. Watka 50
5. Tommykl 49
6. UgncreativeUsergname 43
7. dr-baker 40
8. Rob Dylan 39
9. AdrianBelmonte_ 39
10. CoopsII 39
11. takagi_for_the_win 37
12. pi314159 34
13. Enforcer 32
14. Dj_bereta 32
15. Yannicksamlad 29
16. mash 28
17. Ataxia 26
18. Pasta_Maldonado 26
19. Normal32 25
20. This Could Be You 24
21. Miguel98 23
22. RAK 18
23. Andrew 16
24. Aguvazk 16
25. FullMetalJack 15
26. peteroli34 14
27. Dartanian 12
28. RedEyes504 12
29. DemocalypseNow 11
30. Dexter249 7

So Aislabie retains his lead - just, as Mario equals him on points but sits second on countback (yeah, that's right, I'm employing countback). CarloSpace and Watka did very well and are also closing in on the front. We've had three winners from three races, and the highest score in a race so far (out of 41) has been the 22 scored in China.