Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021 POLL

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Pick your Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race!

Poll ended at 14 May 2021, 07:00

The Alfa Romeo mechanic with lightning response skills
10
40%
Charles Leclerc
10
40%
Daniel Ricciardo
4
16%
Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes master plan
1
4%
 
Total votes: 25

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Londoner
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Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021 POLL

Post by Londoner »

1. Charles Leclerc. For a while he looked like he'd beat Bottas for the final podium place.

2. Daniel Ricciardo. Much improved performance this weekend.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Enforcer »

Can't look beyond Leclerc.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by noiceinmydrink »

Daniel Riccardo takes my top spot, looked very good all weekend and convincingly outperformed Norris. Good on the guy, lovely to see.

My number two is gonna be Nicki Latifi. He passed a few cars in inferior machinery and was close to George Russell the whole way through. Only question I have is why he was boxed so early in the race? Could have done even better if not for that.
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Aislabie
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Aislabie »

Eh... I don't feel like anyone performed in an especially unexpected way.

Charles Leclerc for getting ahead of a Mercedes on Lap 1 and not being overtaken on-track until only a few laps to go.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for putting on a genuinely engaging Grand Prix, which I'm sure was nothing to do with testing being held elsewhere this year.
Last edited by Aislabie on 09 May 2021, 18:24, edited 1 time in total.
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James1978
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by James1978 »

Leclerc gets it for me too - beating a Red Bull and thrashing the rest of his immediate rivals.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Francophone »

I'm also in agreement with Leclerc getting nominated , although it's a shame George Russell faded away towards the end as it looked as if he might steal an unlikely point
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by rachel1990 »

Again not a lot of Options

HM- Russell- Looked more on the back of the midfield than the back of the pack at times
HM- Ricciardo- a much better weekend overall

2-Charles LeClerec- I don't know if Sainz is underperforming or is LeClerc outperforming the car, but still it was a good effort to get 4th place.

1-Alfa Romeo Wheel gunner Good of them to notice quickly that the tyre had a puncture otherwise it could have been a bigger disaster than what it was in the end
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Fetzie »

The Alfa mechanic who noticed the tyre was flat

James+Lewis for pulling off the two-stop strategy.
Last edited by Fetzie on 09 May 2021, 18:49, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Vassago »

1. Daniel Ricciardo - finally made Norris look invisible during a Grand Prix. It took 37 laps for Sky to even mention Norris' name in anger IIRC.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Meatwad »

I shouldn't even be surprised at this point, but I didn't expect Mercedes and Hamilton to make that strategy work so well. Boring nomination, but I don't see any real surprises to vote for.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Miguel98 »

1. Daniel Ricciardo - Best weekend for him this season so far and despite some rather questionable... defense moves on Pérez.

2. Charles Leclerc - Making miracles in the Ferrari yet again.

Honorable mentions to Kimi Raikkonen for making the alternate strategy work from the start, to Lewis Hamilton for another mega drive and to the Alfa Romeo wheel gunner who noticed the puncture on the tyre.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Aerond »

1.- Charles Leclerc

2.- Charles Leclerc
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Hermann95 »

Charles Leclerc
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (didn't expect a race i'd watch to the end without falling asleep)
HM - Daniel Ricciardo
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by SammiRei »

Only nominee from me is Daniel Riccardo: for keeping Sainz behind him and beating Norris.

HM goes to Formula-E for managing to make a race at Monaco exciting for the first time in years.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Rob Dylan »

The problem with Formula 1.5 is that it's very hard for drivers outside the top four teams (seriously, just LOOK at that gap behind Ferrari in the constructor's standings!) to make performances that get noticed and actually make a difference. Therefore I think Charles Leclerc probably gets this one by default, seeing as he put in an amazing performance that merited a great result.

Bottas gets an honourable mention from me for not letting Hamilton through out of petulant spite. Had he somehow stopped his teammate from winning through deliberate blocking, it would have been a wonderful meltdown post-race. We didn't get that unfortunately, but it was nice to see Bottas "standing" "up" "for" "himself" for a solid 30 seconds of his Mercedes career. Though even writing that I realise that it probably rejectfully reflects on the Finn rather than redeems him. Had his 30 seconds of rebellion actually reaped any reward then sure. Alas he seems consigned to getting sacked at the end of this year. Maybe he knows something we don't...
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by RAK »

1) Charles Leclerc: I kind of expect the Mercs and Verstappen to be up at the pointy end of the grid come the chequered flag now, so Leclerc did a good job in keeping Bottas honest for a while, at least.

2) Lewis Hamilton: A boring nomination considering that I expect the races that don't feature him on the top step of the podium this season to be the exception rather than the rule, but he actually worked hard for this race victory for the second time in a row, clocking up his century of poles in the process. I don't like that he's dominated for so long, but I can't fault him for his performances across the last two races.

Honourable mention: Nikita Mazepin - he actually got to the end of a second race in a row, albeit with a considerable margin again to his teammate.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by mario »

Leclerc seems the most likely to get this - being well clear of a Red Bull was impressive, and he was miles clear of the next nearest midfield runners too. Holding a podium was always going to be a big ask, but it does feel as if he got the best he could out of the car.

Ricciardo perhaps deserves the next nomination, if only because he was able to turn around what had been, until now, a fairly difficult first few races at McLaren by being emphatically faster than Norris and by having to withstand a lot of pressure from Sainz in the latter part of the race (it was, admittedly, a little spoilt by his weaving on the straights and getting a warning from race control over that).
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by tBone »

Charles Leclerc - very strong weekend throughout, but his great start was the icing on the cake.

Mercedes - clearly the best car in race circumstances, by a mile. I genuinely didn't expect that after the first race(s).
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by dj_vicious »

1. The Spanish Grand Prix itself. As fans we set the bar so low for this race that any action would have been a surprise. A relatively tame race, but with a nail biter for the race for 1st. The fact that this Grand Prix didn't completely suck is a slam dunk for IIDOTR.

2. Lewis' race/Mercedes Race Strategy It was a bold strategy Cotton, and boy did it pay off. As I said in my ROTR post, Red Bull didn't have a #2 driver in position to cover off the tactic, and they were caught with their pants down and pissing in a 40Kt headwind. Having said that, it took a good strategy and a great driver to pull it off. I'm not cheering for Mercedes of Hamilton, but hats off to that.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Batty »

1. Alfa Romeo mechanic - Great spot!!! Saved his team a lot of troubles.

2. Daniel Ricciardo - I expected it from Charles tbqh. The Ferrari is a better car than last season and Charles is a good driver. Daniel has been on the back foot this season and destroyed Norris this week.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Spooder918 »

1. The Alfa mechanic for finding the puncture.
2. Ricciardo for actually starting to perform well.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Pacific Edge »

The Alfa mechanic: That was sharp thinking, and good awareness

Mercedes As a whole, on pit wall, in pit lane, and in the car, they made it work, and outsmarted everyone
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Alextrax52 »

The Mercedes Strategists: once again they proved that they are the best in the business. Hamilton drove well but that decision won the race. Without it we’d have had a fairly boring stalemate to the end such is the difficultly to overtake at this track

Charles Leclerc: easily the best non regular podium finisher of that race. Stick him in either the Merc or Red Bull and we’d see real fireworks

A shout out to Williams who actually looked like solid midfielders here. Maybe they were helped by a different strategy but considering how much they plummeted in Portugal they hung on in there this time.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by UncreativeUsername37 »

Mercedes deserve some kind of meta IIDOTR for managing to do something unexpected and cool when they've done the double for the past seven championships. That guy who noticed that puncture deserves a mention too. Russell also stood out, and I think it's fair to say he likely wouldn't have fallen back like that if he was in a midfield car. Not a feel-good result, but still the kind of thing this award is about.
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021

Post by Rob Dylan »

Interesting. With such a straightforward race, we now have more main candidates to choose from for our feel-good award. They are on the poll at the top of this thread. 48 hours to vote, get voting! :dance:
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Re: Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - Spain 2021 PO

Post by Londoner »

Fetzie on Ferrari wrote:How does a driver hurtling around a race track while they're sous-viding in their overalls have a better understanding of the race than a team of strategy engineers in an air-conditioned room?l
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