2017 Austrian Grand Prix - Predicament Predictions!

[Rob Dylan]

Welcome to the 2017 Formula 1™ Großer Preis™ von Österreich™'s Predicament Predictions!

Also known as home of the overtake, the A1-Ring, or whatever it's called now, is next on the Predictions calendar, and with Sebastian Vettel's behaviour in Baku currently under review, it's time to take advantage of this uncertainty by making wacky predictions about the next race. Mine are:

1. Valtteri Bottas
2. Sebastian Vettel
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Max Verstappen
6. Daniel Ricciardo
7. Nico Hulkenberg
8. Sergio Perez
9. Esteban Ocon
10. Kevin Magnussen

Pole: Sebastian Vettel
Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel
First retirement: Felipe Massa
Reject Of The Race: Sauber
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Nico Hulkenberg
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Jolyon Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Esteban Ocon
Did Not Qualify: Vandoorne

And obviously, you're welcome to use double points if you haven't already.

[Dom_Wings]

Formel 1 Red Bull Großer Preis von Ostmark 2017

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

Pole: Lewis Hamilton
Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel
First retirement: Daniil Kvyat
Reject Of The Race: Honda
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Daniel Ricciardo
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Jolyon Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Esteban Ocon
Did Not Qualify: Nope.avi

[This Could Be You]

2017 Australian GP
1. BOT
2. RAI
3. VET
4. HAM
5. PER
6. RIC
7. MAS
8. STR
9. OCO
10. HUL

Pole: Bottas
Fastest Lap: Hamilton
First Retirement: Palmer
RoTR: Sainz Jr.
IIDoTR: Stroll (proves Baku to not be a complete fluke)
DBToTR: Palmer, again
MLP: Stroll
DNQ: Considering that McHonda have new engines, no. Otherwise, it would have been marginal...

[Ataxia]

2017 That Quote From Dumb and Dumber Grand Prix

1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Max Verstappen
3. Valtteri Bottas
4. Daniel Ricciardo
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Esteban Ocon
7. Sergio Perez
8. Nico Hulkenberg
9. Lance Stroll
10. Stoffel Vandoorne

Pole: Sebastian Vettel
Fastest lap: Bottas
First retirement: Raikkonen
Reject Of The Race: Raikkonen
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Vandoorne
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Romain Grosjean
Minor League Premiership: Esteban Ocon

[watka]

2017 If "Red Bull Get A Grand Prix Why Don't All The Other Teams?" GP

1. I
2. Have
3. Missed
4. Too
5. Many
6. Rounds
7. To
8. Be
9. Relevant
10. Anymore

Pole: North (gotta a fifty-fifty chance with this one)
Fastest lap: Lap 64
First retirement: Rosberg obviously, we've known this since December
Reject Of The Race: HONDA
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: The Safety Car
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Giovinazzi, who will both fail to qualify and be beaten by both of his teammates
Minor League Premiership: Pains me to say it as a Power man, but have to go with Adelaide this year. They've been playing the most exciting football this year.

And I'll be playing double points for this GP please.

[dr-baker]

Pole: North (gotta a fifty-fifty chance with this one).

You're wrong. There's only one Pole in F1. Robert Kubica.

[CoopsII]

The Falco Memorial Grand Prix 2017

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

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Hamilton
First retirement: Stroll
Reject Of The Race: Honda
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Ricciardo
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Vandoorne
Minor League Premiership: Sainz Jr
Did Not Qualify: Nobody - Is this really a relevant option?

[UncreativeUsername37]

2017 i know about the sound of music i've watched it does everyone have to make the same joke every bloody year grand prix
as always my prediction for the top ten is:
1. hamilton because ferrari had their time but now it's back to mercedes dominance and hamilton winning another championship ugh
2. bottas whose win in russia made you know he could do it which just makes all his subsequent failures more frustrating
3. vettel because he's the number one driver in the next team down the order
4. räikkönen
5. verstappen
6. ricciardo
7. pérez
8. ocon
9. massa
10. hülkenberg

pole: hamilton (nicks it from bottas on his final run)
fastest lap: vettel (satisfaction)
first retirement: alonso (duh)
rotr: ferrari (something about vettel at baku and pr or something)
iidotr: sainz (splitting the force indias, but renault fails him)
dBtMOTr: palmer
mlp: ocon
dnq: it's 2017

[yannicksamlad]

The predominantly Turn to the Right Austrian GP of 2017

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

Pole: Bottas
Fastest lap: Raikkonen
First retirement: Palmer
Reject Of The Race: Palmer
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Verstappen
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Kvyat
Did Not Qualify: Nobody

[AdrianBelmonte_]

2017 "WE'RE NOT AUSTRALIA, FOR F***K'S SAKE" Grand Prix

1. Bottas
2. Ricciardo
3. Verstappen
4. Raikkonen
5. Perez
6. Hulkenberg
7. Stroll
8. Massa
9. Alonso
10. Kvyat

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Raikkonen
First retirement: Hamilton-Vettel, The german hits HAM on the first corner a la Prost-Senna at Suzuka '90
Reject Of The Race: Palmer
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Hulkenberg
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Kvyat
Did Not Qualify: Nah

[CarloSpace]

2017 Make Österreichring Great Again Grand Prix

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

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Hamilton
First retirement: Ocon
Reject Of The Race: Ocon
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Perez
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Stroll

[Aislabie]

The hills are alive with the sound of V6 turbos

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

Pole - Lewis Hamilton
Fastest Lap - Lewis Hamilton
First Retirement - Jolyon Palmer
IIDOTR - Max Verstappen (for finishing)
ROTR - The circuit itself
DBTMOTR - Jolyon Palmer
MLP - Lance Stroll
DNQ - None

[Enforcer]

34th Anniversary of Jean-Pierre Jarier's Spectacular Disregard for Blue Flags GP
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHS53krjxkg)

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

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Vettel
First retirement: Vandoorne
Reject Of The Race: McEasyTargetforRotR (McLaren)
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Eh.... Ocon?
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Ocon
Did Not Qualify: (This field is unused)

[Peteroli34]

2017 Austrian GP
1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Bottas
4. Raikkonen
5. Ricciardo
6. Perez
7. Ocon
8. Hulkenberg
9. Sainz
10. Massa

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Bottas
First Retirement: Verstappen
RoTR: Stroll
IIDoTR: Palmer
DBToTR: Kyvat
MLP: Ocon
DNQ: Everyone

[dr-baker]

2017 Red Bull Toro Rosso Vache Rouge Rot Stier Austrian not Australian Grand Prix

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

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Raikkonen
First retirement: Alonso
Reject of the Race: Red Bull
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Stroll
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: J. Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Lance Stroll
DNQ: N/A

[Rob Dylan]

FYI, after a short discussion on Mibbit a few days ago, I have been of the thinking that from the next race onwards, we should maybe scrap the honourary DNQ point (which nobody can receive unless somebody actually DNQs) and replace it with a DNS. That way if you guess that someone isn't going to start the race, you can luck yourself into a point.

If there are any objections to this, please raise them now. Otherwise we'll have DNS replacing DNQ from the next round onwards.

[dinizintheoven]

As I remember it from when Predicament Predictions started, the DNQ referred to anyone outside the 107% time for any reason, including those who set no time at all in Q1, irrespective of whether they were allowed to start or not - so Jolyon Palmer should have counted for DNQ in Azerbaijan even though there was zero chance of him not being allowed to start the race. After all, there's never been the slightest hint of a genuine 107%-plus time after the demise of HRT, and even then it was only ever in Australia when HRT hadn't done any more than a cursory shakedown of their car and treated the practice and qualifying as a rudimentary test session. Maybe, just maybe, Manor's year-old 2015 car might have been in the same position if they'd been able to get it working in those initial races, but we will never know (and neither will we ever know if they could have beaten McLaren in Australia).

[mario]

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

Pole: Bottas
Fastest lap: Vettel
First retirement: Kvyat (the Toro Rosso's are looking a little fragile this weekend)
Reject Of The Race: Sauber
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Ocon
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Ocon
Did Not Qualify: None

[mario]

As I remember it from when Predicament Predictions started, the DNQ referred to anyone outside the 107% time for any reason, including those who set no time at all in Q1, irrespective of whether they were allowed to start or not - so Jolyon Palmer should have counted for DNQ in Azerbaijan even though there was zero chance of him not being allowed to start the race. After all, there's never been the slightest hint of a genuine 107%-plus time after the demise of HRT, and even then it was only ever in Australia when HRT hadn't done any more than a cursory shakedown of their car and treated the practice and qualifying as a rudimentary test session. Maybe, just maybe, Manor's year-old 2015 car might have been in the same position if they'd been able to get it working in those initial races, but we will never know (and neither will we ever know if they could have beaten McLaren in Australia).

To some extent, I am wondering whether it might be worth retiring it altogether given that it is something of a holdover from a time when there was a low but realistic prospect of a DNQ for the smaller new teams.

[RAK]

2017 Puce Aurochs Grand Prix

1) Bottas
2) Vettel
3) Verstappen
4) Ricciardo
5) Hamilton
6) Raikkonen
7) Grosjean
8) Ocon
9) Magnussen
10) Stroll

Pole: Hamilton (notwithstanding grid penalty)
Fastest Lap: Verstappen
First Retirement: Palmer
ROTR: Palmer
IIDOTR: Haas
DBTMOTR: Massa
MLP: Ocon
DNQ: None

[tommykl]

2017 This Video Grand Prix
1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Verstappen
4. Bottas
5. Ricciardo
6. Räikkönen
7. Pérez
8. Sainz
9. Ocon
10. Massa

Pole: Vettel
Fastest lap: Hamilton
First retirement: Grosjean
Reject Of The Race: Ericsson
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Sainz (more by default than anything else)
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Kvyat
Minor League Premiership: Ocon
Did Not Qualify: None

I missed my chance in Monaco, but I'll do it now. Double points, please.

[Aguvazk]

2017 Marchia Orientalis quadriga race

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

Pole: Vettel
Fastest lap: Vettel
First retirement: Kvyat
Reject Of The Race: Sauber
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Hulkenberg
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Palmer
Minor League Premiership: Stroll

Double points for me, please

[Normal32]

2017 German Grand Prix

1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Lance Stroll
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Valterri Bottas
5. Sergio Perez
6. Sebastian Vettel
7. Pascal Wehrlein
8. Jolyon Palmer
9. Esteban Ocon
10. Stoffel Vandoorne

Pole: Lance Stroll
Fastest lap: Lance Stroll
First retirement: Fernando Alonso
Reject Of The Race: Fernando Alonso
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Lance Stroll
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Nico Hulkenberg
Minor League Premiership: Lance Stroll
Did Not Qualify: ur mum

[Dj_bereta]

2017 "I missed the last round so let's get dangerous"

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

Pole: Bottas
Fastest lap: Hamilton
First retirement: Kvyat
Reject Of The Race: Williams (upgrades failed)
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: Alonso
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: Raikkonen
Minor League Premiership: Ocon
Did Not Qualify: None

[pi314159]

1. BOT
2. VET
3. HAM
4. VER
5. RIC
6. RAI
7. PER
8. ALO
9. OCO
10. MAG

Pole: BOT
Fastest lap: VER
First retirement: VAN
Reject Of The Race: GRO
Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race: ALO
Deadbeat Teammate Of The Race: RAI
Minor League Premiership: OCO
Did Not Qualify: None

[Rob Dylan]

Ok, the results from the Austrian race are in!

1. tommykl 24*
2. mario 19
3. RAK 18
- pi314159 18
5. This Could Be You 17
6. Dj_bereta 16
7. Rob Dylan 15
- Aislabie 15
9. Ugncreativeusergname 13
- Enforcer 13
11. Reject_Dom 12
- Aguvazk 12*
13. CoopsII 11
- yannicksamlad 11
- peteroli34 11
16. Ataxia 10
- AdrianBelmonte_ 10
18. CarloSpace 9
19. dr-baker 8
20. Normal32 6
21. watka 0*
*Used double points

So with help from double points, Tommykl takes home a strong win, which allows him to catch up on championship leader Mario by five points. There were some seriously strong top 10s this week, with lots of people predicting the lower half of the points scorers almost exactly. Watka, though he put in a brave effort, did not score any points with his predictions. I gave Aislabie the point for best alternative race title.

So the standings are as follows:

1. Mario 146
2. Tommykl 139
3. Aislabie 129
4. CarloSpace 122
5. This Could Be You 122
6. RAK 115
7. dr-baker 113
8. CoopsII 113
9. Enforcer 111
10. UgncreativeUsergname 105
11. AdrianBelmonte_ 103
12. Rob Dylan 102
13. Dj_bereta 99
14. Aguvazk 86
15. Watka 82
16. Yannicksamlad 74
17. pi314159 71
18. Ataxia 71
19. peteroli34 57
20. Normal32 47
21. takagi_for_the_win 37
22. Miguel98 35
23. Bleu 29
24. Simtek 28
25. mash 28
26. TheFlyingCaterham 28
27. Pasta_Maldonado 26
28. Andrew 16
29. RedEyes504 16
30. FullMetalJack 15
31. Dexter249 14
32. Dartanian 12
- Reject_Dom 12
34. DemocalypseNow 11
- IceG 11
36. golic_2004 7
37. Gonzalez 6

So Tommykl closes in on Mario, whilst Mario's equally strong showing in the race pushes him further away from the other front-runners to make it a two-horse race. The top 10 in the championship are all within a full haul of points going on to Silverstone.

See you next time!