IT'S HERE! 2016 F1 SEASON (played through Grand Prix 2)!

[rjbetty]

Hi everyone. Well after some thought, I've decided to at least give this a go since I know several people were looking forward to this, and it will help fill the time until the F1 season proper.

Unfortunately, due to events in life offline, I am not sure I will be able to go into the detail I had hoped for, but I will do my best and promise to at least see this to the end in whatever shape (and hope it doesn't tail off too much). I'm not planning on hanging around the racing forums anymore as I have other priorities in life but I have decided I will post this season as I'd said I would.

I don't know who's driving for Manor but I have installed Rio Haryanto and Pascal Wehrlein (though I don't think he will get it). Kevin Magnussen has replaced Maldonado at Renault (YAY!)

So here we go then, qualifying for round 1 - Australia!

ROUND 1 - AUSTRALIAN GP
Qualifying
A huge surprise early on as Alonso goes quickest for McLaren. Rosberg is held up on his lap, but only slightly, yet still only goes 0.060 quicker. Bottas then takes provisional pole while Ricciardo is very quick but spoils his lap. Both Ferraris are on the pace, Vettel only falling a tiny bit short as Hamilton goes fastest, but only by 2 tenths! Raikkonen looks very fast indeed but is quite slow in the final sector. It's a very close grid indeed - so exciting! Manor and Haas have both done a decent job.

Starting Grid
1.Hamilton
2.Bottas +0.198
3.Vettel +0.268
4.Rosberg +0.272
5.Raikkonen +0.273
6.Alonso +0.332
7.Kvyat +0.521
8.Verstappen +0.777
9.Massa +0.890
10.Sainz +0.893
11.Hulkenberg +0.953
12.Ricciardo +1.067
13.Nasr +1.069
14.Button +1.107
15.Magnussen +1.624
16.Perez +1.689
17.Palmer +1.695
18.Wehrlein +1.837
19.Grosjean +2.205
20.Ericsson +2.215
21.Gutierrez +2.942
22.Haryanto +3.053

[rjbetty]

ROUND 1 - AUSTRALIAN GP (continued) - RACE DAY

GO! Bottas shoots into the lead but Vettel gets an even better start and takes the lead into turn 1. Rosberg gets pushed wide and is all the way down to 8th, while Alonso and Verstappen get great starts into 4th and 5th! Chaos behind as Perez and Magnussen have crashed and are both out! On the run to turn 3 Hamilton takes 2nd from Bottas while Kvyat runs into the back of Raikkonen, pushing him off track while Rosberg gets past them both for 6th. Raikkonen is all the way to last.

Manors have had a good start running 14th and 17th with Gutierrez 15th for Haas.

After 5 laps, Vettel leads Hamilton by 1.4sec. Rosberg gets past Bottas for 3rd while Verstappen has dropped from an early 4th to 9th. Button and Hulkenberg fight for 10th while Raikkonen chases Gutierrez for 17th.

By lap 10, Vettel now leads by 2sec while Rosberg catches Hamilton. Kvyat is making progress, having dispatched Alonso for 5th and now closes on Bottas. Raikkonen takes Wehrlein's for 14th, but is now 23sec off the lead. Gutierrez has retired, making it 19 runners now.

On lap 13, Rosberg takes Hamilton for 2nd, but Vettel now has a 5sec+ lead over both Mercedes cos of traffic.

Lap 19 and here are the pit stops, a flurry of them as Rosberg pits first, followed by Bottas, Kvyat and Raikkonen, who had made it up to 9th. This leaves Alonso 3rd (the giddy heights!) On the next lap, Vettel and Massa pit from 1st and 5th, leaving Hamilton leading Alonso by 12sec.

Suddenly on lap 23, a shocking development - Rosberg's name drops down the order - he's OUT with transmission failure!

Now the halfway point on lap 29, and Alonso makes his only scheduled stop from 2nd, while Verstappen does the same from 5th. They exit 7th and 12th. Hamilton now leads fellow one-stopper Ricciardo while Vettel is 3rd, 23sec down.

Hamilton makes his stop a lap later, then so does Ricciardo from 2nd, but unbelievably Ricciardo collides with a stray Caterham on the pit lane entry (Forza Rossa and Caterham fill the grid to the mandatory 26 cars, and with old cars and engines they are nowhere remotely near the pace of even the Manors and Haas). Ricciardo spins back out onto the track and into the pit entry. But most astonishingly, Sainz and Button now try to pit and can't get round Ricciardo so they end up trapped against the wall.

Even more belief is beggared when Button is trying to reverse, then Hulkenberg comes flying into the pit entry from 5th and smashes into Button sending him crashing to the last corner, only to be smashed into by Kvyat - all 3 are out! These are truly amazing events, and you have to see these screenshots to believe the carnage. Sainz also retired as he was unable to get his car started again. This leaves Pascal Wehrlein's Manor in 9th, Grosjean 11th and Haryanto 12th, with Ricciardo the final runner 2 laps down in 13th. You couldn't make this up.

Meanwhile, Hamilton had exited the pits behind Vettel but got past him for the lead. This is a lucky break for Raikkonen who is now a clear 5th. Vettel isn't giving up though and holds onto Hamilton over the next laps. On lap 38 he brilliantly retakes the lead through backmarkers! However he has to stop again while Hamilton doesn't...

Vettel makes his final stop exiting 3rd behind Hamilton and... Alonso! Then suddenly, he's in the turn 3 gravel! He crawls out 5th behind the Williams', but Massa is about to pit. Bottas should be easy work.

With 15 laps to go, all the stops are done and the order is Hamilton, Alonso, Bottas, Vettel, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Massa, Nasr, Wehrlein and Ericsson in the points, with Grosjean, Haryanto and Ricciardo the final runners.

There are to be no more crazy events now, and Hamilton eventually takes a straight-forward win, one of the few straight-forward things about this race. Alonso comes home an overjoyed (by his standards) 2nd, while surprisingly Bottas does keep 3rd ahead of Vettel. And joy of joys, Pascal Wehrlein brings his Manor home 9th for only their second points finish ever. Grosjean was 11th on his Haas debut, only 21sec down on the points, but 48sec down on Wehrlein, suggesting some work to do for Haas. This just shows how Manor need a decent driver in one of their seats. Raikkonen took a surprise fastest lap.

Race Result
1.Hamilton
2.Alonso +27.722
3.Bottas +40.092
4.Vettel +41.114
5.Raikkonen +51.433
6.Verstappen +1:09.606
7.Massa +1:19.295
8.Nasr -1 lap
9.Wehrlein -1 lap
10.Ericsson -1 lap
11.Grosjean -1 lap
12.Haryanto -2 laps
13.Ricciardo -2 laps
R.Kvyat - DNF
R.Hulkenberg - DNF
R.Button - DNF
R.Sainz - DNF
R.Palmer - DNF
R.Rosberg - Transmission
R.Gutierrez - Engine
R.Magnussen - DNF
R.Perez - DNF

Fastest Lap Top 3: Raikkonen, Rosberg, Hamilton



So there we have it, what an amazing race that couldn't have been forseen. Let's hope the rest of the season is just as exciting. I will try to post some screenshots I took but the photo site I use is down.

[rjbetty]

ROUND 2 - MALAYSIAN GP
Right then I'll try to get as much done as I can as I don't know when I'll get the time to do more. Here we go then, Round 2 - Malaysia.

Qualifying
Of the early runners, Hamilton goes fastest, but Vettel is very quick indeed, but falls short in the final sector. Later on, Alonso is very quick again, still coming 3rd despite being held up by Magnussen slightly. Ricciardo had a shocking lap, and only improved to 10th next time round. Kvyat suffered badly too. Rosberg was quicker than Hamilton in sector 1 but comes across Wehrlein and his lap is ruined. He hits another backmarker on his next lap and is stuck in 4th. Kvyat tries to improve from 15th but runs out of time as the session ends! And I don't know how he did it, but Kevin Magnussen gets in the top 10.

Starting Grid
1.Hamilton
2.Vettel +0.124
3.Alonso +0.458
4.Rosberg +0.962
5.Raikkonen +1.100
6.Sainz +1.417
7.Button +1.559
8.Bottas +1.568
9.Magnussen +1.604
10.Ricciardo +1.680
11.Verstappen +1.801
12.Hulkenberg +2.022
13.Nasr +2.137
14.Massa +2.292
15.Kvyat +2.564
16.Perez +2.710
17.Ericsson +3.595
18.Palmer +3.810
19.Grosjean +4.015
20.Gutierrez +4.533
21.Wehrlein +4.810
22.Haryanto +6.079

[rjbetty]

ROUND 2 - MALAYSIA - Race Day
Hamilton keeps the lead but Vettel and Rosberg swap positions. Rosberg is all over Hamilton and tries to get him into the tight turn 9 but fails to make it stick. Later on, into the final corner, Rosberg gets through while Vettel fails to do the same to Alonso.

Then down the start-finish straight, Hamilton retakes Rosberg while Vettel gets Alonso for 3rd. Grosjean has made it up to 15th in the confusion as somehow, Roberto Merhi's Caterham gets up to 14th, holding up others really badly.

The top 4 run closely until the Mercedes pull away as Vettel and Alonso fight. Raikkonen joins in and takes Alonso for 4th.

By lap 10, Rosberg is finally through for good and has pulled out a slight gap. Hamilton is also under pressure from Vettel now. Palmer and Grosjean are the first retirements.

Suddenly, a huge shock as into the turn 9 hairpin, Hamilton's suspension fails, sending him into the gravel - he's OUT!

On lap 17, Raikkonen takes Vettel for 2nd! Both are 3.3sec behind Rosberg with Alonso a similar gap behind in 4th. Carlos Sainz is a massive 23sec behind Alonso in 5th, but he has a close group of Red Bulls, Williams, Button and Hulkenberg behind him.

On lap 22, Rosberg and Raikkonen pit giving Vettel the lead as Alonso retires from 4th. Vettel makes his stop on lap 29, and he's trying a counter-strategy. He will go to the end and is only 10sec off the lead. Rosberg and Raikkonen have to pit again. This could get really interesting if Vettel can hold on. Verstappen retires with his car on fire.

Rosberg pits on lap 37 but Vettel is only 16sec behind in 3rd. Rosberg exits 8 sec behind. Now with 15 laps to go, Rosberg is 6sec behind and catching quickly.

Kvyat is a great 4th, but well over a minute down, having run 18th on lap 1, but he pits with an electrical failure. Dropping to 12th he immediately gives chase to the cars in front, colliding with Nasr into turns 7-8.

Raikkonen is 3rd, 15sec down but fastest of all. Vettel's lead is now under 4sec and looking perilous. Amongst all this, Massa is somehow 4th with Magnussen behind.

Vettel loses 2 sec behind a Caterham with smoke pouring out of it's engine. Rosberg is only 1.5sec behind with 10 laps to go now. Raikkonen is down to 12sec off the lead, as Gutierrez spins off from 15th behind that Caterham. 4th-10th are separated by 11sec with the Force Indias and Nasr close behind that group.

Button quietly starts picking up the pace and dispatches Magnussen's Renault for 5th, and sets off after Massa. Rosberg is now just over 1sec behind Vettel with 5 laps to go, but makes a mistake dropping 8sec!

Button is doing a great job and gets Massa with 3 laps left while Magnussen throws away his good work with a mistake, dropping to 10th.

Vettel laps Massa for 5th on the last lap to take the win, while just a few seconds behind, Ricciardo just fails to overtake Bottas. Behind this Kvyat does grab 8th from Sainz at the death while Magnussen holds on for the final point just ahead of Nasr and the Force Indias. Button grabs another amazing result for McLaren with 4th. Raikkonen gets fastest lap again!

Result
1.Vettel
2.Rosberg +9.079
3.Raikkonen +14.922
4.Button +1:39.948
5.Massa -1 lap
6.Bottas -1 lap
7.Ricciardo -1 lap
8.Kvyat -1 lap
9.Sainz -1 lap
10.Magnussen -1 lap
11.Nasr -1 lap
12.Perez -1 lap
13.Hulkenberg -1 lap
14.Ericsson -1 lap
15.Wehrlein -2 laps
16.Gutierrez -2 laps
R.Haryanto - Engine
R.Verstappen - Oil Leak
R.Alonso - Engine
R.Hamilton - Suspension
R.Grosjean - Transmission
R.Palmer - Transmission

Fastest Lap Top 3: Raikkonen, Vettel, Rosberg


Championship Standings after Round 2
Drivers
1.Sebastian Vettel - 37pts
2.Lewis Hamilton - 25pts
3.Kimi Raikkonen - 25pts
4.Valtteri Bottas - 23pts
5.Nico Rosberg - 18pts
5.Fernando Alonso - 18pts
7.Felipe Massa - 16pts
8.Jenson Button - 12pts
9.Max Verstappen - 8pts
10.Daniel Ricciardo - 6pts
11.Felipe Nasr - 4pts
12.Daniil Kvyat - 4pts
13.Pascal Wehrlein - 2pts
14.Carlos Sainz - 2pts
15.Marcus Ericsson - 1pt
16.Kevin Magnussen - 1pt

Constructors
1.Ferrari - Ferrari - 62pts
2.Mercedes - Mercedes - 43pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 39pts
4.McLaren - Honda - 30pts
5.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 10pts
6.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 10pts
7.Sauber - Ferrari - 5pts
8.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts
9.Renault - Renault - 1pt
10.Haas - Ferrari
11.Force India - Mercedes

[rjbetty]

I'll see if I can do one more.

ROUND 3 - CHINESE GP
Qualifying
Alonso is quick yet again before Rosberg takes half a second off. Several drivers are badly held up but improve on their second laps, notably Hamilton from 15th and Raikkonen from 21st. Look how well the McLarens have done.

Starting Grid
1.Rosberg
2.Vettel +0.231
3.Hamilton +0.382
4.Alonso +0.504
5.Kvyat +0.583
6.Button +0.663
7.Ricciardo +0.973
8.Bottas +1.051
9.Massa +1.127
10.Raikkonen +1.219
11.Sainz +1.362
12.Verstappen +1.367
13.Hulkenberg +1.447
14.Magnussen +2.225
15.Nasr +2.268
16.Perez +2.308
17.Gutierrez +2.340
18.Ericsson +2.353
19.Grosjean +2.506
20.Wehrlein +2.545
21.Palmer +2.694
22.Haryanto +5.249


RACE DAY
The top 3 keep their positions off the start but the McLarens lose two places each. Palmer and Nasr have collided and both are off at turn 1 but both continue at the back. Gutierrez has gotten up to 12th.

Raikkonen makes up about 5 places on lap 2(!) while Haryanto retires and Massa makes a mistake dropping down the back, 45sec off the lead.

After 5 laps, the top 3 are circulating very closely when suddenly Vettel snatches the lead from Rosberg. Hamilton tries to do the same but doesn't pull it off. Gutierrez still holds 12th for Haas.

The two Mercedes fight, which allows Vettel to pull out a lead as Hamilton gets through to 2nd, but Vettel makes a mistake and loses the gap, as Button has problems and drops right out of contention to 20th.

Gutierrez is doing a great job on lap 15, still 11th just 2sec off the points, while Raikkonen continues his climb, taking 4th from Kvyat. On lap 23 though, suddenly Raikkonen pulls off track coming onto the back straight and is out.

Hamilton is first of the leaders to pit on lap 25, dropping to 5th.

On lap 33 Alonso pits having led the race for 2 laps. Gutierrez is still 12th only 7sec off the points and not stopping again. Button is making good progress back up the field but Massa languishes.

Gutierrez seems to de dropping off the pace a bit now and is 14th. Everyone has pitted now with just under 20laps left and Vettel now holds a 10secc lead.

Vettel holds on to take another win while Alonso gets another good result for McLaren. Button just missed out on the points in the end while Gutierrez finished a good 14th (beating Massa!) considering there were only 3 retirements, the final one being Magnussen on the last lap. Force India open their points account meaning only Haas are yet to score now.


Result
1.Vettel
2.Hamilton +9.219
3.Rosberg +30.122
4.Alonso +39.829
5.Kvyat +41.839
6.Bottas +1:20.426
7.Hulkenberg +1:24.725
8.Ricciardo +1:25.317
9.Verstappen +1:26.559
10.Sainz +1:38.517
11.Button -1 lap
12.Perez -1 lap
13.Ericsson -1 lap
14.Gutierrez -1 lap
15.Massa -1 lap
16.Wehrlein -1 lap
17.Grosjean -1 lap
18.Nasr -1 lap
19.Palmer -2 laps
R.Magnussen -3 laps
R.Raikkonen - Loose Wheel
R.Haryanto - Electrical

Fastest Lap Top 3: Vettel, Rosberg, Alonso


Championship Standings after 3 Rounds
Drivers
1.Vettel - 62pts
2.Hamilton - 43pts
3.Rosberg - 33pts
4.Bottas - 31pts
5.Alonso - 30pts
6.Raikkonen - 25pts
7.Massa - 16pts
8.Kvyat - 14pts
9.Button - 12pts
10.Verstappen -10pts
11.Ricciardo - 10pts
12.Hulkenberg - 6pts
13.Nasr - 4pts
14.Sainz - 3pts
15.Wehrlein - 2pts
16.Ericsson - 1pt
17.Magnussen - 1pt

Constructors
1.Ferrari - Ferrari - 87pts
2.Mercedes - Mercedes - 76pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 47pts
4.McLaren - Honda - 42pts
5.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 24pts
6.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 13pts
7.Force India - Mercedes - 6pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 5pts
9.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts
10.Renault - Renault - 1pt
11.Haas-Ferrari

[rjbetty]

Just one more to complete the flyaway races before bed...

ROUND 4: BAHRAIN GP
Qualifying
In the early running, Massa, Button and Hulkenberg are fastest with Raikkonen and Alonso only 8th and 9th out of the initial 12 runners. Mercedes, Vettel and Red Bull are yet to set a time however. Hamilton goes almost 0.6 quicker than Massa with 3 mins left then Rosberg, who was slower than Hamilton in the first two sectors, suddenly snatches provisional pole. Vettel has a shocker of a lap, 22nd, but then a huge upset as the session ends before he can correct this - this means the runaway championship leader is down the back of the grid - with Raikkonen also failing to improve his time from 16th! This leads to a slightly mixed up grid.

Starting Grid
1.Rosberg
2.Hamilton +0.064
3.Massa +0.652
4.Button +0.893
5.Sainz +1.059
6.Ricciardo +1.095
7.Hulkenberg +1.236
8.Bottas +1.516
9.Verstappen +1.525
10.Nasr +1.561
11.Kvyat +1.638
12.Ericsson +1.914
13.Perez +2.071
14.Palmer +2.222
15.Grosjean +2.505
16.Raikkonen +2.618
17.Magnussen +2.765
18.Alonso +3.049
19.Haryanto +3.708
20.Wehrlein +3.751
21.Gutierrez +3.753
22.Vettel +5.471



Race Day
Lights out! Massa blasts into the lead and Hulkenberg into 3rd with Saubers 6th and 8th.

So after 5 laps, and the Mercedes cars are stuck in a pattern where they overtake the car in front (Hamilton/Massa and Rosberg/Hulkenberg) into the last corner, only for the overtaken car to blast back past them down the start/finish straight. So Massa keeps the lead while Nasr and Ericsson run 5th and 6th!

Lap 10 and the top 4 are still the same with Massa and Hulkenberg holding off the Mercedes. Hamilton loses it in frustration and spins off. After trying to extricate himself his engine has stalled and he is sensationally out of the race!

Rosberg has finally got past Hulkenberg for good while Raikkonen is past the Saubers. Vettel has made it up to 9th now.

Lap 18 and Hulkenberg pits from 3rd. Grosjean is out too now having not featured in the race. A lap later and Massa finally pits and relinquishes the lead. The McLarens are having a miserable time down the field; neither can get past the car in front as they still both lack some grunt.

After 20 laps the top 10 are only covered by 12sec - watch out for Vettel at the back of this field, he's a deceptively short time gap from the lead... Rosberg has made his stop but comes out behind Massa again, and now Ricciardo too. But he is ahead of Ericsson and Bottas who have yet to pit, and Hulkenberg who has.

WOW Nasr, Button and Palmer have all collided at the pit lane entry and are all out! Rosberg has caught up to Massa while Vettel is now 6th, only 10sec off the lead - still 36 laps to go...

Now Ericsson and Raikkonen crash into each other from 4th a Ericsson tries to enter the pitlane while Raikkonen is passing him. Kimi half spins across the track, being overtaken by Vettel, only for Raikkonen to retake him down the pit straight. Ericsson is in the gravel, his good drive wasted, but somehow still running despite having hit the wall hard.

Raikkonen has a great scrap with Vettel but it loses both time, until Raikkonen bins it losing 30sec and dropping to 9th. Rosberg has got past Massa by now and is almost 4sec clear. Vettel can't get past Hulkenberg for 3rd for the same reason the Mercedes couldn't earlier, but he finally makes it stick, but is now 24sec down. With 20 laps remaining, Rosberg pits from the lead to 3rd.

Vettel makes a late stop with 11 laps left, dropping to 3rd. He immediately sets a searing pace but is 26sec down. A trio of Spanish speaking drivers all retire at the same time, Alonso, Sainz and Gutierrez. I don't know if anything happened cos I was on accelerated time.

Vettel blasts past Massa for 2nd and is 14sec behind Rosberg with only 4 laps left. On the final lap, what's this? Championship leader Vettel, coming down the final straight retires and pulls off the track! A final sting in the tail which promotes Kvyat to a surprise podium. As in Malaysia, Ricciardo just fails to get past Bottas. Sauber rue their pointless race having both run right up there early on.

Result
1.Rosberg
2.Massa +19.588
3.Kvyat +29.045
4.Hulkenberg +37.594
5.Bottas +1:00.666
6.Ricciardo +1:01.823
7.Verstappen +1:11.608
8.Raikkonen +1:19.389
9.Perez +1:33.839
10.Vettel - Brakes
11.Ericsson -1 lap
12.Wehrlein -2 laps
13.Magnussen -2 laps
14.Haryanto -2 laps
R.Alonso - DNF
R.Gutierrez - Engine
R.Sainz - DNF
R.Nasr - DNF
R.Button - DNF
R.Palmer - DNF
R.Grosjean - Engine
R.Hamilton - DNF

Fastest Lap Top 3: Vettel, Kvyat, Hamilton


Championship Standings after Round 4
Drivers'
1.Vettel - 63pts
2.Rosberg - 58pts
3.Hamilton - 43pts
4.Bottas - 41pts
5.Massa - 34pts
6.Alonso - 30pts
7.Raikkonen - 29pts
7.Kvyat - 29pts
9.Hulkenberg - 18pts
10.Ricciardo - 18pts
11.Verstappen - 16pts
12.Button - 12pts
13.Nasr - 4pts
14.Sainz - 3pts
15.Perez - 2pts
16.Wehrlein - 2pts
17.Ericsson - 1pt
18.Magnussen - 1pt

Constructors
1.Mercedes - Mercedes - 101pts
2.Ferrari - Ferrari - 92pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 75pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 47pts
5.McLaren - Honda - 42pts
6.Force India - Mercedes - 20pts
7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 19pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 5pts
9.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts
10.Renault - Renault - 1pt
11.Haas - Ferrari - (best finish 11th)


So that's it for now. Hope it's been fun.

[jens]

Insane season as per usual. I am sure the real season won't be that crazy.

By the way, out of interest. What are the performance values you have used for the season? McLaren looks insanely strong with at least one of their driver qualifying in top 4 in each round!

[rjbetty]

Hi Jens, I was gonna wait till the end of the season but I will post the top 12 now

QUAL
1.Hamilton
2.Rosberg +0.05
3.Vettel +0.34
4.Raikkonen +0.82
5.Bottas +0.84
6.Ricciardo +0.97
7.Massa +0.98
8.Kvyat +1.07
9.Alonso +1.09
10.Sainz +1.12
11.Verstappen +1.14
12.Button +1.20

Yes this is crazy stuff which is great, but I think it will settle down to some normality. The 2015 season I did was a bit rubbish with Hamilton winning 10 races, Rosberg 5 and Ricciardo sneaking 1 while 2014 had Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel on 3 victories, Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Rosberg on 2 each, with 1 for Magnussen! Hopefully we can still get some 'genuine' shock results. I think with McLaren it's more a case of other drivers not managing to set their absolute best time while one or both McLarens do so and punch above their weight.

So far McLaren's qualifying is like this:

Alonso - 6th 3rd 4th 18th (average = 7.8)
Button - 14th 7th 6th 4th (average = 8.3)

[jens]

The 2015 season I did was a bit rubbish with Hamilton winning 10 races, Rosberg 5 and Ricciardo sneaking 1 ---

Rubbish? In the real F1 season Hamilton did win 10 races, and Rosberg 6. So I'd say basically spot on.

[rjbetty]

Since I'm struggling to sleep, here's two more:

ROUNd 5: SPANISH GP
Qualifying
Rosberg fails to get a good time in while Vettel goes quickest. Hamilton tries but... doesn't make it so Vettel grabs pole! Look at the McLarens taking row 2.

Starting Grid
1.Vettel
2.Hamilton +0.046
3.Button +0.287
4.Alonso +0.350
5.Raikkonen +0.725
6.Ricciardo +0.801
7.Sainz +0.907
8.Rosberg +0.989
9.Kvyat +1.203
10.Bottas +1.394
11.Massa +1.714
12.Ericsson +1.829
13.Verstappen +2.125
14.Grosjean +2.956
15.Hulkenberg +3.037
16.Palmer +3.268
17.Perez +3.275
18.Nasr +3.278
19.Gutierrez +3.592
20.Wehrlein +4.354
21.Haryanto +5.678
22.Magnussen +6.111

Race Day
A less interesting one this, except for the result. Rosberg has a shocking start to 11th while the McLarens fare even worse running 8th and 9th after a few laps. Alonso retires before half distance and not much else happens save for Kvyat retiring.

There were two big happenings though. Hamilton losing a stack of time mid race and having to climb back up through the field, then a similar but lesser thing happening to Rosberg. He even gets overtaken by Button before eventually getting back past some time later. This all leaves Vettel out in the lead again, seemingly running away with the championship! Another good finish for McLaren with 5th for Button. Oh, and Max Verstappen retired from 10th on the last lap.

Result
1.Vettel
2.Ricciardo +36.305
3.Raikkonen +46.160
4.Rosberg +53.377
5.Button +55.549
6.Hamilton +57.235
7.Perez -1 lap
8.Sainz -1 lap
9.Massa -1 lap
10.Hulkenberg -1 lap
11.Bottas -1 lap
12.Ericsson - 1 lap
13.Magnussen -1 lap
R.Verstappen - Retired
15.Nasr -2 laps
16.Palmer -2 laps
17.Gutierrez -3 laps
R.Wehrlein - DNF
R.Kvyat - Transmission
R.Alonso - Suspension
R.Haryanto - DNF
R.Grosjean - Suspension

Fastest Lap Top 3: Vettel, Raikkonen, Ricciardo

Championship Standings after 5 Rounds
Drivers
1.Vettel - 88pts
2.Rosberg - 70pts
3.Hamilton - 51pts
4.Raikkonen - 44pts
5.Bottas - 41pts
6.Massa - 36pts
7.Ricciardo - 36pts
8.Alonso - 30pts
9.Kvyat - 29pts
10.Button - 22pts
11.Hulkenberg - 19pts
12.Verstappen - 16pts
13.Perez - 8pts
14.Sainz - 7pts
15.Nasr - 4pts
16.Wehrlein - 2pts
17.Ericsson - 1pt
18.Magnussen - 1pt

Constructors
1.Ferrari - Ferrari - 132pts
2.Mercedes - Mercedes - 121pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 77pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 65pts
5.McLaren - Honda - 52pts
6.Force India - Mercedes - 27pts
7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 23pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 5pts
9.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts
10.Renault - Renault - 1pt
11.Haas - Ferrari (best finish 11th)






ROUND 6: MONACO GP
Qualifying
Not much of a mixed up grid this time but some minor surprises

1.Vettel
2.Hamilton +0.156
3.Rosberg +0.479
4.Button +0.837
5.Sainz +1.215
6.Ricciardo +1.286
7.Bottas +1.391
8.Verstappen +1.423
9.Alonso +1.578
10.Hulkenberg +1.690
11.Massa +2.011
12.Kvyat +2.020
13.Nasr +2.059
14.Wehrlein +2.241
15.Raikkonen +2.314
16.Haryanto +3.012
17.Grosjean +3.241
18.Palmer +4.479
19.Gutierrez +4.509
20.Ericsson +4.631
21.Magnussen +5.512
22.Perez +7.302


Race Day
GO! The top 3 keep their places while Sainz and Button swap. Wehrlein, Haryanto and Grosjean all make up 1 place but Gutierrez retires early. Hamilton pressures Vettel but on lap 10 Rosberg bins it dropping to 19th! Now Sainz runs 3rd with Wehrlein 11th. A lap later he nips past Nasr thru backmarkers to run 10th on merit as Hamilton runs wide at the final corner but continues.

Suddenly on lap 19 Vettel is out from the lead! This puts Hamilton in a 22sec lead from Sainz, Button and Bottas. Wehrlein now runs 9th while Rosberg is now 15th but almost 40sec off the lead.

Now Massa spins from 8th into Portier and is almost now being lapped by Hamilton and in 19th. Rosberg has pitted early and is now 19th ahead of only Haryanto. Will this be a good move to jump up the field as others pit, or will he be held up and get frustrated?

Lap 26 and Wehrlein and Nasr pit from 7th and 8th. Nasr tries to jump Wehrlein but doesn't make it. Grosjean makes a mistake coming out of the final turn and Magnussen nabs him. They come down the pit straight, out comes Wehrlein and Magnussen actually hits the back of him it's so close, but the Manor just holds on to 12th. To show how close these cars are running, Nasr was right behind Wehrlein yet exits 16th.

A lap later and Sainz finally pits from 2nd, rejoining 10th and having to stop again.

Hamilton easily leads but many people have a go at running 2nd: Bottas, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Button etc. Wehrlein makes his way up to 8th like this, but had already been passed by Raikkonen. Verstappen monsters him but spins at Portier.

Through all this, Alonso is quietly not stopping anymore having not really featured. As everyone else ahead of him needs to pit again, could Alonso even be on course to bag a shock 2nd? As this is being pondered, Hamilton comes to lap him coming out of the tunnel and OH MY FREAKING GOSH HAMILTON CLIPS HIM AND ABSOLUTELY FLIES UP- INTO THE AIR AND BOTH HE AND ALONSO SMASH INTO THE CHICANE AREA!! Hamilton's car is broken in half, while somehow Alonso continues again in 12th. The runaway race leader, leading by almost a minute, is sensationally out! This puts the likes of Button, Sainz and Bottas in a shock fight for victory, you couldn't make it up.

Sainz leads, chased by Raikkonen who is all over him just like Mansell and Senna 92, and they both pit at the same time, as does Rosberg from 5th. Raikkonen does it and beats Sainz out of the pits but Button has gone through. So has Bottas, and Ricciardo, and Hulkenberg too - and they're all pitted to the end! Wehrlein has just overtaken Alonso on merit and is in the points, and as Rosberg pits he comes out between them. It could be more points for Manor in 9th. Wehrlein hounds Verstappen and Perez in front of him, a real David and Goliath moment this. During all this, Kvyat unspectacularly crashed out at the final turn...

Button now leads Bottas by 11 seconds and with 26 laps to go, could be on course for a fairytale victory for McLaren-Honda.

Verstappen gets past Perez for 7th with Wehrlein all over him, and Rosberg behind him. Suddenly Rosberg comes steaming into the chicane, and batters Wehrlein out of the way and takes 9th - what an unbelievable b*****d!!! Wehrlein now loses momentum and is repassed by Alonso now putting him out of the points again. Raikkonen clips the final turn but survives
and takes Ricciardo for 3rd later on. While chasing Bottas he also hits Haryanto like Hamilton did coming out of the tunnel but avoids it, just locking up. Rosberg is past both Perez and Verstappen now into 7th.

Button has now built up a 20sec lead with 20 laps to go! 5 laps later and Sainz nabs Hulk for 5th only for Hulk to return the favour. Rosberg is all over both of them while Raikkonen shadows Bottas for 2nd. Wehrlein has now been passed by Massa too.

In the next 10 laps. Rosberg takes Sainz for 6th, Perez is passed by Alonso, Verstappen spins again falling to 12th just ahead of Nasr. Massa takes Perez for 9th.

As we come into the final laps, it becomes clear that most cars do not have enough fuel to make the finish due to consumption being too high in this track slot for Monaco (slot 6). This means a flurry of pit stops, but a few try to eke their way to the finish. I wish I'd remembered to sort this beforehand but oh well, I guess it makes up for other realistic factors like safety cars and penalties not being accounted for.

So what happens? Jenson Button, with a 30second lead and a few corners to go, retires, that's what. Bottas has pitted, so now we are left with this completely ridiculous situation where we are waiting for a winner to come round, and we don't seem to be getting one (does that sound familiar - yes, amazingly this actually has happened at the Monaco GP in real life! So Bottas is out of the picture. Next enter Kimi Raikkonen, and yes he has just enough in the tank and he's done it, he's won!

Perez pulls up as does his team mate Hulkenberg and Ricciardo. And now Palmer's out, as is Grosjean, crashing into the wall, as that cheater (yeah I know I know!) Rosberg, after being nowhere, gets 2nd. Now Sainz is running out of fuel on the pit straight and Bottas swoops for 3rd, but misses, and Sainz gets the final podium place. Wehrlein is now set for 5th but he too pulls up at Rascasse, so through comes Alonso followed by Massa, then some way behind, Max Verstappen.

Right, now sorting through all that the final classified result is this:

Result
1.Raikkonen
2.Rosberg +9.766
3.Sainz +21.040
4.Bottas +21.437
5.Alonso +44.967
6.Massa +52.391
7.Verstappen +59.285
8.Button -1 lap
9.Ricciardo -1 lap
10.Hulkenberg -1 lap
11.Perez -1 lap
12.Wehrlein -1 lap
13.Nasr -1 lap
14.Palmer -1 lap
15.Ericsson -1 lap
16.Haryanto -1 lap
17.Magnussen -2 laps
18.Grosjean -2 laps
R.Hamilton - DNF
R.Kvyat - DNF
R.Vettel - DNF
R.Gutierrez - Transmission

Fastest Lap Top 3: Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso


Championship Standings after Round 6
Drivers
1.Vettel - 88pts
2.Rosberg - 88pts
3.Raikkonen - 69pts
4.Bottas - 53pts
5.Hamilton - 51pts
6.Massa - 44pts
7.Alonso - 40pts
8.Ricciardo - 38pts
9.Kvyat - 29pts
10.Button - 26pts
11.Sainz - 22pts
12.Verstappen - 22pts
13.Hulkenberg - 20pts
14.Perez - 8pts
15.Nasr - 4pts
16.Wehrlein - 2pts
17.Ericsson - 1pt
18.Magnussen - 1pt

Constructors
1.Ferrari - Ferrari - 157pts
2.Mercedes - Mercedes - 139pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 97pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 67pts
5.McLaren - Honda - 66pts
6.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 44pts
7.Force India - Mercedes - 28pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 5pts
9.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts
10.Renault - Renault - 1pt
11.Haas - Ferrari - (best finish 11th)



Right now that's definitely enough for today! Well it's been great fun. Tune in to the next episode soon.