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

[jens]

I don't understand, what have you done in the game, so that cars run out of fuel LOL. Once upon a time I played GP3 and AI was certainly smart enough to always have enough fuel on board.

That Monaco is like a race from the 1980s!

[rjbetty]

ROUND 7: CANADIAN GP
Qualifying
Sainz causes a stir by taking provisional pole only for Rosberg to set an identical time. Then at the end Raikkonen goes quickest only to be beaten by Hamilton with a couple of mnutes left.

Starting Grid
1.Hamilton
2.Raikkonen +0.215
3.Rosberg +0.251
4.Sainz +0.251
5.Vettel +0.384
6.Ricciardo +0.464
7.Bottas +0.501
8.Verstappen +0.547
9.Kvyat +0.623
10.Alonso +0.708
11.Hulkenberg +0.795
12.Massa +1.007
13.Magnussen +1.038
14.Nasr +1.173
15.Button +1.372
16.Wehrlein +1.468
17.Perez +1.715
18.Ericsson +1.877
19.Palmer +1.915
20.Grosjean +2.500
21.Haryanto +2.536
22.Gutierrez +2.962


GO! As others get in each other's way and Palmer is out minus one wheel, Hamilton and Raikkonen blast away from everyone, and Kimi hounds Hamilton all lap, and takes him into lap 2! But Hamilton gets him back. Suddenly on lap 3 Hamilton retires! That's the 4th time in 7 races - what?! Now Raikkonen leads Rosberg by 0.8sec. Rio Haryanto has fallen from the giddy heights of 12th and now his team-mate Pascal Wehrlein is the highest running representative of the backmarker teams in 15th.

Lap 5 and Alonso is swarmed by cars as his is on fire. Raikkonen continues to lead Rosberg by 0.6sec. 2 laps later and Rosberg takes the lead and now Button and Gutierrez are out too while Hulkenberg has spun from 7th at turn 6. Now Wehrlein, Grosjean and Haryanto are 13th, 14th and 15th with only 17 cars left already.

Ricciardo is fast and makes his way past Vettel then Raikkonen to 2nd but pits early. Nasr is on fire from 7th down the final straight and as Wehrlein dodges in 9th, Massa clatters into the back of him grabbing his position by cheating! Raikkonen spins at the hairpin while Grosjean also now runs 12th.

Sainz has to make an extra pit stops as the Ferraris one stop. It looks to work for Vettel as he gives chase to Rosberg but then his pace is a bit disappointing and he falls behind his team-mate and even Bottas for a while. Not that much else happens today so Rosberg takes the win.

Result
1.Rosberg
2.Raikkonen +18.720
3.Vettel +28.641
4.Bottas +30.965
5.Ricciardo +55.560
6.Kvyat +1:00.994
7.Massa +1:14.016
8.Verstappen +1:18.900
9.Hulkenberg -1 lap
10.Sainz-1 lap
11.Magnussen -1 lap
12.Wehrlein -1 lap
13.Perez -1 lap
14.Grosjean -1 lap
15.Ericsson -2 laps
16.Haryanto -2 laps
R.Nasr - Engine
R.Gutierrez - Engine
R.Button - Suspension
R.Alonso - Engine
R.Hamilton - DNF
R.Palmer - DNF

Fastest Lap Top 3: Raikkonen, Rosberg, Vettel


Championship Standings after Round 7
Drivers
1.Rosberg - 113pts
2.Vettel - 103pts
3.Raikkonen - 87pts
4.Bottas - 65pts
5.Hamilton - 51pts
6.Massa - 50pts
7.Ricciardo - 48pts
8.Alonso - 40pts
9.Kvyat - 37pts
10.Button - 26pts
11.Verstappen - 26pts
12.Sainz - 23pts
13.Hulkenberg - 22pts
14.Perez - 8pts
15.Nasr - 4pts
16.Wehrlein - 2pts
17.Ericsson - 1pt
18.Magnussen - 1pt

Constructors
1.Ferrari - Ferrari - 190pts
2.Mercedes - Mercedes - 164pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 115pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 85pts
5.McLaren - Honda - 66pts
6.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 49pts
7.Force India - Mercedes - 30pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 5pts
9.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts
10.Renault - Renault - 1pt
11.Haas - Ferrari - best finish 11th

[rjbetty]

ROUND 8: AUSTRIAN GP

Starting Grid
1.Rosberg
2.Hamilton +0.176
3.Perez +0.711
4.Ricciardo +0.759
5.Verstappen +0.852
6.Bottas +0.899
7.Vettel +0.943
8.Hulkenberg +0.994
9.Raikkonen +1.029
10.Massa +1.072
11.Kvyat +1.174
12.Grosjean +1.176
13.Alonso +1.391
14.Button +1.400
15.Nasr +1.670
16.Sainz +1.707
17.Magnussen +2.063
18.Gutierrez +2.572
19.Palmer +2.628
20.Haryanto +2.853
21.Wehrlein +3.072
22.Ericsson +6.139


Race Day
GO! Verstappen is up to 2nd while Sainz crashes out. Alonso crashes out part way through the race as Massa spins down the field. Vettel eventually gets by Perez for 3rd while Grosjean runs near the top 10 throughout. In the end he holds on by a few seconds to beat Button on merit and fantastically takes a maiden point for Haas! Force India secure a bumper result too while Rosberg extends his championship lead.

Result
1.Rosberg
2.Hamilton +18.211
3.Vettel +23.691
4.Perez +27.534
5.Hulkenberg +47.188
6.Kvyat +58.835
7.Raikkonen +1:00.554
8.Ricciardo +1:11.822
9.Verstappen +1:22.151
10.Grosjean -1 lap
11.Button -1 lap
12.Massa -1 lap
13.Magnussen -1 lap
14.Ericsson -1 lap
15.Haryanto -2 laps
16.Gutierrez -2 laps
17.Palmer -2 laps
18.Nasr -3 laps
R.Bottas - Transmission
R.Wehrlein - Suspension
R.Alonso - DNF
R.Sainz - DNF

Fastest Lap Top 3: Rosberg, Hamilton, Perez


Championship Standings after Round 8
Drivers
1.Rosberg - 138pts
2.Vettel - 118pts
3.Raikkonen - 93pts
4.Hamilton - 69pts
5.Bottas - 65pts
6.Ricciardo - 52pts
7.Massa - 50pts
8.Kvyat - 45pts
9.Alonso - 40pts
10.Hulkenberg - 32pts
11.Verstappen - 28pts
12.Button - 26pts
13.Sainz - 23pts
14.Perez - 20pts
15.Nasr - 4pts
16.Wehrlein - 2pts
17.Ericsson - 1pt
18.Magnussen - 1pt

Constructors
1.Ferrari - Ferrari - 211pts
2.Mercedes - Mercedes - 207pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 115pta
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 97pts
5.McLaren - Honda - 66pts
6.Force India - Mercedes - 52pts
7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 51pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 5pts
9.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts
10.Renault - Renault - 1pt
11.Haas - Ferrari - best finish 11th

[rjbetty]

I don't understand, what have you done in the game, so that cars run out of fuel LOL. Once upon a time I played GP3 and AI was certainly smart enough to always have enough fuel on board.

That Monaco is like a race from the 1980s!

It's because Monaco was run in slot 6 (i.e. round 6) instead of it's default 1994 slot 4. Each track slot has different inbuilt settings and slot 6 (Canada) has too high fuel consumption for a track like Monaco according to the physics of the game, so I forgot to fix this. In their default slots, each track runs properly with fuel consumption etc, but when I install other tracks in the slots, sometimes the characteristics don't match up. Well I guess it makes up for other realistic random factors that aren't in the game, such as rain, safety cars and penalties.


And with that...

ROUND 9: BRITISH GP
Qualifying
After the initial first laps Hamilton is quickest, but Raikkonen is a quarter of a second faster in the first sector. only to miss out by +0.050. Rosberg is only 8th, +0.002 ahead of Haryanto as the McLarens are also badly baulked. On their second runs Hamilton improves only by 3 hundreths while championship leader Rosberg improves by almost 0.9sec but is still only 8th!

Alonso improves by over 5.5sec but is still only 11th and last so far. Ricciardo just avoids being held up at the end of his lap and almost takes pole. Vettel is baulked badly in sector 1 to go only 11th, yet he was fastest of all in sectors 2 and 3 - a tale of what if, but what can he do on his second lap which will be clear? He is 0.038sec down after sector 2 - it's going to be so close - he slipstreams Max Verstappen on the start/finish straight to go fastest by almost 0.2sec! Botttas is trying to improve from 18th but has a lock up, he goes only 15th!

Both Saubers are in the top 10 while Palmer just misses out on a best ever top 10 grid slot, while Haas score a double Q2 for the first time.

Starting Grid
1.Vettel
2.Hamilton +0.174
3.Raikkonen +0.260
4.Ricciardo +0.289
5.Sainz +0.710
6.Perez +0.917
7.Verstappen +1.338
8.Nasr +1.420
9.Ericsson +1.549
10.Hulkenberg +1.630
11.Palmer +2.087
12.Kvyat +2.247
13.Button +2.627
14.Grosjean +2.841
15.Bottas +3.045
16.Gutierrez +3.266
17.Massa +3.303
18.Rosberg +3.465
19.Haryanto +4.347
20.Magnussen +4.559
21.Wehrlein +4.717
22.Alonso +5.226


Race Day
Lights out and Raikkonen slots into 2nd behind Vettel while Toro Rossos are 4th and 6th. Grosjean slots into 9th between the Saubers while Rosberg remains 18th and Alonso 22nd. Button tries to get 11th off Palmer into Stowe only to fail and get taken by Hulkenberg and almost Kvyat too. Bottas is 19th after a big slide after being hit by Massa off the start line. Hamilton passes Raikkonen into lap 2.

On lap 7, Grosjean finally relinquishes 10th to Button while Rosberg is up to 13th. Kvyat is a disappointing 15th. Vettel leads Hamilton by 4sec. A lap later and Grosjean is disappointingly 143th and under pressure from Hulkenberg while Palmer is now all the way doewn to 18th behind his team-mate.

By quarter distance Rosberg is up to 9th but 42sec down. Vettel leads Hamilton by 7.7sec.

Grosjean retires on fire joining his team-mate Gutierrez and Ricciardo.

By lap 20 Vettel has pitted from the lead to 4th, the same for Hamilton 2 laps later. This leaves Raikkonen on a one-stop leading his team-mate by 10sec, and it's very interesting that Vettel isn't really cutting into the gap - and they both have to stop once more. Rosberg pits from 5th only losing 1 position to Sainz but quickly retakes it. Alonso is still only 18th and looking to be lapped soon.

Raikkonen makes his only stop on lap 29, but being held up by a lapped Bottas who is only 14th. He had led Vettel by 8sec... Kimi has to avoid Palmer's stricken Renault on the pit lane exit. A lap later at half distance, Vettel is baulked badly by Alonso while lapping him and now leads Hamilton by 4.9sec. Raikkonen is 3rd 23sec down, but the two leaders have to
pit again in 7 and 9 laps respectively.

Disappointingly, Raikkonen has dropped to 31sec off his team-mate's lead when Vettel pits on lap 37, and Raikkonen only just nips ahead only for Vettel to immediately draft past him down the Hangar straight. Hamilton pits to 3rd and Rosberg to a net 5th.

On lap 43, Rosberg takes Perez for 4th as Verstappen retires. Rosberg looks like he might be the fastest out there today but for a bad qualifying, but he starts to drop off the pace a bit. With just 6 laps to go, Raikkonen's name drops to 3rd on the timing screen behind Hamilton, and there's smoke pouring out the back of his car and he's out. The Williams and Kvyat are having a great fight for 9th while Sainz stays ahead of the Saubers who are running in formation.

And so Vettel wins again, while Button takes more good points for McLaren and Perez gets another good result having suddenly hit good form. Nasr beats Ericsson to 7th by 0.9sec (their fastest laps were 0.007 apart) while Bottas has a suspension failure from 11th on the slowing down lap! Hulkenberg is a disappointing 14th having so nearly been lapped by Perez.

Result
1.Vettel
2.Hamilton +14.934
3.Rosberg +46.930
4.Perez +57.619
5.Button +1:01.952
6.Sainz -1 lap
7.Nasr -1 lap
8.Ericsson -1 lap
9.Massa -1 lap
10.Kvyat -1 lap
11.Bottas -1 lap
12.Magnussen -1 lap
13.Alonso -1 lap
14.Hulkenberg -1 lap
15.Haryanto -2 laps
16.Wehrlein -2 laps
17.Raikkonen - Engine
R.Verstappen - Oil Leak
R.Palmer - Engine
R.Grosjean - Engine
R.Ricciardo - Engine
R.Gutierrez - Engine

Fastest Lap Top 3: Vettel, Hamilton, Rosberg


Championship Standings after Round 9
Drivers
1.Rosberg - 153pts
2.Vettel - 143pts
3.Raikkonen - 93pts
4.Hamilton - 87pts
5.Bottas - 65pts
6.Massa - 52pts
7.Ricciardo - 52pts
8.Kvyat - 46pts
9.Alonso - 40pts
10.Button - 36pts
11.Perez - 32pts
12.Hulkenberg - 32pts
13.Sainz - 31pts
14.Verstappen - 28pts
15.Nasr - 10pts
16.Ericsson - 5pts
17.Wehrlein - 2pts
18.Magnussen - 1pt

Constructors
1.Mercedes - Mercedes - 240pts
2.Ferrari - Ferrari - 236pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 117pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 98pts
5.McLaren - Honda - 76pts
6.Force India - Mercedes - 64pts
7.Toro Ross - Ferrari - 59pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 15pts
9.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts
10.Renault - Renault - 1pt
11.Haas - Ferrari - 1pt

[rjbetty]

ROUND 10: HUNGARIAN GP
Qualifying
Hamilton sets the early pace with only Button anywhere near. Ricciardo is super fast and comes close to pole. Rosberg is hugely quick in sector 1 but is blocked. On his second lap his tyres have already gone off and he has to settle for 4th. Max Verstappen is 5th despite losing time on his lap.

Starting Grid
1.Hamilton
2.Ricciardo +0.160
3.Button +0.235
4.Rosberg +0.366
5.Raikkonen +0.724
6.Verstappen +0.761
7.Vettel +0.845
8.Alonso +0.961
9.Massa +1.277
10.Nasr +1.405
11.Ericsson +1.482
12.Hulkenberg +1.879
13.Magnussen +2.081
14.Wehrlein +2.122
15.Perez +2.132
16.Palmer +2.235
17.Grosjean +2.921
18.Gutierrez +3.321
19.Bottas +3.686
20.Haryanto +3.721
21.Sainz +3.811
26.Kvyat +25.228


Race Day
Verstappen is up to 3rd at the start with Rosberg down to 6th. Haryanto has made another of his good starts to 13th while Bottas, the Haas and Kvyat fill positions 23-26! Grosjean spins off at turn 4 to last.

Rosberg climbs to 3rd challenging Ricciardo but pits first on lap 18 to 11th.

On lap 27 Haryanto is the first retirement as Hamilton pits. Since Ricciardo already pitted from 2nd two laps earlier, this promotes Button to the race lead, which he holds for 6 laps until his stop! Rosberg is massively quicker, at least 2sec per lap, and Nico now takes the lead. Button and Vettel are both trying an audacious strategy of pitting till the end of the race - a very long time. Button has now fallen behind Vettel in 6th.

Now Hamilton is quickest and has relieved Rosberg of the lead. Ricciardo is now challenging Rosberg but suddenly spins from 3rd at the penultimate corner. He loses 45sec to 6th. Hulkenberg, Wehrlein and the strongly performing Saubers are all out by now (lap 37).

Suddenly we have a very weird situation where a backmarker (a Forza Rossa) will cause everyone who tries to lap it to suddenly start driving really weird lines all over the place and being slow. This is a bug that happens once in a while, but I consider it fair game, as it's now effectively... a wet race!! Raikkonen spins from 3rd, so does a lapped Massa, almost hitting Vettel. Hulkenberg spins at the final turn, then so does Bottas. He spins across the track and is smashed into by Button, and Grosjean too. All 3 are out. Magnussen flies off the track and Ricciardo has another excursion. Sudden excitement here as this bunches up the field and creates unpredicatbility otherwise lacking in an AI game. Magnussen has now retired too.

Rosberg gets past Vettel for 2nd as Verstappen goes off at turn 5. Ricciardo spins a few laps later and is hit by a lapped Massa, then Kvyat too. Contact is gentle and all 3 continue. But there are now only 13 runners left. Gutierrez is the only one from the bottom 2 teams left.

Perez retires from 13th and last in an unrelated failure while Ricciardo and Massa have got past the troublesome backmarker. Things haven't righted themselves yet as Alosno goes wide at the final turn being passed by Kvyat for 6th.

Now Hamilton has caught the backmarker but after a few wobbles makes it past and his lines are auto-corected. Alonso struggles and Verstappen passes him, but Alonso repasses. Now Ricciardo has crashed with a completely different backmarker and both are out. There are now only 11 runners left. Alonso and Palmer get through the backmarker but now it's Rosberg's turn. He is 14 sec ahead of Vettel but has to pit again in 10 laps or so. But things have righted themselves back to normal again it seems as everyone is lapping normally. It's a dry race again.

Things are more normal now and Hamilton finally takes his first win since Australia, but only cuts 7pts into Rosberg's lead.


Result
1.Hamilton
2.Rosberg +23.511
3.Vettel -1 lap
4.Kvyat -1 lap
5.Raikkonen -1 lap
6.Verstappen -1 lap
7.Alonso -1 lap
8.Massa -2 laps
9.Palmer -2 laps
10.Sainz -2 laps
11.Gutierrez -3 laps
R.Ricciardo - DNF
R.Perez - Transmission
R.Button - DNF
R.Bottas - DNF
R.Magnussen - DNF
R.Grosjean - DNF
R.Wehrlein - DNF
R.Ericsson - DNF
R.Nasr - DNF
R.Hulkenberg - DNF
R.Haryanto - Water Leak

Fastest Lap Top 3: Hamilton, Rosberg, Ricciardo


Championship Standings after Round 10
Drivers
1.Rosberg - 171pts
2.Vettel - 158pts
3.Hamilton - 112pts
4.Raikkonen - 103pts
5.Bottas - 65pts
6.Kvyat - 58pts
7.Massa - 56pts
8.Ricciardo - 52pts
9.Alonso - 46pts
10.Button - 36pts
11.Verstappen - 36pts
12.Sainz - 32pts
13.Perez - 32pts
14.Hulkenberg -32pts
15.Nasr - 10pts
16.Ericsson - 5pts
17.Wehrlein - 2pts
18.Palmer - 2pts
19.Magnussen - 1pt
20.Grosjean - 1pt
21.Gutierrez - best finish 11th
22.Haryanto - best finish 12th

Constructors
1.Mercedes - Mercedes - 283pts
2.Ferrari - Ferrari - 261pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 121pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 110pts
5.McLaren - Honda - 82pts
6.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 68pts
7.Force India - Mercedes - 64pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 15pts
9.Renault - Renault - 3pts
10.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts
11.Haas - Ferrari - 1pt

[rjbetty]

ROUND 11: BELGIAN GP
Qualifying
A crazy day today as though Rosberg sets the first time, which remains unbeaten, he spins off on his second lap. Many drivers are held up and by the time the second wave of drivers come out, the session has almost ended and in the end 5 drivers didn't even manage to set a time - one of them Lewis Hamilton! The grid is therefore fairly mixed up.

Starting Grid
1.Rosberg
2.Bottas +0.529
3.Perez +1.075
4.Alonso +1.562
5.Verstappen +1.600
6.Sainz +1.690
7.Raikkonen +1.714
8.Button +1.719
9.Vettel +1.761
10.Massa +1.874
11.Gutierrez +2.499
12.Hulkenberg +2.863
13.Magnussen +3.191
14.Kvyat +3.560
15.Ericsson +3.892
16.Nasr +4.585
17.Wehrlein +5.597


20.Hamilton - No Time
21.Ricciardo - No Time
22.Palmer - No Time
23.Haryanto - No Time
24.Grosjean - No Time


Race Day
Bottas grabs the lead and his straightline speed keeps Rosberg at bay. Perez in 3rd is tantalisingly close to slipstreaming Rosberg in the early laps. On lap 2 Kvyat goes off at Pouhon but quickly rejoins, losing a place. On lap 3 Vettel does the same trying to overtake a McLaren and beaches it - he is out! After 3 laps, Sainz in 4th is already 10sec down while Bottas continues to lead. Kvyat goes off again but again quickly rejoins as Hamilton is now up to 16th.

Massa is making quick work of everyone and is challenging Sainz for 4th. On lap 10 Rosberg makes a mistake and Perez grabs 2nd. Kvyat and Hamilton are now up to 12th and 13th but 30+sec down now.

On lap 11 Hamilton pits down to 17th. Verstappen does the same but is going to the end of the race now - a daring strategy! He is 12th. A lap later Perez pits but has a 30sec lead over Massa in 4th, who has finally got past Sainz. Perez is still an easy 3rd - perhaps one of his podiums today?

On lap 14, Bottas finally pits from the lead relinquishing it to Rosberg, but comes out 2nd ahead of Perez. A lap later and Rosberg is in from the lead, as is Gutierrez from 6th! Kvyat is right behind and dives in the pits too. Kvyat jumps Gutierrez in the pits but both have seemingly ruined their races by going to the end like Verstappen, who is making no progress in 12th.

Suddenly Rosberg and Perez have collided and are both out!! This leaves Bottas leading his team-mate Massa by 37sec. Hamilton is the only big name down in 5th and 52sec off the lead! Suddenly Alonso has crashed out of 5th with a Caterham, Hamilton then taking 5th.

Remarkably Gutierrez is 9th and holding onto Verstappen and Kvyat in front, all running to the end, as Raikkonen is in the gravel at Les Fagnes losing a huge stack of time, and is nowhere. Now Grosjean is off on lap 24 at Pouhon, losing massive time, but wasn't in contention anyway.

On lap 28, Bottas pits from a 45sec lead over Massa. Perhaps today he can finally win his maiden race, having just failed to do so at Monza in last year's simulation?! Hulkenberg is 3rd and Hamilton still only 4th and 57sec off the lead, having struggled to get through the pack.

Button can't get past Sainz for 5th while Massa pits from 2nd, dropping to 4th. Hulkenberg and Hamilton pit, Hamilton emerging ahead. Now Massa spins at Eau Rouge losing over 10sec and now Hamilton is right behind him for 2nd.

Sainz has lost time in the pits and Button beats him, so does Verstappen but Sainz gets his team-mate. With 12 laps remaning Gutierrez remains 10th and is 12.6sec ahead of Nasr on much fresher tyres. What will happen?

Suddenly, an almighty smash at Pouhon eliminates both Toro Rossos and Button from 6th, 7th and 8th! Button had clipped a backmarker on the inside, gone into the gravel then back onto track into the Toro Rossos who were nose and tail. Haryanto was already in the gravel so there's 5 cars in the gravel!

Now Hamilton makes a mistake and drops to 4th behind Hulkenberg, who is pressuring Massa for 2nd like crazy. Bottas now leads by over 1 minute with 11 laps remaning. Now Hamilton slips up behind Kvyat who was quietly catching the group for 2nd, as Hulkenberg is through and scampers away.

Raikkonen is finally out of his misery from a nowhere 13th with 6 laps remaning. Hamilton has got past Kvyat for 4th, who was pressuring Massa hugely, but Hamilton goes wide almost losing 4th again. This gives Massa some breathing space in 3rd for a bit as Palmer crawls to a halt with a loose wheel from 12th.

Wehrlein is now 11th, 20sec behind Ericsson in the points, but Gutierrez is holding 7th and actually pulling away from Nasr to 15sec. With 3 laps left, Hamilton gets 3rd from Massa and gives chase to Hulkenberg, seeking his maiden podium, who is 3.3sec ahead. There are just 13 runners left now and a points finish for one of the bottom 2 teams is almost guaranteed since all 4 are still running and almost completed 90% distance.

Hamilton takes a massive 2sec out of Hulkenberg to be only +1.3 down with 2 laps remaining. But Bottas is on his final lap now with a 1:12sec lead, having lapped Nasr in 8th. Watching him complete his final lap, Hamilton gets past Hulkenberg into Les Combes, then Bottas comes through the bus stop onto the straight, and WINS! Others pass the line but Massa is under huge pressure from Kvyat but just holds on for 4th, with Ricciardo a few seconds behind in 6th. Now Esteban Gutierrez is coming up the hill, onto the pit straight and takes 7th place for Haas! Sauber get another double points finish, they have only had double points finishes this season and Renault get another couple of points.

Result
1.Bottas
2.Hamilton +1:12.059
3.Hulkenberg +1:13.446
4.Massa +1:17.725
5.Kvyat +1:18.694
6.Ricciardo +1:26.898
7.Gutierrez +1:52.453
8.Nasr -1 lap
9.Magnussen -1 lap
10.Ericsson -1 lap
11.Wehrlein -1 lap
12.Grosjean -2 laps
13.Haryanto -2 laps
R.Palmer - Loose Wheel
R.Raikkonen - Oil Leak
R.Sainz - DNF
R.Button - DNF
R.Verstappen - DNF
R.Alonso - DNF
R.Rosberg - DNF
R.Perez - DNF
R.Vettel - DNF

Fastest Lap Top 3: Bottas, Rosberg, Hamilton


Championship Standings after Round 11
Drivers
1.Rosberg - 171pts
2.Vettel - 158pts
3.Hamilton - 130pts
4.Raikkonen - 103pts
5.Bottas - 90pts
6.Massa - 68pts
7.Kvyat - 68pts
8.Ricciardo - 60pts
9.Hulkenberg - 47pts
10.Alonso - 46pts
11.Button - 36pts
12.Verstappen - 36pts
13.Sainz - 32pts
14.Perez - 32pts
15.Nasr - 14pts
16.Gutierrez - 6pts
17.Ericsson - 6pts
18.Magnussen - 3pts
19.Wehrlein - 2pts
20.Palmer - 2pts
21.Grosjean - 1pt
22.Haryanto - best finish 12th

Constructors
1.Mercedes - Mercedes - 301pts
2.Ferrari - Ferrari - 261pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 158pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 128pts
5.McLaren - Honda - 82pts
6.Force India - Mercedes - 79pts
7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 68pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 20pts
9.Haas - Ferrari - 7pts
10.Renault - Renault - 5pts
11.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts

[rjbetty]

ROUND 12: ITALIAN GP
Starting Grid
1.Hamilton
2.Rosberg +0.263
3.Bottas +0.547
4.Raikkonen +0.919
5.Vettel +0.925
6.Verstappen +1.037
7.Massa +1.048
8.Kvyat +1.207
9.Ricciardo +1.212
10.Hulkenberg +1.284
11.Alonso +1.336
12.Sainz +1.366
13.Button +1.789
14.Magnussen +1.991
15.Wehrlein +2.116
16.Palmer +2.322
17.Ericsson +2.402
18.Perez +2.821
19.Grosjean +3.068
20.Nasr +3.103
21.Haryanto +3.442
22.Gutierrez +3.485


Race Day
Lights out! Raikkonen flies into the lead ahead of the Williams and Vettel while Manors are 8th and 10th. Rosberg soon shoots up to 3rd though. Grosjean has already crashed out.

Sadly Wehrlein bins it on lap 5 dropping to last except Palmer has done even worse, running further back and now Bottas spins down to 19th from 3rd.

Rosberg is very fast and on lap 8 takes Raikkonen for the lead. He pits early though as Ricciardo spins to 17th, and Nico is now 13th. He doesn't make enough progress in traffic and remains 31sec off Raikkonen who is enjoying a 12sec lead over Massa.

Suddenly Hamilton goes off at Parabolica having been forced off by a backmarker and drops to 11th. Shortly after, that weird thing with a backmarker is happening again like in Hungary but only a few drivers get affected as most pass easily. Unfortunately Raikkonen is one, but he soon pits for his only stop.

Hamilton suffers again behind the backmarker while Wehrlein has gone completely out of the picture now while Ericsson is stuck in the gravel for several laps! A shame as Wehrlein had a great chance of good points again today.

Alonso gets to lead before his pit stop, and when he does Rosberg takes over. He leads Raikkonen by 16.4sec but he has to pit again while Raikkonen doesn't.

Sainz is only the 2nd retirement on lap 34 but suddenly Alonso is now out too. Rosberg pits and drops to 3rd behind Raikkonen and Massa who aren't stopping again. He is 14.6sec down with 19 laps left, but he exited the pits ahead of Hulkenberg and Vettel who is subdued today. Hamilton is 6th.

Vettel and Hulkenberg keep slipstreaming and passing each other over 4th which allows Hamilton to pass and catch them both. Vettel finally gets clear of Hulkenberg who is falling back into Bottas now. Verstappen retires from 8th.

Now with 10 laps left Rosberg is still only 3rd, 13sec off the lead but is catching Massa. Massa locks up into turn 1 allowing Rosberg to catch and pass him. Then with 5 laps to go Massa goes off at Curva Grande, throwing away a certain podium and is now out of the points. Raikkonen still leads by 11.8sec as Wehrlein is out for good.

Button's pace drops off as he falls from 7th to 9th but on the final lap grabs 8th back from Kvyat in an opportunistic move. But Raikkonen comes round the final corner, onto the pit straight, and WINS his second race of the year! Hamilton makes a great recovery to 3rd, not all that far off, while Vettel was beaten by Bottas in the end, so both lose more ground to Rosberg in the championship. With only 1/4 of the season to go, it's looking like Rosberg's championship at the moment, but what we have learned is that anything can happen in this season.

Result
1.Raikkonen
2.Rosberg +10.485
3.Hamilton +23.048
4.Bottas +33.937
5.Vettel +35.359
6.Hulkenberg +40.722
7.Nasr +1:01.807
8.Button +1:05.436
9.Kvyat +1:05.891
10.Perez +1:09.088
11.Massa +1:18.902
12.Magnussen -1 lap
13.Ricciardo -1 lap
14.Palmer -1 lap
15.Gutierrez -1 lap
16.Haryanto -1 lap
NC.Ericsson -8 laps(!)
R.Wehrlein - Transmission
R.Verstappen - Puncture
R.Sainz - Puncture
R.Alonso - Engine
R.Grosjean - DNF

Fastest Lap Top 3: Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas


Championship Standings after Round 12
Drivers
1.Rosberg - 189pts
2.Vettel - 168pts
3.Hamilton - 145pts
4.Raikkonen - 128pts
5.Bottas - 102pts
6.Kvyat - 70pts
7.Massa - 68pts
8.Ricciardo - 60pts
9.Hulkenberg - 55pts
10.Alonso - 46pts
11.Button - 40pts
12.Verstappen - 36pts
13.Perez - 33pts
14.Sainz - 32pts
15.Nasr - 20pts
16.Gutierrez - 6pts
17.Ericsson - 6pts
18.Magnussen - 3pts
19.Wehrlein - 2pts
20.Palmer - 2pts
21.Grosjean - 1pt
22.Haryanto - best finish 12th

Constructors
1.Mercedes - Mercedes - 334pts
2.Ferrari - Ferrari - 296pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 170pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 130pts
5.Force India - Mercedes - 88pts
6.McLaren - Honda - 86pts
7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 69pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 26pts
9.Haas - Ferrari - 7pts
10.Renault - Renault - 5pts
11.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts

[rjbetty]

ROUND 13: JAPANESE GP
Qualifying
Verstappen sets the early pace out of the first 11 runners, but Bottas goes almost 0.5sec quicker and Sainz nabs 2nd. Vettel is only 4th and Ricciardo only 7th after hitting traffic but Gutierrez is 6th.

Of the second wave of drivers, Massa sets the first time; after two sectors he is +0.003 slower than leader Bottas - he crosses the line, and it's a... 2nd, +0.083 down. Alonso goes 6th. Ricciardo is having another go as Raikkonen takes 5th.

Button is fastest of all in the first 2 sectors, and comes round, but his 3rd sector was slow and he goes only 3rd behind the 2 Williams. Perez is very quick in secotrs 1 and 3 but badly held up in sector 2 to go 15th. Kvyat is fast challenging for pole but he to is slower in sector 3, going 4th. It must just be the Williams' great straightline speed. Ricciardo is trying to improve from 13th so far, and he goes... 8th.

Now Rosberg is coming through, quickest of all. Hamilton is even quicker but gets stuck behind Button. Rosberg goes fastest and Hamilton only 6th - with an identical time to Kvyat, he gets 5th after all. Perez improves from 21st to 10th in the final minute. In the final 2 seconds Sainz improves but falls just 0.004 short of grabbing 5th and remains 7th.

What a dreadful session for title contenders Vettel and Hamilton, with Rosberg on pole no less. And this is a track notoriously hard to overtake on in this game.

Starting Grid
1.Rosberg
2.Bottas +0.239
3.Massa +0.322
4.Button +0.414
5.Hamilton +0.569
6.Kvyat +0.569
7.Sainz +0.572
8.Verstappen +0.689
9.Raikkonen +1.056
10.Perez +1.212
11.Ricciardo +1.220
12.Vettel +1.300
13.Alonso +1.569
14.Hulkenberg +1.775
15.Gutierrez +1.898
16.Nasr +1.940
17.Magnussen +2.457
18.Palmer +2.545
19.Ericsson +3.109
20.Grosjean +3.109
21.Haryanto +3.225
22.Wehrlein +6.563


Race Day
GO! And Rosberg is mugged off the line by both Williams who brilliantly sweep around him, Massa ahead. And Hamilton has had a stormer grabbing 3rd ahead of his team-mate.

The Ferraris have a miserable time in the early laps, Vettel and Raikkonen only running 13th and 14th. Massa scampers into the distance as The Mercedes can't beat Bottas' straightline speed. Hamilton hesitates and Rosberg nabs him only for Hamilton to return the favour a few laps later. Suddenly Button flies off at turn 1 from 6th while Nasr has smoke pouring out of his engine from 9th. And now Hamilton trips over Bottas into the chicane dropping to 20th! Surely it's all over for him and Vettel now. Seb has gotten up to 9th but he needs more progress.

As they come to backmarkers on lap 9, Rosberg takes his chance and sweeps past Bottas. Now he is free to catch Massa, but Felipe is 10sec up the road already. Vettel is now 7th but 21sec down.

Massa is driving the race of his life, and builds up a 15sec+ lead. He pits early but brilliantly still comes out 4th. He isn't really that fast after his stop though and even comes under pressure from Vettel and Kvyat. Hamilton is now 11th while Perez is edging closer to Bottas in 2nd.

Vettel makes his only stop from 3rd on lap 25 exiting 6th, but Bottas has spun from 2nd! Perez pits from 2nd meaning Massa is back there, 12sec down on Rosberg, but Rosberg has himself spun, down to 11th, losing 5osec and now 2 places behing Hamilton. Vettel is now a grateful 5th as Perez exits the pits just ahead of Vettel - and he too won't be stopping again.

Massa leads from Kvyat and Bottas but all must pit again. Perez and Vettel fight for 4th but are effectively leading the race as the others ahead have to pit. What an interesting strategical race this is.

On lap 32, Kvyat pits from a close 2nd exiting 6th just behind Sainz, who then pits himself. But Hamilton nabs 5th from Kvyat. Rosberg pits from 7th dropping to 11th as Bottas pits from 2nd to 4th. This leaves Massa in the lead by 20sec but he has to stop again. Perez and Vettel continue to run closely in 2nd and 3rd.

Hamilton and Ricciardo pit together and Hamilton leaves in 9th but Ricciardo just JUST edges Rosberg for 10th by the skin of his teeth.

Suddenly on lap 37 of 53, Bottas crashes out at 130R, ripping a wheel off. Hamilton has got past Sainz for what is now 7th. Raikkonen is ahead but needs to pit again soon.

Alonso is rudely barged off track at turn while racing Ericsson. On the next lap Ericsson almost takes race leader Massa out!

On lap 40, Vettel is closer than ever to Perez, just 0.203sec, but both have lost time in traffic, giving Massa a 24sec lead and Felipe needs to pit next lap - what is going to happen?? It's going to be close...

Suddenly as Raikkonen is about to pit, he crashes into Kvyat at 130R and both are out! This puts Gutierrez in the points, and he doesn't have to stop again, but is bad for Vettel as it helps the Mercedes drivers get more points. Hamilton puts just one wheel off at turn 1 and spins off! As Massa now pits for his crucial stop - it's all happening here!

Massa is in, quickl;y into his pit box, and waits, waits and waits. He's released and with great nerves goes down the pitlane. He is still leading, but where are Perez and Vettel?? They have only just left the chicane and are coming round the final bend onto the straight. Massa is passing the last pit garage now but still has some pit lane to go. Perez and Vettel come down the straight. Massa is free of the pit limiter and starts speeding up, but Perez and Vettel are crossing the line. And Massa does it! By less than 1 second. He has kept the lead and now has fresh tyres for the final 12 laps!

And now Verstappen is off at Spoon curve dropping from a great 4th to 9th. What a crazy amount of incidents in this race! Massa is flying and quickly builds up a 7sec lead in 3 laps.

Hamilton is easily fastest of all and is catching Rosberg hand over fist who can't get past Ricciardo for 5th, but suddenly he does into 130R, only for Daniel to brilliantly snatch it right back into the chicane! Now Hamilton is almost right behind both of them.

Suddenly Vettel is looking racier against Perez and is trying harder to pass him for 2nd. And now Hamilton gets a huge slipstream off Rosberg up the hill and blasts past him into 130R. Now Ricciardo is just ahead of them and all 3 of them have almost caught Sainz in 4th.

Alonso has caught Ericsson again and infuriatingly tries to pass for several laps but is frustrated. Massa's pace is dropping off now and the others eat into his 8sec lead, and there are 6 laps left. Vettel is very racy against Perez and is surely going to pass at some point, desperate for the extra championship points.

Hamilton and Rosberg have both passed Ricciardo for good now and run 5th and 6th, but 45sec off the lead.

Hamilton is now all over Sainz hugely, and Sainz makes a mistake before going under the bridge, and Hamilton, Rosberg and Ricciardo all are through. But it's allowed Rosberg to close up and he gets back past Hamilton into 130R as immediately behind Sainz does the same to Ricciardo. Just 4 laps left now.

Verstappen has lost more time, and now Wehrlein is just a few seconds behind him, tanatlisingly out of the points. Meanwhile, Alonso has got past Ericsson for 12th and catches them both, determined to grab a point himself.

Just 3 laps to go now as, OH NO, Gutierrez is off at turn 1 from 9th, dropping to 15th. But this allows Wehrlein into 10th, just 6sec ahead of Alonso... Hamilton is also back a head of Rosberg again! Massa continues to lead, back up to 8sec again, but what's this? Vettel is through for 2nd!

2 laps to go, and Rosberg is back past Hamilton through a backmarker, as Alonso can now see Wehrlein ahead of him for 10th, but he is about to be lapped by Massa maybe, costing him one last crucial lap.

As Massa crosses the line into his final lap, suddenly ahead of him Wehrlein IS SLOWING DOWN! He has a problem, and up the hill, Alonso gets him, as Hamilton is AGAIN ahead of Rosberg. This is the very final lap no less, but suddenly the camera shows Hamilton off the track, a wheel ripped off his car! What's this? All 4 drivers, Hamilton, Rosberg, Sainz and Ricciardo were absolutely nose to tail through the esses as a backmarker suddenly spins off and crashes into Hamilton also taking Rosberg and Sainz off and Ricciardo who avoids it all immediately goes from 7th to 4th in one corner. Rosberg is stuck against the backmarker in the gravel. Through all this, we almost miss Massa coming out of the final turn, down the straight, to superbly WIN his first race for so long! Vettel crosses the line just 6sec behind in the end followed by poor Wehrlein with his stuck throttle and Perez in 3rd! And how Gutierrez must be heartbroken, having realised if he hadn't gone off with just 3 laps left, he would probably have come 6th - as it is, he is a lapped 15th. Rosberg recovers to 7th while Hamilton is classified 10th.


Result
1.Massa
2.Vettel +6.123
3.Perez +8.508
4.Ricciardo +1:00.164
5.Hulkenberg +1:16.566
6.Sainz +1:18.512
7.Rosberg +1:20.538
8.Verstappen +1:27.954
9.Alonso +1:41.691
10.Hamilton - DNF
11.Wehrlein -1 lap
12.Ericsson -1 lap
13.Button -1 lap
14.Magnussen -1 lap
15.Gutierrez -1 lap
16.Grosjean -1 lap
17.Palmer -1 lap
R.Kvyat - DNF
R.Raikkonen - DNF
R.Bottas - DNF
R.Haryanto - Engine
R.Nasr - Engine

Fastest Lap Top 3: Massa, Vettel, Hamilton

[rjbetty]

Championship Standings after Round 13
Drivers
1.Rosberg - 195pts
2.Vettel - 186pts
3.Hamilton - 146pts
4.Raikkonen - 128pts
5.Bottas - 102pts
6.Massa - 93pts
7.Ricciardo - 72pts
8.Kvyat - 70pts
9.Hulkenberg - 65pts
10.Alonso - 48pts
11.Perez - 48pts
12.Sainz -40pts
13.Button - 40pts
14.Verstappen -40pts
15.Nasr - 20pts
16.Gutierrez - 6pts
17.Ericsson - 6pts
18.Magnussen - 3pts
19.Wehrlein - 2pts
20.Palmer - 2pts
21.Grosjean - 1pt
22.Haryanto - best finish 12th

Constructors
1.Mercedes - Mercedes - 341pts
2.Ferrari - Ferrari - 314pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 195pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 142pts
5.Force India - Mercedes - 113pts
6.McLaren - Honda - 88pts
7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 80pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 26pts
9.Haas - Ferrari - 7pts
10.Renault - Renault - 5pts
11.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts

[rjbetty]

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

No I was quite happy with the realism of last season, but I meant it was a bit boring...
This season has just turned out crazy all along. I hope it's a sign of a more interesting and closer season in real life.


So here's round 14 of 16 then:

ROUND 14: RUSSIAN GP
Qualifying
Kvyat impresses by going quickest for a good while early on, before Hamilton beats it later on while Rosberg also jumps ahead. But a huge shock with 3 minutes to go as none other than Alonso goes quickest. Rosberg tries again but doesn't improve enough so a McLaren takes a shock pole.

Starting Grid
1.Alonso
2.Hamilton +0.074
3.Rosberg +0.202
4.Kvyat +0.237
5.Ricciardo +0.357
6.Vettel +0.526
7.Verstappen +0.677
8.Raikkonen +0.760
9.Sainz +0.801
10.Button +0.921
11.Magnussen +1.039
12.Bottas +1.080
13.Massa +1.155
14.Nasr +1.171
15.Hulkenberg +1.804
16.Perez +1.815
17.Wehrlein +1.885
18.Palmer +2.090
19.Grosjean +2.335
20.Gutierrez +3.016
21.Ericsson +3.063
22.Haryanto +4.107


Race Day
Alonso keeps the lead but is pressured by Hamilton who gets by after a few laps. Hamilton flies but pits on only lap 10 as does Kvyat who was harrying Rosberg for 3rd. They exit 11th and 17th. By lap 14 Alonso leads Rosberg by almost 4sec but home hero Perez is already over 1 minute down after an incident, and last.

Hamilton is on an absurd strategy that leaves him only 7th after his final stop on lap 32. But Alonso keeps the lead 2.7sec ahead of Rosberg with Vettel a further 2.7sec down in 3rd. Wehrlein is holding onto 11th with a train of cars catching him.

Now Hamilton passes Bottas for 5th but is 27sec off the lead. Rosberg is edging closer to Alonso.

With 19 laps to go Hamilton is up to 4th 23sec off the lead and closing on Vettel soon. Alonso is looking very good indeed, his lead up to almost 6sec over Rosberg, but suddenly... he slows down and is out! What a heartbreak. To make matters worse, Button pits with mechanical problems on the same lap.

Hamilton is unable to get past Vettel so with this cr@p Mercedes strategy stuffing it up for Hamilton, this means he is now officially out of the title race as Rosberg wins!


Result
1.Rosberg
2.Vettel +7.772
3.Hamilton +8.709
4.Raikkonen +19.476
5.Ricciardo +22.356
6.Bottas +49.461
7.Kvyat +50.350
8.Verstappen +1:07.686
9.Hulkenberg -1 lap
10.Magnussen -1 lap
11.Sainz -1 lap
12.Nasr -1 lap
13.Wehrlein -1 lap
14.Palmer -2 laps
15.Button -2 laps
16.Grosjean -2 laps
17.Ericsson -2 laps
18.Perez -3 laps
19.Gutierrez -3 laps
20.Haryanto -3 laps
R.Massa - DNF
R.Alonso - Transmission

Fastest Lap Top 3: Raikkonen, Hamilton, Rosberg


Championship Standings after Round 14 of 16
Drivers
1.Rosberg - 220pts
2.Vettel - 204pts
3.Hamilton - 161pts
4.Raikkonen - 140pts
5.Bottas - 110pts
6.Massa - 93pts
7.Ricciardo - 82pts
8.Kvyat - 76pts
9.Hulkenberg - 67pts
10.Alonso - 48pts
11.Perez - 48pts
12.Verstappen - 44pts
13.Sainz - 40pts
14.Button - 40pts
15.Nasr - 20pts
16.Gutierrez - 6pts
17.Ericsson - 6pts
18.Magnussen - 4pts
19.Wehrlein - 2pts
20.Palmer - 2pts
21.Grosjean - 1pt
22.Haryanto - best finish 12th

Constructors
1.Mercedes - Mercedes - 381pts
2.Ferrari - Ferrari - 344pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 203pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 158pts
5.Force India - Mercedes - 115pts
6.McLaren - Honda - 88pts
7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 84pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 26pts
9.Haas - Ferrari - 7pts
10.Renault - Renault - 6pts
11.Manor - Mercedes - 2pts