Pick the Podium - F-1 - Heineken Gran Premio D'Italia, Autodromo Nazionale Monza Circuit, Monza, Italy, September 2021

[Retroram52]

Italy is next up in the very historical Monza Circuit in the very famous area of Italy for racing. Should be another good race as Hamilton badly needs a win to keep Verstappen at bay in the championship race. Don't know if the Mercs have figured out what they need to do to the cars to get them back even or ahead of the Hondas of Red Bull, but if they don't get there, Verstappen will nail down his first F-1 Championship.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Qualifying is Friday for the lame sprint race on Saturday which sets grid for Sunday's real race,

 

[Retroram52]

I agree Hank. Lame indeed.

 

[Retroram52]

Nice new livery system for Alfa Romeo now that Alfa is owned by Stellantis, the new automaker conglomerate that Fiat-Chrysler is now under when FCA wanted to buy just Peugot. They got Peugot but the French government (who owned 25% of Peugot) also made FCA cough-up their share of Peugot to buy it and to take Alfa Romeo, Peugot, Maserati (which Chrysler used to own and sold once before) Vauxall, Citroen, and of course Fiat as the new conglomerate under this world banner of Stellantis which makes Fiat-Chrysler the fourth largest automaker in the world.

Il Tricolore and James Bond – Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin unveil special Italian GP liveries | Formula 1®

Alfa Romeo will sport the Italian tricolore flag on their cars for this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, celebrating their history with Monza and other Italian circuits. Their driver Antonio Giovinazzi is also sporting a stylish new helmet for his home race – while Aston Martin have a *stirring*...

www.formula1.com

 

[forty_three]

^I thought the Alfa was one of the cleanest and best looking cars in decades.

That made it better. Gorgeous.

 

[forty_three]

Okay another rules anomaly with the sprint race.

Bottas is changing his power unit and will take grid penalties and start Sunday's race at the back of the grid. However, there is no provision to make Bottas start at the back for the sprint race and will start that wherever he qualifies.

This will give him the opportunity to start high and take points away from Red Bull in the Sprint with his new engine.

And he puts it on pole.

 

[Retroram52]

Yep, Bottas takes the pole by a tenth over Hamilton, Verstappen is third. Norris is fourth with Ricciardo hanging around the top five.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

For the sprint race (if we're doing it):

Hamilton
Norris
Verstappen
Gasly

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Sprint race

Hamilton
Bottas
Verstappen
Norris

 

[forty_three]

Sprint-

HAM
BOT
NOR
RIC

 

[Retroram52]

For the Sprint Race I'll go with Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Perez.

 

[Retroram52]

WE all decided back in the Silverstone race that we would do the Sprint Races of which are three. This is installment Number 2. As before, the total amount of points awarded is the same as F-1: First Place-3 points; Second Place-2 points; and Third Place-1 point. If you run the podium (top three positions selected correctly), you get 2 points. If you do not play, no points will be awarded. Fourth Place is excluded because F-1 doesn't offer any points for that position in the Sprints and only We on this board added that points-paying position in this competition.

 

[forty_three]

Well, that was super exciting. :/

 

[forty_three]

Over an actual race distance Merc power should still be good. RBR Strategy should keep them competitive.

I'll go:
HAM
NOR
VER
RIC

Will update if Mercedes changes Hamilton's PU. This might be the time to do it.

 

[Retroram52]

Verstappen takes pole for the race tomorrow as Bottas fulfills his penalty and starts from the rear. Putting a fourth new engine in will get you that penalty but the Mercs and apparently Bottas are doing some testing and voila!

For Sprint 2: Bottas wins, followed by Verstappen, and Ricciardo. We are all in habit of selecting a fourth place pick in our pre-Sprint race prognostications. I find that a bit amusing. lol.

 

[Retroram52]

Here's How We Did: For the Sprint

ckhokie: 0 points-No Show, Did not Play
forty_three: 0 points-Skunked
Hank Kingsley: 0 points-Skunked
Retroram52: 0 points-Skunked
Schmoopy1000: 0 points-Skunked

2021 Season totals:

ckhokie: 76 points
forty_three: 58 points
Hank Kingsley: 55 points
Retroram52: 87 points
Schmoopy1000: 66 points

Next Race: Italian Grand Prix, September 12, 2021

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Verstappen takes pole for the race tomorrow as Bottas fulfills his penalty and starts from the rear. Putting a fourth new engine in will get you that penalty but the Mercs and apparently Bottas are doing some testing and voila!

For Sprint 2: Bottas wins, followed by Verstappen, and Ricciardo. We are all in habit of selecting a fourth place pick in our pre-Sprint race prognostications. I find that a bit amusing. lol.

just saying.
I would have gotten 4th place right

you guys are just trying to keep me down!

 

[Retroram52]

No Schmoopy, that can't be right. lol. Too funny as usual. Go back to the race thread labeled Silverstone and you'll see we agreed then to only pick the top three for the Sprints as F-1 was only giving out halvsie points for the top three as a part of the Sprints rules.

 

[Retroram52]

For the F-1 Race tomorrow, I'll go with Verstappen, Ricciardo, Norris, Hamilton.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

No Schmoopy, that can't be right. lol. Too funny as usual. Go back to the race thread labeled Silverstone and you'll see we agreed then to only pick the top three for the Sprints as F-1 was only giving out halvsie points for the top three as a part of the Sprints rules.

I know. Just funnin'