Pick the Podium - F-1 - VTB Russian Grand Prix 2021, Sochi Autodrom Circuit, Sochi Olympic Park, September 2021

[Retroram52]

After the craziness in Italy with Hamilton and Verstappen, the F-1 Series goes to Russia to fight it out so more. The Hamilton-Verstappen rivalry is a legitimate and the movement of drivers to new teams adds a mystery dimension to the excitement. With Bottas leaving the Mercs and some other drivers staying with present teams, the 2021 season is coming down to the last few races for the championship. Maybe we will see a more stable F-1 series in the race after the last couple of weeks of chaos. Should be fun as usual.

 

[forty_three]

As rumored. Probably a good time to do it with his 3 place drop already. Problem is with his new engine, he was nowhere near the Mercs in FP2.

 

[forty_three]

Mercedes got the tire call in Quali3 wrong, and Lewis made another mistake and left them without enough time to get either car up to temp. Lando takes his first pole, Sainz P2, George P3, Lewis P4.

Dry track for Sunday, free tire choice and power will come to the fore.
HAM
NOR
BOT
RIC

 

[ckhokie]

Exciting qualifying with an awesome starting grid

HAM
NOR
BOT
PER

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Hamilton
Bottas
Norris
Verstappen

Would have had Perez as 4th but since team orders will have them swap places he will be 5th.

 

[Retroram52]

I'll go with Hamilton, Norris, Bottas, Russell

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Hamilton
Bottas
Norris
Verstappen

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Hank knows whats up

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Hamilton
Bottas
Norris
Verstappen

Would have had Perez as 4th but since team orders will have them swap places he will be 5th.

hearing Bottas is going to the back gonna make some changes

Hamilton
Norris
Sainz
Bottas

 

[ckhokie]

More drama coming bc Bottas is starting 16th. I’m updating

HAM
NOR
RIC
SAI

 

[forty_three]

What a finish.

the difference between a 100 race winner and a guy going for his first? Listening to his engineers. Or his engineers not giving him a choice - depends on how you see it.

Still not a matter of if but when for Norris. He probably still wouldn't have won it if he pitted. Everything fell Max's way too.

 

[ckhokie]

Yep. Someone needs to reel in Lando there and make him pit.

Awesome race though

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Too bad Norris shit the bed.

I think Hamilton was going to get him anyway, but it would have been nice if Dutchy was only 3rd.

 

[Retroram52]

Hamilton wins it followed by Verstappen, Sainz, and Ricciardo. Impressive drives by Hamilton, Verstappen, and Ricciardo.

 

[Retroram52]

Here's How We Did:

ckhokie: 6 points-Correctly selected Hamilton for the win
forty_three: 7 points-Correctly selected Hamilton for the win; Correctly selected Ricciardo for Fourth Place
Hank Kingsley: 6 points-Correctly selected Hamilton for the win
Retroram52: 6 points-Correctly selected Hamilton for the win
Schmoopy1000: 8 points-Correctly selected Hamilton for the win; Correctly selected Sainz for Third Place

2021 Season totals:

ckhokie: 82 points
forty_three: 69 points
Hank Kingsley: 65 points
Retroram52: 93 points
Schmoopy1000: 74 points

Next Race: October 8-10, Turkey Grand Prix.

 

[Retroram52]

Good race and lots of competition goin' on. The next race is two weeks away. We have some changes to the F-1 Schedule. There are: 6 scheduled races, 4 Pro Championship events, and 1 TBD race. The last scheduled race is December 10-12 and F-1 has the fourth Pro event on the 15-16 of December. I don't know why they are doing this but I suspect has to do with recovery of lost revenue due to the virus nonsense.

I'll see everyone in two weeks!

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Once again I get caught out by time zones.

After I watch quali (recorded and late in the day) I pay no attention until I sit down to watch the race, also recorded.

So I don't see that Bottas has been shuffled and such.

So I don't revise my picks.

 

[Retroram52]

Well Hank. I am quite sure you know that you can change your picks up to the moment they start their engines. So pick anytime that suits you and change them like ckhokie and Schmoopy did this race.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Well Hank. I am quite sure you know that you can change your picks up to the moment they start their engines. So pick anytime that suits you and change them like ckhokie and Schmoopy did this race.

And I'm saying it will never work for me.

I'm on the west coast and the races are at 4:40 in the AM. So I record.

I watch quali in the afternoon on Saturday make my picks right after watching and I get up Sunday to watch the race before NFL starts at 10 AM.

When exactly should I be scanning headlines to make my changes?

How was I supposed to find out Bottas needed a 5th engine? Wake up at 2 AM to check shit out so I can change my picks before the race?

Not gonna happen.

Just not important enough.

 

[Retroram52]

So am I Hank. I am in Arizona which during Daylight Savings Time Identifies with PDT. I go to work as early as 3:00am and I sometimes check for changes at 4:00am PDT while taking a break. If there are some worth changing, then I do, but the odds are against you making changes more frequently than once-in-awhile. If that is not what you're going to do then you pretty much have set your course of action with little options for change and that is O.K. for you as well.