Australia GP - "Bella stragegia"

It was a poor start to the season.  Whilst still in recovery from viewing Hamilton and Vettel's back to school haircuts and Hamilton's encroaching American accent, Halo, Baby! and I found ourselves cheering on Vettel to take pole.  How times change.

The subsequent press conference between Hamilton, Raikkonen and Vettel promises an interesting year ahead and some good battles to come.

Much was made of Mercedes' "party mode" but it seems that the top teams are closer than they have been for a while.  Elsewhere on the pitlane, the cars dropped like flies, Sirotkin, then the Haas's to door-slamming frustration.  At least Alonso made 5th, let's hope he spices up the racing.

Vettel bounded up the stairs after the race, hoping to show that 58 laps is nothing to him.  Hamilton claimed he was "saving the engine" in the face of the track not allowing overtaking.  Despite Webber's pleas the crowd still booed Hamilton.  I think this is the year that panto arrives at F1, what will the Americans make of that?

So what will the season ahead bring?  And will I ever be able to distinguish between Sauber and Williams' liveries?

Now I'm looking for a volunteer for the commentary next race...let me know if you're up for it.

Australian GP - Results

UPDATED!  Thanks, Hippy F1, there was a spelling error in the spreadsheet....now fixed

1= Give it some Gasly! - 60
1= Two World Champions, Two Future World Champions, and um, Two Other Guys - 60
3. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 59
4. Spa Day with a Shooey - 54
5. Hasstag#FaceBull - 47
6. The Hopefulls - 45
7= Halo, Baby! - 35
7= The Pitstop Princess - 35
9. No Vices Now - 34
10= Evel Marque - 30
10= Maximum attack! - 30
10= Hippy F1 - 30
13. Jack Johnson - 28
14. Wheels on Fire - 9

Teams 2018

Entrant	Team name	Driver1	Driver2	Chassis	Engine	Hometrack
David,	Give it some Gasly!	Hartley	Gasly	Ferrari	Red Bull	Monaco
Gareth	Halo, baby!	Vettel	Alonso	Haas	Williams	Bahrain
Richard	Jack Johnson	Raikkonen	Hulkenberg	Renault	Haas	Japan
Phil	The Hopefulls	Hamilton	Ocon	McLaren	Sauber	GB
Claire	The Pitstop Princess	Vettel	Alonso	Haas	Toro Rosso	Hungary
John	No Vices Now	Sirotkin	Ocon	Mercedes	McLaren	GB
Stephen	Two World Champions, Two Future World Champions, and um, Two Other Guys	Stroll	Gasly	Red Bull	Ferrari	Hungary
Mark	Evel Marque	Verstappen	Leclerc	Mercedes	Sauber	Canada
Susan	Wheels on Fire	Verstappen	Sainz	Haas	Force India	Brazil
Chris	Maximum attack!	Verstappen	Leclerc	Sauber	Mercedes	?
Laura	Beauty & the F1 Geek	Ricciardo	Gasly	Red Bull	McLaren	Singapore
Joe	Hippy F1	Verstappen	Alonso	McLaren	Force India	GB
Adam	Hasstag#FaceBull	Ricciardo	Stroll	Red Bull	Haas	France
Sarah	Spa Day with a Shooey	Raikkonen	Ricciardo	McLaren	Williams	Belgium

1. PICKING A TEAM

First you must choose a team name.   Anyone who submits a nameless team will not only be allocated a name by me but will score no points for the first race.

The budget this year remains £50million.  With this budget you must choose a team comprising of the following:

2 x Drivers
1 x Constructor/Chassis
1 x Engine

Each driver, constructor and engine is given a value based on previous performances and their potential for success during the 2018 season (i.e. the most expensive drivers, cars and engines will be those predicted to be the most successful).

There are no points for coming in under budget.

Deadline for submitting teams is Thursday 22 March 2018.  Different teams can be made up of identical drivers and constructors but must have a different home track.  If you submit a team and home track that has already been chosen you will be invited to pick again (the bonus of entering early is to get the team you wish).

In the event that a constructor withdraws from the 2018 championship, any FF1 team with their chassis or engine will not be reallocated a different constructor and will score no more points for that chassis/engine.  If a constructor is bought out (even after a withdrawal or break from competing) then any FF1 team with that chassis/engine will receive the points scored by the new constructor.  A driver picked by a FF1 team will score points for the team with whichever constructor they drive for or no points if they are not competing, i.e. if they are dropped or their constructor withdraws from the championship.

Only one team may be submitted per human being.

Submission should be by email to claire_crawford@hotmail.com

1.2 Prizes
To make the league “more interesting” entry is £10, which will be put into a prize money pot. 

The winner will win 50% of the total prize pot, 2nd place 25%, 3rd place 15% and 4^th place 10%.

2. HOW TO SCORE POINTS

Scoring starts from the Australian GP onwards. Fantasy points are allocated based on the performance of your drivers, constructor’s cars and engine.

2.1 Drivers
:: The driver who completes the fastest lap in the final qualifying round will receive +15 points.
If a driver receives an engine penalty he will receive points based on his qualifying lap time i.e. we will not penalise FF1 teams for engine changes.

Example, Fernando Alonso sets the fastest time in the 3rd qualifying session but has a ten place grid penalty for changing his engine he will still get +15 points.

:: The driver who completes the fastest lap during the race will receive +15 points.

:: The driver who makes up the most positions from their place on the grid (after penalties) to their finishing place will receive +15 points.

In the event of this being tied the driver finishing in the highest position will receive the points.

:: Drivers that finish the race in the top 10 positions will score points as follows;

1^st - 25 points
2^nd - 18 points
3^rd - 15 points
4^th - 12 points
5^th - 10 points
6^th - 8 points
7^th  - 6 points
8^th - 4 points

9^th – 2 points

10^th – 1 point

2.2 Constructors/Chassis
Each Constructor has 2 cars in the race - you will be awarded points based on the performance of both cars, as follows:

1^st - 25 points
2^nd - 18 points
3^rd - 15 points
4^th - 12 points
5^th - 10 points
6^th - 8 points
7^th  - 6 points
8^th - 4 points

9^th – 2 points

10^th – 1 point

2.3 Engines
Each Engine supplier has 2 cars in the race - you will be awarded points based on the performance of both cars, as follows:

1^st - 25 points
2^nd - 18 points
3^rd - 15 points
4^th - 12 points
5^th - 10 points
6^th - 8 points
7^th  - 6 points
8^th - 4 points

9^th – 2 points

10^th – 1 point

2.4 Home Track

Each team should pick one circuit as their Home Track (see 5. CALENDAR).  The points scored by their team at this race will be doubled.  

3. COMMUNICATIONS

A bulletin containing the scores and possibly a little light-hearted banter will be posted on the website as soon as possible after each race.  The blog address is http://thepitstopprincess.blogspot.com

Team listings will be posted on the website.

Notification of results updates by email can be requested.

The website will also contain caption competitions and competitors are invited to post their punditry on the season.

4. PRICES

4.1 Drivers

5 Stars – reigning champion

Hamilton - £27m (driving for Mercedes)

4 Stars – genuine contenders (well, maybe not Kimi)

Vettel - £22m (driving for Ferrari)

Bottas - £22m (driving for Mercedes)

Verstappen - £16m (driving for Red Bull)

Ricciardo - £16m (driving for Red Bull)

Raikkonen - £16m (driving for Ferrari)

3 Stars – past or future contenders

Alonso - £8m (driving for McLaren)

Perez - £8m (driving for Force India)

Ocon - £8m (driving for Force India)

Hulkenberg - £7m (driving for Renault)

Sainz Jr - £7m (driving for Renault)

2 Stars – must try harder

Vandoorne - £6m (driving for McLaren)

Grosjean - £6m (driving for Haas)

Magnussen - £5m (driving for Haas)

1 Star – fighting to remain

Sirotkin - £3m (driving for Williams)

Stroll - £3m (driving for Williams)

Hartley - £3m (driving for Toro Rosso)

Gasly - £3m (driving for Toro Rosso)

Ericsson - £2m (driving for Sauber)

Leclerc - £2m (driving for Sauber)

4.2 Chassis

5 Stars – reigning champions

Mercedes - £27m

4 Stars – genuine contenders

Ferrari - £24m

Red Bull - £20m

3 Stars – past or future contenders

Force India - £16m

Renault - £15m

2 Stars – must try harder

McLaren - £10m

Haas - £10m

Williams - £8m

Toro Rosso - £8m

1 Star – fighting to remain

Sauber - £5m

4.3 Engines

5 Stars – reigning champions

Mercedes - £27m

4 Stars – genuine contenders

Ferrari - £24m

Tag Heuer (Red Bull) - £20m

3 Stars – past or future contenders

Mercedes (Force India) - £16m

Renault - £15m

2 Stars – must try harder

Renault (McLaren) - £10m

Ferrari (Haas) - £10m

Mercedes (Williams) - £8m

Honda (Toro Rosso) - £8m

1 Star – fighting to remain

Ferrari (Sauber) - £5m

5. CALENDAR 2018

25 March - Australia

8 April - Bahrain

15 April - China

29 April - Azerbaijan

13 May - Spain

27 May - Monaco

10 June - Canada

24 June - France

1 July - Austria

8 July - GB

22 July - Germany

29 July - Hungary

26 August - Belgium

2 September - Italy

16 September - Singapore

30 September - Russia

7 October - Japan

21 October - USA

28 October - Mexico

11 November - Brazil

25 November - Abu Dhabi