Rosetta's Wacky Races

[true vessel]

I hope they implement a change for that even if it was only for the first season

[wet fox]

But it goes lower on this game because there often aren't any poachable replacements

[wet fox]

Me too

It's so unbalanced currently

Take Verstappen and Norris and constructors threat is GONE

[thin mortar]

Vesti for Merc 😄

[wet fox]

Could be done

Could add him to Williams too

[wet fox]

As for hireable drivers - any driver, from any previous game, except Palou

Palou is missing for some reason

[thin mortar]

Are you going the reveal the results of run 8 + championship? 😄

[wet fox]

Okay, here it is - a few haven't used all their guesses but it has been 3 days after the deadline

And with that, here are the final standings of Guess My Team 2023

[thin mortar]

🍾

Got pretty close at the end 😄

[true vessel]

Damn it, I got so close. Good job @thin mortar

[thin mortar]

Be interesting in '24, if we reboot before the patches 😄

[wet fox]

The patch will probably be here by August 6th, the intended day of restarting this, but if a week is enough time enjoying it and getting used to it before we start getting back I to guessing mode, could be done

[thin mortar]

Oh, right, I forgot you already set a date 😄
I'll say it's up to you, you're the one doing the work

[wet fox]

And I'll leave it up to everyone

[pearl crystal]

this looks fun

[wet fox]

Okay, you keep enjoying the game and we'll get to this later

[robust elbow]

cries in not having access to the game until friday

At least the worst bugs will likely be fixed

[true vessel]

I'm on holiday at the minute, and had a minor panic that maybe I'd forgotten this had already started and I'd missed out on the first rounds of the new run

[wet fox]

Worry not, it starts tomorrow

[wet fox]

The first race will go up in a few hours, but for any newcomers and those that need a refresher, here's how things work:

• I will post one race per day
• If you think you know what team I'm managing, dm me - you have three guesses
• The first player to guess right gets 5 points (by races not time - if one person guesses first one hour after a race and another three hours after that race, both win)
• Each winner gets a suggestion of next run format (different drivers? After race effects? Anything) and the 11th team (run 1 has 10 teams) - I'll add my own suggestions each time too
• For every additional race it takes you to guess after the winner(s), you get one point less
• The run can end in three ways:
• 1. I complete the last race of the season
• 2. It's been four races since the first person correctly guessed (1 point range)
• 3. Three people have finished their guesses and at least one is correct
• At this stage there will be 24 hours for players to use their remaining guesses
• The calendar of the next run will have the race the winner(s) guessed on moved to the last race of the season
• Whoever has the most points after 10 runs wins

Most important rule: have fun - if I can change anything to make it more fun, let me know and we'll see what people think

[thin mortar]

Yeah, I'm gonna pull a Rosberg, but I'll be lurking to see what kind of crazy stuff you come up with 😄

[wet fox]

Firstly, the lineups - to show the colours of the two new etams and just in case a reminder is needed

Oh also, very important thing:
I will not simulate any races

With that sorted - the first grid of Guess My Team 2024:

Verstappen wins it, a few big rises and big drops, lots of movement

That's the drivers standings - here are the constructors:

[brittle kindle]

ferrari scored too high'

though could be aston

[wet fox]

Took a while but we're finally at Saudi Arabia - talk about a Q3 Bottle, Verstappen didn't set a time

But he made up for it in the race and what a charge from him and Piastri
The race ended under the safety car Russell caused

Ferrari move on up to the top

[brittle kindle]

Stroll quali to high

[robust elbow]

Stroll is cracked this game, he's much more motivated than Alonso and it makes up the difference

[wet fox]

Yeah

I did Australia then instantly got forced out to work so apologies for mobile quality - three different fastest drivers in qualifying, with both Mercedes out of Q2

Verstappen takes pole, Red Bull 1-2, classic

But he can't turn it into a win - in fact, no one finished where they started

Championship now:

[brittle kindle]

This is a rare occurence, extremly rare so you gotta be doing aston or redbull

[wet fox]

You doubt my skills?

[wet fox]

Japan features rain

And that rain produced some weird times in Q1, with the whole thing dominated by Red Bull, quite a few surprises actually

And Max dominates it, quite a few big climbs too

Norris leads the championship by one point

[wet fox]

China is the first sprint of the 2024 format (and man was it a data nightmare) - anyway Max dominated it, Ricciardo out of SQ1 was a surprise too

The sprint itself ended under a safety car so gaps don't matter - Ricciardo made up for his issue and the Ferraris charged forward too

Onto the race quali and Magnussen's sprint penalty turned into a grid one, Red Bull at the top again

And this time the Red Bulls stay at the front - Magnussen crashes yet again and wow they lapped a lot of cars

Red Bull are back on top of the championships too

[wet fox]

Yeah I got too much work to do I probably won't be able to do a race today, apologies

[robust elbow]

all good

[wet fox]

Miami has a sprint - a wet sprint quali was dominated by Red Bull as both Astons exit Q2 and 3 cars don't set a time in SQ3 - can anyone stop Max?

Yes they can, it's Perez to victory as no one finished where they started - good day to be an Aston fan, bad day to be a Mercedes fan

Onto the main event (which was completely dry, like the sprint itself) and Perez in form picks up the pole as it's Alpine the surprise team to have both cars out Q2

Perez goes on to a dominant weekend, although it was a close one - Leclerc is out first mechanical failure and the fastest lap times get wiped from those for some reason

I really didn't crop the points well but you know em

Championships now:

[brittle kindle]

@wet fox my guess is vcarb

[small kraken]

gotta dm it

[wet fox]

Yeah I wouldn't share any answers publicly

[wet fox]

I will take that as a guess because Imola will be soon

[wet fox]

Imola saw nothing that out of the ordinary - Ricciardo Q3 is probably the biggest surprise

The race saw Verstappen domination - I think that's a lead record (even more than buffed Aston Martin from 23), so why couldn't Perez keep up?
Also what a race from Hamilton

That didn't change the championship much

[wet fox]

Monaco soon

[robust elbow]

^tm

[wet fox]

What

[robust elbow]

it's a joke lol

soonTM

[wet fox]

I see

Monaco is known for craziness but this quali seems pretty normal

But the race... there were lots of crashes, and what a race from RB there

That couldn't move them up the championship tho

[robust elbow]

Tsunoda sandwiched between 9 WDCs lol

[wet fox]

Canada soon - moderate rain Saturday, dry Sunday

[wet fox]

That wet quali saw Red Bull on top and Alonso out of Q2

And the Red Bulls went on to lap the field, Albon did well from last too

Zero movement in the championship

[true vessel]

Good god. They need to be stopped

[wet fox]

But will I be able to stop them by the end?

[wet fox]

Spain soon

[wet fox]

Perez takes pole for Spain, as Alpine come last and both RBs enter Q3

And Red Bull lap the field again, nothing else significant happened - but the third fastest lap was 0.9 slower than Max

We have exactly one change in the championship

That's 10 races so far this run, not many get that far, usually someone guessed it by now

[wet fox]

The above race was Spain not Canada, I forgot to change the name
Austria soon

[wet fox]

Let's start with the Austrian sprint quali - Red Bull at the top, while Norris is out of SQ2

He does however make it up to points in the sprint itself

Red Bull top the main quali again but Verstappen has a penalty, this may be interesting

...Yeah he lapped the field anyway

Championship now

[wet fox]

Silverstone soon

[wet fox]

Took longer than I expected, but Red Bull are at the top again

They didn't quite lap the field this time

How did RB rise up the WCC so much without any change in the WDC?

[robust elbow]

RB is cooking

[wet fox]

Hungary is coming up soon

[robust elbow]

Low-key you're gonna catch up to the IRL season

[wet fox]

And we probably will tomorrow unless someone gets it with this

Anyway here's the qualifying - Haas last, Alonso at the bottom of Q2, interesting

Aside from Red Bull running laps on everyone the race was interesting, with most of those qualifying lower than usual making up for it

New championship tailrunner

[true vessel]

I hate that I blew my chances with this run

[wet fox]

You're not the only one wishing they had one more guess
Especially since we're not catching up to IRL, someone got it and two people are out (so three people used up all their guesses) so the run is over
Deadline for final guesses <t:1724180340:R>

Speaking of, let's talk 11th team driver replacements
Currently I've set up an algorithm that does the following:
Creates a list of every replacement driver for a possible team:

• Red Bull: Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Lawson
• Ferrari: Bearman, Giovinazzi, Hamilton
• Mercedes: Vesti, Schumacher, Vettel, Antonelli
• McLaren: O'Ward, Pourchaire, Hirakawa, Bortoleto
• Alpine: Doohan, Schumacher
• Aston Martin: Drugovich, Vandoorne
• Sauber: Pourchaire, Hulkenberg, Schumacher, Vettel
• Haas: Bearman, P. Fittipaldi
• Williams: Schumacher, Vesti, Antonelli
• RB: Lawson, Iwasa, Hadjar
• Each list additionally gets one random driver with a superlicence (for fun)

Layman's terms for how it works is:

• In a random order, teams lock in their lineups
• If a driver has been taken from them, they choose a replacement from their list

Thoughts? Any particular ideas disliked? I can add/remove individuals if need be

[robust elbow]

Sauber Schumacher as well maybe?

[wet fox]

I was thinking about that one quite a bit

But yeah that can be done

[robust elbow]

Vettel as well maybe

[wet fox]

It's possible

[wet fox]

Alright, deadline passed - here's how run 1 of 2024 went
This was the team that stumped everyone in 2023 too, but it did surprise me that it took that many lapping the fields for someone to realize something isn't right

So it is Wonfo the one to beat this time around

Everyone Except Last: the driver that finishes P22 retires, never to be seen again
Winning Building Ban: the race winner's team has their expertise reduced to 0, which basically means they will never upgrade their car again

Turtle GP: How will the two fastest drivers (Verstappen and Leclerc) with the best staff, HQ, finances and RBPT engines do with the slowest car?
Brawn GP: Technical brilliance, randomized

Note: I will declare what random things are chosen where applicable

[true vessel]

I was so bad at this, that even when I posted a little while ago that I wish I hadn't used all my guesses because I thought I'd got it.

Not only was I still wrong. I looked back at my messages to DF and it was the first guess I made xD

[wet fox]

One other minor thing: to prevent confusion, RB is called VCARB from run 2 onwards

[robust elbow]

does anyone call them RB?

[wet fox]

The feeling of pain after recording the first race with Brawn (it was tied, but Brawn was voted by a run 1 player) only for Turtle to get another vote with 4 minutes to go

[wet fox]

It's okay, it'll be done today

[robust elbow]

apologies 😅

was a little behind on discord

[wet fox]

Turtle GP:
Finance: 40M (5 dots)
HQ: 5 dots
Car: 1 dot
Engine: Honda RBPT
Staff:

Driver replacements:
Tsunoda moves up to Red Bull to replace Verstappen
VCARB's affiliate Ayumu Iwasa fills his vacant seat
Hamilton moves to Ferrari a year earlier than expected
Andrea Kimi Antonelli goes straight from Formula Regional to Mercedes

If you're curious, without my intervention, Ferrari hired Verschoor and Red Bull Correa

The first race will be tomorrow - imma be honest, it's late here (well, late enough for it to be too late after I'm done)

[wet fox]

The first Guess My Team race with 11 teams - Verstappen and Leclerc did pretty well for the worst car, all the new teammate sets are pretty close to each other, there may be some exciting intra-team battles

Norris gets his first win - no points for any rookies, F for Hulkenberg, but even bigger F for Zhou Guanyu, who will never race again

WCC

The sheer irony of creating realistic replacements to prevent the AI from hiring Juan Manuel Correa - and Sauber hires Juan Manuel Correa to fill their vacant seat

[wet fox]

Correa did not qualify last - three different session toppers and 5 teams out of Q2, very interesting

However he didn't finish at all, in an action packed race where Verstappen and Ocon gained so much

Tsunoda's win puts Red Bull on top

And it leaves Sauber with a seat to fill, well it can't get worse than Correa, right?
...right?
Sauber sign Amaury Cordeel for Australia
...oh

[wet fox]

Y'all know it

Amaury is at the back of Q1, joined with a shock elimination of Sainz and Stroll, all the sessions were topped by a different team

And it's a different driver at the top as Norris bottles it, Sainz and Stroll had some big gains as Tsunoda DNF'd on the last lap (so the lapped vcars didn't get past)

Looks like that Sauber seat is a revolving door

And the next one through the door is... can't be worse than Cordeel right...
Rafael Villagomez

[robust elbow]

Iwasa taking KMags best finish lol

[wet fox]

Oh shoot you're right

That's a typo with the changes

Kmag is the one in 15th

[wet fox]

Yes, but...

He didn't qualify last, what a stinker from Leclerc - also looks like Red Bull domination is back

Leclerc escaped the clutches of last, but so did Villagomez as the race ended under the safety car Hulkenberg and Stroll caused - Stroll was lower in the standings so out he goes
Also what a climb from Antonelli and Leclerc

As the only one to not finish last, VIllagomez tops the bottom of the standings

Now Stroll is gone, who will his father go for?...
Aston Martin hire Roman Stanek for China

[small kraken]

where are gaps?

[wet fox]

The race ended under a safety car

Sainz didn't catch up to the field I can tell you that

[wet fox]

You guys are getting good at this

But let's start with the sprint - a shock SQ1 elimination for Antonelli, as 3 different drivers top the session and our newcomer reaces SQ3

And in an absolutely insane sprint, George Russell wins it
there were a few mega climbs and drops, as Stanek doesn't move

Yet he picked up a penalty for the main race, with Mclaren at the top and things looking a little more normal

[wet fox]

And George wins the race again, yet this time it was closer than the sprint
Stanek doesn't move, Villagomez survives again

Lots of championship changes

Goodbye Hulkenberg, hello... Mari Boya
There's so many good F2 drivers like Hauger and Verschoor and Haas go for someone in F3?

[robust elbow]

Verschoor is signed to Ferrari academy IIRC but yeah Hauger is a free agent wtf

[wet fox]

No, Verschoor is a free agent too

In other people's CAT save alive seen Verschoor signed by:

• McLaren
• Ferrari
• Mercedes
• Aston Martin
• Alpine
  I guess other teams have other plans with that little bit of money?

[robust elbow]

yeah they don't want to spend the money lol

[wet fox]

I'm currently doing Miami and because it's relevant, here's another mod I'm doing:

If multiple drivers don't set a time in a qualifying session, instead of ordering them by team and car ID, I will artificially change the grid to order them by their time in the previous qualifying session

Also, ahead of the news today, Colapinto will be added as a potential replacement should a Williams driver get poached

[wet fox]

For the Miami sprint, a few cars didn't set a time in SQ2... and only two in SQ3 - as said before, they line up in order of their time from the previous session

And what choas there was - Russell won from pole but the McLarens crept up behind fast, Iwasa did terrible

To the main quali now and Russell poles it again - the biggest surprise is Boya being quicker than Magnussen, is he washed?

This was the most chaotic race I've ever seen - top 11 gained places, Russell and Piastri doing horribly, 5 DNFs

First points for Stanek, Sargeant and Magnussen among all that

Now it's interesting Leclerc is gone, it's be interesting to see the stark difference between a fast driver like Verstappen and a slow driver like... Richard Verschoor joins Turtle GP for Imola
Finally, a team with some sense, but I was kinda looking forward to some obscure F3 driver having a massive difference to Verstappen

[wet fox]

Verschoor's gap to Verstappen was 0.484 - Tsunoda and Red Bull bottled pole as there's a shock front row start for Antonelli

But it's George Russell who wins, Antonelli fell off hard, Albon had quite the climb and Magnussen sacrificed himself to keep Boya in the sport, what a team player

Not much championship change from that

Goodbye Magnussen, hello... Christian Mansell
Haas is cooked, that's all I can say about that

[robust elbow]

Villagomez is low-key a massive chad for surviving in the sauber for that long

[wet fox]

Villa🐐mez

[robust elbow]

Yes lmao

[wet fox]

Monaco sees Russell at the top and the expected 3 at the bottom, shock Q3 for Albon

And Russell dominates, Albon doesn't make use of his Q3 as Turtle GP score points - and a shock last place for the championship leader

It's probably changing at the top next race

And walking in the footsteps of the championship leader is... Enzo Fittipaldi

[wet fox]

Bear in mind this was recorded before the patch, after the patch, the AI now have the ability to sign their own affiliates to main seats

So the poll today will be a little different

#game-discussion message is relevant

There does also seem to be some element of randomness, and I do think it prevents lineups from getting too chaotic

[wet fox]

Alright, looks like Enzo isn't racing and it's a fresh run for a fresh patch, we've had 3 successful guesses so now the run is over, deadline for final guesses <t:1725045600:R>

Top-Mid Swap: every race, the winner and the driver that finishes P11 swap seats
Enshrouded: lap times and gaps have a 50% chance of being shown, randomly generated each race

Formula 2: starting with Doohan and Vesti, the driver lineup each race will be the top 2 in the F2 championship, with the drivers of this team going down to F2 to take their place (hence no Pourchaire), 5 dot staff, finances and HQ, 3 dot car
GAP: seeing the biggest driver gap, with Verstappen and Flörsch and 3 dot everything else

[wet fox]

Alright, the tiebreaker is GAP because both votes were from players in the last run

Speaking of last run, there were not many guesses, but everyone got it

Liam Lawson replaces Verstappen at Red Bull for this run

Presenting GAP F1 team:
Drivers: Verstappen, Floersch
Technical chief: Neil Houldey
Head of aero: Jarrod Murphy
Sporting director: Aurelien Pallier
Engineers: Chris Cronin, Tom Stallard
Car: 3 dots
HQ: 3 dots
Budget: 15M
Engine: Renault

I think that's everything relevant

What I find crazy is Verstappen couldn't get a 3 dot car into Q3... and Sophia off the back row, quite a GAP indeed

And that GAP only increased in the race, as Hamilton shot up and Sargeant fumbled

McLaren top the tables with the win

But now they have Stroll, and Aston has a great lineup
Norris and Stroll swap seats

Almost forgot - standings after run 2

[wet fox]

Here's Saudi Arabia - Norris beat Stroll surprisingly, Alonso shock Q1 elimination, Perez at the front at all times

And that includes the race - lots of crashes, lots of chaos, good ones Aston and Haas

This also caused a lot of chaos in the championship

I womnder how well Perez and Tsunoda will do in each other's cars

[wet fox]

It's a little late, but here's Australia - Sophia is not last? Well, kinda
Shock Q1 elimination from Verstappen and Hamilton

But they got to more realistic places in the race, what a drive from them both - lots of happy and sad faces in the paddock today

Championship now:

Perez gets a good car again, as Perez swaps with Leclerc

[wet fox]

To Japan now - Sophia is actually on merit not last, crazy
Shock Q1 elimination form Russell Q2 elimination from Perez and Q3 appearance for Ocon

Tusunoda wins a very chaotic race that ended under a safety car (so no gaps) - insane result from Mercedes as Alpine get their firts point... with Gasly not even Ocon

The championship sees a new leader

But can Leclerc in a Red Bull catch him?
Tsunoda and Leclerc swap seats
Remember, the next race is Miami - China movd to be the last race after our last winner guessed at China

What is it with the VCARB finishing P11 it's done that for the last 3 races

[wet fox]

Apologies but today has been abnormally busy - I would've had time for Miami if it wasn't a sprint, but it is

Tbh I am thinking of scrapping sprints for the next run onwards - I don't think they add much yet they double the data I have to type out in a weekend

[wet fox]

Alright, here's Miami - beginning with Sprint quali and Leclerc takes pole, with a shockingly poor result from Ricciardo

Leclerc avoided the chaos to take the win, Ricciardo bounced back, Hamilton had a disaster

Now onto the main quali, Sargeant is the first driver I've seen to start at the back with a penalty, he may as well start in Texas

And he didn't even finish - with two other big names out, lots of positions were gained, including a shock result for Alpine

I will tell you what happened because it's funny - Hamilton and Norris were battling side by side at the first turn then Sargeant comes out of the pits and plows straight into them

Championship now

Tsunoda didn't finish P11, Leclerc swaps with Alonso

[wet fox]

Apologies again but I got a lot of work appointments today, I won't have time for a race today

[wet fox]

Imola will be today, and soon

[wet fox]

Here's Imola - Sauber last, Lawson tops Q1, Norris penalty, both Alpines just behind a podium spot

And somehow Alonso wins it and what a climb from Norris, Gasly completes the podium, oh dear for Sainz - absolutely crazy race

Sophia is where she deserves to be now, as all that chaos caused no change in the WCC

Alonso and Lawson will not swap seats, because they are in the same team anyway

[wet fox]

Monaco as soon as I can

[wet fox]

Here's Monaco - Alonso poled it, shock Q1 elimination for Lawson

Perez wins in a very chaotic race, I can't really single anything out just action everywhere you look

The championships changed a bit too

Once again Hamilton is at Ferrari, as Perez swaps with Hamilton

[wet fox]

Canada as soon as I can

[wet fox]

Here's Canada - mixed at the top of Quali, Perez bottles Q3, shock Q1 elimination for Lawson

Canada always has interesting races - the top 3 stayed the same, but not many others did (and stroll remembered he was Stroll)

What no Norris does to Mclaren

I wonder who will beat who after Stroll and Sainz swap

[robust elbow]

Piastri and Sainz is surely peak 2020s McLaren

[wet fox]

What no Stroll does to a team - Mclaren are back on top after a shock Q1 elimination from Russell and front row for Gasly

In the race everything goes back to being more normal except Piastri and Ricciardo did horribly, and somehow Alonso won

Final championship standings

With the first successful guess being in Miami, the run is now over
Deadline for final guesses <t:1725988740:R>

Marko Simulator: every race, the driver with the biggest position gap behind to their teammate is fired - if there's a tie, both are out
Blueprints Burnt: my car design blueprints were lost in a fire and thus I can't make any upgrades to the car

Mid GP: starting with those that came 10th and 11th in 2023 (Stroll and Gasly), the driver lineup for this team each race is whoever finished 10th and 11th in the previous race, 3 dot everything
Totally Real: a random team except everyone is generated

Diagram of where everyone ended up

People are so quick to vote image y'all making guesses that quick

I've always found it strange that 11 people are following this yet there's only 5 people on the standings table...

[true vessel]

Tbf this game moves very quickly. If you look away then it's easy to fall out of the loop.

I sometimes look away for a day or so, come back and there's a lot of polls and images and driver changes and craziness and I'm sat here confused like "Ok... what happened?!", I'm happy to go back through and jump into it again because it's built over a long time. If you're new to this, that might be a bit intimidating lol

[thin mortar]

Just because I retired, doesn't mean I stopped watching 😉

[safe hazel]

"I never left"

"Just moved aside for a while"

[wet fox]

That is a good point
My original idea of doing one per day is that I thought it was reasonable enough for everyone to look once per day
Although if that's too confusing for people, we could always increase the time interval

[safe hazel]

5 days, slots in perfectly for the end date being on a sunday or a monday

[robust elbow]

It's such a difficult one IMO, sometimes I want more to keep coming and sometimes I really can't keep up lol

I think 2 or 3 scheduled moments in the week is reasonable to keep up with, lets you plan for it a little

[wet fox]

That's also a good point

Let's just do it one more time

[wet fox]

Okay then I'll get that team set up and as the current poll had twice and three times per week tied, we'll start it off tomorrow

But I'll post all the 11th team details today

[wet fox]

Mid GP - 3 dot everything, Renault engine, these staff members:
Doohan replaces Gasly at Alpine and Vandoorne replaces Stroll at Aston Martin

And finally, the results of last run - you can see why I'm hoping increasing the time interval will attract more players

Yet, neither of them top the standings after that

[true vessel]

When does our heritage bonus start to apply?

[wet fox]

In 2030

[robust elbow]

Lool

[true vessel]

Surely if you take each restart as a new year... then maybe we're there already xD

[wet fox]

Here we go with the first race of run 4 - 3 different drivers topped quali with Norris not doing very well
If the white text on black is annoying for anyone do let me know and I'll change it, but I did a random colour generator for it

And Verstappen wins as Norris makes it up toa decent position, the Haas drivers crashed each other out and Ricciardo did well too

That's the WDC, here's the WCC:

Be thankful there's an at least one day gap, because the driver moves are a little complicated:

• Marko strikes: Perez and Doohan out
• Mid GP poach Tsunoda and Vandoorne
• The gaps are filled by Lawson at Red Bull, Perez at Aston Martin, Gasly at Alpine and Iwasa at VCARB

[wet fox]

As it's tied between twice and three times per week, I'll flip a coin - heads race today tails wait til Sunday

Welp see ya Sunday

[robust elbow]

Awww

[wet fox]

It will be early morning Sunday tho because I'm going on a trip Sunday

[robust elbow]

Can always just do it earlier and paste in the results sunday

[wet fox]

I did it on Wednesday after putting up the first results, I mean the results will be early Sunday

[robust elbow]

ahhhh this wait only feels worse now lol 😅

[wet fox]

Okay here's Saudi Arabia - Sainz poles it after Red Bull bottle Q3, not much else to say

The race sees 4 DNFs and everyone is close because a safety car came in with 3 laps to go, Albon almost last to points

Big shuffles in the WDC

And in the driver lineups too:

• Marko Strikes: Hamilton, Magnussen and Sargeant are fired
• Mid GP take on Albon and Hamilton for Australia
• Vesti signs for Mercedes
• Haas bring Stroll back
• Williams re-sign Sargeant and take Magnussen on with him

[robust elbow]

RIP Williams

[wet fox]

It's a Red Bull sandwich in Australia - Verstappen is surprisingly at the back and Lawson on pole

What a drive from Max, last to podium - Lawson had an absolute stinker as Leclerc wins

How this affected the championship

And the driver market:

• Marko strikes: Iwasa is fired
• Mid GP sign Ricciardo and Lawson for Japan
• Lewis Hamilton goes to Red Bull, Vandoorne and Tsunoda to VCARB

[safe hazel]

looking at the standings going down to 25th just gave me an idea: all 20 drivers get replaced after each round and see how many drivers get classified at the end of the season

[wet fox]

You get to make a suggestion if you're the first to guess right

[safe hazel]

i just thought of that for a future experiment i'd do

[robust elbow]

Ayo that red bull lineup

Lawson just barely not getting Marko'd only to get poached by mid GP lol

[wet fox]

Here's Japan, Verstappen is on pole as Ricciardo is somehow last

But he certainly made moves, Verstappen wins and lots of people move around a bit

Championships now

And driver moves:

• Marko strikes: Vesti is fired
• Mid GP take Tsunoda and Alonso for Imola
• Mercedes bring in Schumacher
• Aston Martin bring in Drugovich
• Albon returns to VCARB

[wet fox]

We'll go twice per week as the other votes were 3 days and 5 days and twice per week is 3-4 days rather than 2-3 days, so hopefully that will appeal to the most people

[wet fox]

Although speaking of that, I am going on another trip tomorrow so the next race will be posted last thing today instead of early tomorrow, hopefully that's okay

<t:1727212500:R>

[wet fox]

Alright, Imola - bad day to be a Haas fan, good day to be a Verstappen or Alonso fan

Verstappen stays at the top, but it's the other Mid car that finishes shockingly high - Haas made up lots of positions from the back too, maybe 3 dnfs is to thank

Schumacher is the 27th driver to do a race this run

There won't be any more this time:

• Marko strikes: Norris is fired
• Mid GP take Gasly and Sargeant for Monaco
• Alonso returns to McLaren
• Norris finds refuge at Alpine
• Tsunoda swaps with Sargeant to go to Williams

[robust elbow]

Piastri - Alonso is a legendary combo

[wet fox]

So, I've heard from someone about the Better Driver Market, which includes a few rating adjustments and some new drivers too, which may be interesting for future runs, but I wanna hear the thoughts of y'all

(Note: many other drivers got slight stat adjustments, ones not shown have the same rating)

[wet fox]

Alright here's Monaco - Leclerc poles his home race while Haas affirm themselves as the backmarket team (Kevinless behavior)

Haas' engines decided nah we're not backmarkers bye, 4 other drivers crashed and sainz won in a really chaotic race - also poor Leclerc

Chaotic race, chaotic WDC

And chaotic driver market:

• Marko strikes: Schumacher is fired
• Mid GP will run Vandoorne and Ocon in Canada
• Ricciardo goes to Mercedes
• Gasly returns to Alpine again
• Lawson goes to VCARB, just like irl

[wet fox]

But they won't do any more races
With 3 successful guesses, the run is over
Deadline for last guesses <t:1727874120:R> (when the first race will be)

How it started vs how it ended

90-60: the driver in car 1 will have their rating adjusted to 90 ovr and the driver in car 2 down to 60 over
Upgrades people upgrades: every race, whoever comes last is replaced by the next fastest driver in the game

[robust elbow]

Is 90-60 for every team?

[wet fox]

Default: Andretti is the default 11th team of BDM, with an automotive legacy except 2 dot Pau Rivera is an engineer, Palou and Herta are drivers
Volkswagen Uprising: Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini all enter F1 as phoenix risings, VCARB and Sauber make way for this
Honour DR3: two Ricciardos in a 5 dot car, rest is random

[wet fox]

Yes

[wet fox]

One of those that voted Volkswagen Uprising isn't even in this forum, so Honour DR3 it is - details soon

[wet fox]

Alright, team details:
Name: Honour DR3
Colour: red, darker than Ferrari
Drivers: Daniel Ricciardo, Daniel Ricciardo
Engineers: Stuart King, Riccardo Adami
Technical chief: 4 dot generated
Aero head: Dirk de Beer
Sporting director: Sven Smeets
Car: 5 dot
HQ: 3 dot
Budget: 3 dot
Engine: Ferrari

In sheer irony, Nyck de Vries replaces Ricciardo at VCARB

Top row 90 rated, bottom row 60 rated

[true vessel]

Riccardo Adami being the race engineer is very funny to me

[wet fox]

90-60 seems to be a spicy idea
I won't spoil it too much, but
||Only one team got both cars into Q3||

[true vessel]

Please let it be double DR

[wet fox]

No Sauber because polls only allow 10 options and everyone knows damn well it's not them

[wet fox]

Oh yeah one more thing I should mention - 1.7 had the AI start doing stuff instantly instead of triggering every day, so if I'm at an original team the first round of designs is done by the AI, so the first upgrade window might not be much help...

[wet fox]

And that's the deadline - Stevie won in one shot, Australia is moved to the back of the calendar, we had 4 guessers which is double last run, so yay the new timescale works

Not enough to dethrone Wonfo however, it's tight at the top 3 (and bottom 3, I guess)

Anyway onto Run 5 - a nerfed Verstappen takes pole as it was both DR3s in Q3, all the teams are so jumbled together

Oscar Piastri wins as McLaren and Ferrari are the only teams with double points thanks to a strong performance form a heavily nerfed Norris (poor Albon and Alonso)

Starting championships:

And for the first time in a long time, this run will feature no driver moves

[true vessel]

Called it! Double DR3 in Q3

Also @small kraken can you make a few bad guesses please

[wet fox]

If you're interested in the details, altered all driver stats equally by the difference required to get the required OVR
For example: an 88 rated car 1 driver got +2 all stats
For the second Ricciardo I unretired a random regen and give him the name, all the stats, development and marketability - I couldn't edit initial mentality (though that gets checked every day) and while I could edit driver number I couldn't have two 3s

[robust elbow]

you too please

[true vessel]

But if Wonfo gets some wrong then you can have 2nd and I can be first.

[robust elbow]

Well yes but I wouldn't mind being 1st myself lol

[true vessel]

Yeah but you can't be first if I am, so I'm afraid you'll just have to second. Think of if as a positive

[wet fox]

You know you can both be first right, there's no point tiebreaker or anything

[true vessel]

But... it's a competition, I'd like to win it xD

[wet fox]

Here we are in Saudi Arabia - Verstappen gets pole as even the inferior DR3 does well

Verstappen wins, sadly no double Ricciardo points, poor Tsunoda this weekend

Championships now

[wet fox]

With Australia moved to the back it's Japan time, Ricciardo gets pole as it's a shock to see nerfed Sargeant outqualify buffed Albon

Riccardo wins in a very chaotic race with 6 DNFs, Sainz and Ricciardo went from out of Q1 to points

Championships now:

[wet fox]

Imola will be released later today because I'm all of a sudden real busy

[wet fox]

Okay Here's Imola - Verstappen poles it as Perez gets a penalty, even Haas' 90 driver got out of Q1

Ricciardo wins it as everyone finishes and lots of cars get lapped

Daniel Ricciardo and his team lead the championships now

[true vessel]

Let's go DR3

[wet fox]

Here we are in Monaco, Leclerc steals pole from Verstappen as 10 teams make it to Q3, something that never happened in irl F1

Verstappen gets the win as Ricciardo suffers the first mechanical failure in a while, 10 teams scored points, something that also never happened in irl F1

And with that, Red Bull reclaim the championships

[wet fox]

Ricciardo gets pole in Canada as Verstappen has an abysmal time

Ricciardo wins as Stroll gets a podium? How? Verstappen made it to the points

A few championship changes

[wet fox]

Spain time now - Ricciardo gets pole in quali as Bottas has an amazing day, ocon has an awful one

Ricciardo wins as Bottas somehow maintains the podium

Zhou got his first points too

[wet fox]

A little bit of bad news
Technically we have reached the threshold for 3 people using their guesses and at least one right, but as more people come I wished to drop that requirement, because more people are coming and if two of them go out, everyone else has less time to guess
I've done the Austria sprint, but the main race has troubles with random crashes, I think something got corrupted somewhere, so unfortunately I can't continue the current run, so this will be the last run where two outs and one correct guess can end the run

[wet fox]

Verstappen takes pole in the sprint qualifying

As leclerc wins, and no one finished where they started

This does not change any championship positions

Ricciardo got his tribute, and here's where we must unfortunately call it

Deadline for final guesses <t:1730304000:R>

Dry to Wet: every weekend has a dry qualifying and wet race
Winner's car halved: the team that wins gets all their car stats and expertise halved
Lighten up AI: any part the AI builds will have minimum weight

2016 all over again: driver lineups, car performances and calendar of the 2016 season - 11th team is Manor
Generational Gap: oldest and youngest drivers, oldest and youngest engineers, oldest TC, youngest aero head, oldest sporting director, random everything else

[sleek temple]

I feel like it would be easier to figure out if it was wet to dry

[wet fox]

Me too, but that was not the suggestion

[wet fox]

In case you're wondering how I make every AI part minimum weight - the database editor difficulties run on SQL triggers, which run some code when a condition happens - as this only appears on impossible difficulty, I'll set the difficulty to impossible then remove all the other triggers manually so the minimum weight one is the only one left

[wet fox]

One more idea, just a thought

[true vessel]

I voted bad just because as it is already there are 2/3 options for each, and if you add a 4th then you're just more likely to end up in ties

[wet fox]

True, but since the "player votes break the tie" system, we've never had a tie

But if everyone thinks it's bad, that's okay

[wet fox]

Just in case you forgot the 2016 lineups - since the game goes from season start with everything, Kvyat is in the Red Bull

And the first race of the season is Australia - Hamilton dominates at the top, Red Bull didn't do as well as I thought they would

And in the race, Mercedes absolutely dominated, Red Bull somehow did worse and Haas got no points on debut
Note no point for fastest lap

Oh yeah, since I almost forgot - here are the results of run 5

Since we only saw half of Austria, I decided a half point reduction for guessing at Austria instead of a full one

[true vessel]

Well this has completely thrown me through a loop.

[sleek temple]

wow this was so weird

[wet fox]

Here we are at Bahrain, next in the 2016 calendar - Mercedes dominate again, it's pretty much the same

Mercedes don't lap everyone this time, Red Bull get points, Hulkenberg surprisingly jumped past the Williams and the Red Bulls

Championships now

[wet fox]

Our next stop is China, which doesn't have a sprint because it's 2016 - Hamilton let Rosberg have a taste of pole, but he bottled it in Q3 - shock 8th row of Perez and Haryanto

But Rosberg got the victory after an insane race thanks to Sainz's crash, Perez made an impressive return (2024 could never)

Champiosnhips now

[wet fox]

I'll mention this now to prevent confusion
The next race is Malaysia, and I will call it Malaysia, but the track is Miami because Malaysia isn't in the game

[wet fox]

Here's Malaysia, Rosberg got a taste of the front again but it's another pole for Hamilton, pretty much the entirety of Q2 is a surprise

Rosberg gets the win, as fate forbids Hulkenberg from getting a podium, Sainz almost climbed up from P20 to points

Championships now - Mercedes drivers are tied at the top

The next race is Spain, where irl Verstappen replaced Kvyat at Red Bull

Although, if I was Horner, I wouldn't do that here - Kvyat is being decent compared to Ricciardo and neither Toro Rosso have points to their name

[wet fox]

Funny I should say that then Kvyat has a stinker in quali, surprising the drivers that outqualified Hamilton

Mercedes 1-2 and Kvyat gets points anyway

The top 3 teams are far apart from each other and the rest

[wet fox]

Monaco is a real surprise - none of the Mercedes topped a quali session

But they still 1-2 in the race, joined on the podium by... Hulkenberg? Amazing (also wow Grosjean)

Championships now

[wet fox]

Someone eagle eyes pointed out that the GP I did at Miami I called Malaysia when it's actually Russia - it doesn't change anything, but apologies regardless

[wet fox]

Canada was recorded before patch 1.9 btw

[wet fox]

Didn't forget, just been busy with a lot

pretty much expected result, but Perez podium and Ricciardo no points

Hamilton nabs it at the last moment

Because it is the last moment - with the first guess back in China, this is where 2016 ends

Deadline for final guesses <t:1732432380:R>

Mid season madness: every race the podium drivers are swapped with random other drivers on the grid - for sprint races, the bottom 3 are swapped with random points scorers
Best drivers, worst teams: the slowest drivers get the fastest cars, going down the order to the faster drivers having the slowest cars

Williams-Benetton rivalry: the 11th team is Benetton, an industry giant - additionally, Williams gets a 5 dot car
Back to 2012: the 2012 season, no HRT because 11 teams

And one last one:

[wet fox]

(and also I forgot what the previous run's calendar was)

[wet fox]

I'm gonna rule that as yea because I forgot what the calendar should've been otherwise

[robust elbow]

lol

[wet fox]

Benetton:
Industry Giant
Drivers: Hamilton, Verstappen
Engineers: Bonnington, Adami
Other staff: Cardile, Tondi, Wheately

Red Bull replaces Verstappen with Herta and Mercedes replaces Hamilton with... Jake Denis

But that doesn't matter, as the actual lineups are this:

[robust elbow]

my eyes!!!

[plain hinge]

Zhou in a Red Bull 🥹

[wet fox]

And now: the results of the previous run

[small kraken]

damn

i forgor

fair play stevie

[wet fox]

This puts Stevie at the top

[wet fox]

The race will be soon, I had a lot on today and thought I could do it before it started, but nope :/

[true vessel]

Time to bottle

[wet fox]

It's a crazy one I tell you that

[wet fox]

Zhou in that Red Bull topped qualifying after Sargeant fumbled in Q3, most of the teams are all over the place

Speaking of all over the place... this is the craziest race I've ever seen - I'll just let you look at it

[robust elbow]

I'm sorry what

Now this is chaos

[wet fox]

Apologies, but due to personal circumstances, Saudi Arabia will be released tomorrow

[true vessel]

I think to be honest I'm going to set this next round out. I need to focus on other stuff at the minute. If you could all just blow your guesses and not catch me up that would be great

[wet fox]

Statistically you only need Wonfo to blow

[robust elbow]

I would happily catch back up into contention lol

[wet fox]

Sorry for the delay, I'm out at work - but I have done the race, it's just mobile quality

Zhou takes pole, surprised 3 teams were out of Q1, maybe it's about car after all

...Bottas debunked that theory - lots of DNFs, lots of craziness again

Championships now

[robust elbow]

Stroll low-key goated rn lol

[wet fox]

Stroll gets pole in Australia - also Zhou Q1 goes crazy

It's a Ferrari 1-2 as the usual massive amount of action happens

It's also a Ferrari 1-2 in the championship

[wet fox]

In Japan, Stroll takes pole by quite a margin - the Mclarens qualified well too, I sure hope they don't bottle the race

Of course one did - Zhou wins in the usual chaos of this mode

Denis' bottle somehow produced massive gains as Zhou takes the lead

[wet fox]

Fun fact:
We've had 5 guesses so far
All are different teams

[wet fox]

Zhou takes pole in his home race sprint quali

And he wins it, but it was close

It's the same at the top of each main quali too

But Stroll wins the main event

Championships now

[wet fox]

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Miami will be tomorrow

[wet fox]

Long time coming because there were two races, but here's Miami sprint quali

Aston Martin must be happy with that

They qualified pretty well too - so did Sainz

And somehow Stroll gets the win, what a race for Haas, F for Sargeant

Lots of championship action

[wet fox]

Imola sees a new polesitter - but will this turn into a podium?

It will... just, with Sargeant being Sargeant and a close battle for the last point

I did not expect this from Alpine

[wet fox]

For Monaco the quali is... wait what? Bottas? SAINZ?

The race seems a bit more normal, with the GOAT winning a Ferrari 1-2

Championships now

[safe hazel]

Crazy season

[plain hinge]

find it crazy that Verstappen hasn't scored a point in the Sauber yet

[robust elbow]

Or Leclerc for that matter

[wet fox]

Someone rightfully said today having tweaked ratings and extra drivers is unfair for those that can't rule 5, like console players - they've proposed doing it on vanilla saves (unless a rule calls for it) so everyone can work out what's to be expected of every driver

[true vessel]

I think as long as the changes are clear at the start of the run it's ok

[plain hinge]

i think maybe for future just have the adjusted drivers overall

it’d be cool to do a early 2000 season

[wet fox]

Off the top of my head 2004 is available, not sure what others

[wet fox]

Right, I'm having problems with F1M always crashing in startup - I'll get Canada to you ASAP

[true vessel]

I ran into a bug recently where after the race a random driver was being awarded the victory, very strange

[wet fox]

I've heard of that one, but I can't figure out the source because I've never had it

Speaking of bugs, I won the war with the game again

Here's qualifying in the land of Canadians - and a Canadian topped it

The Canadian also wins it, but it's not a Ferrari 1-2 - ouch for the former Sauber drivers

Champiosnhips now

[true vessel]

I now have all the free time again so I regret blowing all my guesses in one when I had one day lol

[wet fox]

I've just looked and 2004 is the second earliest season that's been created - the earliest is 1963

[robust elbow]

Surely nobody will mind, at least you're not gaining on us even more 🙃

[true vessel]

I mind!

[wet fox]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention:

No race next Wednesday, enjoy Christmas

[wet fox]

We are back, Spain had quite the wing quali session, two of the best cars on the grid got eliminated Q1

This was the craziest Spain I've ever seen, you just look yourself

[robust elbow]

Those Alpines are really bad

[wet fox]

My theory is good drivers = more money on salary = less of developing the car

[plain hinge]

that would make sense because otherwise verstappen and leclerc would have scored a point by now

[wet fox]

I'll get today's race out later, it's a busy day for me today

[wet fox]

Everything takes so long to type in a sprint weekend

Bit of a disaster for the last drivers of Force India

The main quali has the exact same people at the top

Witnessing Ferrari's downfall

[wet fox]

As chaotic as this run has been... it's now over

We've had 3 successful guesses, so this is where it ends

Deadline for final guesses <t:1736078400:R>

Hauger Hell: every team has their lowest rated driver replaced with Dennis Hauger
Once Out, Always Out: if anyone retires, for any reason, they retire permanently and will be replaced

Frontier defaults are a random pre-defined backstory with random options in each

Back to 2004: the 2004 season, with only 10 teams
SpaceX: like a rocketship, a 1 dot everything team except 5 dot in drag reduction and DRS

[safe hazel]

Sargeant is in big trouble then

[wet fox]

I just realised I very stupidly mistyped this - 2005 isn't available, it'd be 2004

[robust elbow]

Potato potato just send it lol

[wet fox]

Who says potato

[wet fox]

2004 comes soon, here's the lineups to get familiar with - remember F1 Manager goes from the start of the season, so Ralf and Trulli etc may be here until the end

And this is the calendar

With the following substitutions:

• Malaysia is held in Qatar
• Europe is held in Miami
• France is held in Zandvoort
• Germany is held in Austria

[wet fox]

Gone with the deadline of the last one: here's the results

Stevie remains at the top... just

And now let's do F1 from 20 years ago - Michael Schumacher has a dominant qualifying for Australia

And that dominance proceeds in the race with only the podium not being lapped - 2004 had a different points system

No outs, so no retirements

[true vessel]

Excellent

[robust elbow]

Soon my friend, soon...

though tbh I should probably just be happy with a podium

[safe hazel]

Does Williams have the Walrus nose or no Walrus nose?

[wet fox]

Walrus nose

I think

If they ran it in Australia they run it here

[wet fox]

Alright we're gonna do a little vote now that will become relevant at the next race so this may be a little hint at what happened

[plain hinge]

if the driver does not make the 107%, will it count as a dnf that leads to their retirement from the sport?

[wet fox]

I will instantly retire them when the lights go out, they'll drive a lap and go to the garage, never to be seen again

[true vessel]

I voted no just because the rule wasn't in place for 2005

[plain hinge]

ooh, okay

imma vote yes just for the chaos

[safe hazel]

Minardi and maybe Jordan are in for a circus

[wet fox]

I thought there would be an easier way for this - regardless, I got it, so it's done

(also this is still technically 2024 with the tyres and quali format etc)

[wet fox]

I'm willing to bet this is more than you thought

(and btw yes none of them set adequate times in practice either)

Well this was probably the easiest race that didn't end under a safety car to do

Championships now
Note 1: 107%ers were considered to finish in their qualifying position, so that's why they shuffle a bit
Note 2: I don't know why Renault says -1 they didn't change idk why it's saying that

3 teams have two new drivers going into Bahrain:
Jordan: Robert Doornbos, Timo Glock
Toyota: Paul Tracy, Sebastien Bourdais
Minardi: Enrique Bernoldi, Bjorn Wirdheim

[robust elbow]

Oh boy, those three teams are so screwed now

[wet fox]

I doubt anyone would make a guess on this one considering I did basically nothing (in case you can't tell from the difference in laps, even the runners were so far from each other there weren't really any fights)

Although, it might be because I know the team and how the game works, but if I was a player I'd definitely be eliminating 2 teams from the possibilities here

[plain hinge]

yeah I have no idea who to guess so far lol

[true vessel]

Yup. Officially very confused.

[wet fox]

The bottom tams must be happy with their new lineups - they haven't gotten any better, but at least they didn't hit 107%

What a climb from Sato - that's all there really is to say

What this does to the championships

[safe hazel]

26 drivers already

I predict 50-60 come season's end

[wet fox]

Here we are in Imola with a spicy Q3 - the drivers set sufficient times in practice and the other quali sessions so aren't subject to the 107% rule
(But Barichello 107%ing himself is funny)

And Barichello wins as we have two more drivers out, Glock rear ended Bernoldi to take someone down with him

How this affected the championships

Jordan will be running Robert Kubica in the next race, as Minardi take Verstappen... Jos Verstappen
(the 2004 mod replaced max verstappen with Jos, most of the 2024 F1 and 2 drivers are there but not him, you'd think he should be there)

[robust elbow]

Bwoah what a season lol

[true vessel]

I am so confused. This is not good.

[robust elbow]

Same lol

[wet fox]

Usually people pick it up when I start winning the team's fight

But Ferrari, McLaren, Sauber, Jaguar and Toyota don't really have fights

That makes it a lot harder to work out

[robust elbow]

Also the Ferrari is so cracked it's deleting information lol

[wet fox]

Wait did I forget something

[true vessel]

My problem is I have no reference for who should be quick, who is good, who is bad.

This is full on chaos and drivers are changing xD

[wet fox]

I could tell you that the ratings of all drivers are

Because normally you'd know that

[true vessel]

I mean I'd love to know but I dunno if that'll affect it if anybody else has guessed or not

[wet fox]

I will drop it tomorrow unless anyone has any particular objections

[wet fox]

Apologies but it's been a busy weekend for me, the race will drop a lot later today probably

But as promised a while ago here's the drivers' starting ratings

[wet fox]

Alright, here we are in Spain as we sadly say goodbye to another Minardi driver before the race starts

Schumacher wins, everything seems normal, not a goof day for Minardi

Standings are acting weird, hang on

My standings don't work anymore :/ but I hope you can accept this format - also yes it's the 2024 engines but modders don't know custom engines are local things over save things, so I don't actually get the engines

[wet fox]

I forgot to mention - Ryan Briscoe (67 rated) is Minardi's next driver

[wet fox]

Here we are in Monaco, where a lot of drivers broke 107%... but it was wet so they're saved (the rule doesn't apply if it was wet)

But we say goodbye to three drivers, two of which high profile, as Sauber make points for the first time and the most action has happened yet

Here's what we have for standings - I know this way sucks with the team names, but unfortunately there's nothing better for now

And as for the new drivers next race - Jordan took Nico Rosberg, forcing Renault and McLaren to scrape the barrel - taking generated drievrs Adam Duda and Florenca Neves respectively

[wet fox]

I extracted this directly from the database if that's easier to understand, also has the position changed (which are flipped there for some reason)

[safe hazel]

Am I tripping or is this still 2004?

[wet fox]

Oops wrong chat

[wet fox]

It's Europe time (which is Miami) - quali as expected except the newcmers did a lot better than I thought

In the race, we lost two more big names, and Ferrari was dethroned, only one finisher lost a place

Similarly, only one gained in the standings

[robust elbow]

I did not expect such a downfall from Ferrari

Also props to Verstappen lol

[wet fox]

Forgot the mention - two generated drivers join the fold, Wyatt Taylor for Ferrari and Ziyad Deeb for Renault

[wet fox]

Here we are in Canada - quali was wet, and everyone set adequate times in Q1, so everyone races

Michael Schumacher lapped the entire field, even Briscoe 5 times, what a legend

Championships now

[robust elbow]

Button low-key on a charge here

[wet fox]

Schumacher takes the top spot by a second in COTA

He wins it by a way too - and very sadly we lose Button and Verstappen

Williams will be happy with that

Generated driver Jennifer Fahlbush goes to BAR, whereas Minardi find a decent talent in Vitantonio Liuzzi

[wet fox]

But Minardi aren't happy in France (Zandvoort) as they lose their other driver before the race starts

And get lapped 5 times by Michael Schumacher in the race, that the other rookie crashes out of too

These are the standings

As for the new hires... there are none
We're calling it here because the first successful guess was in Monaco
Deadline for final guesses <t:1739100600:R>

No racers allowed: everyone that has done a race (from 2023 and before) is immediately retired at the start
2022 spec: staff lineups and car performances of 2022 (not a 2022 season mod, ratings stay the same)

Standings shuffler: 1 dot everything, except starting with the initial top 2 in the WDC Verstappen and Perez, they will swap to having the top 2 in the WDC every race
Manor with good car: Manor, 5 dot car, 1-3 dot everything else

[wet fox]

Oh did I do that one as a day

Oh well, it's a clear winner anyway

[wet fox]

Right, let's introduce:
Manor

Drivers: Richard Verschoor, Esteban Ocon
Dennis Hauger replaces Ocon at Alpine

Tech chief: Pat Fry
Aero head: Davide Paganelli
Engineers: Umberto Visintini, Marc Gainnone (both 1 dot from F3)
Sporting director: Marco Perrone

Car: 5 dot
Budget: 15M
HQ: 1 dot
Engine: Renault (Mercedes wasn't specified)

[robust elbow]

Who replaces Ocon?

[wet fox]

Hauger

[wet fox]

Here are the results of run 8

We have a new leader in the standings with 2 to go

So let's start run 9 in Bahrain - I've streamlines the process further so now i don't have to type up anything, it's all extracted from the database, so you can see more - don't ask how Red Bull Ferrari and McLaren were that fast in quali, is there some hard coding for the first race I dunno

The race was a little more realistic, Perez and the McLarens dropped back, Gasly almost got points and now you can see the intervals and gap to the lead (Tsunoda doesn't have a gap because he finished a lap before, this will always be the case)

Starting championships

[true vessel]

@robust elbow

COME ON! That was insane xD

[robust elbow]

Yes it was lol, not quite sure how I managed that one!

[true vessel]

I was so lost. I had no idea all the way through.

I'm gonna need you to chill xD

[robust elbow]

We could just stop the count here 😉

[wet fox]

Psst I'm managing ||made ya look||

[wet fox]

Thought time

BDM was last updated for 1.8 - it causes crashes, a lot, but if you guys like having the other drivers for replacements there, here's an idea:

In the past I found a way to work out what drivers can be hired when replacements are required at the start of a CAT - I could run the same with BDM drivers being considered, and add those particular drivers into a regular save (that won't make it crash), I could always add all the popular hires in runs where drivers get replaced

Any particular objections? I'll get to working them out and show you soon

These are those - it could potentially be cool to combine them into one and let the "AI" grab from both pools - I also added a few realistic alternatives into a third pool for those that are in other teams or I'm surprised weren't possible, or based on irl

If you have any other bonus ideas, feel free to say them too

[wet fox]

Anyway, Saudi Arabia time - Gasly's downfall needs to be studied (and how he got there in the first place), Ferrari Red Bull and McLaren are more realistic but still a bit fast I believe

This race was a crazy one, 4 DNFs, 3 drivers finishing where they started, Magnussen and Ocon made the most of it
Latifi's gap is a bit odd because Hamilton red flagged the last lap but Latifi crossed the line before it stopped, so while he finished on the lead lap he was classified a lap down, niche confusing case

Double tie at the top of the tables

[safe hazel]

If Leclerc wins Australia, a familiar pattern might be forming

[plain hinge]

Sauber 4th you love to see it

[robust elbow]

VB was absolutely cracked in the 2022 game

[wet fox]

I remember my last F1 Manager 2022 save before 23 - I won Bahrain 2022 with Bottas and thought nah I'll wait for the next game it'll be harder

[plain hinge]

i never played 22 lol. maybe i'll have to buy it just to say i've played it

[wet fox]

Nah, not worth

[wet fox]

Australia time - how did a McLaren get up there in Q1? How did a Manor and Mercedes get up there in Q3?

Only one person finished where they started, and they did it with an unexpected fastest lap too, also one DNF

If only Verstappen got FL...

[wet fox]

Alright here we are at Japan - Q2 was wet and two drivers set a dry lap, Ferrari dominance in Q3

But Leclerc fumbles the race as a Manor gets a podium, bet you never saw that happening (also what happened to Alonso and Norris?)

Different teams at the top of each table

[wet fox]

China is coming today but because it's a sprint it'll take a while

[wet fox]

Alright here we finally are, I had to update the format for sprints - let's start with SQ, where Leclerc gets pole and a Sauber reaches SQ3

And to much surprise Ocon wins, in a Manor, which was really fast because Verschoor gained a lot too, insane

Verstappen keeps pole in the main Qauli, Bottas Q3 again

And Ocon wins again, crazy, but Vettel gets most positions gained and almost some points

The sprint with the least movement in the championship

[wet fox]

Just in case you were wondering: how good is the new update for us?

Short answer: very

What I can do now:

• Add the BDM drivers as a preset, guaranteed to work and not crash
• Car performance editing will be so much easier
• Lineup and calendar editing at the save start will likely be easier too (not that it was hard)

What I still need rule 5 for:

• Existing driver rating changes
• Any per-races changes

[plain hinge]

I thought the new update allowed you to change exisiting driver's ratings?

maybe I just read it wrong

[wet fox]

You can edit the ratings of new drivers and staff, but nothing is mentioned about existing ones

[plain hinge]

gotcha, I read it at the gym so i'm not suprised I got some of it wrong 😂

[wet fox]

Oh yeah, that

Might look into that after testing this update a bit

[wet fox]

So I've added in 22 drivers from BDM, all drivers with a superlicence aged under 40 (sorry Kimi fans, but the max age is 40) - which is exactly 22

My CAT hiring tests indicated AI teams like to both promote their affiliates and hire the better new drivers, it's about a 50/50 split

[wet fox]

Apologies but I won't be able to do a race today, my grandmother has fallen ill and I need to go take care of her
And I was already busy the rest of the week so it can't really be delayed

[robust elbow]

Take all the time you need, family comes first!

[wet fox]

While we wait, I wanted to set up a couple of rule votes for next season, as the next run will be the season's last (a season is 10 runs):

[true vessel]

I'm confused by this

[wet fox]

Basically, treating the sprint part of the weekend as a different race, so China sprint and China race would be separate, for example

For the second option, the sprint weekend would reduce each successful guess points by 0.5
For example, if someone got 5 in Japan, China sprint would be worth 4.5 and China race 4

[wet fox]

We're finally in Miami, beginning with Verstappen's sprint pole

And the winner is... Ocon? I did not expect that

Verstappen also takes pole in the main race, can Ocon win again?

No, Verstappen wins this time, and Hamilton is on the podium (RIP Perez)

This spiced up the championship

[wet fox]

Sainz takes pole in Miami, shock double Q3 for McLaren

Max Verstappen wins, looks like a lot but really not much out of the ordinary

Not much change in the championships

[wet fox]

Wait a second, I can't count

Our first successful guess was Saudi Arabia, I should've called it at Miami

Well we'll call it here (I will still grant 1 point for guessing here then)
Deadline for final guesses <t:1741518000:R>

End It on a double: default format, but points scored are doubled
FIA Gone Wild:

• 8 random races, if it goes into 2025 so be it
• Point for pole as well as fastest lap
• R&D scheme 3 (favours lowest teams the most)
• Top 6 points

Wildcard: all 11 teams are randomized in all attributes
We Guess The Team: active players will be created as drivers and put in random teams, random 11th

[robust elbow]

I'm coming for both championships lol

[wet fox]

In case We Guess The Team gets approved - if you have a one worded name, please provide me a two (or more) worded version I can use, you need at least two words for a name

[true vessel]

I hope you did badly xD

[robust elbow]

I hope you did lol

[wet fox]

Wanna hear something funny
||You two are the only two guessers this run so far||

[robust elbow]

shocking

[robust elbow]

has anyone run out of guesses?

[robust elbow]

MF we're tied now if my math is right 😅

[plain hinge]

i kinda forgot I had to guess 😭 been occupied by homework and other stuff lol

[wet fox]

It's okay, you have until Sunday

[wet fox]

Oh was that one a 24hr

Oh well, it's unanimous anyway

[true vessel]

Not only am I now hoping that @robust elbow does badly in the guesses. There is now an in-game rivalry too xD

[wet fox]

Anyway, time for the setup announcement:

• Add points for pole
• Points for the top 6
• R&D scheme 3 (favours lower teams)

New drivers (based on guessers from past 3 runs):

• Heyy Tonyyy (Red Bull)
• Xeno Fade (Sauber)
• Won Fo (Williams) [I couldn't think of anything better, if you want a different name shout]
• Stevie Noises (VCARB)
• Super Nerdje (Aston Martin)
  -# OPSamBreaks is not in the server anymore

Calendar:

1. Australia
2. Canada
3. Bahrain (sprint)
4. Austria
5. Britain (sprint)
6. Spain
7. Nederlands (sprint)
8. COTA

Team 11:

Cadillac

3 dot car
5 dot budget
5 dot HQ
Honda RBPT engine

Drivers: Liam Lawson, Victor Martins
Engineers: Peter Bonnington, Geoff Spear
Tech chief: Andrea De Zoro
Aero head: Alessandro Cinelli
Sporting director: Giacomo Ricciardo

No replacements needed

[robust elbow]

very nice

[small kraken]

That is actually exactly what I was about to suggest

[wet fox]

Great :D

[true vessel]

@wet fox can you let us know if any of the player drivers do anything amazing/stupid in the races. It'd be good to get that personal touch lol

[wet fox]

Sure if I catch it

[wet fox]

Alright, the reuslts of the penultimate run... yeah

The top is tied

And here begins the final run - with a shock Q1 elimination form Hulkenberg, our tonyyy takes the first pole, but can be make it a win?

Norris wins it, while Hulkenberg gets into a more realistic position, not much else
How you guys fared:

• tonyyy stayed with Verstappen a lot, falling back a bit after the second stops
• Stevie and Supernerdje (and Alonso) spent a lot of time fighting each other, with Stevie the eventual victor
• Wonfo... didn't do much, he was just there kinda
• Fade lost the pack pretty early on and reinforced it with two lockups

3 teams scored

[true vessel]

Sign of the times

[robust elbow]

Afraid I'm inclined to agree 😅

[robust elbow]

Should we know the player driver's ratings btw? Are they similar to the replaced drivers?

[wet fox]

No, completely random

I can reveal them if people want, but it also may be fun to not know, your call

[plain hinge]

damn in game me bottles wins in the same ways irl me does

[livid minnow]

I feel like your team is williams

[wet fox]

If you want to confirm that guess, dm me - keeps the answer private from everyone else

[wet fox]

With that, round 2 Canada time - Verstappen is on pole again, shock Martins Q3

And the race - Verstappen wins it again, shame Martins couldn't make any use of that Q3
How you guys fared:

• heyy tonyyy beat Leclerc off the line and stayed second a lot, but Red Bull double stacked at the last stop making him drop back
• Stevie was just there mostly, but suddenly got a lot slower at the end
• Supernerdje's gains were even more impressive considering a lap 1 collision gave him a penalty
• Wonfo again didn't do much, had a little drop early in the middle but quickly made it back up
• Fade... Fade got lapped by Gasly, that's all you need to know

Championships

[wet fox]

The next round, Bahrain, is a sprint, so it will take more time

[wet fox]

Round 3, Bahrain - there's a sprint here, apart from Alonso P2 nothing looks out of the ordinary

It's clear Aston Martin know how to sprint here, and it actually offers decent points with the top 6 rule
Fade locked up into Gasly turn 1 lap 2, nothing significant from the rest

Same front row again, a VCARB out in Q1 and an Aston out in Q2 for the main race

...Well don't let that stop Aston, Alonso gets his 33rd and Aston are just going insane
How you guys fared:

• Supernerdje took his time cutting through the pack, having long fights with Sainz and the Red Bulls
• heyy tonyyy lost Max early on and spent most of his time fighting Supernerdje until he cleared too
• Wonfo spent most of his time behind Albon like a good number 2, they were gaining well until Albon made a mistake
• Stevie was also doing a good job until Hamilton shunted into him and broke his rear wing
• Fade learnt how to overtake, and he fought with Gasly quite a bit

Aston are cooking

[wet fox]

As much as I love this series and y'all seem to too, I have just received my third successful guess, so this is unfortunately where we stop
Deadline for final guesses ||and submissions|| <t:1742400000:R>

It's the last run of the season, so no format suggestions, the first run is always default with 10 teams

[plain hinge]

will you be doing a 25 m o d or go back to the base 24 game?

[wet fox]

I was thinking 24, but that could potentially be an option

I'll put up a poll after the end of this run unless anyone has any firm objections

[wet fox]

Alright, time's up - and we have FIVE winners this run... I wonder what gave it away

This leaves us with a tie at the top in the final standings, so a tiebreaker will be held

Oh yes also your ratings

Just waiting for Supernerdje to finalize their tiebreaker submissions, then it'll happen

[true vessel]

It all comes down to this. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN

[wet fox]

This has now been done, the limitation is me

[robust elbow]

I maintain that first race description of us from this season will be clutch lol

[wet fox]

So here's how we're doing the tiebreaker:
Stevie and Supernerdje got the same number of stat points to assign to a driver and engineer, we're going back to Aston martin and Bahrain where they take over a side of the garage each, whoever finishes ahead shall be named champion

In this race Verstappen sees pole and neither Aston makes Q3

In fact one made Q2 - Stevie P16 Supernerdje P17

(I'm the 11th team and will retire both cars immediately)

Stevie is number 25 Supernerdje number 19, both start on softs - and it's a great start for Supernerdje and he gets past Stevie, who's struggling against Zhou

Zhou gets ahead at turn 3

As we start lap 2, Supernerdje has broken the second barrier to Zhou

Stevie keeps attacking Zhou, but he just can't get past

Stevie manages it lap 3 but Supernerdje has DRS on Sargeant, catching up will be tough

On lap 5 Ocon dropped behind Sargeant and Supernerdje is hoping to get past too

And he does, easily

On lap 6, Stevie has lost the Saubers, he only has Gasly behind him and he must've made a mistake or something because he's 5 seconds back

meanwhile Supernerdje keeps the charge up, catching back up to Sargeant

But on lap 10 Supernerdje locks up turn 1! He hasn't lost any positions, but has lost Sargeant's DRS

Lap 11: Stevie catches back up to Zhou, who is on his own after Bottas pit

Lap 13: Stevie is the first Aston to pit

He goes onto mediums, no issues, but he comes out dead last

Supernerdje in lap 14, he takes another set of softs, emerging P18, Zhou in between the Astons

Stevie is close to Zhou, shame they're 15 seconds back from anyone else

Supernerdje is chasing down Hulkenberg, who pit earlier and has older tyres

On lap 16 Stevie clears Zhou, currently not fighing anyone

But on lap 19, Zhou uses Ocon to catch back up to Stevie

Ocon clears as Zhou returns to fighting Stevie

Meanwhile Supernerdje is fighting Bottas, Albon and Hulkenberg have gotten too far ahead

On lap 23, Bottas pits and Supernerdje attacks, getting past him and Hulkenberg

And Zhou has cleared Stevie...

But Zhou has a pit issue, it's redeemable

lap 25: a group that's already pitted caught up to Stevie and are giving him DRS

Supernerdje pits for a third set of softs, exiting p19 behind this pack

Stevie boxes for softs on lap 26, he exits ahead of Zhou in P19

Lap 27: Bottas clears Supernerdje and leaves him isolated in P17

There's about 18 seconds between them just past the halfway mark

On lap 33 Zhou catches up to Stevie again

Meanwhile Supernerdje is P15, at the back of the pack he exited the pits behind

That pack cleared him now

And Sargeant rammed into Zhou! free 2 places for Stevie - Sargeant penalised

Stevie decides to come in for more softs, exiting P19 ahead of Zhou, who also pitted for a new front wing

Meanwhile, Supernerdje fights with Gasly for P15

Nevermind, Gasly pit

On lap 40 Gasly exits the pits right behind Stevie

I missed it but Supernerdje pit lap 37 for mediums, currently P13 with no one around

Lap 47: Stevie is keeping Gasly at bay with a little help from Hamilton

Hamilton cleared Stevie on lap 49, Gasly took advantage and got by too

Sargeant is doing the funny no wing strat

On lap 56 Stevie makes a final assault, Gasly is clear that's Ocon ahead

There's a large gap going into the final lap, I think it was set in stone from turn 1

[true vessel]

https://tenor.com/view/agnyaathavaasi-pawankalyan-powerstar-power-star-pawan-kalyan-pspkgifs-gif-21703668

Well that gif didn't work and that's a shame. Congrats @robust elbow

[wet fox]

And it's confirmed, Supernerdje is over the line first, and is our season 2 champion 🎉

But honorable mention to Stevie for clucthing P16 at the last second

Full results
(Albon onwards +1 lap)

[robust elbow]

Oh nice I did not anticipate that result

[robust elbow]

Outstanding fight to the end, looking forward to the rematch!

Wonder what the stats difference was, both in initial investments and anything the AI added

I had this:
Engineer:
Feedback 1
Communication 1
Composure 90

Driver:
Aggression low
Age 18

Cornering 80
Braking 80
Reactions 60
Control 72
Smoothness 60
Adaptability 1
Overtaking 40
Defending 40
Accuracy 75

[true vessel]

I went for this:

Driver:
Cornering: 80
Braking: 70
Reactions: 65
Accuracy: 45
Control: 80
Smoothness: 35
Adaptability: 5
Overtaking: 45
Defending: 45

Engineer:
Communication: 1
Feedback: 50
Composure: 79

[robust elbow]

So deltas:

+49 Stevie Engineer Feedback
+8 Stevie Control
+5 Stevie Reactions
+5 Stevie Overtaking
+5 Stevie Defending
+4 Stevie Adaptability

0 Cornering
0 Engineer Communication

+10 Nerd Braking
+11 Nerd Composure
+25 Nerd Smoothness
+30 Nerd Accuracy

Love that we both agreed to pump cornering and dump communiation lol

[true vessel]

Basically I was banking on your guy making a mistake or being depressed after being over taken and having no pace because of it lol

[wet fox]

Oh yeah I was also gonna do this:

For console users that wouldn't know - this is various changes with the db editor, all separate things so we can still do different things with it without applying it all, like different driver lineups or calendars

[wet fox]

About the 2025 DLC, something I learned:
Since it starts at the very end of 2024 going into 2025, you can quite easily get a lot of upgrades before the first race, always giving me a race winning car and making it obvious who I am
As a result, I tried doing the first race with forcing AI to use minimum weight, and I believe the results are a lot more acceptable, so I'll at least do the first run like that and see how it goes

[wet fox]

That seems like an obvious yes to 2025, one last question:

This is who I've observed to replace outgoing team members, affiliates don't get promoted because all the contracts are changed and they're not interested because they recently started contracts

[robust elbow]

Kmag lowkey the most popular man on the grid lol

[wet fox]

Actually it's Ricciardo and Vettel that all teams are interested in (that I've seen)

[robust elbow]

True, McLaren doesn't want him lol

It's just funny seeing him this popular

[wet fox]

Oh, by the way, McLaren and Aston Martin have a weird case, where it crashes if you take both their drivers at once, so no suggestions that involve that please

[robust elbow]

I'm sorry what? How? Why?

[wet fox]

No idea, unreal engine issue

[wet fox]

Okay, looks like 2025 is go - while they're in China irl, we're slightly behind in Australia, Norris takes the first pole

Max Verstappen wins, Gasly almost got points form the back row and Sainz had an absolute disaster

Starting championships, any early takers?

[wet fox]

China time - and we have a sprint here, 3 teams top each sprint quali session as Norris takes the top spot

And... huh?
Lawson has done a reverse Lawson, unrealistic game

Onto the race itself and Verstappen has had enough of not being first

And he wins, despite Norris' best efforts

It's Red Bull on top now

I know that for the next race, Lawson and Tsunoda will swap seats - but that won't be the case here, for three reasons:

1. F1 Manager games keep the start of season state for the whole season
2. Lawson is doing a lot better here than irl
3. Japan has actually already been done

[robust elbow]

Just VCARB things again I see, properly edging those points

the rookies (and Sainz) are really struggling to keep it together aren't they?

[true vessel]

Meanwhile I'm just glad to see Fernando actually classified in the championship, even if he's still got 0 points

[robust elbow]

Lmao I didn't realize he's not classified in the real championship, I knew Lance was carrying somehow but wow

[wet fox]

Yeah he hasn't been classified in a race yet

[true vessel]

Literally off the bottom of the table. It's quite sad

[wet fox]

That'd be this run, but what about future ones?

[wet fox]

Alright, I think something may have given it away, because we already have 3 winners
So... deadline for final guesses <t:1743332400:R>

Max only accepts the best:

• Verstappen starts at McLaren
• If at any time Verstappen's team isn't leading the WCC, he'll swap to the team that is
• If Verstappen's teammate finishes more than 1 place behind him, they're sacked
  Tyre Hell: everyone's smoothness is 1, and the calendar is randomized with no sprints

Toyota: an Automotive Legacy with Tsunoda as a driver
Random All Staff: every team gets random drivers and staff

[wet fox]

Alright, that it shall be:

Toyota
Automotive Legacy
Drivers: Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly
Engineers: Chris Cronin, John Howard
Tech chief: Pat Fry
Aero head: Jarrod Murphy
Sporting director: Randeep Singh

But first: the results of run 1, we had 3 winners on their first guess, I wonder what gave it away...

[wet fox]

Alright, problem
In my infinite wisdom I saved my regular save over this one and lost the first race
Because I'm busy tomorrow and Tuesday is too close, we start Wednesday

[robust elbow]

RIP

it happens, I've done it too lol

[true vessel]

More importantly, you didn't save this save over your regular save.

[plain hinge]

i’m still baffled on how everyone guessed red bull 😅

i assumed lawson doing well was just his ai being turned too high or the red bull being op

[wet fox]

Yeah, especially since it's only the first race and not down to Singapore...

[robust elbow]

There's a skill to managing crash-prone drivers, the lot of us went and assumed that skill was being put to work lol

[plain hinge]

true, but early doors the ai’s pretty good about it too.

[wet fox]

Putting this here for tomorrow:

• Red Bull honours Perez's contract and keeps him there
• Alpine opt to sign Magnussen to replace Gasly... that'll go well

[wet fox]

Right let's start for real this time - here's the calendar

Round 1 is Qatar, known to be a tyre killer - Leclerc gets pole as Piastri fumbles domination, both Toyotas consistently in the middle

Norris wins, as Gasly gets the fastest lap... that's all I can really say

Starting standings

[wet fox]

I just learnt how to do the 2025 DLC functionally where affiliates are open to negotiations, so from run 3 onwards the AI will have the ability to promote affiliates from the get go

Tomorrow I'll update the list of available hires for each team

[wet fox]

Updated list of observed driver replacements

[wet fox]

I almost forgot - Monaco time, and it's a Ferrari 1-2 in qualifying, can Leclerc convert it into a home win?

Not even a podium, classic Ferrari - Norris wins again

Standings now

[wet fox]

I haven't forgotten, there's just been hardly any time

[wet fox]

Alright here we are - Brazil time
The front and back rows are quite surprising

The race was pretty chaotic too, a few fights at the very end, what a gain from Ocon and Piastri wins

This affects the championship quite a bit

[wet fox]

Here we are for Monza - it's a Red Bull 1-2 as Sainz performs pretty impressively too

This race had FOUR new point scorers and Bortoleto almost did last to points in a Sauber (he's good from last here it seems), what a race that was

It shuffles the championship well

[wet fox]

We now go to COTA - Verstappen takes pole in a pretty normal looking quali

But George Russell wins the race in a normal looking race other than that fact

Standings now

[wet fox]

Not forgotten, just busy

[wet fox]

I was also waiting on someone, but I've waited long enough, Mercedes 1-2 in Australia quali, Gasly Q1 elimination and verstappen Q2 elimination are also a bit of a shock

And Russell wins, Verstappen makes it back to the podium, and Lawson has a stinker, Gasly had a good comeback too

This is where we leave the championship

Our first successful guess was back in round 2 Monaco, so this is where this run ends
Deadline for final guesses <t:1745420400:R>

One win and you're out: every race, the winner leaves the sport
Ultimate Spygate: every race, the bottom team in the WCC will gain the expertise from the top team in the WCC for a random part

Toyota again: this time Toyota is a technical breakthrough, no other restrictions
Who are we?: this team has taken two drivers from the grid but keeps them hidden, with their replacements disguised as the original drivers

[wet fox]

I'll get to this soon, pretty busy today

[wet fox]

While I'm working on it, let me introduce you to our 11th team:
Who are we?
Drivers: Hidden One, Hidden Two
Engineers: John Howard, Alex Chan
Tech chief: Neil Houldey
Aero head: Adam Kenyon
Sporting director: Ignacio Rueda
Car: 1
HQ: 3
Budget: 2
Engine: Mercedes

[wet fox]

Results for last run time - 3 successful guesses, one out

Akitoau is at the top of the standings

[true vessel]

I mega dropped the ball on that one

[wet fox]

But did you as much as Alonso at the start of run 3? Mega stinker form him, McLaren didn't do too well either, Hamilton pole and Tsunoda outqualified Verstappen

Max Verstappen wins, race results looking a little more realistic, unfortunate for Albon and Tsunoda tho

Starting standings

As per the rules, Verstappen is now gone, Red Bull have announced Sebastian Vettel will drive the Red Bull in China

[wet fox]

Onto China - and for the first time in a while, we have a sprint, Russell takes pole in it as Albon gets last

Russell wins, the Red Bull drivers almost swap but other than that pretty normal

Onto the main quali and Hamilton gets the pole in a Ferrari 1-2, Doohan has a terrible time as Alonso is a surprise Q1 elimination and Norris a surprise Q2 elimination too

Hamilton wins, Ferrari 1-2 despite Red Bulls' bets efforts, the hidden drivers are regretting joining the new team

Ferrari are running away with this one

but since Hamilton won, they need a new driver - Theo Pourchaire will drive the Ferrari in Japan

[wet fox]

Oops I forgot to show Japan yesterday (but then again, no one reminded me) - Leclerc takes pole in Japan as both Williams reach Q3

And Leclerc wins, that's all there really is to say, expected race

This is how things fare in the standings

Ferrari are the first team to get two new drivers, as they announce Logan Sargeant will drive the Ferrari in Bahrain
...uh, yeah

[wet fox]

Here we are in Bahrain and Pourchaire got pole, that's a surprise - Double Sauber Q2 is also a surprise, 5 teams in Q3

Lando Norris wins, Ferrari bottle it

This is how we fare in the standings now, Leclerc is still at the top

Norris is the one to depart, and Daniel Ricciardo will replace him at McLaren

[robust elbow]

Lmao you gotta admit that's funny

[true vessel]

Just a heads up, I have a lot going on in life and as silly as it is I don't really have the energy to play this game lol. I'll dip out for a bit and maybe I'll come back in later on. Thanks for running this @wet fox, it's really fun

[wet fox]

It's understandable, real life is very important, you prioritize that

[wet fox]

Although thinking about it, maybe it's because I don't do it, but I wonder how hard it is for people

Would more people enjoy it if it was easier? Could some form of hint system provide a benefit?

These are just vague thoughts, I'll dive deeper into it later

[wet fox]

Saudi Arabia time - shock as Sainz tops a Q1 that sees Albon eliminated, Tsunoda pole

What is this...?
Daniel Ricciardo makes it one and done, as Bearman is the only finisher to not gain places, 5 DNFs

Championships now

After Ricciardo's one race, McLaren announce Kevin Magnussen will drive the McLaren in Miami

[safe hazel]

Vettel playing the game smart, on the podium every race but not winning here

[wet fox]

Indeed

Perhaps Horner doesn't want to lose another driver, because who's next over there? Iwasa? Herta? Perez? All worse options probably

Oh also one last thing

[robust elbow]

Watch us re-do this poll in 5 races when they swap back or put a third driver in

[wet fox]

Probably yeah

[robust elbow]

Wait hold up what actually happened here?? 5 cats out?

[wet fox]

Saudi Arabia moment

[wet fox]

Another poll to vote on, as a proposal for making things slightly easier

[robust elbow]

If we think it's running too long then sure

[wet fox]

Since there's a clean sweep for yes and this is race number 5 of the current run, I'll reveal one

It's not Aston Martin

[wet fox]

Here's Miami - Miami has a sprint, where Piastri gets his first pole of the run, that took a while

Piastri wins the sprint, but he won't leave, that rule is for main races

In the main race, Vettel takes pole, Mercedes are high up there and Tsunoda starts in the pit

Vettel wins in Miami, Antonelli fumbles and Stroll also butchered his decent chance at points

Championships now