Rosetta's Wacky Races

[wet fox]

Now that Vettel has departed once again, Sergio Perez returns to Red Bull

[wet fox]

Now it's time for Imola, caught up to real life - qualifying sees a surprise Ferrari 1-2 as Gasly starts from the pit

Theo dominates, don't often see rookies winning, then again you don't often see rookies in a Ferrari, but Sargeant couldn't keep up

Theo jumps up in the championship but Vettel stays at the top

With Theo gone, Zane Maloney will drive a Ferrari at Monaco

[wet fox]

Antonelli steals the Monaco pole, as there are a few grid penalties and a pit lane start for Bortoleto
Double Ferrari Q1 moment

Antonelli wins, Hadjar gets a podium and there's 3 DNFs, what a crazy race

Standings now (for some reason, there's no changes, I don't know why, bit of a blip)

But Antonelli won and will therefore be gone, Valtteri Bottas will drive a Mercedes in Spain

[robust elbow]

Excuse me Carlos 😅

And Ocon what

[wet fox]

Oh wait there are two of them

One sec

The grid changes didn't appear either so I had to do it manually, knew something wouldn't be right

[robust elbow]

Missing a merc too

[wet fox]

Sainz was P5
Ocon was P12
Magnussen, Russell and Bearman DNF

[wet fox]

Is it time for Spain - with pole going to...wait...ISACK HADJAR? How did that happen?
Williams had a great result too

Don't let a penalty get you down, George Russell wins, F for Williams for not being able to capitalize

We have reached 30 drivers

And for number 31, Frederick Vesti will drive a Mercedes in Canada

[robust elbow]

Literally noone is somewhere weird in the standings lmao

[wet fox]

Canada time - Tsunoda takes pole and Sargeant is at the very back with his Ferrari, Vesti front row on debut

Yuki Tsunoda wins, as stroll did a very impressive job to get his first points of the run, Vesti and Magnussen podiums too

Red Bull 1-2 at the top... kinda

But now Tsunoda isn't there, David Malukas will driver a Red Bull at Austria
...right, perhaps we should take the extras away, or revise who they are

[wet fox]

Oh almost forgot, Canada was race 10 so I was supposed to announce another team that I'm not managing:
It's not Ferrari

[wet fox]

Here we are in Austria, where unlike 2024, there is not a sprint race - pole is taken by... Lawson? And why is Gasly up there too?

Didn't go well for either of them, Vesti wins as Magnussen retired on the last lap, Malukas had a terrible debut and Hadjar impressed to outdo his teammate on pole while being eliminated Q2, Bottas fumbled hard too

Piastri takes the lead in the WDC, he's playing the strategic game

But who are not playing the strategic game are Mercedes, as Marcus Ericsson will drive a Mercedes in Silverstone

[wet fox]

Here we are in the stone of silver - Piastri takes pole as Sargeant is eliminated Q1 in a Ferrari and Malukas finally does decently, so do the Racing Bulls and Ericsson

Isack Hadjar wins? I wish this was my main save I have him as a driver there
The Red Bulls almost swapped, as Sainz drags a Williams form penultimate row to points, Bearman fumbles hard

How this influenced the standings

After a surprise winner, Racing Bulls announced Mick Schumacher will be in a Racing Bulls at Hungary

[wet fox]

Hungary will hopefully be today, I've just been kinda busy then my PC has been having issues lately too, but hopefully they've been resolved now
Worst case scenario, tomorrow

[robust elbow]

Hope it resolves painlessly 💛

[wet fox]

It's been going on a while and it's certainly not painless :/

[wet fox]

Alright, here we are with Hungary - it's a Racing Bulls 1-2? They have been doing pretty good recently, Gasly Q1 was impressive too, two pit lane starters

Liam Lawson wins, Perez almost went last to points while Ericsson and Malukas had a terrible time

This is the standings now

And this is how it ends
With the first successful guess back in Spain, we have reached the end of this rather chaotic run
Deadline for final guesses <t:1749379500:R>

We're not done: I switch to a different team and continue this run (probably not with the driver changes, Racing Bulls would've hired Herta btw)
Public guesses: after each race I set up a poll (or two) that people use to make their guesses, they'll be told privately if right or wrong

The Alpine Auditions: Doohan and Colapinto come together in a 2-dot-everything team (close to Alpine) to see who deserves the seat
They Finally Meet: Max Verstappen and Franz Hermann team up in an Industry Giant team

[robust elbow]

Ooh these teams are both pretty funny

[robust elbow]

Aren't polls limited to 10 answers btw? Might be problematic if we're doing an 11 team run.

[wet fox]

I'll do two polls, they'll have multiple choices in case you want to make multiple guesses anyway

[wet fox]

Alright then

Run 4

Format: public guesses
Guesses will be polls in this channel, you still have a limit of three and will be informed privately if they're right or wrong, but nothing stops you voting in the polls after

11th team: Verstappen
Industry Giant
Drivers: Franz Hermann, Max Verstappen
Tech chief: Enrico Cardile
Aero head: Diego Tondi
Sporting director: Jonathan Wheatley
Engineers: Peter Bonnington, Riccardo Adami
Franz Hermann is an identical clone of Max Verstappen
Ayumu Iwasa replaces Verstappen at Red Bull

[wet fox]

Alright, run 3 results are locked in - we had two guessers, one win and one out, I guess it was a pretty hard one, it lasted a long time

Supernerdje jumps to the top, but it's close

I've been thinking about why it was so hard - it's probably because:
I got a design centre fire very early on
So that leads us to another hint idea:

With that out the way...

Run 4 round 1: Australia

Back to the beginning, we start with a normal looking McLaren 1-2... except Red Bull are really suffering without Verstappen it seems
Franz Hermann shows who's the boss of the Verstappen team early on

And the McLaren 1-2 stays for the race, Red Bull recovered well to get double points, Lawson has a bit of a flop

Starting standings

Now I'm not sure if anyone is bold enough to guess at round one, but let's see:

Despite the time, these will be closed with the next race on Wednesday, guesses will be locked in at that point

[robust elbow]

Sauber isn't in the polls lol

[wet fox]

Drats

There ya go

[wet fox]

Run 4 round 2: China

China is a sprint weekend so we start with sprint quali - it's another McLaren 1-2, everything looks normal

Lando Norris wins the sprint, which also looks rather normal

Onto the main quali: Norris takes the pole again but it isn't a McLaren 1-2, I guess Russell out of Q2 is the biggest surprise

Lando Norris dominates the weekend, as Russell makes up his Saturday at the expese of Antonelli, Racing Bulls fumbled too

No movement in the WCC, but the WDC shuffled a bit

[wet fox]

So the player event poll currently has one vote for not the choice and one vote for affects car development - well one came through that affects the car without a choice, so:

Player event before Japan: rear wing reduced deadline

Run 4 round 3: Japan

For the first time this run, a McLaren isn't on pole, or even on the front row
Hamilton takes pole, aside from Iwasa being the better Red Bull everything has been looking pretty normal in the qualis

But don't let that stop the McLaren 1-2
Lando Norris wins again as Hulkenberg tried his best to get Sauber points, Tsunoda retook his place as better Red Bull

Championships now

[wet fox]

We already have as many guesses and the entire last run, maybe people didn't know how to guess before? Anyway...

Run 4 round 4: Bahrain

Norris dominates, shock elimination of Leclerc in Q2, Iwasa once again the better qualifier, maybe take notes Horner (that being said, he has Verstappen's car)

Norris wins, Leclerc recovered well, Tsunoda the better racer, Antonelli flops, what's new?

Norris has won literally everything so far

[wet fox]

@shy frost and @mellow forum You both have 4 total guesses in these polls, you're allowed 3, please remove one
(If it closes and it's before tomorrow, just say which one you'd like to remove)

[wet fox]

Run 4 round 5: Saudi Arabia

Franz Hermann tops his first quali session, Leclerc gets pole, can he dethrone Norris?

No he can't...
Because of so many DNFs, I decided it would be a good idea to show you what lap they DNF'd on, remember Jeddah has 50 laps, it may help something I dunno
Very unfortunate for the Verstappen team

Lots of first points thanks to that

And now, to eliminate a team...
It's not Alpine

They all fit on one now

[wet fox]

Run 4 round 6: Saudi Arabia

This weekend has a sprint at the start - and in that sprint, it's a Ferrari front row
Shock elimination of Verstappen in SQ1

Lando finally doesn't win something, it's a Ferrari 1-2 but Leclerc with the win

Come the main quali we see another Hamilton pole, but Leclerc beaten by the McLarens - Verstappen in a bad place once again

Lewis Hamilton wins, Hermann flops, Antonelli gets a point and Colapinto bottles his Q3

This is how the standings are affected

And one more poll:
Next run is a wildcard run, where the teams are randomized...

[robust elbow]

Be me,
Go to vote Alpine after R6,
Remember Alpine was eliminated 💀

[wet fox]

I've just seen two Lawsons here and no Stroll - I've looked back and believe it or not, two Lawsons show in the actual results, baffling but they didn't score points anyway so

Oh yeah, one more thing

With the first successful guess back in China, the run is over now, so this poll is your last opportunity to have a guess

(And because I'm evil, I've deleted the China polls, so don't bother going to look back)

[robust elbow]

NOOOOO

[wet fox]

Seems like a landslide to revealing information after the run ends - but what I will reveal is the driver lineups (and 11th team PU because that's fixed for the other teams anyway)

[robust elbow]

Bwoaahh

[digital verge]

i havent looked in so long and apparently i was absolutely cooked here

yk no wonder i was so cooked i was 54 rated

i aint doing nothing with that

[wet fox]

Yeah sorry but it was entirely random and you just got unlucky

[wet fox]

Alright, run 4 is over, this is the biggest run we've had, I guess people like voting in polls or didn't know how to guess before

Akitoau retakes the lead

And with that...

Run 5 round 1: Australia

Leclerc takes pole in an Alpine, but who knows what to expect? Correa and Cassidy got eliminated Q1 while their teammates reached Q3, but was one of them good or bad? This is how we start

Leclerc wins, and it looks like Chadwick qualified good and Correa bad considering they moved to the half of the grid their teammate started in, Racing Bulls also did much better in the race than qualifying, lots of DNFs from rookies

Starting standings

Rember, it's back to dming me for guesses now

Aston Martin fans on lap 35:

[digital verge]

Nah I found that hillarious so it’s all good

[robust elbow]

How did I not consider Ferrari 💀

[digital verge]

dw nothing you can do now would be dumber than what i di

did

[robust elbow]

I don't even see you in the standings 😅

[wet fox]

Run 5 round 2: China

we kick off the China weekend with a sprint, in which Palou takes pole
It was looking so good for Leclerc until something happened in SQ3

Palou wins a Racing Bulls 1-2, Leclerc tried but didn't get very far, F for Cassidy

And in the main race, Drugovich got pole, featuring a surprise Aston redemption (until Miyata got a penalty) and Cassidy has to start from the pits after his crash, leclerc is also at the back after a Q1 crash, but no pit start this time

Drugovich wins a Ferrari 1-2 - how did Sophia Flörsch do that? Once again Leclerc tried and got nowhere, Palou with the impressive climb too

Ferrari take the top spots

[wet fox]

Japan will be today but it's been very busy and tiring this week so I haven't had a chance yet

[robust elbow]

Take care of yourself, you don't owe us anything at all!

[wet fox]

Run 5 round 3: Japan

As we start to get an idea of what teams are good and what teams are bad, Alonso takes pole as Racing Bulls and Leclerc seem to like this track

Leclerc wins, Siegel gets his first points from the back row, what an amazing drive

Racing Bulls takes over the WCC

[wet fox]

Run 5 round 4: Bahrain

Bahrain sees Alonso get pole as Chadwick is at the back by quite a bit, Shwartzman has a penalty for causing an incident last race

Alonso wins, Chadwick recovers well, Vesti didn't DNF but he was way at the back anyway

Alonso leads a tie at the top of the WDC

[wet fox]

Run 5 round 5: Saudi Arabia

I never thought I'd say this, but seeing Florsch out of Q2 is a shock, It's a Racing Bulls front row as the Haasterplan didn't work (or the Cadillac one)

Alonso wins! Florsch almost got points, least chaotic Saudi Arabia race

Championships now

[wet fox]

Run 5 round 6: Miami

Miami brings us to another sprint and another Racing Bulls 1-2, Alonso's on top

And Alonso wins, the top 3 stay the same as Drugovich carries Ferrari away form a bad SQ, Leclerc goes SQ1 to top 10 and Shwartzman has the biggest loss because of something relevant for the race

Shwartzman gets a penalty but starts from last anyway, Leclerc get pole as we witness the Ferrari qualifying downfall
Piastri Q3 is crazy too

Alonso wins again, shoutout to Miyata for going back row to points, Piastri fumbles his points chance

This is how the championship ends

That's right, ends - with the first successful guess in China, this run is now over, deadline for guesses will be <t:1753005600:R>

Pay to Win: the team that wins each race gets 5 million deducted form their balance
PU Deficit: the PU limits are set to 1 engine, 1 ERS, 1 gearbox

Bang and the Driver's Gone: a 1-2 for team, and any other driver that has contact with one of their cars is out for the rest of the run
Only the best: a 4-5 dot team, starts with Verstappen and Norris, and after each race will have the top 2 drivers in the WDC

[wet fox]

That's interesting...

Let's have some fun, and have a random team with both rules applied, will be set up when I'm home

[wet fox]

And the 11th team for run 6 is...
Brawn GP
Drivers: Max Verstappen, Lando Norris
Engineers: Gianpiero Lambiase, Peter Bonnington
Tech chief: Enrico Cardile
Aero head: Diego Tondi
Sporting director: Diego Ioverno
PU: Mercedes
Car: 5
HQ: 1
Budget: 1

Red Bull keep Perez as they bring Tsunoda up
McLaren replace Norris with O'Ward

[wet fox]

Alright, time's up - here's how everyone guessed, lots of early guesses especially since no one knew what was going on

Supernerdje takes the lead again

And this was everyone's setup

And now straight into the next one:

Run 6 round 1: Australia

Tsunoda looked promising in quali before losing it to Leclerc at the end, especially with Perez out Q1, Piastri 13th Norris 15th was also a shock

It's a Ferrari 1-2! Perez Tsunoda and Antonelli come together lap 1, Piastri and Norris made recoveries, not sure what to say really

These are our starting standings

Driver changes:

• No one hit a Brawn
• Leclerc and Hamilton come to Brawn
• Ferrari's new lineup is Max Verstappen and Zhou Guanyu

[wet fox]

Run 6 round 2: China

In the China SQ3, only 5 drivers set a time, so in the starting grid I put Leclerc ahead of Sainz as they were in SQ2, Piastri gets pole

Piastri wins, the only other notable thing is Mercedes fumbling a bit

Verstappen takes pole in the main race after Tsunoda doesn't set a time again, looks like he's the first to get penalised for a new PU rather than a pit start, but he's at the back anyway

Max Verstappen wins, Tsunoda can still get points after that which is pretty amazing

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• No one hit a Brawn
• Max Verstappen returns to Brawn replacing Hamilton
• Ferrari bring up another reserve Giovinazzi to fill their vacant seat

[wet fox]

Run 6 round 3: Japan

like irl, the Astons are at the back, along with Russell and Giovinazzi which is crazy considering Zhou P3, Leclerc gets pole and king of penalties Tsunoda gets yet another penalty

Might be the craziest no retirement race I've seen
Brawn 1-2, Leclerc wins, O'Ward outdoes Piastri, Haas go to the bottom, Russell gets points anyway

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• No one hit a Brawn
• They're already top 2
  No changes

[wet fox]

Run 6 round 4: Bahrain

Three different qualifying toppers, put Piastri takes the pole, Giovinazzi redeems himself after last race as Antonelli is sent to the back

Piastri wins! Hadjar got fastest lap despite a flop and Giovinazzi still didn't score

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• Tsunoda hit a Brawn, goodbye Tsunoda
• Danial Ricciardo replaces him
• Both Brawns are top 2 in standings

[wet fox]

So the state of affairs unfortunately is: it's been very busy at work and I've not had time to do this, I do have time today but it will be later on I get it out

[wet fox]

Run 6 round 5: Saudi Arabia

Piastri takes pole again as his teammate is shockingly eliminated Q1
Another surprise was Leclerc out of Q2, and Antonelli once again goes to the pits

Piastri wins, O'Ward and Antonelli recover, Leclerc doesn't, Albon flops from his strong quali

Standings now

Driver changes:

• Hadjar's DNF came from him hitting a Brawn, goodbye Hadjar
• Speaking of Brawn, goodbye Leclerc hello Piastri
• Lewis Hamilton returns to McLaren
• Sebastian Vettel returns to where it all started, Racing Bulls

[robust elbow]

Every time I see this channel light up I have to check how many guesses I've sent 😅

RIP Leclerc

[wet fox]

I once again am strapped for time, and additionally since the next round is a sprint, I can't guarantee it'll be out tomorrow - I'll try, but no promises

[wet fox]

Tried and achieved

Run 6 round 6: Miami

Miami is a sprint weekend so we kick things off with a Brawn front row and a shocking SQ1 elimination pool
-# Would you be surprised if I told you Albon topped FP1?

Max Verstappen wins, Lawson failed his Red Bull audition, F for Hulkenberg too

Onto the main race and Sainz tops Q1? Verstappen takes pole and Russell flunked Q1
I guess Saturday wasn't Piastri's day

Lewis Hamilton wins, Antonellli and Giovinazzi were out on the last turn oof

Standings now

Driver changes:

• No one hit a Brawn
• They're top 2 standings anyway

[wet fox]

Run 6 round 7: Imola

It was a dominant run for Russell this time around, with a shocking Q2 elimination pool, Stroll never set a time as Sainz takes a new PU

Russell wins, thanks to a late safety car form Lawson, that made the results kinda go all over the place

Here are the final standings

I say final because our first successful guess was back at Japan, so this run is now over

Deadline for final guesses <t:1755097200:R>

Old Wheel of Fate: I spin the wheel from 23 online for each team, sometimes nothing happens, sometimes crazy things happen
Balance Money: teams predicted P1 in the WCC will get a bonus 10 million, P2 20 million, all the way up to 90 million for P9 (P10 and P11 targets are coded to never appear)

At least one good person: one random driver or staff member is 5 dot, everything else is 1 dot
Lucky 7s: starting with Hamilton and Ricciardo, this team will always have whoever is P7 and P17 in the WDC

[robust elbow]

Lucky 7s gonna be so much chaos, I love it!

[wet fox]

Alright that is it for run 6... And there was not much action in the guessing department

Supernerdje has quite the lead now

So, let's get started with run 7:

11th team: Lucky 7s
Drivers: Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo
Engineers: Clement Dufau, Pedro Matos
Tech chief: Neil Houldey
Aero head: Dirk de Beer
Sporting director: Johan van der ven
Car: 1
Budget: 1
HQ: 3
Engine: Ferrari

Old Wheel of Fate events (in order of 2024 WCC):
McLaren: Nothing happens
Ferrari: Every driver employed by Ferrari -5 development rate
Red Bull: Forced to sack both drivers, at least one must be replaced by an affiliate
Mercedes: Nothing happens
Aston Martin: Design centre and factory -1 level
Alpine: Nothing happens
Haas: All affiliates salary +5 million (in 2025 DLC they only have 1)
Racing Bulls: Factory upgraded to level 5
Williams: Nothing happens
Sauber: Nothing happens
Lucky 7s: Nothing happens
(It's 30% chance for nothing to happen btw, so pretty unlucky)

Max Verstappen replaces Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari
Red Bull's lineup is Ayumu Iwasa and Sebastian Vettel

The first race is coming soon

[wet fox]

Run 7 round 1: Australia

(Lucky 7s has a different colour to Brawn but not by much, I also fancied a green but not a Sauber green)
Leclerc gets pole, surprising to see Hamilton last

But what's more surprising is the race, with three safety cars (one on the last lap) strategy gambles were made, some you win and some you lose

Starting standings

Driver changes:

• Lucky 7s keep Hamilton and bring in Vettel
• Ricciardo goes the other way and returns to Red Bull

[robust elbow]

This season is gonna be wild

[livid minnow]

I’ve honestly retired from this now despite how well I was doing

[wet fox]

I had another idea to potentially make things more interesting and trigger more action, what do you guys think:

[robust elbow]

Shame, you're the closest challenger definitely

[livid minnow]

Yeah

[wet fox]

Run 7 round 2: China

China comes with a sprint, it's a Ferrari 1-2 in SQ

The Ferrari 1-2 stays for the sprint, which was... interesting, McLaren what was that? Racing Bulls what was that?

Moving on form the main quali we can see Iwasa have a bit of a disaster as Ferrari emerge 1-2 again

But he recovers to the points alongside another Ferrari 1-2, they dominated this weekend

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• Lucky 7s take Ricciardo (again) and Ocon
• Hamilton goes to Red Bull
• Magnussen returns to Haas

[wet fox]

Since most are currently on yes, let's trial it this run:
DING DING DING DING THE WINNER'S BELL HAS RUNG
Someone just guessed correctly, so guessing before Japan will net you 5 points in the standings

[wet fox]

Run 7 round 3: Japan

If this series taught me one thing, it's that Hamilton does well in a Red Bull - shock for Q2 eliminations

Lando Norris wins, Haas fell off hard, no team did spectacular I feel

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• Lucky 7s take Iwasa and Alonso
• Vettel returns to Red Bull to replace his old teammate
• Aston Martin promote Drugovich to replace Alonso

[robust elbow]

Vettel and Hamilton at Red Bull is just hilarious lmao

[wet fox]

Run 7 round 4: Bahrain

3 points if you get it here
Hamilton poles again, Drugovich is basically doing the same as Alonso this run, Lucky 7s aren't so lucky

Lando Norris wins, Piastri makes it a double McLaren podium, Magnussen showed why Haas hired Ocon in the first place

Standings now

Driver changes:

• Lucky 7s keep Alonso but also bring down Piastri
• McLaren snub their IndyCar driver for another IndyCar driver, Colton Herta joins McLaren

[wet fox]

Run 7 round 5: Saudi Arabia

2 points up for grabs here, as it's almost a Ferrari 1-2, if only Leclerc didn't have a penalty
Three different session toppers, it could be anyone's game

Max Verstappen dominates a Ferrari 1-2, Magnussen was so close to first points

Standings now

Driver changes:

• Lucky 7s replace Alonso with Albon
• Dennis Hauger will get a race in with Williams

[robust elbow]

Surely somebody will hazard a guess

[wet fox]

Apologies it's just been too busy, I can reveal the last race tomorrow, then final guesses until Sunday

[robust elbow]

You better be taking care of yourself 💛

[wet fox]

Run 7 round 6: Miami

Here's the final round, final chance at a point
Russell steals sprint pole at the last chance, seeing Piastri and Herta together is a bit cursed

But Russell fumbles, Lewis Hamilton wins, there's quite the comotion at the back too, common sprint in this run

Onto the main race, Verstappen takes the final pole, sucks to be Aston Martin

Lando Norris wins, Hulkenberg gets up to points

Ending standings

Deadline for final guesses <t:1757239200:R>

Reverse car performance: the bottom 2 of the 2024 constructor championship get 5 dot cars, next 2 4 dots, etc down to the the top 2 having 1 dot cars
Spin the wheel again: the wheel was unlucky in a way that most teams had nothing happen, let's try it again

True Cadillac: Bottas and Perez, 1-3 dot everything else
Gimme that car: 3 dot everything, if they get hit, the two drivers involved swap teams

[wet fox]

Still a little while to get any final guesses in - but for now, the 11th team:

Name: BMW
3 dot everything
Drivers: Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon
Engineers: Tom Stallad, Chris Cronin
Tech Chief: Niel Houldey
Aero Head: Jarrod Murphy
Sporting Director: Randeep Singh
PU: RBPT

Zane Maloney replaced Hulkenberg at Sauber
Mick Schumacher returns to Haas to replace Ocon

And the car performances:
5: Sauber, Williams
4: Racing Bulls, Haas
3: Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW
2: Mercedes, Red Bull
1: Ferrari, McLaren

[wet fox]

Alright that's enough time... we didn't get any guesses since China

It's a solid lead at the top now

If Akitoau wins the last 3 runs and Supernerdje never gets it right, Akitoau wins

Anyway...

Run 8 round 1: Australia

Back to Australia, back to the beginning, but it's looking like Albon domination for the first time (also what happened to Verstappen?)

Zane Maloney wins!
What a chaotic race that was, did a safety car during a pit window really shake things up perchance? or were there a lot of push offs at turns 1 and 3?

Starting standings

Driver changes:

• No one hit a BMW

[wet fox]

Run 8 round 2: China

Any early guessers?
We begin with a sprint where Zane Maloney takes pole by nearly 9 tenths, very impressive

And Maloney goes on to win that sprint, and it's a Sauber 1-2, I'd call it the car but Williams has the same one right? What happened there?
-# Note: cars are not equal, they are influenced by Staff stats

Onto the main quali as Maloney messes up (but he won from lower last race) - Albon takes pole and the front row is the same as Australia

But don't let that stop Maloney, he's already dominant this run, bet Hulkenberg isn't too happy

Standings now

Driver changes:

• No one hit a BMW (again)

[wet fox]

Run 8 round 3: Japan

Japan, round 3, the first upgrades will be seeping in, and it looks like some other teams joined the fight at the front

While that's going on, Zane Maloney wins again, but Hadjar podium is actuallt Racing Bulls' first points this run

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• Schumacher hit Ocon, they swap

So it turns out Ocon must go to Haas after all

[wet fox]

Run 8 round 4: Bahrain

Ocon did indeed find himself with a penalty
It's the usual four at the top, can Maloney win yet again?
Quite realistic for Red Bull, maybe they have a 2 dot car irl

Yes, Zane Maloney wins

Standings now

[bitter parcel]

Why do Ocon have 22 points when he drive Haas but Haas have 0 points?

[wet fox]

In the last race, Schumacher and Ocon swapped teams due to the rules of the run

[bitter parcel]

Oh and I think ik which team you are

[wet fox]

If you wanna have a guess you may DM me
Remember you only get 3 guesses per run so use them wisely

[bitter parcel]

Okay

[bitter parcel]

Fr

[wet fox]

Run 8 round 5: Saudi Arabia

It's a Sauber 1-2 where 9 teams made it to Q3, shock for Carlos Sainz down in P15

Of course Zane Maloney wins
The lap 47 crash caused a red flag and the race resumed with one lap left, very thrilling end

Standings now

Driver changes:

• No one hit a BMW

[livid minnow]

I can't believe no one is gone now cause they hit a bmw 😔

[wet fox]

DING DING DING DING

That's the sound of the bell of someone getting it right
5 points if you guess it this race, 4 points the next

[bitter parcel]

And before the race @wet fox

[wet fox]

And the race is now

Run 8 round 6: Miami

4 points to grab if you get it here - Maloney takes sprint pole as Tsunoda has now found his form it seems

Zane Maloney wins again
The race ended under safety car so all the gaps are small

In the main quali it's a Sauber 1-2, Hadjar got a penalty but he was at the back anyway

You'll never guess who won

Standings now:

If Sainz wins every race and Maloney gets no more points, Sainz will be 1 point ahead at run end

[wet fox]

Run 8 round 7: Imola

The 3 pointer
Maloney takes pole as Bortoleto is eliminated Q2, Williams sandwich a few teams as the difference between Hulkenberg and Schumacher is surprising, Haas were cooking in 2023

Any surprises here?

Standings now

Replacement driver btw

[bitter parcel]

How many races left?

[wet fox]

Two

[bitter parcel]

Okay

[robust elbow]

I've just realized I've been completely ghosting this thing lmao

[wet fox]

Oh shoot I got confused on what day it was

Monaco drops tomorrow

[wet fox]

Run 8 round 8: Monaco

Getting it here nets you 2 points
It's Bortoleto on pole as Maloney is nowhere to be seen - with Monoco notorious for lack of overtaking, is the winning streak over?

Yes it is, Maloney didn't win, didn't even score
Bortoleto won, carrying Sauber's streak at least, the Ferraris knew how to play it seems

Standings now

Driver changes:

• among all the chaos of cars getting hit, none of them were BMWs

[wet fox]

A bit more notice this time around - I'm currently on a trip in Malta
I don't know how busy I'll be tomorrow, I'll try, but maybe it'll be later or Monday instead
After the last race of this run we'll take a little break Wednesday and begin run 9 next Sunday

[robust elbow]

Enjoy!

[wet fox]

So it's been a lot busier than expected

I think I'm just gonna say last race Sunday

I'm back Saturday so I don't foresee anything preventing that

[wet fox]

Finally...

Run 8 round 9: Spain

Last chance to score a point
Sainz takes pole and Maloney joins him on the front row, things don't look good for their teammates

The Bortoleto steak starts and ends here

Final standings

Deadline for final guesses <t:1760540400:R>

Enhanced bump swaps: if any two drivers hit each other, they will swap teams
Stop right here: the only suggestion I received is to stop the season here and start a new one next time around

Moneybags GP: 1 dot everything but $1 billion budget
A bit of everyone: this team's engine, drivers, budget and car parts are each stolen from one of the teams, a different one from each

[wet fox]

Oh that was one was short, oh well it's quite the majority anyway

[wet fox]

These will be done today when I get the time

[wet fox]

Moneybags GP
1 dot everything
1 billion budget
Drivers: Roman Stanek, Victor Martins
Engineers: Andrea Tesi Mancini, Geoff Psear
Tech chief: Matt Harman
Aero head: Alessandro Conelli
Sporting director: Paul Devlin
Engine: Mercedes

[wet fox]

Alright, Run 8 is over, two people got it and they're the top two

Congratulations Supernerdje 🎉
No one can catch up to him now

And now without further ado...

Run 9 round 1: Australia

Back to where it all begins
Piastri takes the first pole as Red Bull fumble Q3, Moneybags GP starts form the very back, but will they grow fast?

Max Verstappen wins, what a drive from Gasly (and the opposite for Colapinto)

Opening standings

Driver changes:

• There were no recorded collisions

-# (I think two drivers hit each other but there was no replay option so cannot verify)

[robust elbow]

Flavio has sacrificed Franco for those early points

10/10 drive from the moneybags boys, both climbing a hard-earned position in their first race!

[bitter parcel]

Nah Max?

Why

[robust elbow]

Because he's Max.

[livid minnow]

Good job @robust elbow 👏

[wet fox]

Today it will be later, been busy with stuff

[wet fox]

We're finally here...

Run 9 round 2: China

China is a sprint weekend, with Verstappen on Sprint pole

But he screws up as Piastri wins a Mclaren 1-2, no insane driver streak this run

But he redeems himself in the main quali, where Martins reaches Q2 thanks to Lawson messing it up

But it is once again a McLaren 1-2, once again Colapinto is out, shame Martins couldn't do anything good from his position

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• Leclerc and Tsunoda hit
• Gasly and Lawson hit

[wet fox]

Run 9 round 3: Japan

4 teams got a new driver here, how exciting
and it's a new one at the top as Leclerc gets pole in a Red Bull, Antonelli fumbled in Q1

Piastri wins, Norris goes pit to points, Tsunoda with a Ferrari was the lowest finishing team swapper

Standings now

Driver changes:

• Norris and Hamilton hit
• Antonelli and Bortoleto hit

[robust elbow]

Big brain move from Bortoleto

[wet fox]

Indeed

[wet fox]

It's on time for once

Run 9 round 4: Bahrain

Hamilton seems at home in his old team, leading a McLaren 1-2, Antonelli isn't very happy

Piastri wins as Lawson salvages his bad position as much as he can, Stroll is flop of the day

Standings now

Driver changes:

• No one hit each other

[wet fox]

Run 9 round 5: Saudi Arabia

Quali here honestly looks pretty normal, minus Hamilton's struggles

But don't let that stop him
Lewis Hamilton wins as Sainz does second back row to points and Gasly gets fastest lap, Piastri is the McLaren to suffer on race day

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• All crashes were individual, no multi-car crashes today

[wet fox]

Run 9 round 6: Miami

Miami starts off with a sprint weekend with 3 different drivers topping an SQ, Piastri takes sprint pole as Bortoleto forgot he has a Mercedes now

Piastri wins, that's all I can really say about this

Moving onto the main quali it's Piastri pole again as Russell is the Mercedes to mess it up, Bearman last is quite the shock too

Piastri wins again, it's a McLaren 1-2

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• Antonelli and Hadjar hit each other out
• Sauber get a completely new lineup as Sainz and Hulkenberg hit each other

[wet fox]

DING DING DING DING

The first player has got it right
The timer is ticking, 5 points for getting it here, 4 points the next one

[wet fox]

Oh no I completely forgot about this :/

I won't have time today, should I try Friday or leave it to Sunday?

[wet fox]

Run 9 round 7: Imola

4 points if you get it here
Antonelli was struggling with his new car as Piastri gets the pole

And it's a McLaren 1-2
Lawson gave it his all for points but fell just short, what a drive for an Alpine

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• No one hit each other

[wet fox]

Run 9 round 8: Monaco

The Three pointer
Piastri takes pole here by quite the margin

And we have ourselves a McLaren 1-2 again (how the biggest gainer was Stroll eludes me)

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• As you may be able to guess, Antonelli and Bearman hit each other

[wet fox]

This will be today but later, very busy

[wet fox]

I have actually done it but forgot to post the results while I had my PC, tomorrow

[wet fox]

Run 9 round 9: Spain

Two points for getting it here
Hamilton gets pole as Bearman didn't have the best time in his new team, Moneybags GP are right at the back

And the winner is... Tsunoda?
Bearman has a better Sunday for sure too

Standings now:

Driver changes:

• After securing the title, Piastri will leave McLaren - Piastri and Stroll hit each other
• Whether Bearman liked Racing Bulls or not, he's off - Bearman and Albon hit each other

[robust elbow]

Yuki winning a race was not on my bingo card

[wet fox]

Run 9 round 10: Canada

Last race
Hamilton takes the pole as there's quite a spread of the teams, 6 teams in Q3 and only the Saubers next to each other

But a few more teams are together in the race as McLaren get a last 1-2

Final standings:

Run 10 will be the final wildcard round, where all the teams and drivers are randomized

Deadline for final guesses <t:1763895600:R>

[wet fox]

Just like last time, only the driver lineups will be revealed

[wet fox]

Okay, time's up - we only had two guessers and both got it in Miami

Daley shot up the standings to P4 with that (well, tied with P4, the numbers are static)

And with that...

Run 10 round 1: Australia

The start of something new
It looks to be Ferrari vs McLaren at the top, but O'Ward steals the first pole
Shocking considering how his teammate did
There's also quite the difference in the Alpines
Williams and Mercedes looks to be the backmarkers

Pato O'Ward takes the first win by a mile, Miyata had an insane climb, Leclerc loses out at the very last moment

Starting standings

[wet fox]

Run 10 round 2: China

The opposite of Australia happened, where Aston Martin were looking good until sprint pole was stolen by Leclerc

Miyata wins! Leclerc fumbled his chances after two early DNFs

Moving onto the main quali it looks like Prema found their feet a bit, as Leclerc takes pole and Alonso joins him on the front row

But don't let that stop Aston Martin, O'Ward leads another Aston 1-2

Standings now:

[wet fox]

Run 10 round 3: Japan

Denis takes pole at the very end, it looks pretty normal

O'Ward wins!
Sainz's ending time was bugged because of how he finished (very close to O'Ward) and thus it didn't record the last lap, but the position is correct

Standings now

[wet fox]

Run 10 round 4: Bahrain

There was hope for no Aston Martin domination... for one quali session at least
Worth noting Pourchaire wa seliminated Q1 while his teammate reached Q3

O'Ward wins, but it's not an Aston 1-2 after a good Sunday form the McLarens (and a bad one for the Mercs)

Standings now

[wet fox]

Run 10 round 5: Saudi Arabia

I think we've got an idea on whose good and who isn't now
Leclerc takes the pole in a normal looking quali

Leclerc wins a not very normal race with 5 DNFs and McLaughlin went last to points in a Williams
The race ended under a safety car

[wet fox]

Run 10 round 6: Miami

Leclerc take ssprint pole as it's a surprise to see Tsunoda at the back

And it's an Aston Martin 1-2, bad day to be a Sauber fan and impressive climb from Fittipaldi

Leclerc takes main pole too yet his teammate is nowhere to be seen, Crawford gets the first penalty of the run

O'Ward wins! pretty regular race other than that

Ericsson scores his first points and that shoots him up the standings

[wet fox]

DING DING

Someone got it right
Miami will be the 5 pointer, any longer and you'll be scoring less

[wet fox]

Run 10 round 6: Imola

Bit late but here it is, 4 points for guessing it here
It's a pole for Miyata, I guess Crawford or Bottas is the biggest shock

O'Ward wins in total Aston Martin domination, Bottas did a good job getting back up and Tsunoda almost got points which is impressive considering where he started

Standings now
The yellow are those still in title contention

(McLaren needs 3 1-2s and Aston Martin to never score to win by 2 points)

[wet fox]

Run 10 round 7: Monaco

The 3 pointer
O'Ward gets pole but Leclerc starts from it due to a penalty

But don't let that stop Aston Martin getting a 1-2 after 5 DNFs

O'Ward and Aston Martin win the final run of the season

[wet fox]

Run 10 round 8: Spain

Two points for getting it here
O'Ward takes the pole as it's a surprise to see Ericsson last

O'Ward wins as Ericsson has a great comeback, shame it doesn't lead to any points

Standings with one race to go

[wet fox]

And now, for the last time this season...

Run 10 round 9: Canada

Last chance for a point
Unfamiliar names were at the top of Q1, but famililiar names were at the top of Q3

And it's an Aston Martin 1-2, the usual stuff

Final standings:

Deadline for final guesses of the season <t:1766919600:R> - have a good Christmas or holiday or whatever you're celebrating

But I wanted to ask anyway:

[wet fox]

Sunday will be an end of season break where we'll start thinking about what comes next, looking at the current results of the poll I may turn this into doing seasons with wacky formats or something

[inner quarry]

How many guesses per round???

[wet fox]

Three

[wet fox]

Final results tomorrow due to business on my end

As for what we do after - most people seem interested in just watching all the wacky formats - so perhaps, as we wait for 2026, we can get some suggestions in for potential formats to just do a whole season of and see how things go?

[robust elbow]

I don´t have a preference between the three of these, I´d say just post as much as you have fun with, nothing more and nothing less!

[wet fox]

My thoughts are:
I'm not a good commentator so I'd rule that one out
There's lots of forums where just results are posted so I'd rule that out too
I think for an intermission season I could go through 2026 giving my thoughts and insights into everything, all the details of how I play and what 2026 might look like could be cool

[wet fox]

One day later than promised, time's up
Only Supernerdje got it

After getting it right 9 times, 7 of those being wins, Supernerdje won by a mile

[wet fox]

Actually one last question before 2026 kicks off - what team shall I pick?

[robust elbow]

All of them, rotate each weekend, maximum chaos 😂

Run 4 results were wild, 5 correct guesses at 5 different races

[wet fox]

That's a shout, deal
The first round was meant to me today but imma have to make it tomorrow due to it being quite late here now

[robust elbow]

No worries, enjoy!

[wet fox]

What I will do is spin the wheel for the first team

And it's the newcomer

[wet fox]

Alright, it's about time we got this started

The 0th thing I've done is pick a livery for Cadillac - I'm lazy and went with a preset what looks decent enough

With that out the way the first thing I do is look in the bottom right... ah

So I guess we're not doing any car work

And that is going to be a huge problem

But at the very least in this 2026 season we choose sponsors from the get-go, upfront money is sub-optimal so I took enough to tide me over, race day is a very valuable asset especially when you cna get the weight down and trick the system

Speaking of that, with 5 mil in the bank let's get to designing parts, the first thing one should always do is this

After looking at the sliders for a while I opted for this - looks crazy but Cadillac has better expertise than their car lets on, a few of these kind aparts and we have something decent

On the second iteration of the part where you need weight down ASAP, more engineers are better, we can go back to 1 from part 3 onwards

The second part I decided on is a chassis, while not being one of the big three I like to do chassis early because they take longer to manufacture

And for that reason they get two engineers

Third part of a front wing

And I'd usually go rear wing for part 4 but I can't afford one, since tyre preservation is very helpful suspension it is

Next up is the pit crew - everything sucks, but we can't repair everything in a month - I prioritized time

We also have three affiliates - I was going to put them on car, but sine we have two old drivers I put them and Fittipaldi on car, Drugovich on marketability while Herta has max development so he can stay on driver development, he has a future

I'm keeping everyone on balanced development since after the race I'll likely end up elsewhere so can't keep monitoring them

And that's before I hit January 2nd

Rosetta's Wacky Races

I wonder if anyone will understand the title

Everyone has their 2025 getups except new ones for Audi

Nothing else happens until our underfloor is finished

I've moved the engineers to other projects and will make 2 since that's all I can afford

Chassis is next but can't afford it until next month

That's not helpful

I'm denying that, if something bad happens we're cooked

Roll in the new month and we've gone form 200k to... uh oh

I have a bad feeling about hwo this is gonna start, at leats we have a new underfloor

For Feburary I went a bit more balanced on the schedule, everything is improving

Fitting the new underfloor makes things look a bit better

Luckily the design centre had no problems

Sponsor plan time, I opted to go a tiny bit over the target as that gives more money (returns are diminishing but we need what we can get)

After a month of having no money, March has it a bit tricky with 3 races in the way of the schedule, the pit crew will get slower but long term gains hopefully

AI team developemnts have taken us bakc to the back again

If one of us comes at least 18th, we get out of debt, so let's gamble on some DNFs shall we

So, how do I do practice?
The first thing I think of is tyre plans for the race - can I see myself running two hards or three mediums?
For both the answer is no, we'll do the standard H-S-M-S-S-S setup
I put 30kg of fuel in the cars as this often guarantees we get the setup knowledge regardless of how many laps that is
Finally, no affiliates for the first race while car part knowledge is 0%, we need driver prep

Worth mentioning that while I'm being an optimal player, I'm not cheating, the setup process will be manual

Looks like Camara's name is broken though I'll fix that later

As expected, we'll send them out immediately

And the rest of practice is this cycle of guessing the setup, I'll skip it unless someting interesting happens

We come last in FP1, but surprisingly it's Verstappen just ahead

Antonelli tops FP1 followed by Leclerc and Crawford

Here is where we stand after FP1, things are going okay so far

Fixed Camara, Correa and Hauger had the same issue for some reason

FP2 was wet and we're last of the inter runners

We actually beat someone in FP3

P3 was a surprise every time

Here's how we end - Bottas has 4 optimals and the 5th is straights which I know

For qualifying I embrace the 9 minute rule - send the cars out at 9 minutes for minimal traffic

I would usually use the same set again if I need to, but exiting Q1 here would be a miracle

I always send the cars out again at the fastest time +1 minute

Yeah I kinda expected that

It was Antonelli who put it on pole

Alonso is a shock and so is Red Bull (both of them)

After tinkering with the strategies to find the best times I opted for these - Maybe I should have brought 2 hards I forgot our tyre preservation sucks

And always min fuel

And now 2026 is go!

I start with full red, BA off and this

And with that we leave Bearman behind for P20 and 21

Bottas also gets past Hulkenberg before we enter a single file state known as PDM (Pace Down Mode)

Here I set the pace to 1 less than the strategy is there is a car ahead of me (for temperature), min fuel, BA on, overtake aggression low, only make an overtake if it will stick

Hadjar is in P13 with a gap ahead of him, bunching up those behind and it looks like he has damage

By lap 2 our ERS is running out, so we take it back to neutral

As cna be seen we're already building up quite the tyre lead, this will be helpful later

Since with Hadjar in DRS X-Mode range of Gasly, the pack is opening up, we can't keep up with our raw pace

Lap 4: Antonelli bins it causing a VSC

With free charge coming we can use ERS to keep up for now

And nice we're in our sponsor objective

Unfortunately Perez built up a bit of a gap at the restart, I would usually turn BA off but Bearman is close behind, BA works even better when cars are behind

Well enough to catch back up

Actually never mind Bearman dive bombed past Perez and he's alone at the back

On lap 8, Bottas uses his much better tyres to pass Lindblad for P16 (Norris pit and is far at the back)

On lap 9 the same happens and he passes Bortoleto, P14 (Lawson pit)

Perez has caught back up too

On lap 10 I was looking around and found it weird that Hadjar had the rear wing open with a 2.4 seocnd gap - this must be X-mode, basically DRS but useable all the time

Knowing this I can be a bit more relaxed against cars behind as it's harder for them to catch up

Lap 11 sees Norris catch up to Perez, he's in a McLaren and has pit already I'm not gonna react to him and just let him go

Meanwhile slightly ahead, I've calculated that Bottas cna go full atatck and not reach 30% tyres before he pits, so that's the plan

Bottas pits lap 15 and emerges just ahead of Bearman in P20, but with much fresher tyres

On lap 16 Perez is in the same situation and will pit soon

But despite this being a day off, I've been urgently called in so this will continue later

[robust elbow]

best of luck!

[wet fox]

Alright I'm back

On lap 19 Perez pits and Gasly comes in right behind - but we have to wait for him after our pit due to how our cars suck

He comes out P20, the two racing Bulls cars have already made a second pit

It took until lap 21 for Bearman to fall out of slipstream range form Bottas - slipstream is powerful

Worth a mention - Leclerc is far out in the lead, I'm pretty sure he has it in the bag

Piastri and Russell are aiming for P2

And far behind them in P4 is... Sainz

By lap 24 Perez broke free form Lawson, and that's Hadjar behind, lore accurate Red Bull

On lap 26 Gasly on fresh softs catches up to and overtakes Bottas, Bottas might be able to get PDM we'll see

Thanks to Alvbon coming out of the pits at the wrong time, no

For being halfway through the race, not bad at all

On lap 28 Perez gets lapped by Leclerc

This point in the race, the latter half of the penultimate tyre set, is where we are strategically weakest, we might drop a few places

Especially Perez

Nevermind on lap 32 both cars behind Perez pit, we're isolated away form everyone else (on the same lap)

Lap 33: Bottas lapped too

Bottas pits lap 40 and emerges P13, behind the mercedes in this picture is Stroll our closest opponent

Leclerc is so far ahead he can pit and keep the lead

Perez pits the next lap and comes out P16, opponents are a few seconds away each

On lap 43 Bottas gets screwed by a train lapping him, he drops to P16, Perez P15

On lap 45 Bottas gets even more screwed as Bortoleto pits and emerges in front of him with cold tyres

Perez is doing a better job, hunting down Colapinto for P13

Both are in PDM at least

Scratch that Bottas isn't, he doesn't stand a chance against softs

On lap 51 Perez had an unfortunate lapping, but at least no positions were lost

5 laps to go and we're in what may be the strongest position strategically

Why? I'm glad you asked

Let's get the stragglers that miscalculated their tyres

Or maybe not

Leclerc wins!

No points for us, but that was expected

I'm still satisfied with the result

Not a bad start

Tune in next time where I'll be managing...

[wet fox]

As per probably my favourite comic panel ever

[wet fox]

Alright it's time for McLaren, much better in terms of car and money

They also seem to know what they're doing in terms of development

Fun fact AI manufacture parts 1 at a time

If I could I'd adjust the engineers so that rear wing gets done in a day, but 6 of them still take 2 days
Since 1 takes only 3 days, I'll donate them to that front wing

And move some drievrs to car developent, AI don't do that

I picked Verschoor O'Ward and Norris

The rear wing finished and I don't actually think this is better

For the next part, the weakness is low speed, a front wing is in development so let's give them an underfloor

I decided these for sliders, it'll increase high speed too which is what underfloor is best at, sacrificing a little for the low speed gains

Alright, into the practice now
We had one new chassis and I gave it to Norris because he only had positive mentality
No affiliates because we have one practice session so we need the track acc for preparation
I can see myself running double hard in China so mediums for practice it is

The practice session is topped by Leclerc

It's hard to get it with one practice session, but this is the progress so far

Piastri's looks like this

And Norris' this

We sent out cars out at 8:20 rather than 9 minutes because there were lots of cars on out laps then, meaning they'd impede us on their in laps

Our track position is decent, would rather have Norris further behind but it'll do

In fact it did very well, we were at the top until Leclerc did a second lap

Ah Cadillac

My final setup attempt was much better

Everyone went out for SQ2 at the start, so we went out after for perfect tack position

It's enough for an SQ3

I will experiment doing a double run for SQ3, there's not enough time for 2 regular ones

We went out as late as I believe would allow this to work

I ended up overestimating but rather over than under

Double run was not the play

Leclerc takes the sprint pole

Softs for both of them, keeping the tyres managed, sometimes the AI are so bad at it they'll think about a pit stop

Cadillac are so bad at tyre management I wouldn't be surprised if they do

And away we go - Piastri got side by side with Russell but wa son the outside into turn 1

We'll get to conserving and get them at the end

But Piastri locks up

He is now P9

There is now also a massive gap between Russell and Norris

On lap 2 Piastri easily gets past Sainz for P8

On alp 3 Norris catches up to the leaders, the chase is on

Piastri takes a divebomb on Colapinto but he's putting up more of a fight

Lindblad tried a divebomb but overshot, rookie moment

On lap 5 Piastri finally gets it done against Colapinto, P7

And Albon spun

Piastri's next opponent is Verstappen, might be a challenge

But on lap 6 Norris got past Russell for P2

This was because Russell pit (6 laps on softs?)

Piastri is P6 too

Ocon ran wide and was forced to sit at the side for an opening back on the track, down to P20

ALbon also pit but he spun so understandable his tyres aren't the best

On lap 10 Hamilton pits and Piastri chases down Antonelli for P3

I didn;t see him get past Verstappen but he's suddenly 2 seconds behind

On lap 12 Piastri claims P3 form Antonelli, 13 second gap to Norris and Leclerc

On lap 13 Norris gets the lead from Leclerc

Piastri is a second afster than Leclerc currently, but there are more seconds than laps remaining

Norris wins!

I accidnetly skipped over the results but here they are

Since Parc Ferme re-opens, I have had another go with Piastri's setup

Lindblad spun on his first quali lap

Norris is okay but Piastri was impeded

He gets the same tyre again

Through to Q2 (Was that Leclerc doing 3 flyers?)

Cadillac beat someone?

Nearly there with Piastri in the end

Used tyres for the first run

The AI does that too

I think the first lap is enough

Yeah it was

Same philosophy in Q3 except you always do a second lap on fresh tyres

And the track position is perfect

Despite our best efforts, pole goes to Leclerc

This is the plan, no hards actually

Piastri gets off to a great start and takes the early lead

Norris was able to fend off Russell to keep position too

You cna't PDM from the lead but who cares you're in the lead

Sainz locked up and it looks like he has damage

Likely to the underfloor, with my rule 5 violations I cannot see the condition of opponent cars

On lap 4 Piastri gets a breakaway, Norris is ready to get past Leclerc

And on lap 6 he gets it done

Leclerc is just being very slowm for some reason

So yeah we're far away in the lead now this may end up being a quick one

On lap 13 Antonelli overshoots a divebomb, P15 but has pit already

On lap 16 Piastri gets overtaken by Norris and Russell catches up somehow, he'll pit next lap

On lap 17 Ocon has a big lock up

Piastri pits and emerges P5, right behind Verstappen, first out of those who have pit

On his out lap Piastri sneaks past Verstappen for P4

On lap 18 Russell takes the lead with his much better mediums, time to pit Norris

Norris comes in and emerges P4, ahead of Verstappena nd Leclerc (who has pit, Verstappen is pinning him for me)

Alonso spins and bins it lap 23, VSC

I would rather have it later in the race but oh well

Only Verstappen pit afte rpinning Leclerc to a 22 seocnd gap, legend

On the restart Piastri surpassed Hamilton for P2

On lap 30 Russell and hamitlon pit giving McLaren the 1-2

On lap 33 Colapinto spins (actual colour of the image)

And Piastri does his second stop emerging P4 right behind Hamilton

And on lap 36 gets by him for P3

Never mind Hamilton gets him back on the next lap

So Piastri goes the same move again, an actual position fight

Unfortunately the victor of said fight is Hamilton

Norris does his final stop, emerging P4, no one else is close

On lap 40 Piastri challenges Hamilton again

This time Piastri is looking better

And he wins

The main problem is Norris' tyres are burning more than I'd like

On lap 47 Stroll overtakes Hadjar but not without damaging them both

On lap 49 Norris catche sup to Hamilton

And on lap 51 Piastri closes in on Russell for the lead

Russell and Hamilton did a 1 stop with hards

On lap 52 Piastri takes te lead!

On lap 53 Norris steals P3 form Hamilton

Similar to Piastri in the sprint, Norris is gaining on Russell quickly but that gap is just too big

And Bortoleto gets a puncture at the end

A double podium is nothing to complain about, impressive work from the Alpines too

Bottas was lapped by Bortoleto btw (he had an issue)

Next time I'll be in charge of...

[robust elbow]

nice

[wet fox]

Alright we are back with Cadillac and it looks like they save their financial situation while I was gone

Good to see them designing, the parts aren't how I'd do them but they are good regardless

Manufacturing on the other hand, could use some help

That should tide them over until I get back

Something very interesting as shown by this event here is the sidepods were done on intense, I was unaware the AI could do this

This is what the car looks like now, at least we got tyres

Since we have a few new parts and need to build up knowledge (and there's no reason to use them), no affiliates for FP1

I'm going to try a softer tyre strategy where I use both mediums, pushing and heat causes massive wear so I'll try something running lighter modes

During P1 I already got 100% setup with Perez, with 2 mediums left to use I'm going to give him enough to run them down in FP2 and 3 until he hits 100% preparation because there's nothing better to do

Because I didn't notice earlier - those crowds aren't those fake 2D things, they're actual modelled people that have animations, wich is cool and all but I bet there's a way to optimize performance here

Apparently we're the slowest car, but breaking into the top 10 makes me question that

In FP2 we also see Bottas reach 100% setup

Eh close enough

I forgot the FP2 and 3 results oh well (left 2 right 3)

Well at least we're not completely last

Russell tops the start of quali

But it's Piastri on pole (why are simulated times so different?)

11-16

17-22

Strategy plans out the window because guess what's coming

Bottas gets Bortoleto at the start, Perez holds position

At the top everything is the same

On lap 2 Perez falls behind Hadjar so this may not be that interesting of a race, at least we have Bortoleto and the Racing Bulls

On lap 4 Lawson makes a move to get past Perez

And Hamilton crashes into a wall

On the lap 6 restart Bottas also got past Perez

Perez is very slow, with Bortoleto getitng past on lap 8

And so did Lindblad, he's last

On lap 10 Sainz locke dup into Ocon, taking them both to the back

On lap 13 we box Bottas and he emerges P19, ahead of Sainz and Ocon

On lap 19 he was about to battle Stroll for P18 but Stroll resolved that himself

The rain starts lap 18, way earlier than expected

On lap 20 I let Bottas pass Perez because what is Perez doing

On lap 23 Sainz got past Perez, depsite his best efforts

Most cars pit lap 26 but that's because of tyres rather than weather, we cna pit a bit later and be better off hopefully

We pit lap 27 no better off, 17-18 behind Sianz and Ocon

Perez is right aheadof Sainz, who may be faster even with the damage, Ocon is confirmed last at this point

Our sponsor targets are 18th so hopefully we can keep this

On lap 31 I use ERS to give Perez a gap to Sainz, let's see if he can break away

Can he?
No

On lap 34 those two get lapped by Leclerc

On lap 36 Piastri comes around, Sainz gets screwed letting Perez get 8 seconds away

And on lap 38 Sainz is already overtaking him, he has no hope

How does one even compete with this

We need one crash (that isn't Ocon) to get our objectives

Colapinto nearly does on lap 45 but he drives away

On lap 51 Sainz gets a bit close to Bottas

Leclerc wins

Bottas managed to hold off Sainz to the end

[wet fox]

We are, unfortunately, nowhere near the front

Leclerc reclaims hit spot at the top

As I failed Cadillac in their endeavors

In the next episode I'll be heading up...

[serene bison]

Is this basically like simming the entire season but like going team to team? It’s a cool concept!

[robust elbow]

Rosetta will be doing different concepts, current one is switching teams each race weekend!

[serene bison]

That’s sick

[wet fox]

I dunno maybe I'll keep that concept for each if the other formats, would be fairer to see how the grid develops

[wet fox]

Alright It's Mercedes time - good money and apparently best car

(and yes it says DRS because I had the choice of X-Mode or Audi, only one rename works)

We've got a design slot and I'm designing this underfloor, low speed is our only real weakness

I'm also letting them upgrade the factory, it'll be useful later

And it crashes, technical difficulties

Alright fixed, I had to spend one more day at Cadillac

In this time Wolff designed a chassis instead, and it looks kinda bad

Everything else is the same

Sponsor plan is a one and done

Ideally you want to use as few activities as possible, even if they're abit more harmful - the more there is, the less reward they provide

Pit schedule for this month

Before the race a rear wing was designed, it's trash here's a better one

Once again no affiliates, and for Bahrain I wanna go softer allocation

Russell's target is 2nd Antonelli's is 6th

Norris tops FP1 but we're up there

Antonelli hit 100% in FP2

Same positions for us FP2

Eagle eyed people would see Antonelli had newer parts than Russell - with another manufacture done it's the same now

We got 100% with Russell in FP3

Way worse in FP3 but it's okay

This is the best I could do

The 9 minute rule was mostly tested at Bahrain so if you do it anywhere do it here (both other cars are coming in)

Antonelli spun on his fist lap so has to go out again

Poor Q1 results but oh well

Better in Q2 but McLaren is worrying

And McLaren take the glory

I'm going for these for the strats, just to split them a little bit

A great starts sees Russell take 2nd at the first turn

Antonelli remains 6th

Norris gets a massive early lead

And Cadillac have fallen far to the back

At the start of lap 3 Piastri gets ahead of Russell, that McLaren is powerful

Meanwhile Antonelli eyes up the Ferraris

Antonelli gets past Leclerc lap 7, onto Hamilton

Who is pushing like mad

Easy overtake for Antonelli lap 8

3-4 now

It's lap 8 Lewis come on

On lap 12 Piastri and Russell get by a struggling Norris

On lap 19 Russell goes for the undercut on Piastri, he emerges P4 behind Norris

He does get it, But Piastri is on softer tyres so will catch up quickly

Antonelli had a pit issue but is P4 anyway, with huge gaps on either side

This is the battle for the lead lap 21

And this is where Antonelli is for good measure

With stronger tyres, Russell takes the lead on lap 24 and can hold it for at least a bit

Never mind Norris takes it straight back

Lap 25 is the first time he keeps the lead for more than one corner

On lap 26 Russell has a huge lead McLaren just fell off

Norris' tyres are bad but Piastri's are good what's wrong there?

On lap 34 Piastri attempts to undercut Russell so I think it's best to pit Russell early and mitigate that

Russell emerges P3 behind Norris, ahead of Piastri at least

On lap 40 Antonelli pits, back to his P4

On lap 44 Russell gets within hunting ranage of Norris, I'll prep an overtake for the last lap

Or Russell can do it anyway that works too I suppose

By lap 48 it's basically confirmed Russell will win by now

Where did Piastri go he just fell off

I wasn't paying that much attention to Antonelli but Hamilton caught up right at the end

And he steals P4 at the end

But hey, we won

And where I'll be for the next race is...

It's legal

[wet fox]

Apologies but I've had lots of work today, maybe tomorrow? If not Sunday

[robust elbow]

you do this for fun, remember that and take care 😂 💛

[wet fox]

Alright back to it, hopefully I have sufficient time

We finish the design of a chassis that the AI made, it looks pretty good for an AI designed part

Replacing it on the design queue will be an underfloor

And that's all for the off track - targets P2 for Russell, P6 for Antonelli

Then plan is no FP1 affiliate and a balanced tyre setup

Yeah this may be a hard one for setups

Piastri tops FP1 but we're up there

FP2 was weaker but we got the double 100%

(technically we did FP1 on the third try but didn't find out until FP2)

I wa sjust focusing on driver prep for FP3

Tried the best, maybe should put some people on car development, forgot about that

Q1 is ours

Sometimes the cars get bunched together after letting someone pass, this isn't good

Luckily this gives them a reasonable gap again

That's better

Safely through Q2

Q3 doesn't quite go to plan but we move

Here be the Saudi masterplan

I wnated to gain some positions at the start but didn't

Russell sneaks his way past Verstappen on lap 2

And by lap 3 has caught up to Leclerc and Norris, Piastri is far out in the lead

The tyres are strong with us

Norris went and joined piatsri lap 5, leaving two duels we're both losing

Never mind Russell is P3

Meanhwile Hamilton caught up to Verstappen and Antonelli, dropping him to P7

Lap 7: Russell is alone in P3

At lap 9 Antonelli's 3 way fight caught up to Leclerc

With everyone ahead except Norris pitting, Antonelli gets past the Ferraris for a 2-3 lap 14

And by lap 15 Antonelli lost them

Lindblad binned it lap 20 causing a red flag

Great for us considering our position

We once again maintain position at the start

But, Piastri on softs gets the betetr of Antonelli on mediums later

By what is now lap 23, Antonelli is left alone as Piastri chases down Russell

Considering our mediums will just about go to the end, Piastri will have to pit again

Norris is simply unstoppable

As far as pace goes there is a huge gap between McLaren and us, then another huge gap between us and the rest

Russell is doing his best to hold Piastrimback, the longer he stays back the worse a position he's in considering his tyres

It's long enough for Antonelli to catch up

Piastri's dying tyres never let him pass Russell, on lap 29 he breaks away

He pits that very lap

On lap 31 Verstappen decided to sacrifice his tyres for a push on Antonelli, it didn't work he's still behind just slower with dead tyres now

Bad day to be a Cadillac

Poor Ocon was lapped after Norris finished so he's entered the abyss

Poor Ocon

But it be a double podium for us

As we leave Saudi Arabia, I head to the garage of...

That was close

[wet fox]

Alright this will likely be a good one... what the hell happened here

All I can really do before Miami is give them a pit schedule

Targets Piastri 3rd Norris 2nd

As usual, no affiliates, it's a sprint weekend

The practice session is wet however

[wet fox]

After a second attempt due to a freeze (why does this game give me 40fps in the wet), we 1-2 FP1

Our setups aren't the best, Piastri 86 Norris 74, see where the next improvement gets us

Hadjar crashed in his second flying lap of SQ1

Norris tops SQ1

Piastri got P12 after being held up

With my last setup tinkers I got 97% Piastri 93% Norris

SQ2 went better as we could time when the cars went out better

And the same goes with SQ3

The sprint is dry and their tyre preservation is high, no reason not to go softs

Easy start, no contest

Lawson elected for a pit lane start

By lap 2 we've ran away, the only battle is between themselves

On lap 4 Colapinto was driven into a wall by Stroll and Hadjar

On lap 9 Perez also hit the wall, triggering a safety car

The question is: do we pit?

Because we're so close together and Piasri will get screwed if we do, I'm saying no

Everyone else did, though

After the lap 14 restart, the fast Mclaren runs away again

By lap 16 we've nullified the tyre advantage

Gasly gets an unfortunate puncture on the very last lap

Meanwhile the winning margin wa sclose, Piastri made a lunge on the last corner but it didn't stick

Nice stuff

What happed Max

Q1 went back to wet, when the surface got optimal Bortoleto caused a red flag

Luckily I timed it well

Double 100% on final setup attempt

We topped Q2, too

And we topped Q3 too

Good thing we're at the front because it's wet all over for the race

Going full attack is faster but heat builds up too much, the AI don't know this so it'll likely be an easy one

No problems at the start

And Bortoleto is starting form the pits, likely due to his crash

Yeah I think we got this one

Bottas crashes lap 8 for a safety car

Everyone except us and Leclerc pit, we still have 90% tyres there's no need

On the lap 11 restart we didn't only run away at the first lap, but the first turn

On lap 18 Hadjar went off track and found himself at the back

Meanwhile Verstappen is alone in P3, what happened to the Ferraris?

Piastri comes in lap 25, he emerged p4, those ahead will need to pit again

And Norris comes in lap 26 emerging just behind for what is now P4

Although Piastri is now ahead of Hamilton for P2

On lap 28 Norris gets ahead of Hamilton for a 2-3

Hadjar isn't having a good day

On lap 30 we catch up to verstappen who hans't pit yet, Piastri is easily past

So is Norris, back to 1-2

And a pit stop ahead

Hadjar gives up and cause sa safety car lap 35

We'll pit because we can

Verstappen has pit so we have a massive lead

To no one's surprise, we run away on the lap 39 restart

After a whole lot of nothing (aren't wet races fun), Piastri wins

Goodbye McLaren, hello...

[wet fox]

Alright, Racing Bulls - good money, bad car, opposite of McLaren

They have however designed a better front wing from the get go

They get a better board room because I think that will help and they have some funds to spare

Where they are weakest is tyre preservation, so I'm giving them a suspension for that

They also finished a meh rear wing

I'm making them a better one

Sponsor plan is quite simple

Another of their parts finished, the sidepods, and these look pretty great

After looking around for what else I can give them, I went for this front wing, the low speed gains go crazy

Our targets are 18th for Lindblad and 17th for Lawson, ouch

I could run Iwasa here, but that car knowledge is low, I need the acclimatization

I don't know what to do with the tyres, definitely not 2 hards, eh whatever Lawson gets standard Lindblad gets an extra soft

What is Alpine cooking

Lawson was last for some reason

Wait Canada is a sprint, I did not expect that

Oh shoot oh well

Top of SQ1 looks normal

Unfortunately Lawson didn't lock in

Our setups for the sprint came in 92% Lindblad 94% Lawson

A new face at the top of SQ2

Unfortunately tha's where it ends for us

Anyway McLaren front row

The sprint stat is... well, this

Gasly has a much faster start than Lindblad

As for Leclerc, he started form the pit

Through the starting tussles, Lawson gets ahead of bearman for P17

Meanwhile Alonso is slow, Lindblad up to P13

After failing to do so on that turn lap 1, Lawson gets past Sainz lap 2, P16

Meanwhile the McLarens are doing standard McLaren things

After a whole lot of nothing, lap 6 sees Perez break away form Lawson

Actually there is something, at the start of lap 7 Verstappen drove Antonelli off the track

He rejoins in last, 12-15 for us

And Lawson catches up to Perez again

And on lap 8, Lawson is up to P14

Also on lap 8 hadjar spins

He's down to P13, Lindblad P11

On lap 10 Alonso gets the betetr of Lindblad, and Hadjar is right behind

Oh and Lawson is all by himself

On lap 13 Lindblad finds himself at the back of a slow train lead by Bortoleto

Alongside no action lap 16 sees Sainz catch up to Lawson

With 3 laps to go, Lindblad is past Ocon for P11

The dominant McLarens are lead by Norris to victory