ATG Increasing Difficulty (team 4 - McLaren, reduced weight)

[unborn stratus]

What is Lando doing down there?

Carlos makes it up to P4 at the start, Theo remains P6

Lap 6: Piastri has gone off into the distance, but we can keep up with the rest of the front, looking good

Lap 10: Hulkenberg attacked and caught up to Piastri, but our smooth operator (and Theo) have the best tyres so can lead a DRS train with no threat

Lap 14: no idea how, Piastri pit and this slowed down Hulk so much we could catch up

You know it's a game when Sauber 1-2

Lap 16: Carlos pits, P6, Piastri ahead, Hulkenberg behind

Lap 20: Theo exits the pits P5, no one's really around

The top 4 have bunched up together, and they're all different teams, must be wonderful for fans

Lap 27: in a tight pack, Norris and Russell are the first with the Australia curse

Lap 37: Sainz pits again, P5, Hulkenberg and Piastri are ahead

Lap 40: Theo pits, P5, everyone has pit now - Verstappen couldn't jump him, but Alonso could undercut him

Lap 42: Hulkenberg clear P1, Piastri clear P2, Carlos clear P3

And P4 is a fight between the Red Bulls and Theo

Lap 45: the bulls catch up to Carlos, a bit worrying

Lap 47: Lawson crashes out and brings in a red flag

Lap 50: Theo P3 Carlos P5, Hulkenberg gets ahead

And Alonso finds himself at the back

Lap 56: 3 laps to go, Theo still P3 with a big tyre advantage, Norris got the better of Carlos so he's P6, also with a tyre advantage

I have no idea how, but in an incredible final lap Norris went P5 -> P1

Norris was just built different today

[unborn stratus]

Japan time

In case anyone is interested, I'll give a bit of a rundown of the whole weekend

FP1 Affiliates
Norris -> Foster
Sainz -> Hauger

FP1
1: Pourchaire
2: Bearman
3: Hulkenberg

13: Hauger

FP2
1: Bearman
2: Verstappen
3: Alonso
4: Sainz

8: Pourchaire

FP3
1: Verstappen
2: Norris
3: Alonso
4: Sainz

7: Pourchaire

Q1
1: Verstappen
2: Bearman
3: Piastri
4: Sainz

7: Pourchaire

Q2
1: Piastri
2: Hulkenberg
3: Bearman

5: Sainz
12: Pourchaire :(

And the grid: what a terrible quali that was, thanks to fumbling the rain

These are the strats I opted for, Carlos is going to barge through the pack first then Theo follows up once he easily gets past the slower cars on softs

Starting on hards I didn't expect much, but Carlos only gained one place... Theo didn't gain any

Lap 6: Sainz also got Alonso, he appears to be staying P8 for now

Meanwhile Theo literally can't do anything

Lap 12: Carlos could make some more moves for P6

And Theo is finally in the points

Lap 17: Carlos pits and emerges P9, Only Bearman ahead has pitted, Alonso couldn't jump him

In fact, Perez is gonna annoy him

Lap 21: Theo is the last frontrunner to pit, he exits P11, the Ferraris ahead Tsunoda behind

Bottas who he was fighting is P18? How did that happen?

Carlos is P5 in between the McLarens

Lap 29: Leclerc refuses to back out of a move, knocking Theo off the track, Theo is down to P14 and Leclerc penalised

Lap 33: Theo improves his chances of a decent result by locking up

Lap 34: Hamilton spun into the barrier, he's out

Theo pits and exits P15, Bottas ahead...

Carlos pits on lap 35 and exits P...2? How?

Lap 42: Norris is slowly but surely gaining, P10->P3 would still be excellent

Meanwhile Theo is back in points territory

And in a rage Bottas hits Tsunoda off so no threat from him

Lap 47: Norris gives up chase, allowing P2 or preparing something big brain?

We made the best of a horrible situation here

Taking on Mercedes next would for sure be interesting

[unborn stratus]

Time for China

FP1 Affiliates
Norris -> Foster
Bearman -> Barnard
Hulkenberg -> Miyata

FP1
P1. Verstappen
P2. Piastri
P3. Russell
P4. Pourchaire

P14. Sainz

---

SQ1
P1. Sainz
P2. Hulkenberg
P3. Bearman

P5. Pourchaire

SQ2
P1. Sainz
P2. Verstappen
P3. Hulkenberg

P8. Pourchaire

And the grid - dominance from Carlos, but Theo proves the car can be fought with, I wonder how it'll go

What's Alonso doing down here?

Usually the AI go mediums so would softs work here? Let's see

We hold position at the start

The game plan is their pushing is countered by our softer tyres, even though we're saving them

Lap 9: after a little fight, Carlos clears the pack with much better softer tyres

Theo has made it up to P4, though his fuel is a little concerning

Lap 15: Theo gets ahead of Verstappen to make it a 1-2

Our car is midfield btw

Yeah we got this

We both ran out of fuel after the line

What a great result

[unborn stratus]

Q1
P1. Hulkenberg
P2. Norris
P3. Verstappen

P5. Pourchaire
P6. Sainz

Q2
P1. Sainz
P2. Piastri
P3. Hulkenberg

P10. Pourchaire

And the grid - not the best result, but we've proven we can do good with this here

It's very blue at the bottom isn't it... and Leclerc

These are the strats I'm going for, Theo only has one soft so he's going more aggressive at the start to make up for that

[unborn stratus]

My PC crashed again and I do not have time to do it again unfortunately

[unborn stratus]

Let's try this again shall we

Theo moved up a place to make it 5-6 at the start

Lap 2: Hamilton decided one was enough and put it in the wall

Lap 5: Perez brake tests Gasly, causing them both and the safety car to be out

For some reason lots of cars pit on lap 5, so we're 3-4

Lap 8: Carlos gets fastest lap and past Norris for P2, Theo reamins P4

May be the softs, but Sainz takes the lead

Lap 12: Theo catches up to the fight for the lead - but he's about to pit

Lap 16: I give Theo a little longer to help Carlos break away, he pits and exits... dead last

Lap 17: Carlos exits the pits right behind Theo, Vertsappen also pit and is behind them, as well as Lawson

Lap 18: that's both Ferraris gone

Lap 27: the only driver to not pit yet is Piastri, and we just got past him for a 1-2, but the field is close behind

But then I had a very good idea, I stuck them behind Piastri

Lap 29: Verstappen finally gets past Piastri, we already got 3 seconds on him

lap 32: pack catches up, deploying Theo to annoy them a bit

Lap 36: Theo pits, P8, That's Antonelli P7, everyone ahead needs to pit again

And I've mastered the strat of sticking a slower car in front of a faster one

Lap 40: Carlos pits, P5, Theo P2, everyone pitted

But we've got softs, the Haas' hards

And we could catch up easily thanks to a what I'm now calling: pin

Lap 45: Haas is cleared for a 1-2

Lap 52: Theo locked up, causig him to lose a place to Bearman

But it was still an amazing result for us

Lots of crashes

[unborn stratus]

It's been a while, my PC was crashing a lot more so I wanted to get that resolved first - Miami sprint quali was interesting

The sprint is wet so yeah

Why not attack? because this game underestimates maximum temperatures, attack will decimate the tyres, which the Ai will do and we will exploit

Carlos gets up to P8 at the start... but Theo takes the lead!

Lap 3: Sainz tries an overtake on Hulkenberg and goes a bit wide, no positions lost, only time

See what I mean about AI tyres too

Lap 4: Verstappen takes the lead back

Lap 6: Piastri gets Theo, but his tyres are much worse in the long run

Lap 8: Sainz gets Stroll to secure P7

The problem is Verstappen got away fast then saved tyres so we no longer have an advantage

Lap 12: Poor Seb is not having fun on his return, he crashes out

lap 14: both our cars gained a position, with Carlos getting back Hulkenberg and Theo Piastri

Lap 19: Piastri and Bearman do a coordinated attack and shut Theo down in P4

But he breaks out of it at the last turn

Coule be better, could be worse

The race has a lot better of a grid - how did Seb get up there?

Also Ferrari downfall

Now we ahve a problem - because everything was wet, we only have one soft, I would've really liked two

As a result I'm gonna experiment, learn what works for if this happens in the future

We hold position at the start

Lap 4: Hulkenberg attacks to get past us

Lap 6: he can't keep it up and we get him back

In fact, Theo goes on a mad charge to fight for the lead

Lap 9: unfortunately Bearman broke away so we're left with Verstappen to fight

Lap 13: with Bearman pitting, we're 1-2

And I'm not believing Red Bull is a threat

Lap 20: Theo pits and comes out P6, we're last to pit

Lap 23: Carlos has a pit issue and comes out P8

Theo has been making good progress, up to P3 already

Lap 26: we may have ahad a bad pit but we're zipping through, 3-4 already, only Haas ahead (I'm proud of them)

And in case you're wondering at the almost halfway point, Vettel is P16

I have a good feeling about the fight ahead

Lap 31: we catch up, and now fight for the lead

One pits, we pass the other, 1-2

Lap 36: Carlos pits again, P4, he beat Bearman but Alonso is in front

But that should be no problem

Lap 41: Theo pits, P4, Hulkenberg leads, Carlos P2, Piastri P3 but has to pit again

Lap 50: race leader Hulkenberg parks, easy 1-2 now

Honestly one of the best results i could ask for - a 1-2 and our championship contenders nowhere to be seen

Speaking of, what happened Max? (and George, no idea what's up there)

That's what we like to see

THAT'S WHAT WE LIKE TO SEE

[unborn stratus]

I've gotten a lot better at database extraction, so coming up to Imola this image will provide all the info you could possibly want

Our position isn't the best and by my calculations a default strategy is best, so this may not go too well

It's a 4-6 at the start, so good start

Lap 6: the podium runners all seperate, allowing us to attack for P3

Piastri in P2 didn't like this and so attacked Verstappen to catch up again and overtake

Lap 8: Carlos goes fast to secure P3 and hopefully more

Lap 17: Carlos has caught up to Verstappen, Piastri is far ahead

Lap 22: after clearing Verstappen, Carlos has caught up to Piastri for the lead

Lap 27: Theo pits, P11, Verstappen and Piastri ahead are those already pitted

Lap 28: Carlos pits, P2, Alonso ahead hasn't pitted, Piastri failed the undercut

It's also worth mentioning the pack Theo was holding back pitted and came out nowhere near him (that's Vettel he's overtaking, who hasn't pit)

So now It's Piastri and Carlos fighting for the lead, Verstappen clear P3, Theo clear P4

Piastri does have some pretty bad tyres though, so maybe he needs to pit again?

Lap 39: Norris catches up to Theo, the battle for P4 begins

Lap 46: Carlos attacks and clears Piastri, he can't ride DRS anymore with much worse tyres

Also Theo cleared Norris so that threat's gone

Lap 58: Hulkenberg parks, again

But Norris attacked and got ahead of Theo again

Lap 62: Piastri refused to pit and ends up with a puncture

Even then, nope not pitting

Gaming

Oh yeah this is from the database too, all on one image and a few more gaps

Same with the standings

[unborn stratus]

It's Monaco time - Monaco is known for its prestige irl, but in the game it's known for being the track you can be winning as any team by - and it looks to be possible here too

Dang it my PC crashed again

[unborn stratus]

New PC upgrades it is, please don't crash again, it'll be a wet one

Lots of drivers opted for wets, but there's only 1.36mm water out here

Perez on lap 1 was the first victim of wet Monaco

We have a clear 1-2 at the start, Russell and Hamilton are 5-7, so this was a smart move

Lap 7: we pit for wets, Carlos P3 Theo P6, ahead are Russell and Hamilton who are yet to pit

Lap 8: Carlos pins Hulkenberg to Hamilton, easy P1 for him

Theo remains P6

Also lap 8: Theo crashes, he's out, along with the safety car

The safety car is the same speed in the wet, the other cars are not, so a big gap forms

Until they catch up again on straights

Carlos has a nice getaway at the start

And a nice tyre advantage too

Lap 32: everyone pits for inters, Carlos' lead has reached 20 seconds

Lap 34: Russell clips the wall

And P2 Hulkenberg clips another wall

He had to pit again, down to P9

Lap 44: Russell parks

Lap 48: time for wets again, the gap to P2 has reached a full minute, Verstappen in P9 has been lapped

Lap 57: Perez locked up... in the tunnel?

And Piastri gets a puncture, again

So does Antonelli what's going on

Okay there's lots of random punctures

Also Tsunoda parked

Lap 64: inter time for the last stop

What a dominant showing form this man

Yep, in exchange for Theo's crash, Carlos lapped the entire field, go him

[unborn stratus]

Let's go to Canada too - we get pole this time around, looking promising

If last race was anything to go by, Carlos is going to jet off into the distance and go for a strat that would be best when no one's around, Theo is doing a more race like strat

Carlos stays ahead at the start, Theo jumps up to P5

Lap 3: carlos didn't sail away as intended, there's a battle for the podium

Lap 5: Theo is struggling, he's back down to P7

Lap 17: Theo recovers a bit, starting a battle for P5 again

Lap 22: Carlos finally gets away as intended

Verstappen responds by pitting to hopefully undercut

Lap 26: Theo pits, P8, Carlos and Bearman ahead haven't pitted

Unfortunately, rather than attacking, he's trying to defend P8 form the Astons

Lap 30: The Williams drivers collide, Bottas has a badly damaged front wing and Albon doesn't have one at all

Lap 33: Theo broke away from one Aston, talking an alarmingly long time to do so

meanwhile frontrunners have pit and gotten past Carlos

Lap 38: Carlos pits, P7, Theo ahead, the Astons behind

And of course they're a problem

Stroll hits the wall of champions as he attemps to overtake

But we can pin Russell to a damaged Stroll for an easy clear

Lap 45: Carlos gets ahead of Theo again, who is being used both as a pin to Bearman, benefitting Theo by using DRS to keep him behind

Lap 47: Theo slow, short lived idea

Speaking of Haases clearing Saubers, Hulkenberg has done his last pit and has cleared Carlos, maybe that strat wasn't the best idea

Lap 51: Theo pits, P8, ahead of guess what car...

Meanwhile Hamilton rammed into verstappen, one threat less?

Lap 55: why does it take Theo 4 laps to clear an Aston? Carlos could do it in 1

Lap 58: speaking of Carlos clears, he cleared Bearman and pretty much has P3 secured

Lap 69: Hulkenberg and Verstappen have dead tyres, Carlos caught up

But he can't take the lead... Hulkenberg wins

It was unfortunate for us, but could be worse, could be Williams

Or Mercedes (2027 foreshadowing)

[unborn stratus]

It's Spain time - we've been a bit all over the place but landed in pole for quali

I cna only think of one good strat so they both get it

Theo makes some moves to get into P6, Carlos stays ahead but takes Bearman up with him

Lap 4: Norris spins, which is huge for us - Theo can get past and Piastri can't keep up with DRS, leaving him vulnerable to Theo and Verstappen behind

Lap 18: almost everyone pit, so we're 1-2 for now

Lap 22: we double stacked the pits, Theo 8 seconds behind, but Carlos did his 2.1 second stop and decided to wait until Theo came behind to go? Like, where wasn't even an issue, terrible game
Carlos P5 Theo P7

Lap 29: Carlos catches up to the frontrunners, so it's not all bad

Lap 39: Carlos takes the lead again (before any frontrunners pit again btw)

Lap 45: we pit again, this time Carlos gets on with the exit and emerged P2 right behind Verstappen, Theo P6

Lap 48: with softer tyres in better condition, Carlos retakes the lead pretty easily

Lap 53: Theo got past the Haases to make it up to P4

Lap 56: Ollie took that personally, getting past Theo and the Red Bulls for P2

Easiest race in Carlos' career

Theo did pretty well too

Our lead is pretty nice

[unborn stratus]

It's Austria time - this one took a while because the database storage is all over the place compared to races, thanks Frontier
Theo has to run an older sidepod because both failed and I only had money for one, but that won't stop him cooking
VCARB went on a glory run in practice

Might be because it's wet

Bearman and Carlos get turn 1'd and see themselves P19 and P20

Bottas gets turn 4'd and finds himself at the back now

Meanwhile Theo stays P2

Carlos is P18 having caught up to the pack

lap 4: Gasly rams into the back of Hamilton, neither have a front wing now

Lap 8: with better tyres, Theo takes the lead fron Alonso

Carlos is having a better climb back than Bearman, P13 already

Lap 9: Vettel brake tests Antonelli and slides towards the wall (doesn't hit it)

P11 for Carlos now

Lap 12: the FIA declare it dry, Alonso DRSs past Theo, he gets turn 4'd and now it's wet again, the game is against me

Lap 16: Theo gets a fault

Hulkenberg exploited this to get past Theo

Lap 17: Theo gets turn 4'd again by Verstappen so he's P4 right in front of the McLarens

And of course...

Alonso wins...

Knew there would be a mishap - fixed
We lost 11 points compared to a 1-2, is that really that bad?

The database storage is terrible no wonder Frontier can't fix the bugs - anyway, main quali, go Carlos, unfortunately Theo is in prime getting turn 1'd position

Doing two inter stops is faster, but with how hard it is to overtake in the wet, I decided against it

Our turn 1 victims are Norris and Hamilton, who didn't get it as bad as in the race

lawson and gasly hit, giving them both damage

While we had an insane start resulting in a 1-3

Lap 8: Vettel does his thing

Lap 10: Hulkenberg attacks to get ahead of Theo, who can't charge because when he does he'll be slow enough for Bearman's attacks to work

Lap 11: Bearman's attack worked anyway

Lap 15: Alonso makes an attack on Carlos, but he defends successfully

Lap 32: not much is happening, Carlos has a nice lead now, but the rain is ending earlier than expected so we're pushing a bit more, take that those who planned to pit (everyone else)

Lap 38: armed with newfound pace, Theo is P3 already

Lap 41: Lawson parks in the middle of the track, safety car

We are 1-2 with Theo ahead - I pitted Carlos because we wouldn't lose any positions, I didn't pit Theo because we would

Hulkenberg gets turn 1'd at the restart

We were technically 1-2, but the sun came out so we pit for slicks

Lap 51: lots more drivers are boxing, Carlos is clear, somehow Norris exited ahead of Theo and the fight there begins

Lap 54: both Mercs park

Lap 55: Hamilton crashes out at turn 1

Lap 56: Leclerc see, Leclerc do

Not been much to say from our end, clear 1-2 all the way

What a great race

Chaotic too

That lead is out here looking much better

[unborn stratus]

And we jump straight into my home race Silverstone - we didn't secure pole but we're up there
This is the first time this save someone crashes during quali, forcing Norris into the pits

We're opting for the ol reliable here

It's a nice start, 1-2

Lap 5: the red Bulls want some action and join us up front

It's not that bad, considering what it costs them

Lap 13: Haas joins in too, but Verstappen and Bearman drop back

You'll never guess how it is for Vettel

Lap 14: knowing they can drop back, I attack and secure a 1-2 again

This leaves a Red Bull vs Haas fight with us clearing them

Lap 21: perfect double stack, Theo P2 Carlos P5, we were last to pit, now let's use that tyre advantage

Lap 30: Theo retakes the lead

Lap 32: Carlos makes it a 1-2

There are a lot of engine problems today

Lap 34: This is why you burn the harder tyre in the middle - we are the first of the frontrunners to pit twice, 4-5 (next behind that pitted twice is Hamilton P9)

Red Bull make the stupid decision to pit Alonso on 34% mediums over Verstappen on 30% softs

And we exit well ahead anyway (gap looks bigger irl)

Lap 37: everyone pit a second time, 1-2

In this podium, Sauber and Red Bull swapped their drivers

Luke Browning is giving up on his F1 dream, ranked 79th out of 91 drivers we've seen this game

So is Hauger, ranked 2nd, such a shame

Oh yeah, almost forgot results
What is Hulk doing down there?

A new challenger approaches

[unborn stratus]

Since I didn't track it the previous two years, other drivers already retired:

• Stoffel Vandoorne
• Pietro Fittipaldi
• Jessica Hawkins
• Daniel Ricciardo
• Antonio Giovinazzi
• Nyck de Vries
• Mick Schumacher
• Zhou Guanyu
• Logan Sargent
• Pato O'Ward

[unborn stratus]

Hungary had a wet Q2 and Q3, so for the first time there were many violators of 107% - but that rule isn't enforced since it's wet (not that it's enforced in the game anyway)

This is our Hungarian ol reliable, hards are alright here

1-2 at the start

Lap 3: Carlos is clear, but Bearman has kept up with Theo

Lap 6: Verstappen joins in

Hulkenberg is almost joining too

Lap 8: Haas drop back, fight with Verstappen for P2

Lap 10: Verstappen attacks, his fight is with Carlos not Theo now

Lap 13: Verstappen clears Carlos too

Lap 22: we're last to pit, Theo comes in and emerges P5, behind the Haases

Carlos pits a lap later and emerges P3, in between the Hasses

And a lap later Carlos gets past Bearman and clears the Haases, Verstappen has built quite a lead

Lap 31: Albon spins it into a wall, out he goes

Lap 37: Verstappen comes in for softs, emerging behind us, he'll have to pit again

Lap 50: Theo pits and emerges P5, again

Lap 51: Russell and Sainz come in, Russell parks

And Carlos comes out P4, behind Verstappen and the Haas cars

And Alonso parks too

Lap 54: Carlos uses lapped cars to get a nice clear on Hulkenberg for P3

Who responds by pitting for softs

Lap 62: Gasly joins the parkers

After not pitting again, Carlos catches up to Verstappen on the last lap

But Piastri just ahead gives him the DRS he needs

Oh well

We still "won" as in, we got the most constructor points

See look at us up there all happy

Let's get to the summer break - Gasly won't have a fun time here, we may, we're up there

The Belgium ol reliable is a more aggressive version of Hungary

The AI aren't the strongest here, it's P1 and P4 at the start

Like, we are full attacking, Red Bull what is this

Lap 3: Tsunoda didn't turn at Eau Rouge and just drove into the wall, he's out

Lap 6: Theo and Bearman caught up to the fight at the front

Lap 12: Carlos is second to pit, emerges P9

First is Hamilton in P19 (with rear wing damage form somewhere)

Lap 13: Alonso and Theo pit, 7-8, Carlos gets ahead

Lap 18: we're doing great against those who haven't pit yet, P4 and P6 already

Lap 21: make that P3 for Carlos as he zips by Hulkenberg

Lap 23: Russell fully turns in on Antonelli Nope Antonelli fully turns in on Russell according to his radio (probably)

Lap 26: Carlos pits and emerges P6, usual 5 ahead

Lap 27: Theo pits and emerges P5, rival 4 ahead Carlos behind

All 4 ahead have only boxed once

Lap 32: we catch up to Hulkenberg for P3

Lap 38: we just can't get past him for some reason, even Alonso has pit and caught up again

And the other VCARB and Aston copy their teammates

Lap 43: Theo finally gets past Hulkenberg and immediately catches up to Bearman

Max Verstappen wins with a dominant lead

But Theo came second and Carlos got ahead of Alonso... at least...

Gap has reduced, but it's still okay

[unborn stratus]

So now it's time to discuss 2027, rumours coming soon

[unborn stratus]

Rumour time:

Red Bull

Alonso is a fair teammate for Verstappen... but for how long? He's declining, but can he keep up or will Red Bull be looking for young talent?

Mercedes

Mercedes aren't where they want to be right now, definitely not befitting of Sebastian Vettel, they need more... Back of the grid friendly drivers

McLaren

Usually Piastri would be coming on great by now... but McLaren seems to be prioritising Norris - Piastri wants to win but can't like this... where can he?

Alpine

Since 2023 it's been team Gasly, and by his demands Tsunoda joined the team... and made it team Tsunoda - will Gasly stay? Or where will he go?

Haas

Financial troubles at Haas? They haven't confirmed who's in Bearman's seat yet? There's plenty of race winners without a seat

Sauber

Sainz and Pourchaire are both doing great, but Pourchaire's time could be up... does he stay? Does someone more appealing turn up?

[unborn stratus]

For some further interest, here's the 2027 lineups ranked as they stand:

1. Alpine
2. Haas
3. Ferrari
4. Red Bull
5. Mercedes
6. Williams
7. McLaren
8. Sauber
9. Aston Martin
10. VCARB

And who is the favourite to beat their teammate on each team currently? (Last picture wasn't updated for Hungary and Belgium)

• Red Bull: Verstappen (61.63%)
• Ferrari: Leclerc (61.38%)
• Mercedes: Vettel (64.01%)
• McLaren: Norris (74.71%)
• Alpine: Tsunoda (67.52%)
• Aston Martin: Russell (60.17%)
• Williams: Bottas (55.16%)
• Haas: Bearman (54.65%)
• Sauber: Sainz (66.15%)
• VCARB: Antonelli (60.05%)

[unborn stratus]

Piastri finds refuge

After losing the teammate battle for the past 3 years, McLaren have taken the decision to drop Piastri - similarly, after losing the battle to an even worse teammate than Norris, Sauber took the decision to drop Pourchaire
Sauber are hoping a partnership with Piastri can bring on better results for both, considering his 2025
||Piastri hasn't entered god mode yet, and it would be great if he didn't yet either, with some financial troubles at Sauber, they're going down next year and hopefully bringing him with them, to make my time at whoever's next easier||

[unborn stratus]

It'll be revealed after Zandvoort

Speaking of Zandvoort - it's looking great for us isn't it

Ol reliable time

[unborn stratus]

I'm having trouble extracting the data, stand by

There is a serious problem with the save - not to worry, there's a backup... but the backup is before the race, so I'll have to do it again and pray it doesn't happen next time

Meanwhile...

The McLaren gambit... again

In 2023, McLaren shocked the world by signing a Alpine academy rookie out of nowhere, a partnership that was really successful - with Piastri leaving, they have opted to do it again... with the second worst driver currently in F2...
It's a gamble for sure, but will signing Alpine's Zane Maloney bring them as much success as Piastri? The figures don't think so, but there's a chance

Longer poll because there aren't as many seats this time to fill and I have half a season to do yet

[unborn stratus]

My 19:30 meeting was cancelled, let's do Zandvoort again

2-3 at the start, Verstappen and us leaving the rest in the dust

Lap 3: surprisingly, Russell attacks and makes the pack catch up again, he started P6

It's not all bad, Russell could ditch the pack too

Lap 10: Bottas brushes Tsunoda during an overtake

Lap 12: verstappen pits and is P19... one threat less

Lap 14: Gasly isn't enjoying himself, he's far in last making so many mistakes

Also we have successfully cleared everyone to secure a 1-2

Lap 26: we pit, Carlos is P2, Verstappen ahead but on tyres so dead he may as well have not pitted yet

Theo is P5, Russell undercut him and Alonso somehow undercut them both

Lap 29: Alonso is on something, he takes the lead

Lap 33: short lived from them both, we're clear

Also Theo caught up to and got past Russell

Lap 37: Theo pins Russell to Alonso and his dead tyres, 1-2 again

Lap 45: The Red Bulls and Russell are stuck behind the McLarens who are really slow for some reason - anyway, Russell breaks free by slamming into Norris

Theo pits and is P3, Bearman ahead on dead hards

I know they're on the same strategy, but I'm letting Carlos go more conservative and longer due to being ahead

Lap 47: Theo past Bearman, 1-2 again

Lap 49: Carlos pits and emerges P1, easy 1-2

Lap 56: in other business, Haas caught up and Huleknberg is P3, Bearman P5 chasing Alonso fast

Lap 62: Leclerc brushes Russell sending him into the barriers and the safety car out

What was meant to be a free pit stop ended in disaster, Carlos is now P6, Theo P1

Theo jets off with east, but Carlos could only get past Antonelli

At least Theo won

Right, I have the same data issue

Something is up

Does anyone happen to know what this would be referring to?

I really don't wanna do the race again, but I don't wanna drop this save either

Solution: make a new save and write everything into it, eliminating any corruption
Anyway, shame Carlos only got P4, but could be worse

Our gap at the top almost reaches 100

[unborn stratus]

Good time for Monza? Not a good time for Theo, or Carlos really, we sacrifice a little speed for a lot of cornering so Monza may be difficult for us

It's a conservative track where you don't want to pit much, and it's wet, so start on hards gaming

I could go mediums, but they run out right at the end and if rain comes later than expected I'm cooked

Carlos charged ahead at the start for arguably the best position in this race, P2

Theo has P11, hopefully he'll keep it up

Lap 2: Hulkenberg and Carlos clear Alonso, they have P1 and P2 secured pretty much

Theo keeps moving up, P9 now

Lap 3: make that P8

And Alonso caught up to the top 2, Hamilton still far behind

Lap 5: Theo up to P7, he's fighting Bottas as they get past Antonelli together

Lap 6: Hamilton goes straight instead of doing turn 1, giving Verstappen major damage and Theo no front wing

Theo pits for a new front wing and mediums to the rain, very far back in P20 unfortunately, but Hamilton and Verstappen have unfixable orange damage so basically P18

Wait why was Theo penalised for that? Come on FIA

Lap 12: Alonso and Hulkenberg attack and there's nothing carlos can do about it

Lap 16: with better taken care of tyres, Carlos is back

Lap 18: Theo turned in on Stroll who he caught up to and knocked his front wing AGAIN

Lap 25: Gasly parks

Lap 31: inters time, Carlos emerges P3, Theo P16

Lap 36: we ticked over to wet conditions finally, Carlos is P1 now and Theo P15, without the help of DRS can it stay like that?

We do have quite the tyre benefit too

Lap 38: eventually having to prioritise defending Alonso, Huleknberg falls off Carlos, allowing him an easy win

Lap 45: Perez drives into the barriers

It's Carlos for the win

Bit of a shame about Theo, but could be worse

Our lead is over 100 now

Red Bull's Tsolov is F3 champion

[unborn stratus]

Baku time? Baku time
Decent from us, a few penalties too

Meet the go-to Baku strat (when you have one soft) - it's around 15 seconds faster than AI strats, this'll be easy

The start sees us gain a place each, 2-5

Lap 3: the state is: Carlos P1 holding back Red Bull and Haas, Theo dropped off in P6

Lap 6: the Red Bulls attack leaving everyone else ebehind

Lap 8: Carlos, upset about losing the lead, takes it out on the barrier, safety car out

It was a free pit for Theo so we took it, he jumped Verstappen and Bearman for P3

Theo is still P3 at the restart on lap 13, in a fight for P2

Make that P4 because he's slow

Lap 14: P5

Lap 29: Haas pit, leaving Theo alone in P3 after he got past Bottas

Lap 33: Bearman overtakes Theo before he pits, this'll be fun

Lap 35: Theo pits, exits P10, he's actually racing Tsunoda

Lap 41: Theo is charging through the field, reaching P6 already

Lap 47: P5 is probable, the frontrunners are very far away

Oh and Stroll left there wasn't a replay

Bearman wins

The data has Norris and Bottas twice lemme fix rq

Fixed, grid penalties I still have to do manually, so must've been an error there
Anyway depression

[unborn stratus]

One last race before the new update tomorrow

Singapore uses the ol reliable, with an extended medium

We move up to 2-4 at the start

Lap 3, contrary to normal lap 3s, no one catches up and the fight is still on - it's us vs Red Bull

Lap 4: Theo attacked Alonso but Alonso squeezed him into the barrier, no damage on either

But the two have dropped back to Haas' grasp

Lap 6: Alonso does it again, btu this time Theo gets damaged and the race is red flagged

It's close to the original start, just no Theo :(

Lap 10: Piastri bumped into Albon, then forgot how to drive and went straight into a wall, taking off his front wing

Meanwhile Carlos only has Verstappen to deal with

Lap 20: Norris parks, rubbish day for McLaren

Lap 23: Leclerc brushes Tsunoda's front wing off, contrary to what the image shows, it's Tsunoda with the damage

Lap 29: Verstappen started suffering, down to P3, Hulkenberg used the DRS to be Carlos' new trail

Lap 35: Carlos boxed for a new set of mediums, since softs have no chance of lasting - P4, Versatappen and Bearman undercut him, but both are on hards

Lap 40: Carlos makes quick work of bearman and chases Verstappen (Piastri is lapped)

Lap 49: the fight for P1 is on

Lap 50: I lied, this sorry excuse of a battle was never on, carlos went past and never looked back

Lap 53: Verstappen returns

Lap 59: of course the VCARB was disruptive and let the Red Bull get away, nothing wrong here at all right FIA?

Where did Hulkenberg come from? Alonso was P3

More sadness (I guess Hulk went beast mode at the end)

Our gap ahead is getting smaller

[unborn stratus]

Mercedes junior, Ferrari junior, Red Bull... driver?

Red Bull didn't want to keep Alonso around, he's strong, but for how long? Next through the revolving doors of Verstappen's teammate is Fredrick Vesti from Ferrari and earlier Mercedes... a questionable decision indeed

(Haas haven't announced a second driver)

[unborn stratus]

Pourchaire out?

Theo added his name to the books big time this year, picking up a few wins - but his dismal record against only teammate Carlos Sainz is something team principals cannot ignore... he doesn't have a seat for the 2027 season, although there's been rumours of Haas taking interest in him

[unborn stratus]

Mercedes confirm Martins return

Victor Martins did a decent job against Gasly, and though his success in IndyCar is perceived as better than Gasly now. Mercedes are bringing him back to F1, in an effort to build them back to the top

Next poll after next race

I'm busy today, busy tomorrow, maybe Tuesday?

[unborn stratus]

Here we are for COTA (which has been heavily delayed because I haven't had time for a sprint weekend) - bad SQ3, of course the only time for a dry lap right at the end was one Verstappen timed to perfection, totally no bias here

The go-to here for the sprint is a light medium, while hards could be faster we want to save them both

Great start, 2-7

Where's Verstappen you ask? Right at the back, maybe he felt bad

Lap 4: Carlos takes the lead

Meanwhile the other Sauber is fighting the other Mclaren (Piastri) for P6

Lap 10: Piastri develops a fault, making the fight easy for Theo

Lap 12: out of nowhere, Hulkenberg is the new sprint leader

Lap 15: for some reason Tsunida boxed, way back in P20 now

Best of a bad situation

As for the main quali, aside from lots of penalties... there's a shock polesitter

This is a the COTA go-to except lighter because we're not as good on tyres as I'd like

[unborn stratus]

Russell and Carlos keep position at the start, Theo moves up to P5

Lap 4: a bold move form Leclerc sees Theo down to P6 again

And Carlos takes the lead

Lap 7: Leclerc fumbled a DRS straight allowing Theo to secure P5

Lap 9: Theo is making moves, P3

Lap 12: Theo is fighing Russell for P2 now

Maybe this is why Russell has been so fast

Lap 13: Theo clears as he pins Norris to Russell to practically secure a 1-2

Lap 22, Theo boxes and emerges P5

Verstappen is P3 and already pitted, he's gained 16 places in 21 laps, crazy

Lap 23: Carlos pits and emerges P3, Verstappen and Russell ahead

Lap 25: carlos is in the lead ahead of Verstappen, Theo is P4 fighting Russell for the last podium spot

Lap 26: both cleared who they were fighting, 1-3 secured for now

Lap 28: Theo is fighting Verstappen now

Lap 33: Albon parks

Lap 37: Theo pits and remains P2, Verstappen couldn't get the jump

Russell couldn't get the undercut either

Lap 38: carlos boxes and remains P1

Meanwhile Verstappen clears Theo with softer tyres

Lap 49: not much is happening, not much to say

No complaints about a double podium

Insane performance from Verstappen too

Our lead at the top is looking better

(Haas haven't announced a driver yet, but if I can do another race this week, they just might, you never know)

[unborn stratus]

Because it's been a while, let's cover the land with so many Mexicans in it
A shock Q1 elimination for Hamilton as Russell starts first again (Sainz got pole but takes an engine penalty)

(FP3 P1 will be purple from now on)

We can't get back on strategy tho - there's a wet patch in the race

Russell starts on hards, so Theo takes the lead at the start

Carlos is P9, struggling against Bottas and his hards

Lap 3: Verstappen also gets past Russell and challenges Theo for the lead

Carlos got past Bottas and has a damaged Piastri and Stroll to face next

Make that just Stroll

Lap 5: Sainz is p6, the top 5 (all different teams - Verstappen, Pourchaire, Bearman, Norris, Russell) are quite a way away, good recovery

Lap 6: Carlos is fast, he sweeps by Russell even without DRS

Lap 8: a new leader - Bearman charged to the front as he and Theo leave Verstappen in the dust

Never mind, Pourchaire uses speed and leaves Bearman with Verstappen

Lap 10: Carlos vs Verstappen was no contest

Lap 12: Leclerc is the first to pit, which is weird because neutral mediums are just fine, anwyay Ferrari are having a terrible weekend, 12-20 currently

Russell also pits... he's on HARDS, WHY?

They weren't even that bad

Lap 15: since there's not much else, let's talk gameplay - Bearman just attempted an attack, so Theo emptied the last of his ERS to prevent that attack from doing anything, now they're back to a stalemate of not being able to advance on the other, but Carlos is the worst off with this move as he drops further back in P3

And I feel you, Russell

Lap 19: Bearman has worse older tyres, so he has to push more to keep up, making his situation even worse - Carlos used this fact to catch up, the fight for P2 begins

Lap 22: Bearman held his own pretty well, but Carlos getting ahead was inevitable

Lap 25: Inter time, we emerge 1-...3, Bearman jumped Carlos

Lap 26: Verstappen manages to overtake Carlos

Yeah Verstappen is Verstappening

lap 28: shocked Hamilton is in the points, Russell fully turns in on him, ending Hamilton's race for sure and basically ending Russell's, safety car

The Red Bulls decide to pit again, Verstappen P4 Alonso P9

Lap 34: after (probably) the longest safety car period ever, we're back racing, maintaining position but Bearman is causing trouble

Lap 39: Bearman drives slowly, allowing Verstappen and Carlos past

Lap 41: Piastri is on fire... sigh literally, safety car out again

That's a lot of pits, we still have 80% inters guys

Plus the more safety cars the less laps done in the rain and the quicker the dry comes

Lap 46: we back, but Verstappen gets ahead

And just because Antonelli thought Russell didn't have enough suffering

Lap 50: Theo wasn't doing anything, so I gave carlos a try... and he takes the lead

Lap 55: we are the first to pit for drys, P15 and P17 for now

Lap 56: Verstappen is one of those to pit, Carlos gets ahead Theo doesn't

But thanks to some manauvering around Vettel, Theo gets ahead with heated tyres

Lap 57: the last of the inter runners pit, 1-2 confirmed

Lap 58: the fight for P2 has a Victor: Bearman

lap 60: forget that, Theo power

Lap 61: Verstappen attempts to strike back, but giving Theo some Carlos DRS says otherwise

Lap 64: Verstappen could even catch up to that, let's hope he doesn't do anything funny

He doesn't have the tyres, but you know him

Lap 67: with Carlos clear, Verstappen tried something with Theo - so he used the ultimate DRS sling to clear easily

Theo now has Carlos to keep Verstappen away, and no Bearman can disrupt that this time around

Also Stroll is P6 when did that happen

Moment of silence for Perez being the by far last finisher at his home race

Nearly perfect podium (would've rather had someone else P3)

What a race that was

Yay Theo made up a place

[unborn stratus]

Haas have confirmed their second driver

[unborn stratus]

Let's push past the sprint to hopefully not encounter another wall - pretty Bearman dominated sprint quali

Mediums are forced

Theo beat Piastri off the line then overtook Stroll for P6, Carlos remains P2

But no threat from Russell P3 (liik closely, he's behind the lights)

Lap 3: Theo takes the fight to Alonso for P5

Lap 5: Theo keeps it up, fighting Russell for P4

Lap 9: struggling to clear a car? Give them another to fight - Theo attacks getting past Russell and Verstappen while closing the gap to the front

Lap 10: Gasly does a big brain move (source: Alpine's hungover strategists after qualifying last yesterday) and pits... for more mediums

Lap 13: an attempt to double team Bearman went horrible wrong, Theo got pushed off and now Verstappen got past

Lap 16: Carlos and Verstappen cleared the pack, which will make Theo's fight against Bearman easier

Lap 18: Vettel violates rule 1, knocking him out and bringing out a red flag (nullifying our tyre advantage, thanks game)

Something's wrong, I can feel it

And it's not us - clear 1-2 to start

Inters become faster on the final lap, but it's not enough

It was close, but Theo wins

That was a nice little surprise

And now for the main event, headed up by... GEORGE AGAIN? What is with this man
(Perez P11 Bearman P12 happened for some reason, but this was the real grid)

The Brazil strat is what I wanted to do in COTA (others work but this is best)

[unborn stratus]

Alonso opts for a pit lane start

Carlos keeps up with Russell at the start, Theo doesn't

Lap 2: Perez runs wide and doesn't see Tsunoda, Perez out

Lap 7: Verstappen challenges Theo for P3

Lap 28: Carlos pits and emerges P5, Russell bearman and Verstappen have all undercut him, but thats expected, the attack starts now

Lap 29: theo comes out of the pits P7, Hulkenberg and Sroll undercut him too

Lap 30: See Carlos is already past Verstappen and Bearman, only Russell to go

Lap 33: Theo lock up at turn 1, no positions lost, but tyre life isn't great no more

Lap 34: Carlos has caught up to Russell, let the fight for the lead begin

Lap 36: Carlos clears Russell for the lead

Lap 37: despite not having DRS, Russell got past anyway...?

Lap 40: thanks to lawson, carlos is definately clear now

Lap 45: Theo has saved enough to be on track with strategy, but he's not close to anyone else

Lap 49: Theo managed to pin already pitted Bearman to Stroll then himself...

...allowing Carlos to pit and emerge P2, Russell is the only threat for the win

Lap 50: Theo pits and emerges P7, but much closer to Hulkenberg and Stroll

Lap 51: Russell makes a third stop, gifting Carlos the win

He emerges P4 right behind Verstappen

Lap 54: Just after Theo gets ahea dof him, Hulkenberg shunts the back of him, both of them and the safety car are out

Carlos doesn't need to pit, but he's far enough ahead for it to be free and Bearman behind will pit too

...or so I thought, Russell didn't pit and is in the lead

Vettel in his 4x world championship experience locked up under a safety car

Carlos can't slip by at the restart

Lap 65: somehow Stroll joined in too

lap 68: took way longer than it should have, but Carlos is safely in the lead

Lap 69: not safe, Alonso gets ahead

Have I never done this before?

Anyway, Alonso just pit to 1st

What a race that was, kinda sucks for us in the WCC tho

...but not the WDC, Carlos Sainz is your 2026 world champion

[unborn stratus]

Hadjar also confirms F1 return

Mercedes will field two 2025 rookies that sat out 2026 in 2027 - Martins from Alpine and Hadjar from VCARB. Martins is tipped to be the better of the two but not much is in it, what will they be able to achieve together?

On that note, good time for Vegas?
Not a good quali for us, especially with Theo needing some new PU stuff after it blew out in FP1

Vegas has two versions of the ol reliable, depending if you have two mediums or not - we don't, so we're running this

(It's MMH if two meds)

Piastri doesn't like being so far down and has hit the barrier lap 1, safety car

Carlos has reached P5 and Theo P17 so far

Lap 6: massive crash on the restart - Stroll, Lawson and Norris out, red flag

Lap 7 is the first full lap of racing, Carlos P4 Theo up to P11 already

Lap 8: Carlos is speed, he flew past Russell so fast the long DRS straight wasn't enough to let him get back

Theo meanwhile is fighting Albon who's attacking, so he'll be ahead by the lap end

No he won't, Albon can hang off Hamilton

Lap 17: it's medium time, Carlos emerges P11 Theo P14, we're first to pit

Lap 22: Alonso boxed and exited behind carlos, but Vettel decided to slow down right as he got past to aid his former team... yeah

Lap 29: Carlos' ability to not overtake well has cost us two positions so far

Lap 33: Hard time, Carlos P8 Theo P12, two cars ahead and two in between have to pit

Lap 39: there's nothing we can really do, with all the DRS cars can easily stick by us if we push, and our cars don't wanna do overakes toda

Lap 43: Theo finally manages to clear Antonelli for P9

Carlos is P7, no one around

Lap 44: Carlos catche sup to Russell

Lap 46: Leclerc randomly pits again, free P5 for Carlos P8 Theo

And Carlos could use this to catch up to Hulkenberg for P4

Lap 47: Leclerc got ahead of Theo but he could use him to clear Albon, still P8

Max Verstappen wins

What a crazy race

This wasn't a good race for the championship

But, it's winnable in Qatar, let's go

Qatar's sprint is looking pretty good for us
(Qatar not Vegas, forgot to change it)

Normally AI pit here, so this should be easy

2-4 at the start, devolping quite big gaps to those around

Lap 4: Alonso cathes up to Theo, natural as we're being careful

Lap 12: things aren't better yet, in fact they're worse - Piastri is having a go at Theo

Never mind, he fumbled

Not much to say, Max Verstappen wins

I didn't actually see Tsunoda DNF, but there ya go

Now for the main event, decent quali, let's get up there

Qatar is ol reliable but more conservative middle stint

Late picture but Stroll locked up turn 1

Theo made an epic move turn 1 to get him to P3, Carlos drops to P5 because of this

Lap 3: Hulkenberg does a massive attack to get past Theo

But he fumbles it, allowing both Saubers past, 3-4

So now we're both far awya form anyone

Lap 9: Vettel randomly gets a puncture :(

Snd Hulkenber caught up again

Lap 11: no more Hulk problem

Lap 18: as some drivers start coming in, Norris will never go out again

Lap 19: Theo pits, P5, Verstappen and Bearman ahead have pitted

Lap 20: Carlos boxes and exits P6, right behind Theo

...and right in front of Russell

Lap 21: Carlos is way faster, no contest

And the last to pit Alonso comes in, both Saubers ahead now

AND HE GETS A PUNCTURE ON THE OUT LAP
Constructors secured?

Lap 30: Carlos has overtaken Theo for P3

Lap 37: we double stack (we had to, or tyres will be a struggle) - back to P4 Carlos P5 Theo, where we started

Lap 40: after all pits, Carlos is in the lead! Theo P3

Lap 45: on fresher tyres, Bearman got Theo

Carlos is keeping Verstappen back well

Verstappen gets Carlos on the last try of with DRS

And he wins...

...but we also win...

...THE CONSTRUCTORS!

Unless Mercedes has a miracle in Abu Dhabi, we're going to them

[unborn stratus]

One final bit of news...

Jack's Doohan F1

sigh
After being loaned out to Sauber for a year and seeing no races, Alpine put hopes in their upcoming driver that they previously snubbed (no not Martins) and will put Doohan alongside Tsunoda in 2027

Who will take the last seat?

Bearman? Pourchaire? Alonso? Gasly?

Lots of high profile candidates

[unborn stratus]

Let's do Abu Dhabi to get the season over with - great last quali, shame I don't really care about this race

And because I don't I couldn't be bothered to save two softs for ol reliable (which would have the medium be netural here), so I'm going default AI strat

We stay ahead at the start, but Theo leads

Norris had a disaster at the start, making it a McLaren 19-20
(better get used to the back with Maloney turning up soon)

Lap 4: the pack catches up and Alonso gets ahead of Theo

But it took tyres to do it

Lap 5: Alonso takes the lead

Lap 8: Tsunoda decides to leave some of his front wing at the turn 1 barriers

Lap 12: Theo gets the lead bck, the fight begins

lap 15: the fight is between Carlos and the Red Bulls, Theo is clear

never mind Alonso attacked again

Lap 18: Alonso boxes and is now p8, threat gone

Lap 23: Leclerc turns in on Lawson, both have damage

Carlos pits and emerges P8, right behind Albon

Lap 24: Theo pits and is now the one that's P8 behind Albon

But we got a very nice double team on him

Lap 29: our next target is Stroll

Lap 32: Carlos is ahead, Theo is having a few issues getting by

Lap 34: bye Stroll

Lap 44: Carlos pits, P6, just ahead of Stroll, only Theo ahead hasn't pit again

Lap 45: Theo does the same except he's P5 ahead of Stroll

Lap 51: we went from 1-2 to 5-6, see why you shouldn't trust default strats (except at Imola)

Lap 55: Tsunoda bins it behind the wall on the last turn

A very convenient VSC end allowed a powerful attack against Verstappen, 4-5

Lap 56: bearman bins it, safety car til the end

Theo managed to get ahead of Russell, 3-5

Hulkenberg wins as Theo does a weird dance

Very impressive from Hulk

F1 2026 standings

Haas' Ritomo Miyata is F2 champion

2027 regs

ATG Increasing Difficulty (team 3 - Mercedes, hard)

So, Mercedes now, our car is... yeah

Our engineers are meh

Technical staff look pretty good

There's a problem...

We have lots of affiliates

[unborn stratus]

And now:

Rosetta Gambling Award Ceremony 2026

Driver of the season F1: Ollie Bearman
Ollie Bearman finished third in F1, ahead of championship favourite Hulkenberg, he stepped up when Hulkenberg couldn't and showed Haas was a member of the big three

Driver of the season F2: Dennis Hauger
Hauger just got his Mojo back, it's a shame he's giving it up this year, he's the first driver to retire as a GOAT of the save

Driver of the season F3: Rafael Camara
His 2026 wasn't as good as his 2025, but it was still really good, not only did he put in strong performances but he was a great mentor to Pulling, even then he didn't let her beat him much

Biggest flops of 2026
5. Luke Browning
Luke was the support to Fittipaldi in Campos' championship campaign... and support he did not - aside from Monaco he was nowhere

4. Nico Hulkenberg
So much for a championship defence, Bearman had to do most of the work at Haas, only 3 wins and the same number of DNFs, Bearman's 1 win was enough to rank him higher

3. Joseph Loake
Another Campos driver, but Loake was expected to lead the charge... instead he was at the bottom of the pack, Australia was his only real achievement

2. Nolan Siegel
The GOAT of the save going into 2026, now P8 - Zak O'Sullivan is now better than him, he just donated his rating for some reason

1. Joao Rocha
He made Colapinto look good... that's all you need to know

[unborn stratus]

And now: Rosetta Gambling ranks every lineup

In pre-season testing, F2 still proved themselves as being faster than F1, although that gap has narrowed down, especially with one of F2's titans Hauger now out of the sport, here's how they all rack up:

31. VCARB
Get used to seeing this duo at the bottom a while - despite Antonelli's best efforts Lawson keeps the team firmly down

30: PHM AIX F2
Nyman was a questionable promotion choice, Stanek also isn't the best, they're about as good as each other

29. Aston Martin
Don't get me wrong, George is fine... Stroll is the problem - it's not as one-sided as 2025 yet, but another year of the same and it will be

28. Campos F2
Ah Franco... and he's the one tipped to beat Wasem, a questionable lineup, like all these at the bottom I guess

27. McLaren
The McLaren gambit isn't set to work, Maloney is a clear downgrade to Piastri, and he's expected to trail behind Norris all season

26. Rodin F2
How is Rocha still here? Marti has a 79.07% chance of coming out on top, but you may as well round it to 100 (the third most one-sided matchup in 2027)

25. MP F3
This is by no means the worst lineup, although Virtanen is carrying that statement on her back all season, expected to beat the Red Bull boys combined

24. Campos F3
7 years after his grandson race sin F1, Emerson Fittipaldi's son race sin F3... uh okay - we're hoping for good things from him, but Al Qubaisi may be the one to come out on top, we don't know

23. ART F3
Montoya and Van Hoepen are both strong (with Montoya the better one) but Munoz? You can do better ART

22. Prema F3
Prep a bed for Leon at the end of the year, he's coming in with serious back pain, and that's saying something considering Boya and Wurz are... okay

21. VAR F3
Who's Bell? We probably won't know, Bedrin is a clear winner and Loake a clear loser, don't expect anything interesting from Bell then

20: DAMS
The most one sided matchup, you may as well call this Team Sztuka - Beganovic is questionable

19. Hitech F3
It's a similar situation to VAR's F3 team, clear winner in Esterson and clear loser in Durksen - but their winner is better

18. Sauber
A defending champion and Piastri, looks strong, Piastri entered God Mode at the end of 2026, but this is averaged across the whole save, and in early year they didn't do well

17. PHM AIX F3
It's a triple rookie lineup for this team, no one knows how they'll fare

16. Jenzer
They lost their titans Camara and Pulling, but they're still trying, they have the good, the bad and the rookie (in that order)

15. ART F2
Siegel is still an incredible pick, should work on Watson however

14. Invicta
Mini isn't bad, but Crawford is a good teammate destroyer and he's set to continue

13. MP F2
Bortoleto and Tramnitz are both okay, good F2 picks, pretty equal footing, it'll be interesting to see how it ends

12. Rodin F3
Two rookies, and the rising star of 2026 Pulling to mentor them, what could go wrong?

11. Williams
To many surprises, Bottas appears to be number 1 at Williams, but Albon is also great

10. Trident F2
Foster is Mid, but get Lindblad an F1 seat already, why did Mclaren go Maloney over him?

9. Mercedes
Two hungry youngsters that drive cars fast, what more could you want? Both are equal level, too

8. Hitech F2
Aron returns and O'Sullivan stays, both can be pretty powerful if they put their minds to it, but O'Sullivan a lot moreso

7. Red Bull
2027 is sign a questionable rookie to a top team year

6. Ferrari
Leclerc is still the golden boy at Ferrari, which is saying something considering Lewis Hamilton is in the other car

5. Alpine
Team Tsunoda sees a questionable rookie join them, does that mean they're a top team?

4. Trident F3
Goethe is one of the fastest drivers right now, and Mansell and Fornaroli are great too, formidable team

3. Prema F2
Big improvement from last year, two F3 promotions that are deserved for sure

2. Haas
Bearman stays! Of course Haas would keep the best driver in F1 around, especially if they want another championship

1. VAR F2
With Hauger's retirement, Barnard is the fastest active driver, Fittipaldi is pretty good too

And lastly, attention briefly turns to 2028, as there are a few high-profile seats to fight for

[unborn stratus]

It's Bahrain time - we look like a midfield team for now and KIMI? Also L Q2 for Hulkenberg

Mercedes is great with their tyres and Martins is far back so I'm experimenting with him, how well will a one stopper work?

Oh yeah, we're running a 2025 look from now on

We maintain position at the start, fighting with my old teams, in the lower middle of the pack :/

Lap 2: Albon and Sainz double team Victor, P17 for him

Lap 3: being on mediums to everyone else's softs means Victor isn't making progress, in fact he's struggling to defend off Bottas, then the Alpines

Lap 5: Isack is past Hulkenberg, P11

Lap 6: Isack continues to make moves, he's past Maloney for P10

Lap 7: Stroll is Isack's for challenge, the fight for P9 is tough

Meanwhile Maloney is already P16, what happened there

lap 9: Isack wins the position, P9

Meanwhile Victor isn't worries about Bottas anymore, Maloney and Albon have dropped back to his reach

Lap 10: Here's how F1 is looking after 10 laps:
Norris and Verstappen are fighting for the lead

Just behind them there's a big pack of Hamilton, Russell, Antonelli, Leclerc and Vesti

Isack is just behind, now in P8, not having any fights currently

For the final two points it's bwteen Lawson (who is about to pit), bearman, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Piastri and Sainz

Futher back Albon is being chased by Maloney, Victor and Bottas want in on the action too

Tsunoda is chilling behind, and Doohan even further back

Lap 12: payback for lap 1, as Victor and Maloney double team Albon, Victor now P14

Lap 13: Bottas also got up to P15 so Victor hasn't lost him yet

Lap 14: Isack caught up to the pack in front after a few pit, he's got Vesti for P6

Lap 21: Isack pits, p11, ahead of Piastri

But Piastri pushed him wide after the firs DRS straight, letting him and Hulkenberg past

Lap 25: Victor pits, P19, no one around

Lap 27: Isack is P9, him and Hulkenberg are getting past a lot together

Meanwhile Antonelli is P1

Lap 33: with a little help from Vesti, Isack cleared Hulkenberg and P6 is secure

Lap 34: Victor caught up to Bottas before he pit again for P10, this strat is actually working pretty well

Lap 36: Isack pits again, P11 again, only Antonelli and Russell in p1 and 2 need to pit again (and Doohan P19)

Lap 37: Vesti easily cleared Victor, who is now fighting lawson for P9, that VCARB is fast this year

Lap 42: Isack and Bearman caught up to Victor and Lawson, I let Isack past as he should be able to clear Lawson easily and it drops his Bearman attack

And clear easily he does

Lap 44: Russell had dead tyres so Isack got past him too, P7

But Victor struggled to get past, Lawson and Bearman didn't, he's down to p11

Lap 46: Victor attacks to get past Russell, also joining Bearman past Lawson, P9

Meanwhile Isack has his sights set on Hamilton and Vesti, battle for P5

lap 47: Hamilton fumbles, Isack gets past but Vesti is clear, P6

Isack does catch up, though

Lap 48: Isack clears Vesti, P5 secured, P4 is quite a bit ahead

Lap 52: Victor and Bearman catch up to Hamilton and Vesti, 4-5 is doable

I say 4-5 because Norris pit again so Isack is P4

Lap 56: Norris got ahead of Hamilton and Vesti, Victor got ahead of Hamilton, Vesti next

Leaving everyone in shock, Antonelli wins

[unborn stratus]

It was a really nice race for us too, Mercedes is back
Yep Isack podium, he caught up to Leclerc at the end

Starting championships of 2027

[unborn stratus]

Saudi time, Q2 was weird again, but Victor P5 start this time is tremendous

This is the Saudi strat, yes we start on hards, trust the process

Doohan asserts his position by locking up turn 4

We gain a place each at the start, Victor P4 Isack P14

Actually make that two places for Isack, getting past Piastri at the start of lap 2

Lap 3: there's a four-way battle for first, with four different teams - Antonelli, Verstappen, Hamilton and Victor

Lap 5: a tuddle between Hamilton and Antonelli sees Victor slip by both to P2

Lap 6 is officially led by a Mercedes, for the first time in 3 years

Isack is still P13, Hulkenberg can hold him back with Sainz DRS

Lap 8: Victor fumbles and allows Verstappen to clear

Lap 9: Leclerc bumps Norris into the wall and out of the race, Sainz hits Norris and goes out too, safety car

Because we have the last box and everyone pit, Victor is down in P8 now :/

Isack P12, Stroll jumped him (and Sainz and Norris were in front)

We hold position at the restart unfortunately

Lap 18: finally something happens, we gain a place each, Victor P7 Isack P11

Lap 20: Lawson attacks, getting past Victor and Hamilton, and the lead is far out of reach, classic FIA screw over

Lap 21: Victor loses them both and Isack gets past, terrible race for him

lap 28: Isack pits, emerges P17, which is dead last minus Doohan

Lap 29: the last pit box really sucks, Albon somehow jumped Victor, he's dead last

Lap 33: despite pitting early, other pitters aren't helping our position much, Isack P10 Victor P15

Just as i say that, out goes Doohan

Lap 38: we make some well overdue gains, Isack P8 Victor P12

Lap 41: Maloney hits Leclerc right under a bridge, convenient - red flag, Maloney out

At the restart, Stroll gets past Isack, down to P9, Victor P12

Lap 45: both of them get past Vesti so Isack still has P8 at least

Lap 46: Vesti is struggling, even Victor got by for P10

lap 49: Hulkenberg cleared Victor and now he has a lot of threat behind him

Victor caught up on the last lap but Bottas passed both

Max Verstappen wins

[unborn stratus]

Honestly this race sucked for us, net worse off on points to where we started, great job Isack trying to salvage that

At leats we didn't go down

The next race will be Miami - the data issues I've been having were due to a partially shuffled calendar than wanted to do Baku next, but it didn't like it, so I moved Australia back and it didn't like either, so I picked a random track Miami and that worked, so we're rolling with it

[unborn stratus]

I think it's a good time for Miami, which is still a sprint, Antonelli sets the pace as we get double SQ3

It's a toss up between light softs and light mediums, but because we have great tyre preservation I'll opt for softs

Great start for us, Isack P4 Victor P7

Lap 3: Isack has a fight going with Hamilton for a sprint podium

Meanwhile Victor lost Leclerc and has to fend off Lawson and Norris

Lap 7: since Hamilton can't clear Isack, Ferrari give Leclerc a go

But this results in the duo clearing Hamilton

Lap 11: Isack clears Leclerc, P3 secured? He may catch up again if he attacks

Nevermind, Vesti gets past and catches up to Isack

Lap 12: Vesti clears, Hamilton attacks and catches up, oh dear

Lap 14: it gets worse, somehow Norris gets ahead too

But Victor clears Lawson and secures P8

Lap 15: Doohan hits the barrier, red flag

Lap 18: Isack is P4 after the restart, Victor P6

And Victor climbs down again, including Lawson stealing P7 on the last turn

Max Verstappen wins

It could be worse, it was okay actually

The main quali didn't go as well... wait Doohan isn't last?
DisHAASter

Ol reliable time

Isack got up to P10 at the start, Victor P11 but that's because of Isack so it's okay

Make that P9 for Isack

Lap 3: Isack and Vesti gets past Sainz, turning a fight for P9 into a fight for P8

Lap 4: Victor also gets past Sainz, double points again

Lap 5: the Mercs double team Vesti on the main straight, 8-9 now

And that is secured by them catching up to Norris

Lap 7: Russell (who Norris got in front of) and Vesti are clear now, we're alone together

But not for long, Sainz catches up

But not for long, he fumbled the DRS and Vesti is past him

Oh and vesti catches up

Lap 12: Vesti goes off into the distance, we cleared Sainz but Bearman helped him back (my old gangs plotting against me)

Lap 14: Bearman is slow, not really a threat (moreso the Haas is slow, Bearman is one of the the fastest drivers in F1)

Lap 22: Isack boxes, emerges P11, behind Bearman

Thank you Williams for holding Sainz back

Lap 23: Victor boxes, P11, behind Isack

Lap 25: lawson is doing a one stopper, boxed betwene the Mercs, Isack clear easily Victor fighting for P10

Lap 27: Lawson attacks, he doesn't clear Victor but does catch up to Isack

Lap 30: Maloney is having a horrible time, getting lapped by many, including us - this process screwed over Victor, Lawson and Isack fight amongst themselves now

Nevermind, he caught up

Lap 38: like last time, Isack boxes and emerges P11 behind Bearman

Lap 39: Victor boxes, emerges P12, Bottas ahead (how did Bottas undercut? He was never remotely close)

Lap 46: Victor had no business stuck behind Bottas that long, but he's finally past

Isack is in P8 trying to take P7 from Vesti

Lap 49: it happens, Leclerc next

Well that was quick

Up next is Hamilton and Lawson again

Also worth mentioning at this point Maloney was lapped by Doohan, if I was McLaren I'd just park him already

Lap 52: Lawson and Isack pass Hamilton, P4 and 5

Lap 54: Victor is back in the points, chasing Leclerc for P9, his final stint was terrible

Well that was quick (Victor is the ahead car on the right)

Final lap: final charge, Isack clears Lawson for P4... and Victor does the same for P5, what a final stint

In Miami fashion, someone has to run out of fuel before the line - Russell is the victim this time

Max Verstppen wins

What a race for us that was
(Russell onwards weren't lapped, it just triggered a red flag, Maloney only lapped once... by everyone)

The Red Bull teams extend their lead... may be a two seasoner this one

[unborn stratus]

I fixed the Baku issue (and hopefully the Australia one too, it's different), so that'll be next

[unborn stratus]

Correction - the Baku issue is not fixed, I have no idea what is going on here

[unborn stratus]

The next race is going to be China because Baku crashes, Australia crashes, Japan crashes, China doesn't

[unborn stratus]

Let's do China, double SQ3, nice

Light softs are good for China

Doohan seals his fate turn 1

Our start however is pretty nice - Victor P6 Isack P7

Lap 3: Maloney just fully turns in on Russell, both to the back

Lap 4: Norris let the top 4 get away, so we're fighting him for P5

Lap 5: Victor attacks, getting pas Norris and catching up to Lawson and Leclerc

Isack does the same anyway, like a chad

Lap 11: Victor has cleared Lawson, P3 secured

Isack is still trying to clear Lawson to secure P4

Lap 14: Isack catches up to Victor to use his DRS and they go off together

Max Verstappen wins

And what a nice sprint that was for us

Isack had a pretty bad Q2... but Victor had a pretty great Q3

I'm gonna run different strats here, Isack can go light to save tyres as he passes slower cars, then attack to pass faster ones, Victor can keep up at the front the whole time ideally

To much surprise, Victor had the betetr start, gaining a place to P3, Isack stays P13

Lap 4: Norris atatcks, getitng into P2, Victor back to P4

Lap 5: Verstappen fumbles, Victor gets back into P3

Meanwhile isack and Piastri double team Hulkenberg to get P12

And then isack gets past Piastri, P11

Lap 8: Victor gets past Norris and clings onto Antonelli for P2

Lap 11: Isack gets past Sainz and Russell, Sainz is unable to get past Russell to hits him off, Isack P8 (also got past Lawson)

Lap 13: Antonelli's tyres are dying, Verstappen is catching up, Victor quickly gets past and pins Verstappen to Antonelli, crisis averted and lead secured for now, this is a season of shockers

Lap 14: Antonelli pits, verstappen attacks, easy clear

Lap 16: Victor pits, P7, Antonelli undercuts but he's on hards

Lap 19: Norris, who pitted earlier, managed to catch up to Victor

Lap 22: Isack is last to pit, P9, Lawson undercut

Lap 27: Isack gets past Lawson, and also Vesti

Also Victor is now securely in P2, Verstappen held Norris back

Never mind, he catches up

But at least Verstappen also caught up to Antonelli

Lap 31: Isack gets past both Ferraris

Meanhwile, Victor has unfortunately lost the top 2

Lap 34: thanks to dying tyres, Victor replaces Antonelli in the top 2, for now

And Isack pits, emerging just behind Vesti in P9

Lap 35: one sided battle, even on cold tyres

Lap 39: Victor had a pit issue, P3, top 2 far ahead and Leclerc being the threat behind

Actually nevermind he's no threat

I might add, that behind Leclerc is Isack, so it's basically a 3-4 again

Lap 47: Norris catches up to Isack and challenges for P4

Lap 52: Norris manages to get clear somehow

Meanwhile, Victor catches up to Antonelli thanks to a nice tyre advantage

Lap 54: Isack attacks and clears Norris himself

Lap 55: Vesti gets rear ended by Piastri

Max Verstappen wins again

And we're 2-4, what an amazing weekend

A one-seasoner may be possible after all, we have two great drivers and our competitors only have one

[unborn stratus]

The usual three crash, so Imola next

[unborn stratus]

Woe, Imola be upon ye

Impressive for us, but also impressive for the VCARBS

Q2 was wet

Imola is a special track because the best strategy is the default, which means AI know it and things may get hard

Victor has a great start and makes it a 2-3 for us

Lap 2: Russell in the gravel, down to P20

Lap 4: Verstappen got away, but we're far ahead of the VCARBs at least

Never mind, they caught up quick

But Vesti spins, to the back he goes

Lap 6: Albon's turn at the back, this track is hard

Lap 12: Isack was sacrificed to fight the VCARBs, as Victor catches up to Verstappen

Never mind, they're too fast

Lap 28: Victor pits, emerging P4 ahea dof verstappen who also pit

Lap 29: Isack pits, P5, just behind them

Lap 30: verstappen gets clear of them both

Lap 31: Antonelli pit and emerges P4, we're 2-3 again

Lap 32: Antonelli catches up quickly and it's literally no contest

Lap 36: Russell tries to overtake Sainz, but is met by them hitting each other

This sent Russell into the wall, but he's still in

And it's Antonelli that wins

We still did okay, at least

We reduced the gap to Red Bull, but not VCARB

The usual 3 (Baku, Australia, Japan) keep crashing, so I've moved them to the very back for now, and for the next race we stay in Italy, with Monza

[unborn stratus]

It's Monza time - where Victor was Mr. Friday and Isack was Mr. Saturday, out car isn't built for this track so colour me surprised

Monza go-to is strategy A with a more aggressive hard

Isack is P2 due to a terrible start form Hamilton

Meanwhile Victor is P4 b his own doing

Lap 3: the state of affairs is Isack battling Vertsappen and Leclerc for the lead

While Victor has a battle with Vesti for P6

Lap 7: Isack gets pushed off allowing hamilton past, and eventually Antonelli too

Lap 9: Victor clears Vesti to join the big pack at the front

Lap 11: Leclerc has damage and we can't get past, this is troublesome for us

On the next lap we boxed him in on the main straight so he couldn't reovertake

Lap 15: as we catch up to Hamilton, so does Vesti

The typical duo are far off into the distance

Lap 21: Hamilton fumbled and got triple teamed into oblivion

Even Norris and Leclerc are past

Lap 26: Isack pit, P4, overcutting Vesti

Lap 27: Victor pit, P5, just behind the duo

Meanwhile Verstappen has a nice lead at the front

Lap 30: we are slow, Vesti cleared and Norris caught up

Lap 32: Vesti spins, letting us and Norris pass and clear

Lap 46: for some reason, Doohan pit again, being the only soft runner he has fastest lap, crazy

You'll never guess what, Max Verstappen wins

Never the less, great result for us

We gain on Racing Bulls, but not Red Bull

[unborn stratus]

Next race: Spain

[unborn stratus]

It's Spain time - Vesti is starting form the pits, Isack is starting pretty high, Antonelli pole

We expect rain, and Victor will go aggressive to cut through the field before it arrives

Isack jumps up to P2 at the start, Victor P11

Lap 3: Victor continues the charge, reaching P8

But Isack has lost out pretty badly to the usual duo

Lap 7: Verstappen clears Antonelli, allowing Isack to catch up with a little help from Leclerc

And Victor is close behind in P6 already, but he has a pit planned

Lap 12: Victor pits and emerges P16, some other drivers will need to pit, but the climb needs to begin again it seems

Lap 13: Antonelli attacks and clears Isack and Leclerc

Lap 14: Leclerc pits and he gets undercut by Victor, who is presently P12

Lap 15: the plan was to pin Leclerc to Tsunoda, then he locked up (he had a tyre in the reply, I caught the one frame he didn't have one)

Lap 18: verstappen pit and Victor is holding him back, impressive