Brought to you by TJ13 Courtroom Reporter & Crime Analyst: Adam Macdonald (@adamac39)

The Spanish Grand Prix this year had a Noah’s ark feel to it, just without the torrent of rain to make things interesting.  With so many teammates coming home in 2 by 2 fashion it left me pondering the question of how hard these drivers were being pushed this year?  If the car is 80% of the input to final product, the 20% of the driver can only change the result so much.  Did we enjoy seeing cars coming home in this fashion (with a few notable exceptions of course)?

On the Up

Just like in the real World Championship, this round saw a new leader of the pack for the TheJudge13 league.  AJKL rose 16 positions to take the top spot on 445 points.  An all correct top 4, as well as 9^th and 10^th contributed to the strong showing of 70% accuracy.  It’s all to play for at the top!

6/10 picked correctly was impressive

Bull whipping up the league

The staggering climb onto the top page by The Bull Whipper means the Spanish GP will be one to remember for the team.  Rising 102 places to sit just above a very tight pack means the Monaco GP will be even more tightly contested than it could have been previously.  Predicting the midfield battle well was where the points were gained here, which will be the hardest thing to do in Monte Carlo, so no rest for the wicked here.

Up the TJ13 league the team goes…

When 40% is not good enough…

Dropping 33 places to 79^th place is Team KILLGREW only managing to predict 3 correct finishes here.  In previous years, 40% accuracy would have been enough to expect to not fall too far and perhaps even hold station in the league.  The nosedive this weekend is testament to the continued strength of this F1 community.  Better luck in Monaco!

Monaco is another day

Nobody saw it coming

The first points of the season for Romain Grosjean was something few had predicted.  Although it had been entered in our ‘punt on a grunt’ section for the Odds Analysis, there cannot have been many who thought the Frenchman genuinely had a chance of bringing the car home.

Furthermore, the McLaren’s continued lack of form will be a worry for many.  There are many fans of the Woking team who will be expecting results sooner rather than later.  2014 could be another long season for them.

Food for thought

With overtaking being notoriously difficult in Monaco, if either of the Mercedes starts outside the top 2 it could make so amazingly interesting racing.  This coupled with the fact the circuit characteristics of Monte Carlo will play into the hands of the RB10, it presents an opportunity for some bravery in the predictions at the front.

Furthermore, it could mean a top 6 finish for Grosjean building on the strong showing in Barcelona.  The lack of race pace and straight line speed will not hurt the Lotus as much there, making it one car to watch out for.

Remember when…

In this section there will be a question each week to test your memory from GPs gone by. The idea is not to look it up but see if you can remember it first!

Due to the strange nature of the tyres at the 2013 Spanish GP, one driver lead a Grand Prix for the first time ever and went on to take the fastest lap of the race.  Which driver was this?

(Answer will be posted in the next Predictor summary)

Last question’s answer

The question was: Tyre degradation has always been an issue at the UBS Chinese GP.  How many pit stops were there in total in the 2013 race?

Answer: The 2013 edition of the race saw 57 stops in total.  This year saw 12 less, with a total of 45 showing how much harder the 2014 rubber is.