Brought to you by TJ13 Courtroom Reporter & Crime Analyst: Adam Macdonald (@adamac39)
For my part, what an incredible race weekend it was. The first time to Monza for me, it lived up to every expectation I had and a whole lot more. The history oozed out of every part of the circuit complex as the racing on-track was more than enough to excite even the most impartial motorsport fan. In the end it was the expected result, but there must have been a few hearts in mouths after Hamilton’s poor start.
The award for ‘saying the correct thing’ this weekend goes to Daniel Ricciardo, when he stated he still thinks he will be able to be within 50 points at Abu Dhabi. Not even the Colgate kid’s blinding smile can pull that one off. So how did the on-track action affect the results…
On the Up
Climbing 30 places, onto the first page, into 17th page was Replicants Racing. 6 of the top 10 predicted correctly, as well as fastest lap, meant a great weekend for the team. Now for Singapore which will be a lot more difficult to predict – good luck!
Nico for pole…hmmm
0-60 in the space of a weekend
A 60 place gain (which I think is a TJ13 record) was thanks to scoring on all drivers in the top 10, apart from Alonso. Pole position and fastest lap helped to round off an incredible improvement for the team!
A possible TheJudge13 record
An expert view
Apart from the little faith that was shown in Felipe Massa, Andy Priaulx’s prediction was entirely sensible. Alonso’s retirement hampered what could have been even better than the 63% accuracy achieved.
Expert analysis saves the day
Nobody saw it coming
Alonso’s retirement understandably surprised many as he suffered a mechanical failure at, from the perspective of Ferrari, the worst possible place. If brought to an end an unhappy tenure for LdM as he has subsequently announced his impending resignation (read he was pushed).
Another result that seemed to scupper many a prediction was the Nico Hulkenberg’s poor race. The little reported damaged floor meant a weekend wasted for the German as the Force India team continue to lose ground to McLaren.
Food for thought
According to many, the Singapore race will be a ‘Red Bull’ race with its high downforce and lower power requirements. Surely the last time we could see the beaming smile from Ricciardo? Or can Vettel silence the critics at the night time race?
Their low downforce car was well suited to the Monza circuit, so logic would dictate that the McLarens will struggle in Singapore…
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!
Lewis Hamilton joined the club of drivers to win the Italian GP with two different teams. Who was the last driver to do so, in which years and with which teams?
(Answer will be posted in the next Predictor summary)
Last question’s answer
The question was: When was the last time a Belgian GP was won from outside the top two qualifying positions?
Answer: Kimi Raikkonen won the 2009 edition of the race, having qualified sixth he scythed his way through the field. Much of this was due to the KERS boost on the Ferrari, which few other teams ran in 2009, before it was banned for 2010.
Replicants Racing – the key is in the name. They’ve submitted the same prediction for the last eleven races, and are 17th! Now that’s what I call skill. I’m tempted to give up.
I’ve been tempted to use the ‘power of the crowd’ on some events and just use the ‘fanvotes’. But usually I’m pretty close to this anyway.
This was the first round I scored pretty good. I hate this game 😉 I think I choose to much with the heart. Got to use my brain more 🙂
Ahh a lost chance for me sadly. At the last minute, I swapped McLaren and Red Bull – thinking the lack of degradation I’d been hearing about would leave them unable to pass their way forwards. If I’d have kept it as I had it (I foresaw Massa’s luck like in 2010 to claim 3rd), then I’d have scored 225 points (only Perez for Alonso being wrong), and led the whole round! Please tell me there was no prize for winning the individual Monza round…..
Not to mention vaulting up to near the top of the TJ13 leaderboard!