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

The non-event left all of those who bothered to interrupt their Sunday with the race disappointed and confused.  The lack of union between the relevant parties in Formula One was once again evident as Pirelli were forced to guess what the asphalt of the track would be. Without this knowledge they can hardly be left with the blame that they opted for the most conservative choice given the public dressing down they were dealt after Silverstone 2013.

As the 21 cars raced around the new circuit there was a distinct chill of F1 of yesteryear.  The spooky looking theme park in the background only added to this effect.  If anything, this race should be used as a reminder to all of how far the sport has come over recent years.  Other than that, my tweet below summed up my thoughts of the weekend’s racing.

The first race in a long time I wouldn't have been bothered to miss. #F1 regression, not progression – both politically and the racing

— Adam Macdonald (@Adamac39) October 12, 2014

In the league, AJKL became the first team to pass the 1,000 point mark sitting comfortably at the top.  The Bull Whipper moved up 6, to take 2^nd place, with little other movement back to 7^th LorenzoDL83.  All to play for now then…

On the Up

Alexander Racing moved up 20 places to sit in 65^th position much thanks to a correctly predicted podium.  Rosberg’s lock-up into turn 1 would have been of concern, but thankfully the might of Mercedes fought back to secure 2^nd place for the German.

4 out of 5

With 58% prediction accuracy and 107 points overall Kimifor WDC soared up 44 places to break into the top 100.  Had Massa not opted for the odd strategy of starting on the harder compound, therefore forcing himself into a 2-stop race, then maybe it would have been even better.

The only way is up

Mystras did not enjoy the weekend as much as Bernie’s back pocket did, slipping 31 places to rest in 121^st place.  Only the Ferrari of Alonso predicted correctly led to just 25 points after a lot of faith was shown in the Red Bull drivers here.  Hopefully for them, the long straight won’t hurt them so badly in Austin in 3 weeks’ time.

Nobody saw it coming

Any form of excitement from the weekend….but seriously.  Even the one thing that nobody would have foreseen on race day, the Rosberg lockup into turn 1, proved to be ineffective at changing the race result.  The biggest surprise of the weekend ended up being Felipe Massa not making it out of Q1, which combined with the poor tyre choice made it one to forget for the Brazilian.

Food for thought

The news that Vettel will not qualify in Austin means it will be a difficult weekend for the German. To predict a repeat of his Abu Dhabi 2012 heroics would be more than even those with the wildest imagination would conjure up.  Given the main overtaking zone is the long back straight, after the tight and twisty turns, it could be another miserable afternoon for the Renault teams.

With two years of racing in Austin, it still surprises me that we have not seen a collision in the run up to turn 1.  Could this be the year?

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!

Which was the last inaugural race that was not won by either Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel?

(Answer will be posted in the next Predictor summary)

Last question’s answer

The question was: Who was the last Japanese winner of the Japanese GP and in which year?

Answer: Masahiro Hasemi won the 1975 Japanese GP, although this race was not part of the Championship.  Well done to F1esty who correctly answered this.

Hasemi seen racing here in 1976