sofaF1

Now as regular readers will know I've had the odd dabble with F1 Intro Sequences over the years and clearly there will be a new one for next year. But it looks like I'm going to have to hang up my hat as somebody else has posted up on the internet a suggestion for the BBC for next year. And it's really really well done:



The BBC should just put a cheque in the post. It feels totally on the money.

Why was Schumacher so dominant in his career?

He won only 1 fewer race than Alan Prost and Ayrton Senna put together.

Was this because he was better than everyone who has ever driven in Formula 1?

Or was he simply uncontested during his strongest years?

Are we rating the current drivers too harshly because we are comparing them to Schumacher?

Are the teams suddenly more competitive now he's gone?

Or was Schumacher simply lucky?

Over to you.

Labels: Debate

Bernie's scheme to introduce medals instead of points is ludicrous. It's so ludicrous that I'm not even sure if the whole thing's a joke or not. Last year, for perhaps one of the few times in history, a driver won the championship not having won the most races. For this reason alone, it appears, the rules have to be changed. I'm reminded of the vast amount of rule changes introduced to try to stop Schumacher winning (which we're still suffering from). The rule-makers really need to have a long-term view, and stop being so reactionary. Perhaps the medal situation will run alongside points, but even so the whole process makes one element of Formula 1 that is relatively simple more complex, for no good reason. Last year we had one of the closest season's of racing in the history of the sport, why should we change it?

http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/72167

Since the SofaF1 Championship was first launched the rules and scoring have altered slightly from season to season, much like the actual F1 championship in fact. So with only 139 days to go till the 2009 season i thought it would be a good idea to get the ball rolling and canvas for ideas on how we could improve the competition, if indeed that is possible.

Nick has already mentioned the double counting of the championship predictions which were made with no real information back before the season began. I personally favour keeping this aspect of the scoring as a chance to put your money where your mouth is so to speak and follow personal preferences, gut feel or interpretations of winter testing form. And besides i've already worked out who is on top of my list for 2009.

We already factor in the pole sitter, both for the championship and each race but what about a bonus point/points for a fastest lap contender?

Or what about a wildcard race winner picked pre season, a driver who has never won an F1 race before, but would be worth a couple of bonus points if they did win during the season?

Or a contructors title element to the championship?

Anyway, please let us know what you think.

Well, what a race, what a season. I personally think its great for the sport that the title wasn't decided until the last sector of the last lap of the last Grand Prix and even then both camps thought they had won it.

So the final race, it was wet then dry, Massa led but Hamilton was going to win the championship then Hamilton slipped back and it was all about Massa then it was Hamilton again then it rained again, then it was Massa who crossed the line as champion until Hamilton managed to follow Vettel past Glock on grooves and take the 5th place he needed for the championship.

I'm sure all you really want to know about is what happened here, but first I must apologise for the slight delay in releasing the results, just wanted to make sure Hamilton didn't get penalised for some technical irregularity and stripped of his title.

So, Massa on pole, 2 points to all but Nick, Massa winning the race gave 4 points to all but Alex, who only managed 1. Alex, Nick, Fourstar and myself managed 1 each for Alonso, GrifF1 had 2 for Raikkonen, whilst Alex, Nick and myself had to settle for 1 each.

Hamilton gave Nick and myself 1 further point each, Igor took 2 for Kovalainen, GrifF1 just 1. Vettel gave GrifF1 the last point.

So Round 18

1 GrifF1 10
2 Bearded Stew 9
3 Igor 8
4 Nick 7
4 Fourstar 7
6 Alex 5


Which would have left the championship looking like this…

1 Fourstar 111
2 Nick 104
3 Igor 90
4 Alex 88
5 Bearded Stew 86
5 GrifF1 86


... If we hadn't picked our championship contenders way back in March ... and who are worth double points!

So for the Championship

Hamilton took 7 pole positions versus 6 for Massa, giving 4 points each to Alex, Nick, GrifF1 and myself, Hamilton taking the championship was worth 8 points to Nick, Fourstar and Igor, with just 2 for Alex, GrifF1 and myself. Raikkonen gave 2 points each to Nick, Fourstar and Igor. Massa did better than most expected but still gave 2 points each to Nick, Fourstar and GrifF1. Alonso with a good run towards the end hands 4 points to Nick and Fourstar and 2 each to Alex and myself. Heidfeld down in 6th was good for 4 points for Fourstar and 2 points for GrifF1 and myself. Igor took the last 2 points for Kubica.

So what does that look like …

1 Nick 20
1 Fourstar 20
3 Igor 12
4 Bearded Stew 10
4 GrifF1 10
6 Alex 8


So after an epic season the result you have all been waiting for …drum roll, fanfare, cue anthem…

SofaF1 Championship 2008

1 Fourstar 131
2 Nick 124
3 Igor 102
4 Bearded Stew 96
4 Alex 96
4 GrifF1 96

Congratulations Fourstar - 2008 SofaF1 Champion!

Thank you all for participating, hope to see you again next year!

Just so you see how important it all is here is a picture of the current trophy!

Either Nick or Fourstar will be holding this aloft by the end of the day*



*the actual prize giving may be a bit later than today as it goes!

This is it. The show down. After Free Practice 1 and 2 Lewis seems to be keeping things calm and collected but Massa and Alonso seem to be on it.

Massa always seems to go well at his home circuit. Hamilton must be asking, as the Happy Mondays used to say, are you twistin my melon man? It's all mental from here on in. Massa continues to be the underdog with everything to gain and nothing to lose. Lewis is under incredible mental strain. The question is... Can he finish the race?

In our own championship the situation is something like this:

1 Fourstar 104
2 Nick 97
3 Alex 83
4 Igor 82
5 Bearded Stew 77
6 GrifF1 76

Nick will have to go some to overhaul Fourstar at this stage. There is a rather close battle shaping up between Igor and me and between Stew and GrifF1. So there is everything to play for.

Also after this race we will know the final standings in the championship.

A final reminder of the rules. For this race we want your predictions of pole and the top 8. And as usual you will get 2 points for every prediction you get right and 1 point for every near miss (except on Pole where you're either right or wrong). You also get 2 extra bonus points for predicting the winner (so the winner gives you 4 points, but putting the person who comes second in the winner slot only gives you 1 point).

This is all as usual.

But at the beginning of the season we all predicted who would make up the top 8 of the championship and which driver would score the most polls. The rules for allocating points work in the same way. But the whole score for this is doubled.

Clear? No. Oh well never mind.

Just for ease of access here is what everyone said about the championship. Man how wrong were some of these predictions?

Alex

Poles: Hamilton

1. Raikkonen
2. Hamilton
3. Kovalainen
4. Massa
5. Rosberg
6. Alonso
7. Kubica
8. Nakajima

Stew

Poles: Hamilton

1. Raikkonen
2. Hamilton
3. Kovalainen
4. Massa
5. Rosberg
6. Alonso
7. Heidfeld
8. Piquet


Nick

Poles: Hamilton

1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonen
3. Massa
4. Kovalainen
5. Alonso
6. Rosberg
7. Coulthard
8. Kubica


GrifF1

Poles: Hamilton

1. Raikkonen
2. Hamilton
3. Massa
4. Kovalainen
5. Heidfeld
6. Kubica
7. Alonso
8. Rosberg


Fourstar

Poles: Raikkonen

1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonen
3. Massa
4. Kovalainen
5. Alonso
6. Heidfeld
7. Kubica
8. Piquet

Igor

Poles: Raikkonen

1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonen
3. Kovalainen
4. Massa
5. Kubica
6. Rosberg
7. Button
8. Coulthard


Finally the times for the sessions today:

Free Practice 3 - Sat 13:00 (not shown on tv)

Qualifying - Sat 16:00 (15:10 on tv)

Race - Sun 17:00 (16:00 on tv)

Good luck!