Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race-Valencia

[eagleash]

As the track shrinks away in embarrassment under the weight of criticism it's time to vote for your moment of the day.

based on the assumption that, at any moment in time, there is a non-zero probability that even the slowest, most inexperienced and least reliable of underdogs might win the race. That under every rock, there might be a gold nugget. This is the award for that first podium that we all celebrate, for the overtake no-one was expecting, for Nico Rosberg's first win. This is the award, in short, for the driver or team that makes you go "Woah! Where did THAT come from?!".

Just remember: this is a feel-good award, that will focus on nothing but track action.

Usual rules: everyone gets two votes. First vote is worth 10 points, the second 6.

[shinji]

Alguersuari
Sutil


Can't see much else figuring.

[Ed24]

1. Alguersuari - great drive from his qualifying position

2. Perez - somehow making the one-stop strategy work

[eagleash]

Alguersuari
Sutil


Can't see much else figuring.

Having started this in a rash moment of nostalgia; I was then stuck for noms

Saurus & the driver tracker

[tommykl]

Alguersuari
Sutil

No one else actually stood out.

[James1978]

1. Alguersuari
2. Er.......Hamilton for managing to stay out of trouble for once.

[Aerospeed]

Alguersuari.... I think Toro Rosso is actually AHEAD of Force India in the Constructors' because of this.

[ranig]

Algersuari
Sutil

[Shizuka]

Alguersuari and Sutil, both beating their teammates easily.

[Ferrim]

Alguersuari: a boring race to 13th-15th was all I expected from him. If he had a good day.

Pérez: I felt very surprised to see him in 11th place with 6 laps to go when after half the race he was 13th, lapping 5 seconds slower than the leaders and 3 seconds slower than the guys around him. Still, that was a very suboptimal strategy -not the first time I've seen Sauber overconfident on their tyres lasting.

[Bleu]

1. Alguersuari - went ahead of his team-mate in standings - thanks to tie-breakers
2. Sutil - into Q3 although didn't run, beat his team-mate easily this time when usually it has been other way round

[AdrianSutil]

Alguersuari: great drive from 18th to 8th, finally starting to show the talent we all know he has.

Sutil: very good quali, very good race. Force India car is nowhere near it's potential so far this year, so a couple of points will give the team a boost. Especially after the meltdown of Canada.

[RAK]

Jaime Alguersuari: A solid performance in front of his home crowd, taking the sting out of the Q1 dropout.

Adrian Sutil: Made the most of qualifying and kept it clean for the race.

Honourable Mention: Sergio Pérez: Outdrove Kobayashi comprehensively on an alternate strategy which didn't quite pay dividends, but which was a decent return after his month out.

[Barbazza]

Alguersuari - He's clearly going to walk this! Not often you can say that...
Perez - Surprisingly made that 1-stop almost work. Let's face it, in almost any other race, one of the other drivers in front of him would've DNFed and then he'd have got points.

[Priceless]

1. Jaime Alguersuari - there's no way not to nominate him. From being eliminated in Q1 to bringing the car into the points.
2. Sergio Pérez - Almost into the points. It was quite bold to do a single-stopper with the level of tire degradation there. Add to it that Kobayashi wasn't there at all in the race - and as has been said, I too was startled by looking at the timing and seeing him in 11th, given that not that long before he was lapping slower than even the Lotuses.

Honorable mention:
Adrian Sutil - Made the best out of his Q3 qualification, even though he didn't run in Q3 - that was probably for the best, the Force India car can't match the pace of the other cars running in Q3 so they did the wise choice and saved the tires. A clean race and two points in the bag.

[Salamander]

Alguersuari - I wonder what would've happened if Webber or Alonso had tried his strategy; we might (god forbid) have actually had an interesting race.
Sutil - Kind of by default, a solid weekend.

[DanielPT]

It was a great drive for Alguersuari so I will go for him. An honorable mention for that dude who drove all race with a broken bottle in the cockpit.

[Waris]

Yes, I say Alguersuari as well, in a race where not many improbable things happened. Therefore, I do not nominate a no. 2.

[Waris]

Whoops, I overlooked this thread and posted in the other one. Like I said, Alguersuari and that's it.

[RainierSassetti]

Oops for me too, have not seen this topic, so I thought... why not make one? Sorry guys, that'll teach me.

Alguesuari for me too

[the Masked Lapwing]

Alguersuari
Sutil

Simple. When you'd expect Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Renault to monopolise the points, they managed to sneak in. Only because Petrov and Schumacher buggered up, but still.

[Cynon]

1. Me because I found enough DRIVE to watch this race.

In all seriousness...

1. Alguersuari
2. Sutil

Other then that... zzz

[TomWazzleshaw]

1. Jaime Alguersuari: From being eliminated from Q1 for the third race in a row to another 8th place finish infront of his (almost) home crowd
2. Adrian Sutil: Had a solid weekend and beat both Renaults on merit.

[eagleash]

RESULTS

As expected a runaway win for the Saurus :-

1. Alguesauri........200 pts
2. Sutil................66
3. Perez..............24
4. Driver tracker......6
5. Hamilton............6