Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - '12 Chinese GP

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 15 Apr 2012, 08:39

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.

RAK · Post by **RAK** » 15 Apr 2012, 08:49

1) Nico Rosberg: A brilliant qualifying lap, great pace and a good strategy gave Rosberg a well-deserved maiden win.

2) Romain Grosjean: He actually finished a race! Not only that, but he finished in sixth as well - one step towards unrejectification.

Honourable Mention - Williams: Pretty good results, with both drivers in the top ten!

Pamphlet · Post by **Pamphlet** » 15 Apr 2012, 08:59

1) Felipe Massa: If only the F2012 didn't run so badly on the soft tyres. Fantastic race, probably the best he's put in in a very long time, probably since his return in fact. Finished only 5s behind Alonso too!
2) Nico Rosberg: You can't take anything away from him, can you? Vettel-esque domination from him, perfect race. Just a shame that Michael and Jenson were screwed over by their teams, would've loved to see him compete against those two.
Honorable mention: Sebastian Vettel. Had those tyres lasted just a bit longer he would've surely finished on the podium. Very, very good recovery race from him, especially with that lousy start.

And yes, I know I'm screwing with the rules by not giving Nico IIDotR for his first win.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 15 Apr 2012, 09:20

1) Nico Rosberg - No one expected him to carry such dominant pace through the race

2) Williams F1 - finally converted their occasional pace into a double points finish having started so far back

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 15 Apr 2012, 09:36

Rosberg, Senna and Grosjean.

Also, the race - after a boring first half, it really picked up in the second half. I don't think I've ever seen such close racing towards the end of a race without the benefit of a safety car.

Post by **tommykl** » 15 Apr 2012, 10:32

1. As described by the award itself, Nico Rosberg's first win.
2. Romain Grosjean for taking one step towards unrejectification.

Honorable mentions: Williams, Felipe Massa.

Sublime_FA11C · Post by **Sublime_FA11C** » 15 Apr 2012, 10:48

1) Nico Rosberg: That would be a normal day at the office for Button, Vettel or Hamilton. Excellent result for Rosberg. Heidfeld who?

2) Jean-Eric Vergne
Started dead last from the pits.
Made 8 places with only one retirement.
Actually holds the 2th fastest time of the race. (less than a hundredth)
Made 3 stops.

Honorable mentions: Senna, Alonso.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:05

Lots of candidates for IIDOTR!

1. Rosberg - Where did that come from?
2. Grosjean - Finished the race!

Honourable mention goes to Kobayashi for getting fastest lap!

DOSBoot · Post by **DOSBoot** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:08

1: Rosberg: Stayed out in the lead, while others pitted. To get a long overdue first victory.

2: Grojean: Finished the race while getting a respectable 6th in the process.

the Masked Lapwing · Post by **the Masked Lapwing** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:16

1. Rosberg (he'll probably take this easier than Perez did :lol:

)
2. Williams (double points finish, I didn't think I see that for a while)

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:19

Rosberg - "for Nico Rosberg's first win"
Grosjean - survived with very worn tyres to score a well deserved 6th place.

Honorable mention goes to Williams - this is the kind of race on which they tend to mess up and score no points.

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:28

Think the explanation of the IIDOTR rules needs updating...

1. Rosberg
2. Grosjean

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:33

1. Rosberg
2. Vergne

Alonso, the Williams cars and Kobayashi third place grid spot deserve a mention.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:35

Shizuka wrote:
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?!".

Self-explanatory, plus it looks like a sure-fire, guarenteed win.

Second? Williams for both cars into the points.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:37

Williams, but lets not get carried away, it was a great mid-field result.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:48

Shizuka wrote:...for Nico Rosberg's first win.

Well...

1.: Nico Rosberg - to use the Mercedes in a two-stop strategy shows skill - lots of it.

2.: Sebastian Vettel - to score fifth after being written off with a theoretical chance to finish second is also neat.

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:51

The currently active driver with most race starts without a win is now De la Rosa with 90.

I seem to remember the description originally read "for Nick Heidfeld's first win". I suggest going back to that description; it gives a good sense of what "infinite improbability" means, and it looks like we won't ever need to change it.

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:52

1 - Rosberg
2 - Grosjean

Enforcer · Post by **Enforcer** » 15 Apr 2012, 14:58

1. Rosberg
We all thought he'd go backwards in the race, but he proved that track position is still paramount. And he did on 2 stops, in car that's shredded its tires in the first two races.

2. Vettel
This might seem odd, especially as he went from 3rd to 5th in the last couple of laps to the sheen off his performance. But he drove really well from 11th place on the grid and made the most of a bad weekend. It's not the sort of performance he's associated with. In fact, whenever anyone talks about Vettel as a top driver, the absence of these sort of drives is usually given as a reason why he isn't. So, not so much for the drive itself, but for coming up with a performance that's outside of his percieved 'comfort zone'.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 15 Apr 2012, 15:18

1. Nico Rosberg - For reasons explained above.
2. Williams - Double points finish, and nothing happened to Maldonado in the dying laps.

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 15 Apr 2012, 15:31

1. Rosberg
2. RMMMNNNNN GRRRSSSJJJJNNNNN.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 15 Apr 2012, 15:50

My nominations:

1. Rosberg
He won a race. That's enough to cure the NHS syndrome, but will he overcome Fisichellitis?

2. Grosjean
He finished a race, when probably some of us expected him to bin it again.

HM for Williams: a double points finish is very solid, and there was only ONE retirement from ahead of them...

Sunshine_Baby_[IT] · Post by **Sunshine_Baby_[IT]** » 15 Apr 2012, 15:56

1. Rosberg
2. Williams

Post by **Ataxia** » 15 Apr 2012, 15:59

1. Rosberg - It was my understanding that this was his first win.
2. Grosjean - Because he wasn't crap.

Post by **Londoner** » 15 Apr 2012, 16:37

1. Nico Rosberg - No explanation necessary.

2. Romain Grosjean - Kept it on the black stuff for some good points.

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 15 Apr 2012, 16:48

1. Rosberg. Obviously.

2. Williams. Double-point finish in a mental midfield 10-way speaks volumes about their drivers and the car.

Honourable mentions: Grosjean, Pic (finished 0.3 behind Glock) and Vettel.

Post by **mario** » 15 Apr 2012, 17:09

I think that, like many here, first choice has to be Rosberg - I was expecting him to drop back through the field, given the recent record of Mercedes on tyre management, but instead he went on to win by a pretty comfortable margin and drove a very measured and controlled race (even if most of it was missed by the cameras due to the action occurring behind him).
As for my second nomination, I'd probably have to mention Grosjean - whilst the commentators were joking about Grosjean being in unknown territory, having actually made it beyond the opening laps, he did well to manage his tyres in his middle stint, which helped bring him right into contention as he closed the gap to the leading pack. Added to that, he did keep his head despite coming under pressure when the pack was being backed up at times - it would have been easy for him to have run into the car in front or lost a place to a driver behind him - and drove to a solid 6th place (only a second behind Vettel at the finish).

An honourable mention should also go to the Williams team, as both of their drivers did have to fight for their position (Maldonado had a pretty tough tussle with Alonso at one point) - their qualifying pace may have been slightly off, but in race trim they were much stronger and managed to move up the grid whilst others fell back down it.

Post by **Nuppiz** » 15 Apr 2012, 17:54

1. Rosberg
2. Grosjean

Minardi Man · Post by **Minardi Man** » 15 Apr 2012, 18:24

1) Rosberg
2) Williams

I'm not nominating Grosjean, because it's about time he lasted a race :lol:

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 15 Apr 2012, 19:19

1. Rosberg
2. Grosjean

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 15 Apr 2012, 19:20

1 // ROSBERG
2 // WILLIAMS

Pedestrian · Post by **Pedestrian** » 15 Apr 2012, 19:39

While the day belongs to Rosberg, a honourable mention goes to Bruno Senna for for gaining the most positions (7) of all the top 10 finishers.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 15 Apr 2012, 20:25

I'm not going for Rosberg as I always had faith in him and had a feeling he might get this one!

1) Williams - I really didn't see that coming at all. Maldonado in particular had some good battles that prove that he CAN race.
2) Grosjean - Quietly effective, and obviously looked after his tyres well (no surprise that Kimi didn't really!)

Priceless · Post by **Priceless** » 15 Apr 2012, 21:11

1. Nico Rosberg - all explanation I could give has already been given.

2. Williams F1 - both cars in the points, and both drivers had to fight their way up. Impressive progress shown by the team.

Honorable mentions:
Rmmnnn Grrrjnnn - I was one of presumedly many that expected him to bin it, however he kept it on the road and had a solid race.
Felipe Massa - I expected him to be rubbish as in the last two races, but he put on one of his best performances of late. Led the race for a few moments. Too bad the strategy ultimately didn't work as planned, he needed that result.
Sebastian Vettel - I had him ruled out of contention but he quietly went up the order by means of strategy. In the end he lost out due to degraded tires, but even so it was a nice recovery race.

I was going to post this earlier, but the server had problems. It gave me some time to think my votes over again though, it was kinda tough - 1st is obviously Rosberg's but for the 2nd vote I think any of the mentioned drivers/teams could get it. I'm giving it to Williams because from all the candidates I was most impressed with them.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 15 Apr 2012, 21:21

Rosberg - not that i thought he couldn't do it, but simply that i never cared if he could, but it's always nice to see different faces on the podium
grrrjjjjjjjnnnnnnnnnn - finally got all those flashes of talent together in one weekend.

this might turn out to be the most confusing season ever...

Row Man Gross-Gene · Post by **Row Man Gross-Gene** » 15 Apr 2012, 21:23

James1978 wrote:1. Rosberg
2. RMMMNNNNN GRRRSSSJJJJNNNNN.

This.

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 15 Apr 2012, 22:50

1. Nico Rosberg - No explanation necessary
2. Williams - Last year a points result was a pipe dream in itself. The double points finish here is a nice 70th birthday present for Sir Frank

Honourable mention to Rrrrmmmmnnnn Grrrrssssjjjjjnnnn

Boomstick · Post by **Boomstick** » 15 Apr 2012, 23:23

Wizzie wrote:1. Nico Rosberg - No explanation necessary
2. Williams - Last year a points result was a pipe dream in itself. The double points finish here is a nice 70th birthday present for Sir Frank

Honourable mention to Rrrrmmmmnnnn Grrrrssssjjjjjnnnn

What he said!

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 15 Apr 2012, 23:57

kostas22 wrote:1 // ROSBERG
2 // WILLIAMS

this

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 16 Apr 2012, 00:18

Not sure what was infinitely improbable about a super-quick car on pole leading every lap and taking the win. I know Mercedes haven't been great up until now, but come on they were always going to be there or thereabouts on the day.

My votes go to:

1. Vettel - I honestly didn't think he'd almost make the podium, particularly after his terrible first lap. Good recovery drive and good use of strategy, I noticed how the Red Bull stops always put either Mark or Sebastian in clear air when they exited the pit lane, and that obviously gave both drivers a much better advantage over Alonso for example who kept getting bogged down in traffic.

2. Grosjean - excellent drive on a track he's new to, and he made a better use of his strategy than Raikkonen. Also did well in the final laps with traffic and made a few nice passes on other cars, as well as keeping the Williams cars behind him. As best of the rest and on his way to unrejectification he couldn't have done much better.