Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race - 2013 Australia

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 17 Mar 2013, 07:34

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 Charles Pic'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.

Post your results until 22nd, I'll do the results then.

My nominations:
1. Sutil
Pianoman has been awesome... until the supersofts screwed him over. An excellent return after a sabbatical!

2. Räikkönen
The last time he won the first race in 2007, he was crowned as champion at the end of the year.

Ben Purse · Post by **Ben Purse** » 17 Mar 2013, 07:36

1) Kimi Rakkionen.

2) Max Chilton

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 17 Mar 2013, 07:38

1. Adrian Sutil - Take note Paul, your days are numbered now
2. Kimi Raikkonen - He knows what he's doing with that two-stopper

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 17 Mar 2013, 07:38

1.Sutil, at one stage lapping faster than Vettel on tires 20 laps older!

2.GVDG, he didn't crash!.... ok my real 2 Kimi Raikkonen

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 17 Mar 2013, 07:41

1.Adrian Subtle...scuse me,Sutil gets it.Now that's how to resurrect a F1 career.

2.Kimi.Yes.

Post by **Londoner** » 17 Mar 2013, 07:43

1. Adrian Sutil - A great way to return to F1. Di Resta must be worried now.

2. Kimi Raikkonen - Snuck up into the lead unnoticed, made the most of an alternate strategy, and takes the win.

QuickYoda41 · Post by **QuickYoda41** » 17 Mar 2013, 07:44

1. Sutil
2. Raikkonen

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 17 Mar 2013, 07:50

Sutil
Buanchi

Hound55 · Post by **Hound55** » 17 Mar 2013, 07:53

1. Adrian Sutil: That strategy looked like it was going to work for a while. He even held off Vettel and Massa while they were on the attack. And since he was out of a drive for a year and still finished ahead of his teammate, he easily claims top honors.

2. Kimi Raikkonen: He won. He started 7th. I don't remember a single commentator saying anything about his chances to win prior to the race. He was quietly on the prowl, and the strategy proved excellent.

Honorable mentions to Felipe Massa and Jules Bianchi, Massa for an all around solid race and Bianchi for making Chilton and the Caterhams look bad.

Meatwad · Post by **Meatwad** » 17 Mar 2013, 08:14

1. Räikkönen: A totally unexpected win. I actually found it more impressive than his last win in Abu Dhabi, as no one retired from ahead.
2. Sutil: Brilliant comeback. I would have liked to see him on the podium.

solarcold · Post by **solarcold** » 17 Mar 2013, 08:42

3. Jules Bianchi
2. Jean-Eric Vergne
1. Adrian Sutil

Post by **mario** » 17 Mar 2013, 08:46

1. Sutil - ended up leading several laps in a car that had no right to be that far up the grid (and was pulling away from Vettel at one point despite having much more worn tyres), and could very well have finished in a very respectable 5th place had his tyres not faded away so quickly in the final stint.
2. Bianchi - the only one of the backmarkers to finish just one lap down instead of two, and his fastest lap of the race (at 1m30.45s) was virtually as fast as that of Vettel. He wasn't that far off Bottas at the end of the race too, all things considered, which is a fairly impressive job all round.

pi314159 · Post by **pi314159** » 17 Mar 2013, 08:59

Difficult to choose from Räikkönen, Bianchi and Sutil. None of them deserves to be left out. But since I have to decide:

1) Bianchi
2) Sutil

johnnyCarwash · Post by **johnnyCarwash** » 17 Mar 2013, 09:45

1.Sutil... never has been a favourite driver of mine but I have to give it to him. He put that Force India where no one expected it to be despite some race rustiness. Deserved a 5th place.

2. Bianchi for mixing it with the midfield at the start of the race and keeping well ahead of the Caterhams and Chilton.

Honourable mentions to Raikkonen who took the win brilliantly and Vergne and Rosberg for their impressive performances in the wet qualy

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 17 Mar 2013, 10:01

1. Sutil
- Didn't look like he was out of drive last year
2. Räikkönen
- Win from 7th in the dry conditions doesn't happen very often.

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 17 Mar 2013, 10:03

Sutil and Raikkonen get it for me, for the obvious reasons.

Honourable mention goes to Jules Bianchi who was suprisingly competitive in the Marussia all weekend.

girry · Post by **girry** » 17 Mar 2013, 10:04

1 Bianchi - really impressed, didn't expect - on his way to prove Ferrari's patience with him justified..?
2 Sutil - was so visible largely because of his strategy, but still a very good effort from him

the Masked Lapwing · Post by **the Masked Lapwing** » 17 Mar 2013, 10:20

1. Sutil
2. Raikkonen

beetleman64 · Post by **beetleman64** » 17 Mar 2013, 10:44

1. Sutil -- deserved much better than 7th and was unlucky to be done by the super softs. Held off Vettel and Massa in a Force India -- not bad for a return drive
2. Bianci -- Quietly got on with it all weekend. Didn't make a mistake, beat both Caterhams and was only lapped once despite limited testing.

Honourable mention to Raikkonen, who made the 2 stop work for a fantastic strategic win.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 17 Mar 2013, 11:15

Just stating the obvious:

1) Raikkonen
2) Sutil

Honorary mention goes to Charles Pic for beating one of the Virgin Manors in that cucumber of a car.

Post by **Nuppiz** » 17 Mar 2013, 11:30

1. Sutil - diced in the lead, very impressive overall.
2. Bianchi - impressive performance in a Marussia.

Honorable mention to Kimi - I was only expecting him to be on the lower steps of the podium at best.

Post by **Ataxia** » 17 Mar 2013, 12:33

1. Sutil
2. Bianchi

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 17 Mar 2013, 12:57

1. Sutil
2. Raikkonen

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 17 Mar 2013, 13:09

1. Adrian Suitl
2. Jules Bianchi

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 17 Mar 2013, 13:46

1. Sutil
2. Bianchi

X61 · Post by **X61** » 17 Mar 2013, 13:49

1. Felipe Massa - Ran like the Felipe of old. If the rest of his season is like this, don't be surprised to see a number 2 (dare I say 1?) on his car next year.

2. Jules Bianchi - Best of the rest on merit, didn't live up to the 'crashkid' reputation that some have labeled him with.

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 17 Mar 2013, 14:08

1. Raikkonen
2. Sutil

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 17 Mar 2013, 14:13

I've just watched the race, it was a good one.

1. Adrian Sutil - not much pre-season testing, a difficult weekend weather-wise, and still a fantastic performance after one year out of F1. Impressive, and makes up a bit for the surge of paying drivers (I know he brings some sponsorship, but still).

2. Jules Bianchi - I suspect he might have been a bit flattered by the level of his opposition at the back, but still a superb effort all weekend. In fact he probably deserves #1 status as much as Sutil.

Honorable mention to Räikkönen. I tried to guess the result with my mother, and it took me seven attempts to get the winner right - Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, Massa and Rosberg all came before him.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » 17 Mar 2013, 14:14

1. Max Chilton - not only did he finish, he wasn't last.

2. Adrian Sutil - Dicing for the lead on his return, a good drive by any measure.

Divina_Galica · Post by **Divina_Galica** » 17 Mar 2013, 14:45

1. Kimi - as said above, to win from 7th in the dry and with no safety cars - excellent

2. Sutil - made the most of his tyre strategy and ran comfortably in the front pack.

Honourable mentions:

Massa - at one stage early in the race I was expecting to hear "Fernando, Filippe is faster than you", got screwed by Ferrari bringing Nando in first....

Bianchi - impressive pace and didn't look like he had any moments

di Resta - didn't crumble under pressure of Sutil doing so well and got a solid points score for the team

DG

SeedStriker · Post by **SeedStriker** » 17 Mar 2013, 14:58

1.-Adrian Sutil: He brought tons of humble pie for the ones that were against him staying in F1
2.-Jules Bianchi: Defeated his teammate, the Catherhams and stood in mid-field to upper race trim all day.

Honorable mentions fof Kimi Raikkonen for a well deserved victory and Felipe Massa because he put pressure on Alonso all weekend.

The Clash of the Titans Award goes to Fernando Alonso for his duel against Lewis Hamilton

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 17 Mar 2013, 16:35

1. Adrian Sutil - it's still the dullest driver choice in years but boy do I feel silly calling Mallya a moron.
2. Jules Bianchi - he seems far more suited to F1 than GP2 and FR3.5. Good to see he finally got a shot, even if it means he'll always be at the back this year.

Would've voted Massa if I didn't already predict he'd still be good.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 17 Mar 2013, 17:33

As much as I'd like to give the number 1 spot to a Marussia driver, I don't think any of us saw Sutil doing as well as he did for large parts of the race. Definitely improbable!

1. Sutil
2. Bianchi

DOSBoot · Post by **DOSBoot** » 17 Mar 2013, 18:16

1. Sutil: Out for a year, leads for several laps, and could have scored a podium.

2. Raikkonen: He really pulled that one out of the bag!

Ed24 · Post by **Ed24** » 17 Mar 2013, 18:30

1. Sutil
2. Kimi

Was expecting Bianchi to be the best of the last 4 so wasn't too surprised.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 17 Mar 2013, 18:55

1. Force India: last year they resuscitated Hulkenberg's career, this year they're on the way to resuscitate Sutil's. At this rate they might get round to resuscitate di Resta's. They should be called Team Lazarus.

2. Marussia: they seem to be genuinely better than Caterham. Never saw that coming. Good on them.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 17 Mar 2013, 19:10

CarlosFerreira wrote:At this rate they might get round to resuscitate di Resta's. They should be called Team Lazarus.

I think that might be beyond Force India - I don't see anything beyond a whole personality transplant bailing di Resta out. Well, that or anything that can make people watch him on screen for more than 20 seconds without falling asleep.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » 17 Mar 2013, 19:23

1. Adrian Soohtl - Picking up where he left off. The former midfield champion is back to put to bed everyone that isn't in a Ferrari, Red Bull, Lotus, McLaren or Mercedes, and he begins by continuing the destruction of the English media/Dario Franchitti-built career of di Resta.

2. Mika Hakkinen Jnr. - Started 7th. No one tipped him to win. Ran a fantastic strategy, won comfortably. Could this year be his?

DidNotQualify · Post by **DidNotQualify** » 17 Mar 2013, 20:49

1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Adrian Sutil

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 17 Mar 2013, 21:09

I cannot bring myself to vote for Sutil at all as in my opinion he shouldn't be in a racecar after what he did. This will probably be very unpopular but that's the way I feel and will stand for every race this year, even if the petulant little ****er manages to win. God, I never thought I would find myself sharing an opinion with Lewis. Anyway...

1) Raikkonen
2) Bianchi