2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Predicament Predictions!

[Rob Dylan]

Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us for the last waltz. It's been a very very very full year for predicament predictions, and starting from next season we will introduce a rule or two (like dropped scores) to make this whole competition a lot easier and a lot less gruelling than I'm sure it is right now for a lot of you.

Without further ado, going into the last two rounds we have a whole bunch of folks who can still win. Saudi Arabia will be a nightmare to write a report for and to count the scores, I'm sure so in the meantime you may put up your final suggestions for the top ten.

Anyone who has not activated double points by now and is participating, will have double points activated automatically for them.


Here is your blank slate:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Pole:
Fastest lap:
First retirement:
ROTR:
IIDOTR:
DBTMOTR:
MLP:
HFB:

Funniest race title:

There is always a point for the funniest race title you can come up with. The Minor League Premiership for this round contains Nikita Mazepin, Mick Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda. You can also use double points at any time you like




What shall I predict for the final race? A turn 1 lap 1 crash perhaps?

1. Sergio Pérez
2. Valtteri Bottas
3. Daniel Ricciardo
4. Charles Leclerc
5. Antonio Giovinazzzziiiiiiii
6. Kimi Raikkonen
7. Carlos Sainz Jr.
8. Fernando Alonso
9. Lewis Hamilton
10. Nikita Mazepiiiiiin

Pole: Max Verstappen
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton
First retirement: Max Verstappen
ROTR: The 2021 title being decided by a 9th place
IIDOTR: Alfa Romeo / Nikita Mazepin joint win
DBTMOTR: Max Verstappen
MLP: Nikita Mazepin
HFB: 4 laps (Latifi has an issue but keeps going for no reason)

Good luck everyone

[Frogfoot9013]

The Second-Greatest Race in Formula 1 History

1. Sergio Pérez
2. Valtteri Bottas
3. Charles Leclerc
4. Antonio Giovinazzi
5. Carlos Sainz
6. Fernando Alonso
7. Pierre Gasly
8. Lance Stroll
9. Sebastian Vettel
10. Lewis Hamilton

Pole: Max Verstappen
Fastest lap: Valtteri Bottas
First retirement: Max Verstappen (DNS, gearbox packs up on installation lap)
ROTR: Max Verstappen's gearbox
IIDOTR: Antonio Giovinazzi
DBTMOTR: Max Verstappen
MLP: Mick Schumacher
HFB: 1 lap

[Klon]

2021 I Want to Die Grand Prix

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Bottas
4. Pérez
5. Leclerc
6. Gasly
7. Norris
8. Alonso
9. Tsunoda
10. Ricciardo

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Verstappen
First retirement: Räikkönen
ROTR: Abu Dhabi rebuild
IIDOTR: Tsunoda
DBTMOTR: Ocon
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB: 2

[yannicksamlad]

The Less Braking , More Banking , Making Abu Dhabi Easier GP of 2021 .

1. Sergio Pérez
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Valtteri Bottas
4. Max Verstappen
5. Charles Leclerc
6. Carlos Sainz Jr.
7. Fernando Alonso
8. Lando Norris
9. Esteban Ocon
10. Mick Schumacher

Pole: Max Verstappen
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton
First retirement: Nic Latifi
ROTR: Track changes
IIDOTR:mick Schumacher
DBTMOTR: Daniel Ricciardo
MLP: Mick Schumacher
HFB: 3 laps

[UncreativeUsername37]

1. Verstappen
2. Hamilton
3. Bottas
4. Pérez
5. Leclerc
6. Sainz
7. Norris
8. Gasly
9. Ricciardo
10. Ocon

Pole: Verstappen
Fastest lap: Pérez
First retirement: Mazepin
ROTR: Räikkönen
IIDOTR: Räikkönen
DBTMOTR: Tsunoda
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB: 2

[CaptainGetz12]

2021 Out with a Bang Grand Prix

1. Bottas
2. Ocon
3. Verstappen
4. Leclerc
5. Alonso
6. Sainz
7. Hamilton
8. Norris
9. Russell
10. Perez

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Verstappen
First retirement: Schumacher
ROTR: Raikkonen (pulls the car over and retires for the last time in a way similar to 2013)
IIDOTR: Russell
DBTMOTR: Perez
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB: 2 laps

[dr-baker]

Yabba Abu Dhabi Doo, it's the last time we'll see you 2021

1. Bottas
2. Perez
3. Norris
4. Alonso
5. Ricciardo
6. Sainz
7. Leclerc
8. Ocon
9. Gasly
10. Hamilton

Pole: Verstappen
Fastest lap: Hamilton
First retirement: Verstappen
ROTR: Verstappen
IIDOTR: Hamilton
DBTMOTR: Hamilton
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB: 1 lap

[tristan1117]

well folks

been a while since I've posted here, but figured I'd make a return for what appears to be the most hyped race in decades.

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Bottas
4. Sainz
5. Perez
6. Norris
7. Gasly
8. Ocon
9. Ricciardo
10. Alonso

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Hamilton
First retirement: Stroll
ROTR: something FIA related
IIDOTR: Norris
DBTMOTR: Tsunoda
MLP: Mick
HFB: 2

[Batty]

Nothing better than having double points for an Abu Dhabi finale. Bernie would be proud. This isn't a title.

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Val Bottas
3. Max Verstappen
4. Checo Perez
5. Charles Leclerc
6. Carlos Sainz
7. Lando Norris
8. Pierre Gasly
9. Lance Stroll
10. Yuki Tsunoda

Pole: Bottas
Fastest lap: Verstappen
First retirement: Raikkonen
ROTR: Horner
IIDOTR: Stroll
DBTMOTR: Ricciardo
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB: 2

[mario]

Well, I guess it is time for the double joints joker to be played - though it will probably end up being utterly ineffective.

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Bottas
4. Pérez
5. Alonso
6. Gasly
7. Ocon
8. Tsunoda
9. Leclerc
10. Sainz

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Verstappen
First retirement: Räikkönen
ROTR: The inevitable bad grace that Red Bull will show in losing the WDC
IIDOTR: Alonso
DBTMOTR: Ricciardo
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB: 2

[Enforcer]

The 2021 Surprisingly Uncontroversial Season Finale

1. Verstappen
2. Hamilton
3. Bottas
4. Perez
5. Leclerc
6. Alonso
7. Ocon
8. Gasly
9. Vettel
10. Norris

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Bottas
First retirement: Someone completely irrelevant, let's say Stroll.
ROTR: The lack of an incident between Hamilton & Verstappen
IIDOTR: The lack of an incident between Hamilton & Verstappen
DBTMOTR: Ricciardo
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB: 2 lap

[IceG]

The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, designed by Chandhok, hyped by Netflix, given away by Sky, and won by...

1. Hamilton
2. Bottas
3. Verstappen
4. Leclerc
5. Norris
6. Gasly
7. Alonso
8. Ocon
9. Perez
10. Raikkonen

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Bottas
First retirement: Sainz
Last retirement: Raikkonen
ROTR: Christian Horner for saying something even more stupid than before
IIDOTR: Clean race between Lewis and Max
DBTMOTR: Ricciardo
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB: 2 lap

[RAK]

2021 Seemingly Endless Middle-Eastern Slogfest Part 3... Oh Wait, It'll Be Over? Grand Prix

1) Hamilton
2) Verstappen
3) Bottas
4) Perez
5) Alonso
6) Gasly
7) Leclerc
8) Ocon
9) Sainz
10) Norris

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Hamilton
First Retirement: Latifi
ROTR: The championship battle - fizzles out in a damp squib as Hamilton storms off into an early lead
IIDOTR: Alpine
DBTMOTR: Tsunoda
MLP: Tsunoda
Laps behind: 2

[Ducktanian]

2021 HEY DID YOU KNOW THAT SENNA AND PROST CRASHED THAT ONE TIME. Grand Prix

1. Sir Lewis Hamilton
2. Max Verstappen
3. Valterri Bottas
4. Charles Leclerc
5. Sergio Perez
6. Fernando Alonso
7. Carlos Sainz Jr.
8. Lando Norris
9. Pierre Gasly
10. Kimi Raikkonen

Pole: Lewis Hamilton
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton
First retirement: Mick Schumacher
ROTR: The race/title fight being an anti-climax after Jeddah.
IIDOTR: Kimi Raikkonen
DBTMOTR: Yuki Tsunoda
MLP: Yuki Tsunoda
HFB: 2 laps

[Fetzie]

Yabbu Dhabbi Doo, it's the last race before 2022

1. Hamilton
2. Bottas
3. Verstappen
4. Gasly
5. Leclerc
6. Norris
7. Perez
8. Sainz Jr
9. Alonso
10.Tsunoda

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Verstappen
First retirement: Raikönnen
ROTR: Everybody who predicted a bloodbath
IIDOTR: Tsunoda
DBTMOTR: Raikönnen
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB:+2

[Hermann95]

The most boring GP of 2021

1. Hamilton
2. Verstappen
3. Bottas
4. Perez
5. Gasly
6. Leclerc
7. Sainz
8. Norris
9. Alonso
10.Tsunoda

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Perez
First retirement: Raikönnen
ROTR: Aston Martin
IIDOTR: Gasly
DBTMOTR: Ricciardo
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB:+2

[pi314159]

1. Bottas
2. Perez
3. Leclerc
4. Gasly
5. Sainz
6. Alonso
7. Norris
8. Ricciardo
9. Ocon
10.Tsunoda

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Perez
First retirement: Schumacher
ROTR: Verstappen
IIDOTR: Bottas
DBTMOTR: Tsunoda
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB: +1

[tommykl]

2021 Finally, the sweet release of the off-season Grand Prix

1. Pérez
2. Bottas
3. Sainz
4. Leclerc
5. Norris
6. Gasly
7. Vettel
8. Ricciardo
9. Alonso
10. Räikkönen

Pole: Hamilton
Fastest lap: Bottas
First retirement: Hamilton
ROTR: Verstappen
IIDOTR: Vettel
DBTMOTR: Tsunoda
MLP: Tsunoda
HFB: 2 laps

[Aislabie]

2021 Season Finale of The Show (TM)

1. HAM
2. VER
3. BOT
4. PER
5. LEC
6. SAI
7. GAS
8. ALO
9. NOR
10. GIO

Pole - VER
FLap - VER
Ret - RAI

ROTR - VER
IIDOTR - GIO
MLP - TSU
HFB - +1 lap

[Belegur]

Not a prediction, but can we have the FIA being nominated ROTR? What a travesty of an ending.

[RAK]

Not a prediction, but can we have the FIA being nominated ROTR? What a travesty of an ending.

When the ROTR thread goes up, yeah, sure.

[dr-baker]

I am actually glad that my predictions were wrong and that the race wasn't as dirty as I thought...

[Rob Dylan]

And so it was that the traditional Abu Double Dhabi round came to pass. F1 demands that we finish every season here, and so any runner that hadn't activated double points would have it activated for them! Five runners in total did so, and unsurprisingly it was those runners who took all the top spots in the race. The eyes were all on one participant, however: Mario. Could they defeat Aislabie and all their rivals with a well-placed double points at the end of the season? Check it out.

Results
1. mario 28***
2. yannicksamlad 26***
- Batty 26***
4. pi314159 24***
5. tristan1117 19** ***
6. UncreativeUsername37 18
7. Klon 17
8. Enforcer 15
- Fetzie 15
10. Hermann95 13
- Aislabie 13*
12. dr-baker 12
13. CaptainGetz12 11
14. RAK 10
15. Frogfoot9013 9
- IceG 9
- Ducktanian 9
- tommykl 9*
19. Rob Dylan 8

*no pole points for late submission
**half-points for sort of guessing ROTR
***double points

And there you have it! Mario's result was very strong, and combined with an average outing from Aislabie, the mountain was too much to climb at this late stage. What that does mean is that they finish the season runner-up to Mario, who becomes a two-time Predicament Predictions champion! Congratulations, sir. Enforcer, who has been subtly hanging around the top 10, had a good run of points to snatch the final podium spot from eternal bridesmaid Dr "Mansell" Baker. The standings are as follows:


FINAL STANDINGS
1. mario 354.5
2. Aislabie 343.5
3. Enforcer 335.5
4. dr-baker 332.5
5. RAK 325
6. Ducktanian 322
7. Fetzie 318.5
8. CaptainGetz12 318
9. UncreativeUsername37 311.5
10. tommykl 303.5
11. Hermann95 303
12. Klon 287.5
13. pi314159 286.5
14. Londoner 271.5
15. Batty 268.5
16. Bleu 254.5
17. Aerond 254.5
18. Rob Dylan 241
19. IceG 226
20. Miguel98 202.5
21. yannicksamlad 192
22. Frogfoot9013 177.25
23. tBone 128
24. CarloSpace 110.5
25. You-Gee-Eee-Day 103
26. Pacific Edge 83
27. This Could Be You 60
28. takagi_for_the_win 45
29. WaffleCat 26
30. rachel1990 26
31. noiceinmydrink 23
32. tristan1117 19
33. Freeze-O-Kimi 17
34. Pilot 16
35. Gertrand Bachot 11
36. dj_vicious 9
37. Pieman 8
38. Spooder918 7

Regarding prizes, I was originally going to dish out on some cool miniatures of cars, but with my current personal situation I don't really have either the cash or logistical ability to organise that. However, the podium finishers shall receive some chocolates instead! (minor applause)

Thank you to all for joining me for this very gruelling, but very close PP season. Hope you enjoyed it. For next season the rules will change a tiny bit as they always do. With one rookie we'll have to modify the MLP award to something else, and I'll also institute dropped scores, which should be simple enough. Let me know if you have any feedback for the upcoming season, and I'll see about organising it.

Until next time

[RAK]

Interesting coincidence how dr-baker and I ended up in the same ending positions as we did the last time mario won the championship back in 2017. A tight year, both in the actual Formula One Driver's Championship and the Predicament Predictions, with enough unpredictability to make predictions a more challenging affair than they have been with consecutive years of Hamilton domination. Congratulations to mario; in a hard-fought battle, you had the edge needed to secure the title. And thanks again for running the championship, Rob Dylan!

[Enforcer]

If my double points round hadn't been so bad I might've been able to challenge.

[mario]

Interesting coincidence how dr-baker and I ended up in the same ending positions as we did the last time mario won the championship back in 2017. A tight year, both in the actual Formula One Driver's Championship and the Predicament Predictions, with enough unpredictability to make predictions a more challenging affair than they have been with consecutive years of Hamilton domination. Congratulations to mario; in a hard-fought battle, you had the edge needed to secure the title. And thanks again for running the championship, Rob Dylan!

I must admit that coincidence had passed me by - this certainly was a trickier season to judge, though at least this battle was a lot less acrimonious than the actual championship battle, and with less chance of getting Masi'd with some rather odd decision making...

I wonder what alternatives there could be to the "Minor League Premiership" title given that we only have one rookie entering next year?

[yannicksamlad]

Big thanks to Rob for doing all that hard work. And for activating double points for me, which pushed me into what I regard as respectable territory.
2022, I must do better. ( Personal Development Review is complete)

[IceG]

I wonder what alternatives there could be to the "Minor League Premiership" title given that we only have one rookie entering next year?

As a forum that celebrates the optimistic also-rans and unexpected outcomes of F1, we should surely reflect this in the Predicament Predictions. We consider the top performing and the unlikely, but do we really consider the awful performances? DBToTR is a relative judgement and could be won by some-one in a quality car and/or in a points-scoring place. RoTR is about behaviour on the day, causing accidents or making hilarious mistakes.

But Last Place, that embarrassing struggle over the line three laps down with no TV coverage while the winner is on a victory tour, is surely something to be celebrated? How about adding a prediction for lowest-positioned car to take the chequered flag? This would exclude retired cars but include classified runners as long as they were running at the end. And it would provide added spice to the How Far Back prediction.

Thoughts?

And just to add my thanks to Rob for running this. I was proud to achieve peak mediocrity by coming 19th out of 38 and thus making the top 50% by the skin of my teeth.

[Rob Dylan]

That's a simple and effective replacement, I think. Thanks for the feedback and suggestion!

[dr-baker]

Thoughts?

So, to get clarification on this. To use the example of the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, you would credit Johnny Herbert in 3rd as last finisher as he was last to take the chequered flag, even though Heinz Harald Frentzen in 4th was still running at the end and just pulled into the pits at the end of the last lap as the other three had already finished. And you wouldn't give it to Eddie Irvine as last classified driver in 7th place because he had crashed out and had the 5th and 6th placed Mikas crash into the back of him.

Gets occasionally complicated, doesn't it. And I love races like that because of the quirkiness of the results!

[IceG]

So, to get clarification on this. To use the example of the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, you would credit Johnny Herbert in 3rd as last finisher as he was last to take the chequered flag, even though Heinz Harald Frentzen in 4th was still running at the end and just pulled into the pits at the end of the last lap as the other three had already finished. And you wouldn't give it to Eddie Irvine as last classified driver in 7th place because he had crashed out and had the 5th and 6th placed Mikas crash into the back of him.

Gets occasionally complicated, doesn't it. And I love races like that because of the quirkiness of the results!

Yes!

[Bleu]

Here are the last finishers from first to last race:
Schumacher
Mazepin
Mazepin
Mazepin
Schumacher
Latifi *
Mazepin
Mazepin
Mazepin
Schumacher
Giovinazzi
Stroll **
Schumacher
Schumacher
Mazepin
Mazepin
Mazepin
Mazepin
Schumacher
Mazepin
Räikkönen
Schumacher

* Time penalty for not following race director instructions, beat three cars on track
** Time penalty for illegal repairs, "beat" five cars on track (this was Spa)