Your IIDOTR- Australia

[Enforcer]

1st - Petrov Transpires he's a driver after all.
2nd - Perez Illegal Sauber not withstanding, he had a brilliant race.

[Aerospeed]

1. Petrov - Third place, his first podium. All I have to say is WOW!

2. Perez - Screw the DSQ, I think Perez drove well!

[WIDD]

1. Perez
2. Petrov

Can't argue with that!

Out of interest, those who were watching BBC coverage, who out there felt sorry for Petrov when Jake, DC and EJ were asking Boullier about what Kubica could've done with the Renault when the focus should've been on Petrov's first podium...?

[Bleu]

1. Petrov. Great quali, flawless race and a podium
2. Perez. DSQ aside, great tyre-saving and beat highly-rated (at least here) team-mate.

[McDuck]

1. Petrov
2. Buemi


Unless Sauber wins their appeal what they did doesn't count. Rules are rules.

[FullMetalJack]

1. Perez
2. Petrov

Can't argue with that!

Out of interest, those who were watching BBC coverage, who out there felt sorry for Petrov when Jake, DC and EJ were asking Boullier about what Kubica could've done with the Renault when the focus should've been on Petrov's first podium...?

Yeah I did to be honest. Kubica would not have finished higher.

1. Petrov
2. Perez

[watka]

1. Petrov - 3rd place, completely on merit. I didn't think he'd get a podium this season, let alone in the first race.

2. Perez - As many have said, the disqualification is irrelevant. Showed some brilliant flashes of pace (as fast as Kobayashi), and was able to nurse the tyres excellently. I have high hopes for this guy and he's already delivering!

[Dan B]

1) Petrov: deserved that podium, and an excellent drive all around. Let's hope this isn't a fluke.
2) Perez: Proves that a 1 stop drive with Pirellis can be done.

[dinizintheoven]

...and, as all but one of you have said, despite the FIA's meddling, Sergio Pérez shades it over Vitaly Petrov. Consider that it's his first race and he manages to do 35 laps, consistently, on a set of tyres that are supposed to be shredded after a third of that distance, and you have to wonder if there's something in the water in Mexico. It reminds me of ten years ago, when some youngster called Kimi Räikkönen in a Sauber with number 17 on it was expected to be a long way out of his depth and surprised everyone. It also reminds me, rather more unfortunately, of Robert Kubica - a stunning debut ruined by being disqualified.

Credit to Petrov as well, though, especially after seeing him cuddling that trophy like it was a baby. I'd say it means a lot to him.

[Shizuka]

It reminds me of ten years ago, when some youngster called Kimi Räikkönen in a Sauber with number 17 on it was expected to be a long way out of his depth and surprised everyone. It also reminds me, rather more unfortunately, of Robert Kubica - a stunning debut ruined by being disqualified.

It's interesting...
Kimi debuted in 2001 in a Sauber... and scored a point on his debut race, although Panis was DSQ-d from 4th place!
Kubica debuted in 2006 in a BMW-Sauber... (although mid-season!) and would have scored a point if it wasn't for his DSQ!
Perez debuted in 2011 in a Sauber... and would have scored points if it wasn't for his DSQ!

All three of them debuted in the Sauber team, all three had some sort of connection to disqualification...

[RAK]

1) Sergio Pérez: While the disqualification does taint this somewhat, and while I was expecting Pérez to be the best of the rookies, I wasn't expecting a seventh place finish in his first race.

2) Vitaly Petrov: Utterly schooled his teammate with a shockingly quick performance. A very well-deserved podium.

[dr-baker]

1. Petrov (he looked just as confused as I was)
2. Perez (must have brought some GP2 tyres with him)

Erm, I believe the GP2 tyres this year are identical to the F1 tyres...

And I was to see that this thread was not opened until after the chequered flag.

Nominations. As it will be a landslide between two drivers anyway, I'll go for Buemi and di Resta. Both ending up in unexpected points positions. (Even if aided by DSQs.)

[Nessafox]

1) sauber's strategy
2) petrov's maturity

[beetleman64]

It will indeed be a landslide, as no-one else really stood out for the right reasons (DNQing and spinning are not the right reasons). For what it's worth:

1. Perez -- What a debut! Gutted Sauber got DSQed, as he made a gamble and it paid off handsomely.
2. Petrov -- Dominated Heidfeld, held off Webber and Alonso, quick all weekend, deserved the podium.

[Warren Hughes]

Nothing interesting here, just getting my votes in for the sake of it.
1. Petrov
2. Perez

[fjackdaw]

Nothing interesting here, just getting my votes in for the sake of it.
1. Petrov
2. Perez

Ditto.

[resir014]

Pardon me for being a noob, but what's IIDOTR?

[LionZoo]

What are the rules for IIDOTR? Can a driver still win it even if he's disqualified?

Oh who am I kidding. This is F1Rejects. There are no rules...

[pablo_h]

Pardon me for being a noob, but what's IIDOTR?

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race.
Midfield or tail end driver/team that did the unexpected in a good way and impressed with an amazing drive basically

[GroupLotusRenault]

The Sauber team is my IDDOTR because even though they have have been DSQ , their pace looks really good.
A close 2nd is Petrov because he made Nick look like a amateur racer and beat him the whole weekend. I feel sorry for him as everyone is saying Kubica would of done better, but how do they know? Petrov could of been pushing the Renault to its limits plus the Red Bull & Mclaren were faster.

[Salamander]

The Sauber team is my IDDOTR because even though they have have been DSQ , their pace looks really good.
A close 2nd is Petrov because he made Nick look like a amateur racer and beat him the whole weekend. I feel sorry for him as everyone is saying Kubica would of done better, but how do they know? Petrov could of been pushing the Renault to its limits plus the Red Bull & Mclaren were faster.

Well, given that Petrov only had the better of Kubica once last year, and then only slightly, it would be natural to assume that would've continued. I think Kubica could've been a bit closer to the leading pair, but that's not to take away from Petrov, who drove brilliantly in the race.

[DanielPT]

The Sauber team is my IDDOTR because even though they have have been DSQ , their pace looks really good.
A close 2nd is Petrov because he made Nick look like a amateur racer and beat him the whole weekend. I feel sorry for him as everyone is saying Kubica would of done better, but how do they know? Petrov could of been pushing the Renault to its limits plus the Red Bull & Mclaren were faster.

Well, given that Petrov only had the better of Kubica once last year, and then only slightly, it would be natural to assume that would've continued. I think Kubica could've been a bit closer to the leading pair, but that's not to take away from Petrov, who drove brilliantly in the race.

Given that Kubica was really fast in the test he made and was quite a bit faster than Petrov in that test I would say that Robert would have the chance to beat Hamilton in this race. But, of course, this is a big if and a lot of speculation... We have to measure the Renault by its current drivers and that places them 4th in the pecking order, behind Ferrari and ahead of Mercedes.

[TomWazzleshaw]

The Sauber team is my IDDOTR because even though they have have been DSQ , their pace looks really good.
A close 2nd is Petrov because he made Nick look like a amateur racer and beat him the whole weekend. I feel sorry for him as everyone is saying Kubica would of done better, but how do they know? Petrov could of been pushing the Renault to its limits plus the Red Bull & Mclaren were faster.

Well, given that Petrov only had the better of Kubica once last year, and then only slightly, it would be natural to assume that would've continued. I think Kubica could've been a bit closer to the leading pair, but that's not to take away from Petrov, who drove brilliantly in the race.

Given that Kubica was really fast in the test he made and was quite a bit faster than Petrov in that test I would say that Robert would have the chance to beat Hamilton in this race. But, of course, this is a big if and a lot of speculation... We have to measure the Renault by its current drivers and that places them 4th in the pecking order, behind Ferrari and ahead of Mercedes.

Right now I'ld put them third in the pecking order based on the fact that Massa looks like the mother and father of all big accidents waiting to happen. Plus the Ferrari looks like it chews through its tyres like there's no tomorrow.

[DanielPT]

Well, given that Petrov only had the better of Kubica once last year, and then only slightly, it would be natural to assume that would've continued. I think Kubica could've been a bit closer to the leading pair, but that's not to take away from Petrov, who drove brilliantly in the race.

Given that Kubica was really fast in the test he made and was quite a bit faster than Petrov in that test I would say that Robert would have the chance to beat Hamilton in this race. But, of course, this is a big if and a lot of speculation... We have to measure the Renault by its current drivers and that places them 4th in the pecking order, behind Ferrari and ahead of Mercedes.

Right now I'ld put them third in the pecking order based on the fact that Massa looks like the mother and father of all big accidents waiting to happen. Plus the Ferrari looks like it chews through its tyres like there's no tomorrow.

I think that this race might have been one off for Ferrari so I am not writing them off yet. But, yes, based only on the results of this race they find themselves (Renault) 3rd in the pecking order. As for Massa, he is just being average like last year. I am afraid that the Hockenheim team orders really killed his Ferrari career (I hope for the sake of him that I am wrong). Now, if Ferrari want a good second driver to make Alonso happy then Massa can keep strolling around but the negative point is that with others having stronger driver line-ups, they won't be wining the WCC any time soon...

[eagleash]

Umm... Carlos, Eagleash and I have been spending the last 4 hours discussing who was to open it

And you're not even doing it right.

Anyways my nomination is as follows:

1. Petrov: Utterly dominated Heidfeld all weekend and deserved his podium
2. Sauber: Perez finishes 7th with one stop while Kobayashi finishes 8th in the other car.

Yep. I asked Carlos if he was going to do it. He said no. So I said I'd do this one (as Carlos has asked me to stand in on previous occasions), & then "play it by ear". Carlos then said he'd do it, but clearly changed his mind or wasn't quick enough!.
Wizzie also volunteered to stand in if necessary. Remember with Carlos currently heavily committed elsewhere, whoever starts this thread will also be responsible for collation & posting of results.

Noms.

Perez & Massa, although the latter was anonymous for most of the race the early battle with JB showed he still has something to offer.

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

I just wanted to make sure that we had a thread...

And I'll happily do the scoring, since, by 'ruling', I have to.

[Ed24]

Obviously very close between the two Pe- drivers.

I think Petrov had the most expectation on him to perform with Kubica gone, so it was a nice surprise that he lifted his game like that.

1. Petrov
2. Perez

[Glennerz]

Obviously very close between the two Pe- drivers.

Nice play on words there!

[AndreaModa]

Surprise surprise!

1. Petrov
2. Perez

[Peter]

1.Petrov
As much as I'd not like to admit it, petrov did very good. It could be just a 1 off, but I could be wrong. Give the race 1 or 2 laps more and alonso wouldve had him though.

2.Sauber
How on gods earth did Perez manage a 1 stopper? Does he know something about the tyres everyone else doesn't? The saubers have a lot of pace, damn shame about the DQ.

3.HRT
Being only 1.7 seconds off the 107% rule with so much against them. Colin kolles should be given a beer for his work.

[DanielPT]

This Petrov landslide is only because nobody actually expected him to do this good. (And if we look at it, he carried his for from Abu Dhabi last season)

[thehemogoblin]

Count this.

[FullMetalJack]

Colin Kolles should be given a beer for his work.

Yeah, whilst sitting on his armchair, at home.

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

Code: Select all

Vitaly Petrov- 426
Sergio Perez- 374
Sauber- 22
Sebastien Buemi- 16
Heidfeld- 10
Sauber's Strategy- 10
HRT- 6
Massa- 6
Di Resta- 6
Petrov's maturity- 6

[SuperAguri]

Late to to party as usual, but I nominate.

Perez - Despite being disqualified the Sauber team did an amazing job and Perez looked after the tyres to score and unscore points.

Kobayashi - As he was the second half of Sauber...