Thoughts go out to Murray Walker, blood tests during recovery from fall injury showing he has cancer - which is treatable.

Well, this sucks.

Red Bull Racing: Sebastian Vettel 6 - 0 Mark Webber

Scuderia Ferrari: Fernando Alonso 4 - 2 Felipe Massa

Lotus F1 Team: Kimi Raikkonen 6 - 0 Romain Grosjean

Mercedes-Benz AMG: Nico Rosberg 3 - 3 Lewis Hamilton

Sahara Force India: Paul Di Resta 4 - 2 Adrian Sutil

McLaren Mercedes: Jenson Button 4 - 2 Sergio Perez

Scuderia Toro Rosso: Jean-Eric Vergne 2 - 4 Daniel Ricciardo

Sauber F1 Team: Nico Hulkenberg 6 - 0 Esteban Gutierrez

Williams F1 Team: Pastor Maldonado 2 - 4 Valtteri Bottas

Caterham F1 Team: Charles Pic 3 - 3 Giedo van der Garde

Marussia F1 Team: Jules Bianchi 5 - 1 Max Chilton

Lately, I’ve been reading up on the content of Motorsports Analytics, a site that intends to do for auto racing what Moneyball did for baseball - use less conventional statistics to evaluate drivers and teams, and ultimately change how drivers are evaluated overall.

The site just began to cover F1 this year, as it was started as a NASCAR-centric site.

Would anyone want to see case studies, evaluations, etc. that I have written inspired by the works of this site? Some ideas I’ve had were to use these advanced statistics to justify or argue against certain driver transactions, debunk myths about drivers’ reputations for crashing, or determining who the modern era’s worst driver really is.

I love the hypocrisy here

It’s totally okay for Kimi to squeeze off Perez on the run down to the chicane, ruin his race - oh and Kimi’s points finish streak is still intact

because Perez is a “dangerous driver” for making aggressive overtaking moves

Everyone in this damn fandom says they want more drivers like Lewis, Kamui, Ayrton, Gilles, Peterson, and Schumacher in his prime until they start showing their aggression and suddenly they’re “dangerous drivers” and get shit on and nobody wants them around any more - same deal as Maldonado last year.

Now of course if it was Kimi doing all this “dangerous driving” it’d be kosher because he’s quirky and outspoken.

Let alone pay attention to what Alonso was doing until after his final stop?

Just a thought.

Great article by the always-great F1 Rejects that argues in favor of Kimi Raikkonen’s title chances for 2013.

A handful of Gilles’ most memorable drives, called by Murray Walker.

aussiegritandtheiceman:

Pastor Maldonado - William F1

i still believe.

fuckyeah-fernandoalonso:

Fernando Alonso - WINNER Chinese Grand Prix 2013

• First, that Q3 was about as bad as the Melbourne rain debacle - as someone who doesn’t whine about tyres (or tires) in F1 constantly, I have to admit that it was weird and something needs to be fixed about it, if not this year, then for 2014 and onward so the tyres are a little more sturdy and way more consistent.
• Alonso securing 3rd on the grid is good, very good.
• Pérez and Maldonado 12th and 15th on the grid…no bueno.
• Man, the Williams FW35 is bad. McLaren’s new car isn’t that great either. But man what happened at Williams?
• Every rookie got bumped from Q1. Yep, even Valtteri “Hashtag #HashtagBOTTAS Bottas” Bottas missed the cut in a slow and difficult car.
• Mark Webber just wanted an excuse to show his haircut on the world feed, that’s why his fuel rig was tampered with deliberately. Yeah, that’s the conspiracy theory I’m going with. Starting from the back won’t be a problem for him, Webber is one of the best overtakers in F1 - expect a repeat of some of those back-to-front drives Vettel put in to clinch the title.
• I’ll be interested to see how Vettel and Button will fare starting within the top 10 on barely scrubbed prime tires. Hülkenberg too, I think he stands a chance at a top 5.
• Man, for a guy that (according to the pundits) only exists to warm a seat for A.F. Da Costa later this year, Daniel Ricciardo did well to secure 7th. He’s the stronger qualifier, but he faded out badly the last time he started this high, that’s a concern.
• It’s amazing that Räikkonen never started on the front row all last year, but he got 2nd on the grid at Shanghai - maybe he can wrap up a second win in three races (and three in his last six going back to last year?)