FP! results

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:26.333
George Russell Mercedes +0.220
Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.255
Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.334
Liam Lawson Red Bull +0.568
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +0.635
Robert Shwartzman Ferrari +0.993
Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +1.022
Alex Albon Williams +1.207
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +1.212
Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.258
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1.358
Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo +1.431
Logan Sargeant Williams +1.465
Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.509
Pietro Fittipaldi Haas +1.571
Pato O’Ward McLaren +1.717
Jack Doohan Alpine +1.851
Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin +2.262
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +2.402

That's another superlicense point for Sargeant. He's close now. Needs to have a good final race or that Williams seat is up for grabs again. Good to see Pato get a run out and he really enjoyed himself, as you'd expect he might haha. Time to put Kubica out to pasture.

Final race of the season and I'm sad it's over. This season wasn't as good as last season since Max's challengers fell out one by one and by France or maybe Spa we knew the jig was up. But the racing's been better on track because of the new cars. The battles down the order have been better too. Every full time driver has scored and we head in to this race with several constructor's spots still to be decided. Good stuff.

Fantasy also comes down to the wire. I had good results in Brazil, to establish a 28 point lead. But that's nothing at all and it's all to play for. Good luck boys and thanks for playing!

All to play for indeed Mr. Bond. Hopefully a redbull 1-2 and a double Ferrari DNF

As long as Hamllton's out of the points I'll be happy

Congrats on fantasy, I hope I won't end too far down, Tsunoda finishing a race in the points would greatly help....

Tomorrow may be a snooze fest if both RB run away early.

If they don't 2nd championship place fight will entertain, plus Alpine/McLaren fight for contructors 4th.

Yeah a good Tsunoda showing would be great for me. I need AT to step up this weekend and have a good result.

I'm surprised to still be atop the fantasy league as my second half of the season has felt a disaster. Every week something blows up on me, but Brazil kept me in it. Lead stands at 40 I think after qualifying today. That's not much, and Sintax is eager to overtake me. We only have three differences in our teams this week. It is

Team Verstompin': Perez, Sainz, and Alpha Tauri

Versus

Team Perez My Button: Hamilton, Alonso and Alpine

Those choices will decide the SimHQ Formula 1 Fantasy League World Championship

Well you picked up the best pilots in early season so it's quite impossible to catch back.

And since they're still very competitive in late season...

It is over. No more listening to the blathering of Sky Sports.

True, but I felt like it was an eggs in the basket strategy, because taking four top drivers left me so little for the constructor and the fifth driver. One of my faults was failing to understand the scoring, which I do now. I didn't realize how much losing places hurts, and it's one of the pitfalls of taking the fast drivers, since they can't move forward as much as they can go backwards, and there were a number of races this season where this caught me out and I had lousy scoring totals. I was hoping for 200 points every week, but some I would get less than 120. In the end it proved enough with a good result today combined with Sintax's tough luck when Alonso (TD) and Hamilton both retired.

Thanks to you guys for playing. Fantasy adds a lot to following the sport, and as I said earlier it causes me to care about results all down the grid, where normally I'd only be pulling for my few favorite drivers (Max, Lando, Tsunoda and Gasly) And actually I'm a Leclerc fan too, but it cannot override the Red Bull supporter in me. Fantasy saw me rooting at times for drivers like Schumacher and Stroll of all people, and teams like Alfa and Alpha Tauri. It's a lot of fun and hopefully we can get some more participants for next season, where there will be even more races to battle it out.

Congrats to Max and Red Bull for a dominant season. Too bad for Checo that he couldn't quite get it done. But third on the season is one better than last year and maybe he can kick on next season and put up a proper fight.

Ferrari and Leclerc second, and this looked on since France, although Merc made it interesting down the stretch with their improved car. I expect at least a three-way fight next year. Russell deserves credit for a stellar season in a car not quite up to it. He was incredibly consistent, outdrove his more decorated team mate and overall did a fantastic job I think. That he managed to establish himself as the top villain on the grid due to his incessant whining is further credit, as I need my drivers to also root against, and with Hamilton in the sunset I reckon George is positioned for a long run as top dog.

The battle for fourth was great all year long, and well done to Alpine who really had a lot to do with their reliability dragging them down so much. Poor Fernando, he deserved better with his performances, but that car failed him too often. Lando had a good season, especially down the stretch, and with a different driver in the other seat I think McLaren would have nicked it. Ricciardo only came good once the pressure was off. If he had driven all year like he did from Singapore on then McLaren would have been fourth I think. Piastri has it all to do. He'll need to be fast out of the gate, not only for the hunt for places, but because his maneuvering off the track puts a target on his back and he'll need to prove he was worth all the fuss.

Well done also to Alfa Romeo, who nicked sixth from Aston Martin on count back was it? Tight battle and the new regs and closer racing brought the midfield closer together this season. Max may have run away with it, but the rest of the order was a proper tussle all season and every full-time driver scored. I enjoyed the racing this season and I think the new regs did exactly what it said on the tin. Next season the teams will have the data to iron it out and I hope to see even better racing then.

All in all a good F1 season, even if the title hunt lacked the drama of last season. It will be hard to ever see a better fight than 2021, but the racing's in a good spot at the mo, and a few minor changes here and there can make it even better (DRS tweaks for example). I thought race control was no better than a year ago despite all the changes and proclamations. How races are administered is what I would focus on most closely were I to be in charge. Judgements are too variable, take too long and often seem arbitrary. Like why wasn't DRS enabled at Imola for example? It made no sense, and we never saw an explanation I don't think. There were many examples of race control seemingly not in control, at least to the degree I expect out of it. But that's all for next season.

I don't think I ever read the fantasy rules, will have to for next season.

Overall it has been one of the best seasons since quite long.... for second place at least, after the first third.

Overtakes were very nice, and mixed strategies worked on some occasions, seemed less mono strat than last year.

Sprints by themselves don't bring this much, but on sprint week-ends there's very little practice, and it seems to help randomize the grid, that's nice.

What also helped is teams were discovering their cars, dunno if it will last.

Anyway, next year with quite a few new names on the grid will be quite interesting, can't wait aready !

I agree for the same reason, they're in parc ferme after one practice. Not a big fan of the format if I'm honest, although the Brazil sprint was great. Six next year.

Oh yeah, and Logan Sargeant finished fourth yesterday in the F2 race, gaining the required super license points and filling the final vacancy on the grid for next season. All seats are now set.

First American driver since Rossi in 2015.

Binoclown out !

Mick to Mercedes, unconfirmed.

I think that had to happen, as we talked about several times through the season. He was given a job he wasn't well-suited to in my opinion, and Ferrari made the mistake of giving him dual roles, with Binotto retaining his technical director role as well as becoming team principal. That's being spread pretty thin it would seem and made his job that much harder. He may be great in the engineering department, but I don't believe he has the right skillset to oversee the entire operation, but that's just my opinion. Ferrari's problems this year certainly weren't all down to him, but he was in charge and heavy is the head that wears the big hat.

Who will be the successor? Question. . .

Vasseur appears to be favorite at this time. But who knows in the end.

And I caught your humor there, well played.

Schumacher to Merc as reserve was expected, but I think this is a mistake.

Palou named as 'one of' McLaren's reserves, but he'll be full time Indy Car. Not sure how this is going to work.

China's out for next season, as I expected it would be. Good to know this far in advance. The word is Portimao will be used instead, as otherwise there would be a one-month long gap between Albert Park and Baku. I like Portimao a lot, great track, so this is fine and cuts costs for the teams. I like Shanghai's circuit too it should be said, especially sector 1, but I won't be sorry to see this race removed from the docket.

Shanghai's circuit in another country would be perfect

Mick had to find a place that would say "hey I'm here if needed", I think he deserves another go just as much as Tsunoda or zou have one.

I agree on both points, and I say it's a mistake, for Merc.

I don't harbor any ill will toward Mick, and the fact he landed on his feet at least is good. I hope he takes it with both hands and it leads to new opportunities.

But will those opportunities be with Mercedes? I can't see him ever sitting in a Mercedes F1 drive, unless he's filling in for sick, injured or suspended drivers. In other words, I can't see Mercedes giving Mick a full time seat regardless of how well he does on the sim and any substitute appearances. But one 'De Vries at Monza' race can clearly turn heads and switch the narrative on a driver so you never know.

For me, Mick isn't the required level. Whether that's a physical limitation, or mental, or something else (maybe he needs more time?) I cannot say. But I've been a Formula 1 fan a long time and I think he's one that just doesn't have the right makeup to excel in F1. His skill doesn't match his desire. But maybe I'll be proven wrong.

So I think Merc is making a mistake by not filling the role with a driver they think can be the next one to take a full time seat. Maybe they do think Mick is this driver, and that's a mistake in my view. If Hamilton retires next year does anyone think Merc will promote Mick Schumacher in to his seat? That seems far fetched. So I think this is a matter of having a need and filling it, with little or no view to the future, and an operation at the top of F1 always needs to be thinking strategically about the near and distant future. I just can't see Mick as the answer.

I’ll join the ranks of those who fail to see what Mick Schu can do for Mercedes, except perhaps as a marketing exercise. As a test driver I have a hard time believing he will be able to contribute much to developing next year’s car unless he is to be the simulator hamster, basically just turning laps at consistent, pedestrian speeds. I’m not conversant with MB’s thinking on this so its purely my armchair general muslings here.

Well, Arrivabene was made into Arriverderci by Binotto and supporters in a power struggle back in the day but failing perhaps to concentrate the efforts of Ferrari in the manner of staying on top of the always present politicing and scheming. He seems to be the latest casualty of the Scuderia Malaise and I harbour a sneaky feeling that Carlos Sainz Jr. and his camp may be behind some rocking of the boat. Certainly I don’t get the impression that the Sainz camp are interested in a scenario that sees a successful Leclerc.