F1 Zorg & Badger GP Fantasy Grand Prix 2017

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17:43
"We have some power issues," says Lewis Hamilton. Maybe this weekend is not going to be the formality for Hamilton to become world champion that we were all expecting.

 

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18:02
Verstappen fastest, Hamilton second, Vettel third.

VER
HAM
VET
BOT
RIC
RAI
PER
OCO
SAI
HUL

 

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Right, prediction time race fans.
Don't forget @Andy McDonnell ......

 

[andyglym]

Right, prediction time race fans.
Don't forget @Andy McDonnell ......

Job done mate

 

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Job done mate

What you going for?
I have gone :-

Podium
1st
LEWIS HAMILTON

2nd
MAX VERSTAPPEN

3rd
SEBASTIAN VETTEL

 

[andyglym]

What you going for?
I have gone :-

Podium
1st
LEWIS HAMILTON

2nd
MAX VERSTAPPEN

3rd
SEBASTIAN VETTEL

Lewis, Max, Danni Rik

 

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Lewis Hamilton says he wants to clinch his fourth world title "the right way" by winning Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver needs only to finish fifth in Mexico City, even if rival Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari wins the race.

"I want to show what I'm capable of in every race," said the 32-year-old Briton.

"I have no desire to finish fifth and win the championship while someone else stands on the top step."

He added: "The dream would be to stand on the top step having won the championship."

 

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Grid penalties

These guys are on damage-limitation mode only today.
A reminder of track penalties so far.

• 5-place grid penalty Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
• 20-place grid penalty Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
• 35-place grid penalty Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)

 

[andyglym]

Grid penalties

These guys are on damage-limitation mode only today.
A reminder of track penalties so far.

• 5-place grid penalty Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
• 20-place grid penalty Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
• 35-place grid penalty Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)

Vandoorne starting in Canada then

 

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Three practice sessions in Mexico already this weekend and there have been three drivers who have gone fastest.

Valtteri Bottas was fastest in session one, Daniel Ricciardo was quickest in session two, with Max Verstappen the leading man earlier today.

Lewis Hamilton was second in all three sessions.

 

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Mexican GP qualifying: Hamilton goes for pole -

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Summary

1. Qualifying from 18:55-20:05 BST
2. Red Bull's Max Verstappen quickest in final practice
3. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton second fastest after early power problems
4. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel third with Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas fourth
5. Hamilton can seal title on Sunday - needs to finish fifth

 

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Summary

1. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel takes pole for Sunday's race
2. German's 50th pole position in F1
3. Red Bull's Max Verstappen second and Lewis Hamilton third
4. Bottas fourth and Raikkonen fifth
5. Hamilton can seal title on Sunday - needs to finish fifth

'Super annoyed'
Red Bull's Max Verstappen on Sky Sports after qualifying second: "I'm super annoyed.
"In Q3 it got a bit more difficult - I couldn't get the tyres to work. Second is good but not the way it went. I really wanted that pole position."

Mercedes wouldn't have expected the performance of Red Bull here - the Ferraris yes. The faces of Mercedes bosses Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff - it was sort of shock.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton on Sky Sports after qualifying third: "Those guys (Vettel and Verstappen) did a great job. I gave it everything in the last lap.

"I could've been a couple of tenths of a second quicker but it wouldn't be enough to match these guys. We're still in for the win - I hope to have a battle with at least one of them."

 

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Here we go..

21:19
'It ruined my lap'
And here is Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas, speaking to Sky Sports, about that incident with Max Verstappen in Q3.

The stewards will decide if the Red Bull driver blocked the Finn.

"I was on my lap and I could see in the last sector he was going quite slow at the exit of turn 12 and compromised my line a bit for turn 13," said Bottas.

"It's not up to me if it is worth a penalty - I don’t know what the rulebook says. All I know is it ruined my lap."

 

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21:25
'Angry and helpless'
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo after qualifying seventh: "Every time I left the pits I had no grip. Sometimes you get one set of tyres that you can't turn on but every run was the same story.

"Super frustrated and confused. I'm sure we'll find something, but it doesn't make the session any easier to go through."

"If we get the car back I think we can get to a podium. I was for sure angry but I'd say helpless."

 

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'He can say what he wants'

Max Verstappen is asked about the stewards looking at whether he blocked Valtteri Bottas.

"I was on the inside. He was on his line and he looked up so there was no incident."

He adds to Sky Sports: "There is no incident for me. That's his own problem if he out-breaks himself in the next corner. I didn't hold him up so he can say what he wants. I moved to the inside."

 

[smiffy]

personally, I don't rate Bottas, he's only as quick as he is because of the car. Put him in a Red Bull and he'd be miles back.

 

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I don't rate Bottas

No further action over Verstappen/Bottas.
Max Verstappen has escaped a penalty after the stewards accepted that he did not impede Valtteri Bottas during Mexican Grand Prix qualifying.

Bottas, on a flying lap, approached Verstappen, on a slow lap, during the early stages of the Q3 phase at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Verstappen moved to the left for Bottas at the exit of Turn 12, but Bottas' line appeared to be compromised, and he locked up into the following corner.

Stewards looked into the incident after the session and, while they noted that Verstappen's "slow" movement "could have affected" Bottas, did not view it as impeding.

Verstappen will thus start second, with Bottas fourth.

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Vettel reaches 50 F1 poles.
Sebastian Vettel became only the fourth driver in Formula 1 history to record 50 pole positions, joining Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna in reaching the achievement.

You never forget your first time...

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In a rain-drenched qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix in 2008, Vettel stunned the Formula 1 paddock by grabbing top spot, his first pole, and the first for Toro Rosso. When similar conditions prevailed on race day, Vettel cruised away from the pack to clock an extraordinary win.

 

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McLaren had 'best car' in qualifying - Alonso

Fernando Alonso believes McLaren had the "best car" during qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix, though is braced for a challenging race due to his grid penalty.

Alonso entered qualifying with a 20-place sanction due to taking on fresh engine components, but clocked the fifth-best time in Q1, before opting not to partake in Q2.

Alonso is set to start from 18th on the grid, in front of team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne and non-qualifier Pierre Gasly, but praised McLaren's progress with its MCL32.

 

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Finalized grid for the Mexican Grand Prix.
1. S. Vettel
Ferrari
2. M. Verstappen
Red Bull
3. L. Hamilton
Mercedes AMG
4. V. Bottas
Mercedes AMG
5. K. Raikkonen
Ferrari
6. E. Ocon
Force India F1
7. N. Hulkenberg
Renault
8. C. Sainz Jr.
Renault
9. S. Perez
Force India F1
10. F. Massa
Williams
11. L. Stroll
Williams
12. M. Ericsson
Sauber
13. P. Wehrlein
Sauber
14. K. Magnussen
Haas
15. R. Grosjean
Haas
16. D. Ricciardo
Red Bull
17. B. Hartley
Scuderia Toro Rosso
18. F. Alonso
McLaren
19. S. Vandoorne
McLaren
20. P. Gasly
Scuderia Toro Rosso