Alternate F1 World Champions.....Round 2

[FickleCrossroad]

Awww... You gave Bianchi a home win. Awesome!

Interesting format for the 2015 season. Kinda thinking I should reboot my TL that way, and just have a condensed recap within quarter seasons.

 

[TheMann]

UPDATE on the Formula One Season for 2015:

The Results (Part 3)

Grand Prix of Canada
Mosport Park Raceway, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada
June 7, 2015

Result

Pole: James Hinchcliffe (#2 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
Fast Lap: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)

1st: James Hinchcliffe (#2 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
2nd: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
3rd: A.J. Allmendinger (#12 Ferrari)

4th: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
5th: Sebastian Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
6th: Felipe Massa (#11 Ferrari)
7th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
8th: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
9th: Will Power (#4 Jordan - Mercedes)
10th: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)
11th: Bruno Senna (#26 Sauber - Mercedes)
12th: Vitaly Petrov (#7 Williams - BMW)

Grand Prix of New York
Port Imperial Road Racing Circuit, Weehauken, New Jersey, United States of America
June 14, 2015

Result

Pole: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
Fast Lap: Sebastian Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)

1st: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
2nd: Sebastian Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
3rd: Ryan Hunter-Reay (#8 Williams - BMW)

4th: Will Power (#4 Jordan - Mercedes)
5th: A.J. Allmendinger (#12 Ferrari)
6th: Sakura Miyasaki (#17 Autobacs - Honda)
7th: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)
8th: Shane Van Gisbergen (#21 Brabham - Chevrolet)
9th: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)
10th: Valtteri Bottas (#6 McLaren - Chrysler)
11th: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
12th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)

British Grand Prix
Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
June 28, 2015

Result

Pole: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
Fast Lap: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)

1st: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)
2nd: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
3rd: Alex Lynn (#10 Lotus - Chevrolet)

4th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
5th: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)
6th: Nico Rosberg (#15 Prodrive - Toyota)
7th: Sebastian Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
8th: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
9th: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
10th: Felipe Massa (#11 Ferrari)
11th: Shane Van Gisbergen (#21 Brabham - Chevrolet)
12th: Nick Heidfeld (#25 Arrows - BMW)

Grosser Preis von Deutschland
Nurburgring Kombinierte Schaltung, Nurburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
July 12, 2015

Result

Pole: Sebastian Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
Fast Lap: Nico Rosberg (#15 Prodrive - Toyota)

1st: Sebastian Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
2nd: Valtteri Bottas (#6 McLaren - Chrysler)
3rd: Nico Rosberg (#15 Prodrive - Toyota)

4th: Tomas Schekter (#14 Prodrive - Toyota)
5th: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)
6th: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
7th: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)
8th: Sakura Miyasaki (#17 Autobacs - Honda)
9th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
10th: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
11th: Ryan Hunter-Reay (#8 Williams - BMW)
12th: Shane Van Gisbergen (#21 Brabham - Chevrolet)

Grand Prix of Scandinavia
Gotland Ring, Kappelshamn, Gotland, Sweden
July 19, 2015

Result

Pole: Ryan Hunter-Reay (#8 Williams - BMW)
Fast Lap: James Hinchcliffe (#2 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)

1st: Ryan Hunter-Reay (#8 Williams - BMW)
2nd: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)
3rd: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)

4th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
5th: Shane Van Gisbergen (#21 Brabham - Chevrolet)
6th: Sebastian Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
7th: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
8th: Vitaly Petrov (#7 Williams - BMW)
9th: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
10th: Will Power (#4 Jordan - Mercedes)
11th: Alex Lynn (#10 Lotus - Chevrolet)
12th: Sakura Miyasaki (#17 Autobacs - Honda)

The current driver points (after 10 races, up to and including the Monaco GP):

269 - Lewis Hamilton (C)
232 - Sebastian Vettel (C)
182 - Nico Rosberg (R)
179 - Kyle Busch
148 - Jules Bianchi (R)
148 - Ryan Hunter-Reay
138 - Katherine Legge
137 - Kimi Raikkonen
133 - Fernando Alonso (C)
125 - Daniel Riccardo (R)
123 - James Hinchcliffe
123 - Valtteri Bottas
123 - Will Power
119 - Felipe Massa
106 - A.J. Allmendinger (R)
45 - Sakura Miyasaki (R)
44 - Tomas Schekter (C)
42 - Shane Van Gisbergen (R)
39 - Vitaly Petrov
26 - Alex Lynn (R)
21 - Bruno Senna
9 - Simona de Silvestro
8 - Jann Mardenborough (R)
6 - Robert Kubica
6 - Raffaele Marciello (R)
2 - Nick Heidfeld
1 - Sean Edwards (R)
1 - Kyle Marcelli
1 - Sam Bird
1 - Kazuki Nakajima

OOC: Aaaaaaand I'm not done yet!

 

[TheMann]

Awww... You gave Bianchi a home win. Awesome!

I couldn't not. He left us far too soon. The original plan for him and Rosberg is that they would be good wingmen for their World Champion teammates, but Bianchi is proving every bit Alonso's equal and Schekter had a terrible start to the season. Schekter is now openly saying that he's playing Rosberg's wingman now, and Alain Prost has no real objections to Bianchi and Alonso racing each other so long as it doesn't hurt either's chances, and as both have won a race this season and they have the best engine in the field this year (the Renault RS30TC is a rocketship engine), the Prost squad has no real problems.

Interesting format for the 2015 season. Kinda thinking I should reboot my TL that way, and just have a condensed recap within quarter seasons.

I have more detail to add to just this, too, but this gives you an idea of how things are going in the championship. Hamilton and Vettel are not running away with wins but rather consistently stacking up points, a point that is also applying now to Rosberg, Busch and the others. The whole field is quite close in speeds, and with 13 races to go realistically anybody on that list with 100+ points isn't out of it. The consistency boss in this championship is Riccardo - he's only been on the podium once, but he's scored 12 times in 15 races, and Van Gisbergen is getting into a stride too.

 

[FickleCrossroad]

I couldn't not. He left us far too soon. The original plan for him and Rosberg is that they would be good wingmen for their World Champion teammates, but Bianchi is proving every bit Alonso's equal and Schekter had a terrible start to the season. Schekter is now openly saying that he's playing Rosberg's wingman now, and Alain Prost has no real objections to Bianchi and Alonso racing each other so long as it doesn't hurt either's chances, and as both have won a race this season and they have the best engine in the field this year (the Renault RS30TC is a rocketship engine), the Prost squad has no real problems.



I have more detail to add to just this, too, but this gives you an idea of how things are going in the championship. Hamilton and Vettel are not running away with wins but rather consistently stacking up points, a point that is also applying now to Rosberg, Busch and the others. The whole field is quite close in speeds, and with 13 races to go realistically anybody on that list with 100+ points isn't out of it. The consistency boss in this championship is Riccardo - he's only been on the podium once, but he's scored 12 times in 15 races, and Van Gisbergen is getting into a stride too.

What's the point structure again? If I ever have time I could do up a spreadsheet. I know you expanded the points beyond OTL-present, but I don't know if there's anything new for 2015. By the way, expanding based off of the last decade's framework leads to some strange twists for consistency. (I had to rewrite my framework for my 1994 last year because of it.)

 

[TheMann]

The Stories of the 2015 Formula One Season (So Far....)

Race With The Rookies
2015 has seen perhaps the best crop of rookie drivers in many years - both GP2 champs (Jules Bianchi in Europe, Daniel Riccardo in Asia), the Indycar runner-up (AJ Allmendinger) and the guy Bianchi spent the 2014 GP2 slugging it out with (Nico Rosberg) have all proven to be standouts in the Formula One world.

The Prodrive and Prost EuroFrance teams didn't expect that their talented rookies would be championship contenders as rookies, but that is how its turning out, and at this point the Prost team is more than willing to admit that they aren't picking between Fernando Alonso or Bianchi at any race, and after a terrible start to the season aside from a standout performance at a ridiculously-hot Kyalami, Tomas Schekter is willing to say openly that at this point he's more focused on being wingman to Rosberg, a point proven when he gave up the podium at the Nurburgring for Rosberg. (It should be noted that Rosberg made a point that he never asked for that, and he would have been happy to see Tomas on the podium.) But perhaps most of all, the gamble on two rookies that Brabham made is paying off nicely, namely because the charismatic Riccardo and the talented New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen have proven to be both fast and intelligent. Indeed, the same good results can also be said for Autobacs rookie Sakura Miyasaki and Sauber's Jann Mardenborough.

The hiring of talented rookies hasn't all been roses, though - Joylon Palmer found mastering the difficult-to-setup Lotus 144 tricky and was unable to score before a broken shoulder in a bicycling accident combined with Alex Lynn's sensational debut at Silverstone made sure that he lost the seat at Lotus and Tanner Woodley's time at Vector simply went from bad to worse, culminating in a truly idiotic accident that wound up involving him, Nico Hulkenberg, Jann Mardenborough and GP2 drivers Rio Haryanto and Mark Russell at Le Mans saw him put on probation, and after an equally-foolish attempt to get back on track after an off at Mosport wrecked the races for Nicolas Prost and Shane Van Gisbergen, he was fired in favor of GP2 standout Beitske Visser.

No, That Was NOT A Fluke
The McLaren team made a call that many couldn't believe when they brought in intense American Kyle Busch to be their second driver in 2014, but having clearly taken the title of team leader from teammate Valtteri Bottas, Busch has spent 2015 making sure the whole Formula One world knows very well that he's a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps most notable of this is the fact that the McLaren team in general has proven to be more than a little feisty and combative in 2015, and that is not by any means limited to Busch or team president James Hunt - Busch's referring to Valtteri as "SuperBottas" in Argentina (a nickname perhaps well-earned after Bottas' push from his 25th starting position to a second-place finish in a truly mad race) has since stuck well and been embraced by the Finn, whose sporting of a Superman shirt with a "B" in the middle several times since then has proven to be amusing to many in the Formula One media.

Who's the Number One, Again?
Many teams may well choose to have lead drivers to chase for wins and titles, but among the 2015 championship many of those have gone out the window, and whether the team is using overachieving rookies like Ferrari, Prost and Prodrive or more experienced veterans like Stewart/Tyrrell, Jordan or Williams, several teams have had to toss team orders to the wind, and in many cases this is proving to be even beneficial. Valtteri Bottas and Kyle Busch's attempt to beat each other saw the two run away and hide in Brazil (Daniel Riccardo's comment about the two of them channeling Ayrton Senna and Emerson Fittipaldi scored him plenty of kudos in the press conference after the race) and Lewis Hamilton's comment in Canada about some wondering why the Stewart/Tyrrell team didn't get James Hinchcliffe to pull over ("He wouldn't have listened anyway, I sure as hell wouldn't have") proved that even among the championships, few teams are willing to have a driver pull over for the supposed Number One. Indeed, many teams are embracing this.

Sex Objects, Huh Boys?
Female drivers are nothing new to Formula One - women drivers in F1 go back to the 1950s, and Lella Lombardi's 1979 championship showed that they can rise all the way to the top - but the 2015 F1 season perhaps showcases that gender chase better than any other. Katherine Legge's emotional victory in the British Grand Prix and the points scored by Simona de Silvestro and Sakura Miyasaki and Tanner Woodley's replacement being Beitske Visser proves that the girls CAN run with the boys, and two other things seems to be common about this - the women involved don't seem to care all that much if the rest of the male-dominated motorsport world thinks of them as sex objects first (Katherine and Simona have explicitly said this) and that despite this, Formula One's community of drivers still has plenty of chivalry, a point found out by a trio of boorish Californian F1 fans found out courtesy of Valtteri Bottas and James Hinchcliffe (they commented to Simona that they'd absolutely love to "tap that ass" and whistled boorishly until James and Valtteri emptied drinks all over their faces) and a German photographer found out from Daniel Riccardo after he attempted to grab Beitske Visser's backside (Daniel punched him in the face). While some female drivers in the past may have wanted to use sex appeal to get ahead, for the current female driver pack in Formula One - Legge, de Silvestro, Miyasaki, Visser - sex appeal has taken a back seat to driving ability, a fact noticed by the F1 paddock and appreciated by their teams. It does have to be said that none of the four are anything less than very pleasant to look at, mind you....

Multiclass Racing in Open Wheel Cars
The idea of allowing the best of the GP2 world to race with the Formula One racers at the races at Le Mans and the Nurburgring was an idea that when originally announced raised some eyebrows even if it is common in many other forms of racing, namely owing to the speed differences involved - but at both events, it proved to be well-liked by fans, absolutely beloved by GP2 Europe teams who got to race in the main event alongside the F1 drivers and teams, and on the 8.77-mile Circuit de la Sarthe and the daunting 16.12-mile Nurburgring, space was simply not an issue, and it wasn't here either.

Old Tracks, New Tricks
The quarter-century of near-constant improvement in safety in Formula One and the subsequent allowing of many of the classic tracks of the past into the series has drawn the love of many of the drivers. The rebuilds to Formula One standards of Kyalami, Mosport and Zandvoort have drawn all kinds of approval from the drivers, and the street circuits at Long Beach and Barcelona had all kinds of raves from the drivers, both from the beautiful California sunshine of Long Beach and the beautiful surroundings of Montjuich Park in Barcelona proving a great place for a motor race even if the track is in many places on the narrow side.

But perhaps the greatest accolades were reserved for Le Mans and the Nurburgring. The new sections of the Le Mans circuit (the first splitting the Mulsanne in half and the second replacing a part of the Porsche Curves) when combined with the existing Circuit De La Sarthe and a complete repaving and improvement of facilities on the circuit combined to create both a unique and fabulous track for any form of motor racing, and the "Month of Speed" at Le Mans starting with the French GP and finishing with the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race proved to be a roaring success for the organizers with a race day crowd at the GP estimated at 200,000.

The Nurburgring was an even greater transformation. The widening of the track in many places and some changes to the layout (particularly the changes on the fast Bergwerk-to-Steilstrecke and Aremberg-to-Adenauer Forst sections) have drawn criticism from some, the new Nurburgring's over twenty-four miles of new walls (with nearly half of these equipped with SAFER barriers) replacing Armco and extensive new safety measures made racing there as safe as any other circuit on the calendar, and multiple rounds of regrading and repaving has removed many of the nastier bumps and lumps on the track. Many drivers admitted that the new Nordschleife was still plenty intimidating, but despite five major accidents at the event (two in practice, Sean Edwards' crash in qualifying and the big accidents suffered by Kazuki Nakajima and Sergey Sirotkin in the race), there were no substantial injuries suffered by drivers in the event, and fans have said publicly that they approve of what has been done at the circuit.

 

[TheMann]

What's the point structure again? If I ever have time I could do up a spreadsheet. I know you expanded the points beyond OTL-present, but I don't know if there's anything new for 2015. By the way, expanding based off of the last decade's framework leads to some strange twists for consistency. (I had to rewrite my framework for my 1994 last year because of it.)

The points system goes:

1st: 36
2nd: 30
3rd: 24
4th: 18
5th: 15
6th: 12
7th: 10
8th: 8
9th: 6
10th: 4
11th: 2
12th: 1

Pole: 3
Fastest Lap: 1

 

[HawkAussie]

I only just looked at it now, to see that Shane Van Gisbergen is driving in Formula One. So I assumed he did the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship in 2005/06 before maybe going into Europe in 2006 and then started from there.

 

[mike robers]

Hey, what's going on in other forms of racing, mainly IndyCar?

 

[TheMann]

I only just looked at it now, to see that Shane Van Gisbergen is driving in Formula One. So I assumed he did the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship in 2005/06 before maybe going into Europe in 2006 and then started from there.

Correct. Technically he want to Japan first (Japanese Formula 3 champion in 2008 and 2010, multiple wins in Super GT during that time period as well) before heading to Europe, as well as making two Indy 500 starts (and one DNQ) during the same time period as his time in Japan. A season in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2011 (runner-up to Robert Wickens there) before GP2 Europe in 2012, and he was a consistent performer there, finishing in the top ten in points all three seasons. Mark Webber and Brandon Hartley's departures to sports car racing opened up two seats, and having finished third to Bianchi and Rosberg in the 2014 GP2 Europe season, he joined the GP2 Asia champ at Brabham. All in all, his move through the ranks of open-wheelers has been steady but successful, and like Riccardo, he arrived as a very well-prepared rookie.

You'll still see him in V8s, too. Van Gisbergen drove at the 24 Hours of Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans, and will be at Bathurst with his teammate in one of the Holden Dealer Team Commodores.

 

[TheMann]

Notable Fun Moments in the Season (So Far)

"SuperBottas"
The pairing of Kyle Busch and Valtteri Bottas at McLaren has become over a season and a half a close one, and Kyle's propensity for prank-playing has become something of a minor legend, but after Valtteri's performance in Argentina (he finished 3rd after starting 25th and having problems with a rear tire installation in the pits) and the battle between the teammates in Brazil (which Valtteri won), Kyle made a point of showing off a "SuperBottas" T-shirt in the paddock at Long Beach, and giving ones not just to Valtteri but also to many of his competitors, giving more than a few a laugh. Since then, the "Super Bottas" nickname has stuck, and Valtteri's drive from 14th to finish 2nd to Vettel at the Nurburgring saw BBC TV commentator Allan McNish comment about Valtteri "That's why they call him Super Bottas, isn't it?" When asked about it after that race, Valtteri joked about it: "If the other drivers know Super Bottas is coming, they might just get out of my way."

"The Brotherhood and The Prank Wars"
A chance meeting at a hotel bar in Mumbai saw a friendship develop between Jules Bianchi and Daniel Riccardo was the start of much craziness, craziness that rapidly drew in fast-talking James Hinchcliffe and fellow rookies Jann Mardenborough and A.J. Allmendinger as well as Riccardo's teammate Shane Van Gisbergen, who from South Africa on were rarely seen away from each other away from the events and who frequently were often seen living life to the fullest away from the track. A comment by Vettel in South Africa about them being a "frat house pack" proved to be something used early and often by the others, and ended up being a running gag on Vettel for much of the season. Kyle Busch also got in on the act, and Kimi's comments about the rookies at Barcelona (comments which Lewis Hamilton reported warned Kimi "You'll regret that") saw him being added to the practical joke list. The practical jokes from the "The Brotherhood" swelled up to Riccardo, Bianchi and Allmendinger tossing Vettel in a hotel pool at Long Beach, to which Vettel and Kimi subsequently got back at the three by releasing snakes into the bedrooms of the two drivers as they slept, with Bianchi apparently finding out the snake when he awoke and found it on his chest. (Apparently Joylon Palmer was also in on this one.) Vettel got into the act by ingeniously rigging up a toilet in a bathroom in the driver's lounge in Barcelona, giving at least Bianchi an awful cold back from a water squirt, to which Jules got back at Sebastian (with the help of Will Power) by switching the keys around to Vettel's personal car at Barcelona.

The situation got the most public attention in Canada, when Vettel went to dinner at a fashionable Toronto restaurant with his fiance Hanna, only to have the others repeatedly buzz the restaurant Vettel was at with their own road cars. Vettel retaliated to this by stealing Hinchcliffe's driver suit (he was busted doing this by Katherine Legge who subsequently told Hinchcliffe) and by arranging for Bianchi to get a good bottle of wine with dinner in New York, but the wine having had a little bit of Neutral Red food dye in it, which caused Bianchi (and Fernando Alonso, Alain Prost and Mitt Romney) to have red coloring in their urine and a undoubtedly a few heartstopping moments. Lewis got back at Vettel for the Hinchcliffe stunt at the round in New Jersey by getting Vettel out of the shower and having him open his front door, where Vettel got a bucket of ice water in the face from Lewis and Hinch. Kimi got one back on the grid at the same event when, while being interviewed by ESPN, as Allmendinger emptied the contents of a drinking bottle right onto the crotch area of Raikkonen's (light blue) firesuit from behind the camera, which Kimi answered back before qualifying at Silverstone by lining Allmendinger's helmet with ice cubes inside of the padding. Vettel commented that vengeance to Riccardo for the buzzing in Canada was simply a matter of saying to Daniel that payback was coming and that there was nothing he could to stop it, and then give Daniel an evil grin whenever the two saw each other away from the track, which resulted in a week of Daniel watching for Vettel's prank retaliation. Mardenborough got probably the worst single prank of all when he brought a date to his condo in London only to find another woman in his apartment, which left Jann in the middle of a mess that he truly had no idea about. Raikkonen was the source of that one, and he admitted it to Jann's date. (No word if Kimi and Jann have spoken since then.) Mardenborough and Van Gisbergen got one back on Kimi by putting red Kool-Aid in a shower head at Kimi's room in Germany, which undoubtedly gave Kimi a few choice words.

Beyond the pranking wars, the guys were frequently seen together outside of events, something which the more straitlaced of team owners sometimes took objection to (though James Hunt and Geoff Brabham actually encouraged this, and Eddie Jordan, Bobby Rahal and Stefan Bellof spent much more time laughing about it than anything else) but which got lots of attention for the drivers. They never got into too much trouble - no arrests or anything of that nature - but they did get a lot of attention in the tabloid presses, and one of the notables of the actions of many of the younger drivers was to act as a Yang to the Yin of many of the drivers who take their roles very seriously.

The Boys From Down Under
Perhaps more than any rookie in modern times, the outgoing personality of Brabham rookie Daniel Riccardo and the greater comfort in his role of Jordan's #2 Will Power proved in their attitudes and image. Riccardo's seeming inability to not have a smile on his face rubbed off on the others in "The Brotherhood", and both that at the multiple rounds of chivalry and general good-guy attitudes both displayed made for plenty of comments in the English-speaking media, and it also meant that when the circus came to Australia it had the attention of not just race fans but of much of the country - the Governor General and Prime Minister of Australia were among those at the race, and the whole media had a field day when Riccardo ripped off a sensational pole for the race, followed by Will Power's starting third in the race just adding to the din. A hoped-for hometown win didn't come to pass - Riccardo finished sixth, Power eighth - the victory by Ryan Hunter-Reay and podium for Allmendinger proved popular ones, particularly since the media events before the race had included the American racers (along with Canadian Hinchcliffe, Brit Mardenborough and fellow American Busch) trying their hand in a game of Aussie Rules Football for the cameras against a local squad in Melbourne (where Allmendinger accidentally kicked the ball directly into the back of Hinchcliffe's head on camera), and Power and Vettel got points for chivalry and being good samaritans on the Thursday before the race by coming on the scene of a hit-and-run car accident in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick and helping two women out of a wrecked sedan. Power's willingness to speak his mind got him into some hot water (his double-digit salute after the race and blunt, more-than-a-little-undiplomatic comments after his run-in with Nico Rosberg at Road America cost him $25,000, though many said Eddie Jordan paid it himself), the authentic nature of Power's persona and Riccardo's personality (and Shane Van Gisbergen's remarkable ability to cuss out somebody without actually cussing them out) earned the Aussies a formidable following - and the Brabham teammates' competing in the Bathurst 1000 didn't hurt that. (They finished fourth.) A survey during the year by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation found Riccardo as one of the five most popular active Australian sports figures, and Power landed in the top fifteen.

Girl Power
Beitske Visser's taking over from Tanner Woodley at the Vector USF1 team got more than a few comments about her looks maybe playing a part in her selection (though the fact that Visser only failed to finish two of the eighteen races in which she competed in 2015 works against that view), but after the butt-grab incident at the Nurburgring led to yet more comments about looks, but she seemed to take that in stride....until she decided to show up at the drivers' press conference before the 2015 in her driver suit, before stripping that off to show off a rather jaw-dropping Wonder Woman outfit in which she handled questions. (Kimi Raikkonen got a loud laugh when he commented during a conference "She looks good. She looks so good that most of us here are having a hard time not looking. I know I am, and I live with a fitness model. And I'm gonna get my ass kicked for that statement in an hour or so.") Visser added to that by being frequently seen after that in a UFC-branded sports top, which led to Beitske being invited on a TV show in Detroit before the USGP where UFC competitor Ronda Rousey was also a guest, who gave Visser a new autographed top. Visser's choice to regularly try to show an image of tough-but-competent beauty earned her fans, and the quite-explicit approval of teammate Katherine Legge, who openly supported Visser's image efforts. Her fellow drivers quite openly approved, with a dumb comment from an ESPN sports reporter about her beauty affecting people's perception of her being answered first by Busch, then Hamilton and Alonso (who commented "jealous much, Robert?") and then by Raikkonen. By the end of the season, Visser's driver image had been adapted by most of the other females in the paddock, though a visit after the finale to Tel Aviv's beaches by the two Vector teammates got more than a little attention, though one paparazzo got driven off of trying to get candid shots by Alonso, who proved his skill at playing football on the beach by kicking the ball directly into said paparazzo's crotch.

The Team Owners
Perhaps the best known personalities outside of Formula One's drivers is the guys who own and operate the teams, and they range from truly focused men like Frank Williams, Alain Prost, David Richards and Aguri Suzuki to the more hilarious, fun-loving types and the more famous ones, and they made their own news a few times.

Force India's Bollywood star co-owners Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta made headlines for the looks they almost always got (their Bollywood friends often being around races didn't hurt matters here) and caused one particular incident where BBC TV Presenter (and Arrows co-owner) Jeremy Clarkson attempted to make a comment about women drivers before the race at Le Mans about women drivers and Zinta commented openly "Go get your car right now, Mr. Clarkson. I'll get mine, and we'll see who drives better." Clarkson, openly stunned, commented that he drives cars for a living, to which Zinta commented "Then I should be an easy target, no?" Clarkson and Zinta did eventually compete at Monaco, but Clarkson found somewhat to his dismay that while his Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG was a fast car, Zinta's Honda NSX Convertible around Monaco was a faster one. It would not be the only time the Bollywood princess made headlines - she hosted the lavish party in Mumbai to kick off the season along with a sizable contingent of Bollywood's most beautiful (Jules Bianchi commented that he'd never seen that many beautiful women in one place ever before) and while her team failed to score a point all season, that was not because of a lack of determination, and after the horrible weekend the team had at Montreal - both Sergey Sirotkin and Karun Chandhok were involved in practice crashes, but the team worked through the night to get the cars ready for qualifying, only to see Sirotkin and Chandhok qualify 33rd and 34th fastest in a race that a 32 car grid - Zinta commented loudly to the media "I couldn't be prouder. In any sport, sometimes things do not go your way. Sometimes you make your best efforts and fate doesn't give what you desire. That was the case this weekend, and I will not be angry or dismissive of efforts such as the one my team has given."

Few could come close to the Monaco battle between Clarkson and Zinta, but the ever-mad James Hunt didn't come far off. The team's shitfight with the Jordan crew from the year before rolled right into 2015, and Hunt and Busch's comments about the Jordan team were this time, after a year of smaller responses by the Jordan team, answered full-throatedly by Power and Jordan as well as on occasion by Vettel. After commenting about the wet race in Malaysia that "Sebastian will probably melt in the warm rain" and that Power was "probably out getting some pussy someplace", Jordan finally got on the horn, commenting about Hunt "I really wish Hunt would shut up and get laid from time to time" and that "A man who was famous for having sex, smoking dope and puking before races has no place talking about Will or Sebastian." Hunt wasn't done there, commenting on a BBC interview "I think I hurt Eddie's feelings" to which Eddie responded "No, James, you pissed me off." Hunt got into it with others, notably referring to the Ferraris as "hunks of melted cheese" after the viciously-hot race in Argentina (Ferrari's bosses and drivers didn't respond to this, in large part because Niki Lauda said to Stefan Bellof and Bobby Rahal "He does this shit all the time") and his comment about the track in Barcelona that "those of us without two balls between our legs need not apply" (to which Sakura Miyasaki, who heard that comment live, responded with a "go fuck yourself" on air) got him into shit. James' subsequent challenge to Jordan to race him on a track got settled when Jordan took him up on his challenge at Silverstone (Eddie won) and his making a public fool of himself by falling out off of a chair while rather drunk at a party in Detroit kept up the public persona. Hunt was now married and living a different life, but some things about him will never change....

 

[FickleCrossroad]

Prank wars? Nice! Good to see some of the lighter side of the story.

 

[TheMann]

Awards

When In Doubt, Gas It Award
Kyle Busch was living by this all season, and it got him to being in championship contention right up into the final race, with truly massive crashes at Kyalami and Barcelona not damping Kyle's aggressive driving style. He wasn't the only one with a penchant for this - Raikkonen in particular got himself in trouble often doing this too - Busch was the champion lead foot who almost was the champion for real.

Where The Heck Did YOU Come From Award
This award could only go to Sakura Miyasaki, whose Autobacs cars had struggled with straight line speed and aero stability for the first ten races of the season, but the pace was bang on at Monaco, and while teammate Kazuki Nakajima screwed himself flat-spotting cold tires into Ste. Devote chasing Power and Busch, Sakura drove the high-downforce, nailed-down Autobacs and its screaming Honda engine and indestructible Yokohama tires to a stunning podium, after a third place earned after the team hadn't scored a point all season.

Die Hard With a Vengeance Award
For getting run off on the first lap, racing back to the front then getting held back in the pits thanks a miscue by Tomas Schekter and getting pushed off again trying to lap Max Chilton only to race all the way back up to finish second, Kimi Raikkonen had a helluva race at the Gotland Ring in Sweden. He finished second to Ryan Hunter-Reay, who openly said that he was glad there hadn't been two more laps in the race because "I wasn't gonna get run over by Kimi."

TBC....

 

[mike robers]

Boy, this thread has been quiet. Ihope it isn't dead.

 

[MatthewFirth]

Hope he finishes the season before the year is up.....

 

[TheMann]

Boy, this thread has been quiet. Ihope it isn't dead.

Hope he finishes the season before the year is up.....

Since You Asked....

Grand Prix of Russia
Sochi Baltic Sea Autodrom, Verkhneveseloye, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia
July 26, 2015

Result

Pole: Nico Rosberg (#15 Prodrive - Toyota)
Fast Lap: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)

1st: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
2nd: Vitaly Petrov (#7 Williams - BMW)
3rd: Nico Rosberg (#15 Prodrive - Toyota)

4th: Ryan Hunter-Reay (#8 Williams - BMW)
5th: Sakura Miyasaki (#17 Autobacs - Honda)
6th: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
7th: James Hinchcliffe (#2 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
8th: Heikki Kovalainen (#30 Virgin/Reynard - Honda)
9th: Sean Edwards (#40 Jaguar - Ford/Cosworth)
10th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
11th: A.J Allmendinger (#12 Ferrari)
12th: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)

Grand Prix of the Netherlands
Circuit Park Zandvoort, Zandvoort, North Holland, Netherlands
August 9, 2015

Result

Pole: Sebastien Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
Fast Lap: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)

1st: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)
2nd: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)
3rd: Sebastien Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)

4th: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
5th: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
6th: Valtteri Bottas (#6 McLaren - Chrysler)
7th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
8th: Tomas Schekter (#14 Prodrive - Toyota)
9th: Simona de Silvestro (#31 Virgin/Reynard - Honda)
10th: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
11th: Shane van Gisbergen (#21 Brabham - Chevrolet)
12th: Alex Lynn (#10 Lotus - Chevrolet)

Grand Prix of Belgium
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
August 16, 2015

Result

Pole: Felipe Massa (#11 Ferrari)
Fast Lap: Sebastien Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)

1st: Felipe Massa (#11 Ferrari)
2nd: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
3rd: A.J Allmendinger (#12 Ferrari)

4th: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
5th: Sebastien Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
6th: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
7th: Beitske Visser (#23 Vector)
8th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
9th: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
10th: James Hinchcliffe (#2 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
11th: Tomas Schekter (#14 Prodrive - Toyota)
12th: Simona de Silvestro (#31 Virgin/Reynard - Honda)

Gran Premio d'Italia
Autodromo Nazionale de Monza, Monza, Monza and Brianza, Italy
August 23, 2015

Result

Pole: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
Fast Lap: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)

1st: A.J Allmendinger (#12 Ferrari)
2nd: Valtteri Bottas (#6 McLaren - Chrysler)
3rd: Sam Bird (#38 Alfa Romeo)

4th: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
5th: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)
6th: Tomas Schekter (#14 Prodrive - Toyota)
7th: Vitaly Petrov (#7 Williams - BMW)
8th: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)
9th: Bruno Senna (#26 Sauber - Mercedes)
10th: Simona de Silvestro (#31 Virgin/Reynard - Honda)
11th: Jerome D'Ambrosio (#42 Panoz - Ford/Cosworth)
12th: Jann Mardenborough (#27 Sauber - Mercedes)

United States Grand Prix
Race City Motorsports Park, Detroit, Michigan, United States of America
September 6, 2015

Result

Pole: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
Fast Lap: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)

1st: Ryan Hunter-Reay (#8 Williams - BMW)
2nd: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
3rd: A.J Allmendinger (#12 Ferrari)

4th: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
5th: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)
6th: Beitske Visser (#23 Vector)
7th: Sebastien Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
8th: Valtteri Bottas (#6 McLaren - Chrysler)
9th: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
10th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
11th: Pippa Mann (#43 Panoz - Ford/Cosworth)
12th: Shane van Gisbergen (#21 Brabham - Chevrolet)

The Points After 20 Races (Up to Detroit):

303 - Lewis Hamilton (C)
294 - Kyle Busch
284 - Sebastien Vettel (C)
209 - Nico Rosberg (R)
202 - Ryan Hunter-Reay
198 - Katherine Legge
192 - A.J. Allmendinger (R)
181 - Kimi Raikkonen
173 - Valtteri Bottas
172 - Jules Bianchi (R)
169 - Fernando Alonso (C)
158 - Felipe Massa
151 - Daniel Riccardo (R)
134 - James Hinchcliffe
123 - Will Power
69 - Vitaly Petrov
66 - Tomas Schekter
60 - Sakura Miyasaki (R)
45 - Shane Van Gisbergen (R)
27 - Alex Lynn (R)
27 - Bruno Senna
25 - Sam Bird
22 - Beitske Visser (R)
20 - Simona de Silvestro
9 - Jann Mardenborough (R)
7 - Sean Edwards (R)
6 - Robert Kubica
6 - Raffele Marciello (R)
2 - Nick Heidfeld
2 - Jerome d'Ambrosio
2 - Pippa Mann (R)
1 - Kyle Marcelli
1 - Kazuki Nakajima

 

[TheMann]

Grand Prix of The Americas
Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States of America
September 13, 2015

Result

Pole: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
Fast Lap: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)

1st: Sebastien Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
2nd: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
3rd: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)

4th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
5th: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
6th: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)
7th: Nico Rosberg (#15 Prodrive - Toyota)
8th: James Hinchcliffe (#2 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
9th: Pippa Mann (#43 Panoz - Ford/Cosworth)
10th: Vitaly Petrov (#7 Williams - BMW)
11th: Jann Mardenborough (#27 Sauber - Mercedes)
12th: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)

Gran Premio de Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City, District Federal, Mexico
September 20, 2015

Result

Pole: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
Fast Lap: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)

1st: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
2nd: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
3rd: A.J. Allmendinger (#12 Ferrari)

4th: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
5th: Felipe Massa (#11 Ferrari)
6th: Sebastien Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
7th: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
8th: Will Power (#4 Jordan - Mercedes)
9th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
10th: Valtteri Bottas (#6 McLaren - Chrysler)
11th: James Hinchcliffe (#2 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
12th: Beitske Visser (#23 Vector)

Grand Prix of Iran
Sorkheh Hezar Park Racing Circuit, Niroo Havayi, Tehran, Iran
October 4, 2015

Result

Pole: Valtteri Bottas (#6 McLaren - Chrysler)
Fast Lap: Sebastien Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)

1st: Valtteri Bottas (#6 McLaren - Chrysler)
2nd: Sebastien Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
3rd: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)

4th: Jules Bianchi (#19 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
5th: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
6th: A.J. Allmendinger (#12 Ferrari)
7th: Will Power (#4 Jordan - Mercedes)
8th: Shane Van Gisbergen (#21 Brabham - Chevrolet)
9th: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
10th: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)
11th: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)
12th: Felipe Massa (#11 Ferrari)

Grand Prix of Japan
Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan
October 18, 2015

Result

Pole: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
Fast Lap: Kazuki Nakajima (#16 Autobacs - Honda)

1st: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
2nd: Kazuki Nakajima (#16 Autobacs - Honda)
3rd: Will Power (#4 Jordan - Mercedes)

4th: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
5th: Sakura Miyasaki (#17 Autobacs - Honda)
6th: Sebastien Vettel (#3 Jordan - Mercedes)
7th: James Hinchcliffe (#2 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
8th: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)
9th: Fernando Alonso (#18 Prost EuroFrance - Renault)
10th: Jann Mardenborough (#27 Sauber - Mercedes)
11th: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
12th: Valtteri Bottas (#6 McLaren - Chrysler)

Grand Prix of Korea
Korea International Circuit, Yeongnam, South Jeolla, Korea
October 25, 2015

Result

Pole: Ryan Hunter-Reay (#8 Williams - BMW)
Fast Lap: Nico Rosberg (#15 Prodrive - Toyota)

1st: Ryan Hunter-Reay (#8 Williams - BMW)
2nd: Daniel Riccardo (#20 Brabham - Chevrolet)
3rd: Katherine Legge (#22 Vector)

4th: Valtteri Bottas (#6 McLaren - Chrysler)
5th: Nico Rosberg (#15 Prodrive - Toyota)
6th: Tomas Schekter (#14 Prodrive - Toyota)
7th: Vitaly Petrov (#7 Williams - BMW)
8th: Kimi Raikkonen (#9 Lotus - Chevrolet)
9th: Lewis Hamilton (#1 Stewart/Tyrrell - Ford/Cosworth)
10th: Kyle Busch (#5 McLaren - Chrysler)
11th: Bruno Senna (#26 Sauber - Mercedes)
12th: Kazuki Nakajima (#16 Autobacs - Honda)

The Points After 25 Races (Up to Korea):

391 - Lewis Hamilton (C)
386 - Kyle Busch
375 - Sebastien Vettel (C)
247 - Jules Bianchi (R)
241 - Ryan Hunter-Reay
239 - Katherine Legge
235 - Valtteri Bottas
234 - Nico Rosberg (R)
227 - A.J. Allmendinger (R)
220 - Fernando Alonso (C)
207 - Daniel Riccardo (R)
200 - Kimi Raikkonen
174 - Felipe Massa
165 - Will Power
154 - James Hinchcliffe
83 - Vitaly Petrov
78 - Tomas Schekter
75 - Sakura Miyasaki (R)
53 - Shane Van Gisbergen (R)
33 - Kazuki Nakajima
28 - Bruno Senna
27 - Alex Lynn (R)
25 - Sam Bird
23 - Beitske Visser (R)
20 - Simona de Silvestro
15 - Jann Mardenborough (R)
7 - Sean Edwards (R)
6 - Robert Kubica
6 - Raffele Marciello (R)
2 - Nick Heidfeld
2 - Jerome d'Ambrosio
2 - Pippa Mann (R)
1 - Kyle Marcelli

 

[phx1138]

Nurburgring ...The widening of the track in many places

IIRC, that's always been (next to) impossible, because it ran through a national forest or something.

BTW, I wish I'd started reading sooner... I'm so far behind now, I'd never get caught up.

 

[TheMann]

IIRC, that's always been (next to) impossible, because it ran through a national forest or something.

The problem is German laws require such projects to work on a way of environmental remediation, effectively forcing projects like racetrack safety expansions to make up for it by planting trees in other places. This is why the old Hockenheim track was torn up when the place was rebuilt in the 2000s, so that that area would become a forest again in the future. The same happened here, as the Nurburgring officials made a point of planting trees further out from the track to replace the ones they chopped down.

Here, the rebuilt Nurburgring has the New Nurburgring circuit (which uses a slightly-modified version of the 1990s layout, which uses a mildly-modified version of the Mercedes Arena that is rather less fiddly than the OTL one), the Nordschleife (renovated in the 1990s for sports car racing) and the Nordabschmitt (North Section in English), which is a totally new track section between just past Aremberg corner back parallel to the Nordschleife course, around the town of Nurburg to rejoin the OTL Nordschleife before Antoniusbeche corner. The F1 race (as well as the World Sports Car Championship event) use the Combined Grand Prix Circuit, which includes the new GP course, the Nordschleife from Nordkehre to past Aremberg, then the North Section back to join the Nordschleife before Antoniusbeche, allowing that corner as well as the Tiergarten and Hohenrain sections to be part of the Formula One / World Sports Car circuit.

The Nordschleife's 1990s upgrades included removal of all the armco barriers in favor of concrete ones, repaving some sections, lower kerbs, more runoff for a bunch of sections (particularly Aremberg to Metzgesfeld and Bergwerk to the Karussel), gravel traps, sticky pavement runoffs and in places where cars frequently crash, SAFER barriers and stations for local repair crews with the equipment and parts needed to rapidly fix the barriers in the event somebody mangles them. The stretches used by Formula One from Nordkehre to Aremberg got a lot more than that, of course - slightly wider track surface, lots more runoff, Flugplatz got changed so cars can no longer get airborne on it, the kerbs replaced across the board and the whole works is lined by concrete walls and SAFER barriers. The changes have made it more safe, but believe me its still just daunting. Formula One cars enter the Schwedenkreuz-Aremberg complex at nearly 200 mph, after diving off the Flugplatz hill with the hammer down. The Nurburgring is NOT a place where you can often go off the road without consequences....

This Nurburgring also hosts the Nurburgring 24 Hours (which uses the Full Nurburgring and the GP circuit) for GT and Touring Cars (DTM / Super GT / IMSA GTO Class One cars are as fast as what races here, it was deemed too dangerous for Le Mans Prototypes), the World Touring Car Championship (which uses the same layout as the 24 Hours) and DTM, which uses the GP Circuit. Outside of racing events and private test days, the Nurburgring is open for enthusiasts to drive on (these days use the Nordschleife and GP Circuit, though they are separated on these days), and the big racing events are very popular. The combined length of the 2015 GP track is 8.85 miles, hence for the German Grand Prix the event is open to both Formula One and GP2 entrants, which makes for an interesting challenge. (This also applies to the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, for the same reason.) The lap record for the combined track is 4:08.055, set appropriately enough by Sebastien Vettel qualifying for the 2015 German Grand Prix. (This is an average of 128.49 mph, FYI, not bad for a course with a bunch of first-gear corners....)

BTW, I wish I'd started reading sooner... I'm so far behind now, I'd never get caught up.

It's not that much reading, friend. I think racing nuts would love all of this.

 

[phx1138]

The problem is German laws require such projects to work on a way of environmental remediation, effectively forcing projects like racetrack safety expansions to make up for it by planting trees in other places.

I knew you'd have the answer. Thx for all the extra detail (as usual).

It's not that much reading, friend. I think racing nuts would love all of this.

I would, damn you. I'll see. (Wait for comments on long-settled things. They'll be your own fault.)

 

[KingofArkham]

Well I've just noticed this thread and found it interesting, I will be keeping track of this

Looking forward to the next update