The Brisbane 2032 Olympics are getting closer, and with the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics recently announcing their new sports to be added for the five-ringed circus, the Wooden Spooners team have cast their mind forward to our own 2032 Brisbane Olympics New Sports.
Because let’s face it, if Flag Football and Lacrosse are good enough for the 2028 Olympics, then surely our suggestions should get at least a polite listen from those in charge.
And if you agree, forward this onto your local MP to take action, to make the 2032 Brisbane Olympics the best ever.
2032 Brisbane Olympics New Sports Suggestions
FISHING
One particularly Australian past time which doesn’t get enough airtime around Australia and the world, despite the best efforts of fish kissing, Mr Invincible Rex Hunt, is the wonderful world of angling. And if break dancing and skate boarding is Olympics worthy, why not fishing.
It can be tailored (pardon the pun) to suit whatever kind of coverage needs of the local broadcaster, but what an opportunity for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics to showcase the wider SEQ region by having one completion around K’gari island and another in Moreton Bay or around Stradbroke Island or around Bribie Island or even Burpengary Creek. What a shopping window to the world than having some of southern Queensland’s best waterways and islands on display.
Finer details of categories, age limits, and which type of wrasse is to be fished can be worked out later but imagine a junior division where the record could be broken for winning Olympic gold. And talk about worldwide involvement, as most countries in the world would know how to fish.
BEACH CRICKET
One thing Australia has in abundance is beaches, and they’re among the world’s best.
OK, so Brisbane’s beaches itself are pretty slim pickings, between the developed Wynnum shore, to the muddy plains of Nudgee Beach or the seaweed aromas of Redcliffe, but the two nearby coasts are primed and ready for beach sport. One can take Beach Volleyball and the other Beach Cricket.
And don’t tell us that Beach Cricket is limited because only a handful of nations play cricket. Well, how’s flag football then? And why not give countries like Sri Lanka and New Zealand a better chance at gold.
Of course rules like one-hand one-bounce will have to be ironed out. And the use of electrical tape for spin and swing, but let’s get Beach Cricket on the map now for a truly Australian experience at the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
TAG / RED ROVER
Maybe not an exclusive Australian experience but played in some form around the world by most children at school, and it is only limited by the imagination of where and how you could play. In an indoor arena, or at a major stadium, it is flexible as it is exciting.
And like Gymnastics, it could have varying events, like normal tag, team tag, red rover and why not even a What’s the Time Mr Wolf?
Imagine the magnificence of Suncorp Stadium playing host to hundreds of adults playing Red Rover and the roar of the crowd as the call of “Bullrush” is heard.
Child’s Play you say? Maybe, but there is Curling at the Olympics games.
URBAN BRANDY
Going one step further than regular tag is Brandy, and in particular Urban Brandy.
Like Tag, but the cruel use of a tennis ball spices it up, in a game of real cat and mouse.
And Urban Brandy give it an edge like very few sports could have. In fact we envisage the entire Brisbane CBD being the playing arena, or maybe for better logistics either of the Botanic Gardens or maybe even South Bank.
Drone enthusiasts could be called upon to provide an unrivalled experience for viewers at home as the chase goes on.
RUGBY LEAGUE
If we are selling Australia to the world, then Rugby League should be at the forefront of that campaign.
We’d suggest Nines as a product which might go down better with worldwide audience, but rugby league and Nine don’t really mix. Nein?
But the greatest game of all should be at one of sport’s greatest events, coming together at last so the whole world can see what they are missing out on.
And the introduction of rugby league as an Olympic sport at the Brisbane 2032 Olympics gives PNG a great chance at a medal, or any of the other smaller Pacific nations.
The F1 circus flies into the bright light city of Las Vegas in possibly the biggest event of the calendar this season and it is a welcome piece of excitement in a season that has been one-sided and kind of dull. But not Las Vegas, it should be all hype. Talking of devil may care, here is our 2023 Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix Preview where we dive into the unknown.
The Gurgler’s 2023 Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix Preview brings some thoughts on the race itself, a few bold predictions here and there, a more than a few barely interesting stats.
Essentially a quick summary of what a casual F1 fan needs in the shortest possible time for your convenience.
By Hmdwgf – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=125791239
It’s a new track so who knows exactly what to expect, but at first glance it looks like a really badly drawn dog which has no legs, but one that will require a strong heart and a nerve of steel.
There’s no doubt the track will be spectacular with the lights turning night into daytime, especially from turn 9 through to turn 14 as they race around the fancy casinos, and their neon flashing and one-arm bandits crashin’.
A hairpin after a short run to the first corner screams chaos, and if that doesn’t clean up a few, the subsequent change of direction just might.
Looks like a few decent straights to help overtaking, but without seeing the width of the track it’s hard to tell if it helps fully. Even worse is the predicted cold temperatures makes it impossible to drive on like Singapore. Flushing all those hopes down the drain for an exciting race.
While most of the circuits and surrounds might set the soul on fire, the turn complexes at 6-9 and 14-16 look rubbish and only over-ambitious midfielders will make them interesting. Looking at you Lance Stroll.
But who knows, maybe they’ll be a fortune won and lost on every lap. Puns over, enjoy the race.
2023 Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix Preview – Race Rating
The Gurgler does like to use some obscure drivers in our Race previews and report, so who better to use than Teo Fabi to determine a race rating system.
So before each race we give a rating out of ten for four key category that are loosely based on each letter of Teo Fabi’s surname. Don’t know who Teo Fabi is, you should.
FAST? 8/10 – There’s some long straights and sweeping bends, and the speed trap looks like it will get a fair workout. Speeding down The Strip should look pretty cool.
ACTION? 6/10 – It’s a street circuit so there should be action, but the weather that is accompanying the race weekend looks like it may spoil the racing. But who knows. Going with a safe six.
BIG HISTORY? – 5/10 Well the US Grand Prix on street circuits has a long-ish history. Starting at Long Beach funnily enough. Then came Detroit, Dallas and Pheonix, some at the same time. F1 has also raced in Las Vegas before too, in the carpark of the Caesar’s Palace Casino where it was the last race and Championship decider, and coincidentally both drivers that were crowned as Champions finished fifth. So while this is the first race at this track ever, there’s still enough history in general for Las Vegas and F1 in USA.
INCLEMENT WEATHER? – 7/10 Weather sounds quite interesting according to the Weather Channel 10 Day Forecast. There’s a 62% chance of rain on the Friday. Then there’s the low temperatures on Saturday (17 degrees C) and Sunday (19) that are maximums, so who knows what the race temperature will be. This could make both qualifying and the race very interesting.
RACE RATING 65% – This event could be anything and should be something…..
2023 Street Tracks Stats
There have already been a few street races in 2023, so before the last of them let’s look at who is the real street fighter. Plus some bonus Race, Qualifying and our Driver of the Year stats for the street races in 2023.
Four drivers have taken the five pole positions on street tracks this season.
Two of Max Verstappen’s failures to make Q3 have come on street tracks this season.
The two Ferraris top the average grid position for street tracks.
Only three drivers have failed to make at least one Q3 session on a street track this season, two of them drive for Alfa Romeo and the other is Logan Sargeant.
Red Bull are still 1-2 in the Championship for Street track points.
2023 STREET RACE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
2023 STREET RACE QUALIFYING
2023 STREET RACES – GURGLER DRIVER OF THE YEAR POINTS
2023 US F1 Grand Prix Preview – Stats
Want to know if your favourite driver for this weekend is a master of the track or the track is a master of them? Here then are some barely interesting facts and stats.
Stats are for Austin and Miami unless otherwise noted.
DRIVER GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT – CURRENT DRIVERS
TEAM GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT
HISTORIC DRIVER RESULTS
First visual below is for Austin only.
99 = a DNF. Grid position 20 is overstated as that was also used for cars starting in pitlane.
HISTORIC TEAM RESULTS
99 = a DNF. Grid position 20 is overstated as that was also used for cars starting in pitlane.
RACE RESULTS FROM GRID POSITION
From both Austin and Miami
Complete madness at the first corner, as cold track, night time, short run to the first corner and over-excited F1 drivers meet hairpin. Maybe red flagged so they can do it again.
A Ferrari will take pole. Probably Charles Leclerc.
Double DNF for Red Bull.
Lando Norris to win first Grand Prix, from a determined chase by Fernando Alonso.
Alex Albon to qualify inside the top five.
Logan Sargeant will find the wall three times over the weekend.
Alpine drivers to run into each other.
Valtteri Bottas to make little or no impression.
ALL RACE RESULTS – UNITED STATES & OTHER US THEMED GRANDS PRIX
Welcome to our Fantasy Premier League 2023-24 FPL GW12 Captain Pick + Preview & Season Stats Summary for another week of exciting fantasy football.
Every game week we take a truckload of stats and compile them into our Captain’s table – our unique way of telling you who should wear your FPL team’s armband. In addition to that is keeping an eye on bonus points, general stats, and trends on the where, when, and how the best Premier League players do their thing for FPL.
2023-24 FPL GW12 Captain Pick – Captain’s Table
Here are this week’s FPL Captain Picks results. A full explanation and full list of the stats and calculations are provided at the end.
FPL GW12 Captain Preview Thoughts
Read on for a quick summary of who we suggest to be considered for FPL captain this week. All in the theme of the Hello, Goodbye Beatles song.
HELLO – Mo Salah
Mo Salah tops our captain’s table so it would be kind oif rude not to back our own numbers this week. Liverpool struggled at Luton last week on their smaller ground but return to the comfort of home and a game v Brentford. Liverpool only managed a goal in each game last season v Brentford when they weren’t at their best, but the season prior they scored six goals in the two league games. And this season Brentford has conceded four goals in two games v big six clubs. So we’re going to overlook last year and put our faith in Salah.
CALL ME MAYBE – Ollie Watkins / Son / Arsenal Players
Ollie Watkins’ Aston Villa are on a long run of home wins and have five in a row for this season. Scoring 20 goals in the process. And while home wins and bags of goals doesn’t always fall for Ollie Watkins, he has got a hat trick at home in a big win, and you don’t want to miss out cashing in on that.
Interesting to see how Spurs react to their first loss, hopefully with fewer red cards. Previous results for Spurs v Wolves can be biased against, as Wolves were tough to beat and Spurs tough to watch. So taking this one on faith of Ange turning them around with a big win.
Arsenal on paper look like they could give Burnley a real spanking, but worth noting that Arsenal haven’t beaten or scored against Burnley at home in their last two league games. Of course they are different Arsenal and Burnley sides now – with Arsenal installing a more resilient team, and Burnley trying to play better football than previous, which means they are easier to beat.
GOODBYE – Man City Players
You might think we’re crazy, and we are, but that isn’t the reason we’re going against Manc City players this week. WE looked to the stats for the last four league matches between these sides and all of them have ended in 1-0 victories to Man City. This even includes the imploding, busted-arse Chelsea from last season. Throw in that Erling Haaland hasn’t scored or assisted against Chelsea in his two games, and we’re out. At our risk of course.
FPL Top Captain Picks Stats
Here’s our collection of the stats of the season so far. Shots, Touches, Key Passes, xG and more.
2023-24 Current FPL Key Stats
FPL 2023-24 Season Stats So Far – Shots Taken
FPL 2023-24 Season Stats So Far – Chances Created
FPL 2023-24 Season Stats So Far – Touches
FPL 2023-24 Season Stats So Far – Expected Goals
FPL 2023-24 Season Stats So Far – Bonus Points
Early days, but here are the Bonus Points totals from the latest round.
They say there can only be winners and losers in sport, but of course they’re wrong, there’s always the draw, and who doesn’t love a draw where everyone wins. Those winners include canny punters who look for value, and here to help is our Best of Football Draws Tips for the week.
Each week during the football season our resident football draw expert Frankington Stanley runs his keen eye over the many football divisions around the world to find the best draws for you. He’s sort of like the John West of Football draws.
Frankington Stanley is not fussy, no country or continent is out of bounds, and the more obscure the better. And some of them are quite obscure. They don’t even feature on the Who Scored website.
So get yourself ready for another weekly serving of the finest Football Draw tips from all over the world, where The Gurgler and Frankington Stanley take the stale out of stalemate. It’s all you can eat draws.
KENYAN PREMIER LEAGUE – FC Kariobangi Sharks v Bandari FC
ODDS – DRAW $2.50
FORM / STATS – You really can’t get a better price for a draw than $2.50, no wonder Frankington Stanley names this his bet of the week. He must have a sixth sense though, as the stats don’t point that way. Four games ago there was a draw between these sides, and FC Kariobangi Sharks have drawn two of their five home games this season. But Frank says draw. So eat the draw.
CZECH II LIGA – MFK Chrudim v FC Sellier & Bellot Vlasim
ODDS – DRAW $3.25
FORM / STATS – Just over three months ago these teams met, and it ended 1-1, just the way you like it. FC Sellier & Bellot Vlasim have drawn two of their last five away.
CZECH II LIGA – Sparta Prague B v MAS Taborsko
ODDS – DRAW $3.20
FORM / STATS – MAS Taborsko have drawn three of their last five games and are third in the table so might be happy with a draw away from home. Sparta Prague B aren’t afraid of a draw either, with two of their last four games ending with honours even.
POLISH I LIGA – Znicz Pruszkow v LKP Motor Lublin
ODDS – DRAW $3.10
FORM / STATS – Two of the last three games between these sides ended in a draw. The only issue is that both of those were at LKP Motor Lublin. What a team name also. And good news for their fans as they have won the last three games v Znicz Pruszkow away. But both teams drew their last home games.
SLOVAKIAN 2 LIGA – Pohronie v FC Petrzalka
ODDS – DRAW $3.25
FORM / STATS – It’s been six games since a draw between these sides. But FC Petrzalka have drawn two of their last four away and three of their seven for the season.
ENGLISH NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH – Kings Lynn v Spennymoor Town
ODDS – DRAW $3.10
FORM / STATS – King’s Lynn have drawn two of their last four games, part of a four game unbeaten run which sees them still 20th. It must have been bad before that. King’s Lynn have drawn half of their home games this season too.
The 2023-24 Premier League season rolls on with another big weekend of matches ahead. And they have saved the best for last with Chelsea v Man City the final kick off for Week 12. There’s no waiting with our 2023-24 Premier League Week 12 Predictions + Stats Summary, just quality tips ‘n’ stats right now, where the football and stats never stop, and we rarely sleep.
Each week we provide a meandering look into the upcoming round of Premier League football, with not only our predictions for the upcoming Premier League fixtures but offer up a wide range of H2H and in-season stats and barely interesting facts.
There’s so much to go through we can barely contain it to just one long page, but it’s worth it for our Premier League Week 12 Predictions plus all the stats.
2023-24 Premier League Week 12 Fixtures
2023-24 Premier League Week 12 Predictions
Here are our fearless predictions for the fixtures ahead, and tune in below for all the stats and barely interesting stats that go along with them.
Wolves 0 Spurs 1
Arsenal 4 Burnley 0
Crystal Palace 0 Everton 0
Man Utd 1 Luton 1
Bournemouth 1 Newcastle 1
West Ham 3 Nottingham Forest 0
Liverpool 2 Brentford 0
Aston Villa 3 Fulham 0
Brighton 3 Shefield Utd 0
Chelsea 0 Man City 1
Read on for the match by match full preview and stats.
Season Progress: 52% – 52/100 – Correct Scores – 3
A quick look at the current state of play in the Premier League.
2023-24 English Premier League Week 12 Best Stats
Here are some of our favourite stats from the match H2H stats below. But read on for ore….
Arsenal are 3/3 for games v bottom six sides this season, scoring 10 goals and conceding none. The only team yet to concede against a bottom six side.
Arsenal have failed to win or score in their last two home games v Burnley.
Everton are unbeaten in their last 13 games on a Saturday v Crystal Palace (W8 D5).
Man Utd have played more bottom six sides (based on league position at time of game) than any other team this season with five. Good news for them is they have won all five, but only by a combined 7-2.
Both games between West Ham and Nottingham Forest at West Ham on a Sunday have ended with a 3-2 win to West Ham.
Liverpool are one of only three sides left with a 100% record at home – along with Man City and Aston Villa.
Aston Villa have won all four games at home to Fulham on a Sunday, and by a combined 10-1.
Aston Villa are the only side left with a 100% record v London clubs this season.
Sheffield United are unbeaten in their last six games v Brighton (W4 D2).
The last four league games between Chelsea and Man City have ended in a 1-0 win for Man City.
2023-24 Week 12 – Match by Match H2H Stats Previews
Our big, beautiful full visual preview of each game is below.
More stats than you could probably ever want or need, for now.
SATURDAY 12:30PM – WOLVES v SPURS
THE STAT/S
No team has played more games against top six sides than Wolves this season – based on league position at time of game not current ladder. Their record W1 D2 L3 isn’t too bad really. Wolves’ only home win this season came against Man City.
OUR PREDICTION
Wolves 0 Spurs 1
OUR THOUGHTS
So super coach Ange is human after all and Spurs drop to second. Won’t be for long as Spurs play first up and should beat Wolves you’d think.
SATURDAY 3:00PM – ARSENAL v BURNLEY
THE STAT/S
Arsenal are 3/3 for games v bottom six sides this season, scoring 10 goals and conceding none. The only team yet to concede against a bottom six side. Arsenal have failed to win or score in their last two home games v Burnley.
OUR PREDICTION
Arsenal 4 Burnley 0
OUR THOUGHTS
Arsenal look likely to bounce back from their first loss of the season. Burnley look like bouncing back to the Championship.
SATURDAY 3:00PM – CRYSTAL PALACE v EVERTON
THE STAT/S
There have been three 0-0 draws in the last eight games between these sides. Everton are unbeaten in their last 13 games on a Saturday v Crystal Palace (W8 D5).
OUR PREDICTION
Crystal Palace 0 Everton 0
OUR THOUGHTS
This looks like zero goals and zero interest. (Checks) Of course it is a Saturday 3pm kick off. Daylight savings ending in the UK makes this game even less likely to be seen live.
SATURDAY 3:00PM – MANCHESTER UNITED v LUTON TOWN
THE STAT/S
Man Utd are on a run of 11 games without defeat to Luton (W11 D2) and last lost in 1987. Man Utd have played more bottom six sides (based on league position at time of game) than any other team this season with five. Good news for them is they have won all five, but only by a combined 7-2.
OUR PREDICTION
Man Utd 1 Luton 1
OUR THOUGHTS
Imagine the chaos and fallout if Luton beat Man Utd at Old Trafford this weekend. Great fun for anyone who is not a Man Utd fan.
SATURDAY 5:30PM – BOURNEMOUTH v NEWCASTLE
THE STAT/S
Both games finished 1-1 last season between these sides. Bournemouth (D3 L3) haven’t won any other their last six at home to Newcastle.
OUR PREDICTION
Bournemouth 1 Newcastle 1
OUR THOUGHTS
Newcastle got an impressive win over Arsenal, handing them a first loss of the season. Bournemouth were handed their usual spanking at Man City last weekend and will look forward to playing anyone else.
SUNDAY 2:00PM – WEST HAM v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
THE STAT/S
West Ham have won their last four games at home to Nottingham Forest. And six of the last seven with a draw. Both games between West Ham and Nottingham Forest at West Ham on a Sunday have ended with a 3-2 win to West Ham.
OUR PREDICTION
West Ham 3 Nottingham Forest 0
OUR THOUGHTS
Neither West Ham at home nor Nottingham Forest away fill you with any great confidence, but West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus gets more exciting each week. Now, if only we knew how to squeeze him into our Fantasy side.
SUNDAY 2:00PM – LIVERPOOL v BRENTFORD
THE STAT/S
Brentford have won only once at Liverpool in 11 attempts and that was in 1937. The only game between these sides on a Sunday was won 3-0 by Liverpool. Liverpool are one of only three sides left with a 100% record at home – along with Man City and Aston Villa.
OUR PREDICTION
Liverpool 2 Brentford 0
OUR THOUGHTS
Liverpool face a tough test here after coming away from Luton with just a point. Brentford are on a run of three wins in a row, turning around a campaign which saw them eyeing off the Surprise Relegation title.
SUNDAY 2:00PM – ASTON VILLA v FULHAM
THE STAT/S
Aston Villa have won all five home games this season (plus a solid run to end last season) and scored 20 goals in those five games. Aston Villa have won all four games at home to Fulham on a Sunday, and by a combined 10-1. Aston Villa are the only side left with a 100% record v London clubs this season.
OUR PREDICTION
Aston Villa 3 Fulham 0
OUR THOUGHTS
Aston Villa’s awesome run of home wins should get them over the line here.
SUNDAY 2:00PM – BRIGHTON v SHEFFIELD UNITED
THE STAT/S
Sheffield United are unbeaten in their last six games v Brighton (W4 D2).
OUR PREDICTION
Brighton 3 Shefield Utd 0
OUR THOUGHTS
Can we call Brighton’s run a slump yet? They have as many points as Sheffield United in their last five matches, and Sheffield United’s three points came in their game last weekend, giving them a first win of the season. Better late than never.
SUNDAY 4:30PM – CHELSEA v MAN CITY
THE STAT/S
The last four league games between Chelsea and Man City have ended in a 1-0 win for Man City.
OUR PREDICTION
Chelsea 0 Man City 1
OUR THOUGHTS
The premium clash of the weekend in the premium timeslot of the weekend for those in the UK. Both teams coming into the match with big wins last game week too. The worry for Chelsea is that only four teams have a worse record at home this season.
Sprint race start during the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix of FIA Formula One World Championship from 27th to 30th of April, 2023 on the Baku Street Circuit, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Gongora/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The 2023 F1 season still has two grands prix to go, but the six Sprint races have been run and won (mostly by Max Verstappen) and why not stop and smell the shortened roses of the cut-down F1 spectacle with our 2023 F1 Sprint Race Results Summary & Stats Review.
Full of opinion. stats and results, our 2023 F1 Sprint Race Results Summary & Stats Review should cover a lot of the six Sprint Races held in the 2023 F1 season.
Short answer is no. The long answer is no too, with an explanation below.
Aside from a first victory for Oscar Piastri, who looked as underwhelmed about sprint race as the F1 fans despite winning, who can remember a memorable moment from the sprint races.
The racing after the first few corners is usually stale, and who could blame the drivers and teams to risk their cars for under half the points.
And when Max Verstappen won the World Championship after a sprint race, with an already low-key presentation post-race, it made an underwhelming championship that little bit more meh. A championship should be won with all the podium trimmings. Not jsut just hanging around and getting a metal block.
What has improved the show is qualifying becoming closer, with McLaren zooming up the performance ladder and genuinely challenging for the front row and better. Ferrari and Mercedes have improved too, making sure Max Verstappen is not getting his own way in qualifying. Since Round 10, there have been six drivers from three teams sharing the front row with Max Verstappen, and occasionally taking pole position. None of those six drivers are Sergio Perez for the record.
So if we just leave F1 alone, the gap will close, and qualifying will continue the great progress seen in the latter half of 2023 then that may give F1 a chance to improve the show for the main race and maybe Sprint Races won’t be needed at all.
There’s been lots of talk about what to do with Sprint Races, and the consensus is that nothing is not a great idea.
First of all, less is more. We don’t need six, and certainly don’t need more. Look at the Moto GP, if you have non stop sprint races you dilute the main race day and potentially divide the interest. Three to four – evenly spaced is the right idea. No back to back or three in four races.
Next up, get the tracks right. The Belgian Grand Prix is a masterpiece of F1 circuitry, which should be enjoyed in full on the Sunday. It is not a sprint race venue. Get tracks where action always happen. The F1 bosses do actually have a bundle of the right tracks – Brazil, Austria and Azerbaijan – tracks where stuff usually happens and overtaking is easier than usual. And maybe that’s all we need just those three, spread nicely across the season. No point having a track where there’s very little overtaking then have a format where drivers take fewer risks for fewer points.
Talk of reverse grid isn’t the answer. Those gimmicks belong in lower formula, not the leading motor sport category in the world. F1 can’t let mediocrity be rewarded or have anything too artificial.
So what would we do? Thanks for asking, we have a few ideas.
First of all, given all the new investment partners, and the greedy F1 bosses love money (refer Andretti F1 application), get someone to put up $10M/$20M prizemoney for the Sprint Race Championship. And maybe the FIA could throw in a 5% allowance for the cost cap to make it really worth the team’s effort. Money makes the F1 teams go round, so give them what they want, with a little prestige of a trophy.
A second thought, is why have a sprint race? Why not a double header instead. Two full races, worth full World Championship points. Maybe that will be too big a stress on the drivers and teams, so maybe reduce the races to 60-75%, but make them even, and make them full points. With the Saturday result flowing on to the Sunday race starting order.
A final idea that may mix up the grid but keeps the Sprint Races in the current format is to make the Sprint Shoot Out a one lap blast. Qualifying order is set by the Free Practice session on the Friday to make that session mean something too. So rather than same old, same old qualifying, a one lap blast opens up potential mixing of grid by punishing mistakes while still rewarding the best. And even M<ax Verstappen hasn’t been perfect over every qualifying lap this season.
2023 F1 Sprint Race Results Summary
SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP (Based on Points awarded)
AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX
Pos
Driver
Time
1
Sergio PEREZ
17 Laps
2
Charles LECLERC
4.463 behind
3
Max VERSTAPPEN
5.065 behind
4
George RUSSELL
8.532 behind
5
Carlos SAINZ
10.388 behind
6
Fernando ALONSO
11.613 behind
7
Lewis HAMILTON
16.503 behind
8
Lance STROLL
18.417 behind
9
Alexander Albon
21.757 behind
10
Oscar Piastri
22.851 behind
11
Kevin Magnussen
27.990 behind
12
Guanyu Zhou
34.602 behind
13
Pierre GASLY
36.918 behind
14
Nyck de Vries
41.626 behind
15
Nico Hulkenberg
48.587 behind
16
Valtteri BOTTAS
49.917 behind
17
Lando NORRIS
51.104 behind
18
Esteban OCON
1:00.621 behind
DNF
Yuki TSUNODA
DNF Lap 6
DNF
Logan Sargeant
DNS
AUSTRIA GRAND PRIX
Pos
Drivers
Time
1
Max VERSTAPPEN
24 Laps
2
Sergio PEREZ
21.048 behind
3
Carlos SAINZ
23.088 behind
4
Lance STROLL
29.703 behind
5
Fernando ALONSO
30.109 behind
6
Nico Hulkenberg
31.297 behind
7
Esteban OCON
36.602 behind
8
George RUSSELL
36.611 behind
9
Lando NORRIS
38.608 behind
10
Lewis HAMILTON
46.375 behind
11
Oscar Piastri
49.807 behind
12
Charles LECLERC
50.789 behind
13
Alexander Albon
52.848 behind
14
Kevin Magnussen
56.593 behind
15
Pierre GASLY
57.652 behind
16
Yuki TSUNODA
64.822 behind
17
Nyck de Vries
65.617 behind
18
Logan Sargeant
66.059 behind
19
Guanyu Zhou
70.825 behind
20
Valtteri BOTTAS
76.435 behind
BELGIAN GRAND PRI
Pos
Driver
Time
1
Max VERSTAPPEN
11 Laps
2
Oscar Piastri
+ 6.677 behind
3
Pierre GASLY
+ 10.733 behind
4
Carlos SAINZ
+ 12.648 behind
5
Charles LECLERC
+ 15.016 behind
6
Lando NORRIS
+ 16.052 behind
7
Lewis HAMILTON
+ 16.757 behind
8
George RUSSELL
+ 16.822 behind
9
Esteban OCON
+ 22.41 behind
10
Daniel RICCIARDO
+ 22.806 behind
11
Lance STROLL
+ 25.007 behind
12
Alexander Albon
+ 26.303 behind
13
Valtteri BOTTAS
+ 27.006 behind
14
Kevin Magnussen
+ 32.986 behind
15
Guanyu Zhou
+ 36.342 behind
16
Logan Sargeant
+ 37.571 behind
17
Nico Hulkenberg
+ 37.827 behind
18
Yuki TSUNODA
+ 39.267 behind
DNF
Sergio PEREZ
DNF Lap 8
DNF
Fernando ALONSO
DNF Lap 2
QATAR GRAND PRIX
Pos
Driver
Result / Gap
1
Oscar Piastri
19 Laps
2
Max VERSTAPPEN
1.871 behind
3
Lando NORRIS
8.497 behind
4
George RUSSELL
11.036 behind
5
Lewis HAMILTON
17.314 behind
6
Carlos SAINZ
18.806 behind
7
Alexander Albon
19.864 behind
8
Fernando ALONSO
21.18 behind
9
Pierre GASLY
21.742 behind
10
Valtteri BOTTAS
22.208 behind
11
Yuki TSUNODA
22.863 behind
12
Charles LECLERC
24.86 behind
13
Kevin Magnussen
24.97 behind
14
Guanyu Zhou
26.868 behind
15
Lance STROLL
29.523 behind
DNF
Nico Hulkenberg
DNF Lap 11
DNF
Esteban OCON
DNF Lap 10
DNF
Sergio PEREZ
DNF Lap 10
DNF
Logan Sargeant
DNF Lap 2
DNF
Liam Lawson
DNF Lap 1
US GRAND PRIX
Pos
Driver
Car
Result / Gap
1
Max VERSTAPPEN
Red Bull
31:30:00
2
Lewis HAMILTON
Mercedes
9.465 behind
3
Charles LECLERC
Ferrari
17.987 behind
4
Lando NORRIS
McLaren
18.863 behind
5
Sergio PEREZ
Red Bull
22.928 behind
6
Carlos SAINZ
Ferrari
28.307 behind
7
Pierre GASLY
Alpine
32.403 behind
8
George RUSSELL
Mercedes
34.250 behind
9
Alexander Albon
Williams
34.567 behind
10
Oscar Piastri
McLaren
42.403 behind
11
Esteban OCON
Alpine
44.986 behind
12
Daniel RICCIARDO
AlphaTauri
45.509 behind
13
Fernando ALONSO
Aston Martin
49.086 behind
14
Yuki TSUNODA
AlphaTauri
49.733 behind
15
Nico Hulkenberg
Haas
56.650 behind
16
Valtteri BOTTAS
Alfa Romeo
1:04.401 behind
17
Guanyu Zhou
Alfa Romeo
1:07.972 behind
18
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:11.122 behind
19
Logan Sargeant
Williams
1:11.449 behind
DNF
Lance STROLL
Aston Martin
DNF Lap 16
BRAZIL GRAND PRIX
Pos
Driver
Car
Result / Gap
1
Max VERSTAPPEN
Red Bull
0:30:07
2
Lando NORRIS
McLaren
4.287 behind
3
Sergio PEREZ
Red Bull
13.617 behind
4
George RUSSELL
Mercedes
25.879 behind
5
Charles LECLERC
Ferrari
28.560 behind
6
Yuki TSUNODA
AlphaTauri
29.210 behind
7
Lewis HAMILTON
Mercedes
34.726 behind
8
Carlos SAINZ
Ferrari
35.106 behind
9
Daniel RICCIARDO
AlphaTauri
35.303 behind
10
Oscar Piastri
McLaren
38.219 behind
11
Fernando ALONSO
Aston Martin
39.061 behind
12
Lance STROLL
Aston Martin
39.478 behind
13
Pierre GASLY
Alpine
40.621 behind
14
Esteban OCON
Alpine
42.848 behind
15
Alexander Albon
Williams
43.394 behind
16
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
56.507 behind
17
Guanyu Zhou
Alfa Romeo
58.723 behind
18
Nico Hulkenberg
Haas
1:00.330 behind
19
Valtteri BOTTAS
Alfa Romeo
1:00.749 behind
20
Logan Sargeant
Williams
1:00.945 behind
2023 F1 Sprint Race Stats
Here are the most interesting stats we could find from the 2023 F1 Sprint Races this season.
SPRINT RACE QUALIFYING x SPRINT RACE FINISHING POSITION
SPRINT QUALIFYING AVERAGE POSITION
AVERAGE SPRINT RACE FINISHING POSITION
SPRINT RACE RESULT GAIN/LOSS FROM SPRINT QUALIFYING POSITION
SPRINT QUALIFYING VS REGULAR QUALIFYING
OUR DRIVER OF THE YEAR RANKING – SPRINT RACES ONLY
If you haven’t read one of our Race Ratings reviews, then we assign points for various things during an F1 weekends, and below is the total of those points from the Sprint Races.
Here are The Gurgler’s 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix Ratings – our way of rating the performances of all the drivers from the most recent race.
Our G-Power Rankings goes a little bit deeper than just points scored on the Sunday and has a slightly cooler name than most. We take on board Free Practice, Qualifying, performance in relation to teammate, fastest lap, and a few more stats that are attempting to highlight a driver outperforming the car and/or thrashing their teammate.
Plus, we have a range of stats and barely interesting facts from the 2023 F1 Season so far.
A full explanation on what is included, and the points awarded is below the visuals and hey, why not catch up with the race summary below.
Here are the current overall standings for our Driver of the Year winner – the Martini Medal. Named in honour of one of F1’s most unsung heroes – Pierluigi Martini of Minardi fame.
We have the overall scores as they stand, plus a visual which shows the flow of each driver’s position throughout the season, plus a few points of interest below.
Here is the breakdown of the Driver of the Year points from the most recent race and the season so far.
LATEST RACE RATINGS
SEASON RATINGS SO FAR
Race 20 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix Team Ratings
This is essentially using the same drivers stats but in reverse for the worst score, but taking out anything that is a H2H between the drivers.
And our annual award focuses on the other end of the grid, highlighting the worst team of the season.
Of course, the worst team of the season award needs to be named after the worst F1 team of all time. And if you want to fund out more about Andrea Moda, follow this link.
LATEST RACE RATINGS
SEASON RATINGS SO FAR
Here are the best of stats from the latest race and the season so far. Followed by our range of barely interesting visuals and more.
Max Verstappen won the Sprint Championship too by 20 points. Sergio Perez ended up second ahead of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris tied for fourth. Stay tuned for some Sprint Race analysis now those races are over.
A double DNF sees Alfa Romeo extend their Andrea Moda Medal lead.
Every driver except Nyck de Vries has made it to Q3 this season. Only Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have avoided exiting in Q1.
Here are the choicest of cuts from the F1 data we compile for season 2023, we a few hand picked barely interesting points to share below.
DRIVER 2023 H2H RECORD
Beating your team mate in F1 is very important, which is why we keep an eye on the H2H stats through the season.
2023 F1 QUALIFYING
Here our qualifying analysis covers just about everything we could find on qualifying.
QUALIFYING SUMMARY
QUALIFYING COMPARISON – GRID POSITION x AVERAGE GAP TO POLE POSITION
QUALIFYING COMPARISONS – BY TRACK TYPE AND GRID POSITION BY SEASON
FIRST LAP POSITION GAINS
Races can’t be won or lost at the first corner, well actually they can be lost at the first corner, and a good one can make all the difference.
So here are the stats on the lightning fast starters and the slow poke.
FREE PRACTICE
Some say Free Practice is a giant waste of time, and they are probably right. Regardless here is the average position for each drivers in Free Practice this season. Each round an average of all the sessions.
FASTEST LAP
Sometimes this season all that’s left to enjoy is the late battle for fastest lap. Otherwise it’s a good judge of race pace.
PRE/POST SILVERSTONE COMPARISON
Since many teams brought big updates for the British Grand Prix, so we thought we’d take a look to see whose changes are working best. By comparing the % gap to pole position from before the British Grand Prix and after. Along with some other stats. Basically, when McLaren came good and gave us something to cheer for.
THE STORY FROM ROUND 10…..
Current Race Power Rankings in Detail
2023 F1 Season Power Rankings – Points Explanation
Here’s how the points work this season. Essentially the perfect race (Win from Pole, Fastest Lap, thrash team mate, best in race etc) should amount to the perfect 100 points.
FIRST LAP GAINS +0.5pts per position gained -0.5pts per position lost.
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS – 25pts to 1pt as per World Championship – Sprint Race Points added.
BEAT TEAM MATE (RACE) – 10pts (if both finish or other driver got self inflicted DNF)
FASTEST LAP – 5pts – 1pt for top five drivers.
GRID POSITION TO RACE POSITION – formula +/- relative finish to grid
BEST OF THE REST (RACE) – 5pts to 1pt – top five non Mercedes-Red Bull drivers
QUALIFYING – 20pts to 1pt – Grid Position 1 to 20.
BEAT TEAM MATE (QUALIFYING) – 5pts
BEST OF THE REST (QUALIFYING) – 5pts to 1pt – top five non Mercedes-Red Bull drivers
GREAT/GRAPE – 5pts Great 2pts Honourable Mention -2Pts Dishonourable Mention -5Pts Grape
BEAT TEAM MATE (QUALIFYING) Time Gap – Formula for % beaten team mate by
BEAT TEAM MATE (QUALIFYING) Position – 0.5 Pts for every position team mate is beaten by. 0 points for second car.
FREE PRACTICE HERO – 10Pts to 1Pt – Average Position across all three practice sessions.
WIN FROM POLE – Bonus 5 Points
WIN FROM POLE WITH FASTEST LAP – Bonus 10 Points
DNF Not Driver or Team Fault Minus 2 Points
DNF CAUSED BY DRIVER/TEAM INCOMPETENCE Minus 5 Points
SPRINT RACE POINTS – Points 8 to 1 as handed out in the sprint race.
SPRINT RACE CHANGE – 0.5 Points per change in end position to starting position.
SPRINT RACE QUAL – Points 8 to 1 as handed out in the order of qualifying 1st to 8th.
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 04: Sprint winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during the Sprint ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 04, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
It’s a double-triple as the third race of the American Triple Header comes to an end with a Saturday sprint race and Sunday main race won by Max Verstappen. To cover both races and so much more is our 2023 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix Result Summary which covers both races and anything else of interest.
This 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time. And you get it for both the main race on Sunday and the Sprint Race on Saturday. So read on.
2023 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix Result Sprint Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – The final sprint race of the season is here, and let’s hope it is a good one, because they have been pretty dull and a waste of time to a degree. In good news for mixing it up Lando Norris took the sprint race pole from Max Verstappen, and it looked as if the top ten looks genuinely compeditive. The other big talking point of the session was the accident between Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso. Both appear to have made the start.
STARTING ORDER – NOR VER PER RUS HAM TSU LEC RIC SAI PIA
Lap 1 – Lando Norris is beaten off the line and into the first corner by Max Verstappen who takes his customary position. The cars behave themselves in the first corners – the dipping Senna S – and no accidents ensue. Lewis Hamilton gets past Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri runs wide at turn four. A little later around the first lap George Russell further demotes Lando Norris.
SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
ORDER – VER RUS NOR HAM PER LEC TSU SAI RIC PIA
Lap 4 – Sergio Perez sails past Lewis Hamilton into the first corner like the Mercedes was standing still thanks to a good car and DRS. The latter helped Lewis Hamilton almost take the position back at the same place as the first lap, but then Charles Leclerc has sights on taking Lewis Hamilton is a nice three-way battle. This could be interesting with a train of cars behind.
Lap 5 – Lando Norris uses DRS to take back second place from George Russell. Max Verstappen and a first win isn’t too far up the road (1.5 seconds)
Lap 8 – Must be something wrong with the Mercedes race pace as Sergio Perez breezes past George Russell into the first corner, but Russell re-takes it a few corners later. But Lewis Hamilton has dropped to over two seconds behind Sergio Perez. Two laps later Perez overtakes Russell again and keeps the place.
ORDER – VER NOR PER RUS HAM LEC TSU SAI RIC PIA
Lap 11 – Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz swap positions then swap position again. Alonso battle Pierre Gasly for 11th in the same train of cars. Oscar Piastri is in the middle waiting for scraps.
Lap 15 – Ricciardo and Sainz repeat the dose as Riccairdo gets past into turn one and Sainz re-takes into turn four. Only problem this time for the Australian is his fellow Aussie steals his position halfway around the lap. The cheek of it. Behind that Alonso appears to have won his battle with Gasly.
ORDER – VER NOR PER RUS HAM LEC TSU SAI PIA RIC
Lap 16 – Away from trains and DRS, Lando Norris is catching Max Verstappen by a few tenths of a second a lap. Eight laps to go and 1.7 seconds the gap. Maths works out to excitement, but Max probably has something in the bag, and is just teasing Lando a bit. Maybe, but by lap 19 the gap is 2.4 seconds and race over.
Lap 21– Charles Leclerc takes fifth off Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda almost doubles the pain. Mercedes race pace isn’t good, which is a shame for the real race and those looking for a genuine challenge to the Red Bulls. Tsunoda does eventually get past Hamilton for 6th. And in more good Alpha Tauri news Daniel Ricciardo retakes his 9th position off Oscar Piastri. Pity 9th doesn’t score sprint race points.
Final Lap – Max Verstappen does it easy out front after taking the lead at the first corner of the race. Another no cigar for Norris who has to take comfort with second place, again. A little joy for Sergio Perez with third, but he is a full nine seconds behind Norris at the chequered flag. Promising signs for tomorrow’s racing as the upper midfield has a decent amount of overtaking. But as for sprint races themselves after the sixth of six for the season, we say they are a waste of time.
ORDER -VER NOR PER RUS LEC TSU HAM SAI RIC PIA
Pos
Driver
Car
Result / Gap
Points
1
Max VERSTAPPEN
Red Bull
0:30:07
8
2
Lando NORRIS
McLaren
4.287 behind
7
3
Sergio PEREZ
Red Bull
13.617 behind
6
4
George RUSSELL
Mercedes
25.879 behind
5
5
Charles LECLERC
Ferrari
28.560 behind
4
6
Yuki TSUNODA
AlphaTauri
29.210 behind
3
7
Lewis HAMILTON
Mercedes
34.726 behind
2
8
Carlos SAINZ
Ferrari
35.106 behind
1
9
Daniel RICCIARDO
AlphaTauri
35.303 behind
10
Oscar Piastri
McLaren
38.219 behind
11
Fernando ALONSO
Aston Martin
39.061 behind
12
Lance STROLL
Aston Martin
39.478 behind
13
Pierre GASLY
Alpine
40.621 behind
14
Esteban OCON
Alpine
42.848 behind
15
Alexander Albon
Williams
43.394 behind
16
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
56.507 behind
17
Guanyu Zhou
Alfa Romeo
58.723 behind
18
Nico Hulkenberg
Haas
1:00.330 behind
19
Valtteri BOTTAS
Alfa Romeo
1:00.749 behind
DNF
Logan Sargeant
Williams
1:00.945 behind
2023 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix Result Main Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – You almost forget the grid for the race as it was set on Friday, but Verstappen on pole shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Charles Leclerc is also becoming less surprising as Verstappen’s closer challenger with second on the grid. The two Aston Martins do well to secure the second row of the grid, with Lance Stroll an eyebrow raising third ahead of Fernando Alonso. Further back Sergio Perez does his chances of handing his Red Bull driver to someone else no harm by qualifying ninth. And the usual suspects make up the rest of the top ten.
Raceday is dry and full of excited fans, and a classic race awaits.
GRID (Starting Order) – VER LEC STR ALO HAM NOR SAI RUS PER PIA
Formation Lap – Charles Leclerc is into the barriers!!! The Ferrari driver has spun off in the midfield section of the lap into the barriers and he is out. It was a hydraulic failure that caused his wheels to lock and spin off, he confirmed in a post race interview. Bad news for him, the Ferrari is out before the race has started.
Lap 1 – Pole sitter Max Verstappen enjoys the extra room and zooms off into the distance and an easy lead into the first corner. Talking of zooming, Lando Norris rockets from sixth on the grid to take second into the first corner. The highly placed Aston Martin have a shocker off the line. But before those two leading cars have made it around the first corner there is bits of car flying and a few cars spinning into the wall.
Alex Albon gets squeezed as he approaches the first corner and is tagged on the back left by a Haas which then coincidentally spins him into the side of another Haas at pace, and both he and Magnussen fly into the barriers. Replays show that it was actually Magnussen and Albon who squeezed Nico Hulkenberg who then tipped Albon into Magnussen and those two ended up in the barriers. Replays also show that both Australian drivers were hit in the rear wing by cars/loose tyres. Both Piastri and Ricciardo’s teams are racing the clock under the red flag to get their cars back into the race.
The Safety Car is called before the cars have gone more than a few more corners.
ORDER – VER NOR HAM ALO STR RUS PER SAI OCO TSU
SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED then RED FLAG – RACE STOPPED
After a long, half-hour break the race is set to resume. Looks like car affected by the first corner shenanigans are going to make the restart – Piastri, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg. The race will restart from a standing start after a casual formation lap. Wonder if a standing start is a good idea. Piastri and Ricciardo are a lap down for the record, having pit for repairs instead of following the safety car’s extra lap.
Lap 4 Restart- Max Verstappen makes no mistake from pole position and the field look like they tippy-toe through the first corners. Fernando Alonso isn’t dying wondering and overtakes Lewis Hamilton into turn four. Lance Stroll has another poor start and ends up 7th by the end of the first lap.
ORDER – VER NOR ALO HAM RUS PER STR SAI GAS OCO
Lap 6- Lando Norris sets fastest lap and sets about annoying Max Verstappen in front. He is within a second and really pressuring him. They are already 2.5 seconds ahead of Alonso in third.
Lap 8 – Lando Norris has a look into the first corner at Verstappen, then tries down the back straight and gets very close. We might actually have a genuine battle for the lead today. Na, a few laps later Verstappen has woken up and is two seconds up the road. Shame. There’s always the pit stops we guess.
Lap 10 – A bit of a train is forming behind Lewis Hamilton in fourth, with a bunch of cars well under a second of each other down to Esteban Ocon in 9th. This could get in interesting as frustration grows.
Lap 14 – Sergio Perez overtakes George Russell for fifth into the first corner, then just holds on as George Russell gets the reply of DRS down the back straight. It has ramifications for the battle for second in the Championship, with Hamilton now the next car ahead of Sergio Perez. But who really cares about second in the Championship at this stage. Unless it links to whether Perez keeps his seat or not. Which is very interesting.
Lap 18 – Sergio Perez seems to really care about that second place in the Championship and his Red Bull drive as he overtakes Lewis Hamilton in a neat move. As if almost in shame, Lewis Hamilton pits at the end of the lap for new tyres. And after spending a lot of time complaining about his team mate on the radio, George Russell pits the next lap. They drop to 10th and 11th.
ORDER – VER NOR ALO PER STR SAI GAS TSU HUL HAM
Lap 21 – Sergio Perez pits for new tyres too, but comes out in between the Mercedes, ruining half of his best work from before the stop. It only takes a few laps, but Sergio Perez gets by Hamilton on lap 23 in similar fashion to his pre pit stop moves.
Lap 26 – Fernando Alonso pits from third, as strategy becomes to focal point of the race. He comes out sixth and four seconds in front of Perez. Other top ten cars pit including Sainz and Tsunoda who come close to tangling in the pitlane as one stop and one leaves their stop. Could be unsafe release?
Lap 28 – The top two pit for new tyres on the same lap. They were 3.7 seconds apart when they pit, and a lap after the stops were 4.8 seconds apart. Well, that’s done and dusted then.
ORDER – VER NOR ALO PER STR HAM RUS SAI OCO BOT
Lap 31 – George Russell is all over the back of his team mate Lewis Hamilton and looking to get by, if he is allowed. Russell was quite feisty to his team mate earlier in the race, so probably doesn’t want to spend his race staring at the rear end of his team mate. Hamilton too was on the radio earlier advising of a problem with the car’s steering. Carlos Sainz is closing on both of them too.
Lap 35 – Carlos Sainz overtakes George Russell for 7th. Which should make the Mercedes driver happy. Double misery for Mercedes a few laps later as Hamilton loses 6th to Sainz down the back straight.
Lap 36 – In the Battle of Down Under – which refers to both the nationality of the two drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri and the fact they are dead last and re-started a lap behind – Ricciardo leads Piastri by less than a second now after the Alpha Tauri had been comfortably ahead for most of the race.
ORDER – VER NOR ALO PER STR SAI HAM RUS GAS TSU
Lap 41 – Valtteri Bottas retires his Alfa Romeo, joining his team mate who did the same earlier in the race. Not a great race.
Lap 43 – Pierre Gasly gets past George Russell easily into the first corner for 8th. The Mercedes really stink at the moment. He pits a few laps later, becoming the first top ten driver to do so. Hamilton, Perez and Gasly all join in the new tyre craze a lap later.
Lap 48 – Freshly tyred Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton make some moves on cars with older tyres ahead. Talking of Perez, Alonso responds to Perez’s pit stop and does so himself, staying ahead of the Red Bull by three seconds.
Lap 54 – Sergio Perez is closing in on Fernando Alonso for third, and likely to be the last major battle of the race to be decided. He sets fastest lap on lap 55 to get within DRS. Lap 59 and despite more DRS Alonso stays in front. Lap 63 and Perez is still fourth. Same on lap 67. Alonso is doing so well.
Lap 57 – Max Verstappen stops for tyres and leaves Lando Norris in the lead for a bit, which is nice of him. It lasts until lap 60 when Norris pits himself.
Lap 63 – Lando Norris’ McLaren comes alive with fastest laps on the new tyres, which is good enough to get on the TV Screens for what seems like the first time today. Norris has cut the lead from over ten seconds to eight by lap 66, but it won’t be enough to annoy Max Verstappen too much.
Lap 70 – Sergio Perez finally gets by Fernando Alonso for the final podium going into the first corner and hangs onto that as Alosno gets his DRS down the back straight.
Last lap – Max Verstappen crosses the line to win the Brazilian Grand Prix but the action is behind him. Fernando Alonso challenges Perez into the first corner and Perez runs a little wide leaving him vulnerable to Alonso with DRS down the back straight and the Aston Martin nails the Red Bull going into turn four. But it’s not over yet, Perez will have DRS for the final sweeping straight and the Red Bull is right on the tail of Alonso, pulls out of the slip stream and Alonso hangs on by 0.053 seconds. Lando Norris finished second by the way in between.
FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – VER NOR ALO PER STR SAI GAS HAM TSU OCO
Pos
Driver
Car
Result
Grid
1
Max VERSTAPPEN
Red Bull
1:40.028
1
2
Lando NORRIS
McLaren
+ 8.277 behind
6
3
Fernando ALONSO
Aston Martin
+ 34.155 behind
4
4
Sergio PEREZ
Red Bull
+ 34.208 behind
9
5
Lance STROLL
Aston Martin
+ 40.845 behind
3
6
Carlos SAINZ
Ferrari
+ 50.188 behind
7
7
Pierre GASLY
Alpine
+ 56.093 behind
15
8
Lewis HAMILTON
Mercedes
+ 1:02.859 behind
5
9
Yuki TSUNODA
AlphaTauri
+ 1:09.880 behind
16
10
Esteban OCON
Alpine
+ 1 lap behind
14
11
Logan Sargeant
Williams
+ 1 lap behind
19
12
Nico Hulkenberg
Haas
+ 1 lap behind
11
13
Daniel RICCIARDO
AlphaTauri
+ 1 lap behind
17
14
Oscar Piastri
McLaren
+ 2 laps behind
10
15
George RUSSELL
Mercedes
+ DNF (57)
8
16
Valtteri BOTTAS
Alfa Romeo
+ DNF (39)
18
17
Guanyu Zhou
Alfa Romeo
+ DNF (22)
20
18
Charles LECLERC
Ferrari
+ DNF (0)
2
19
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
+ DNF (0)
12
20
Alexander Albon
Williams
+ DNF (0)
13
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – FERNANDO ALONSO
A welcome return to form for Alonso. Qualified fourth for the main race. Made some nice early moves in the race and was in the top three for most of the race. His defence of third against Perez was quite heroic and he deserved the podium.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
LANDO NORRIS – A race win is surely coming soon. Maybe all he needs is a little more luck and a Max Verstappen DNF. A sprint race pole, a good sprint race result, followed up by second in the proper race after climbing from sixth to second at the start. All good stuff, but a win remains elusive for now.
MAX VERSTAPPEN – Another win from pole position to go with a sprint win on the Saturday. But time to give best of the weekend to someone else.
LANCE STROLL – A solid fifth result on race day and very good third on the grid in qualifying despite fluffing both starts. Still looks like he’d rather be elsewhere though.
THE GRAPE-EST – ALEX ALBON / KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
Wiped out in the first corner mayhem, which they actually caused themselves by squeezing Nico Hulkenberg who then hit Albon, who then hit Magnussen. Not sure how they would have featured in the main race, probably scrapping for a point or 13th, but we’ll never know now.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
OSCAR PIASTRI / DANIEL RICCIARDO – Both innocent victims of the opening accidents. Both breaking rear wings. Piastri hit by a car and Ricciardo hit by a flying tyre. At least it wasn’t a full wheel we guess. But because both cars stopped in the pits for repairs and didn’t do the second lap behind the safety car, they ended up a lap behind in the restart making their days a complete waste of time except for testing.
ALFA ROMEO – Another anonymous race broken up by the fact they both retired.
MERCEDES – After George Russell’s maiden win here last season, Mercedes probably liked their chances of being a dark horse here for the win again. Instead, they moaned their way to lower top ten finishes and looked ordinary.
SERGIO PEREZ – Some may say we are harsh, considering he climbed from 9th to 4th in the race, but he shouldn’t be qualifying his car ninth. He should have kept third after overtaking Alonso on the second last lap but couldn’t hold on. He shouldn’t be winning Driver of the Day awards for recovery drives. He should be qualifying second at a minimum and challenging for wins of actual races. He’s in one of the best cars in F1 history.
Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?
We rate the big race itself, so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
Note: this is for the combined races.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 4 / 10
If further record-breaking win and second place in the Championship is your thing, then it was sort of important. For Perez’s second place in the Championship and keeping his seat for next year it was a good result with Hamilton falling further behind in the Championship with just two races to go.
ON TRACK ACTION – 9 / 10
First corner clash box checked. A car retiring before the race started was an additional bonus, and a shame it was a Ferrari and not a Red Bull. Loads of overtaking throughout the race and battle down the field except for first and second really. A classic old track made for overtaking though.
ENDING 5 / 10
It scored a 2/10 before the very last lap as Fernando Alonso retook his podium spot from Sergio Perez.
OVERALL RATING 18 / 30
It’s a good track for overtaking, and the last lap was entertaining. So not a bad grand prix for those making the effort to get up at 3am in some parts of the world. Sadly one of those parts is Australia, and it was a bad race for Australian fans.
2023 F1 Season Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.
John “Johnno” Bennington, a third grade wicketkeeper-batter at the Belconnen Bulls, has started a romance with Australian Rugby Sevens player Zoe Craft (a two-time Olympics and Commonwealth Game representative).
The two met at Johnno’s work Christmas party last year and officially became a couple in February.
“I was a few beers deep and saw this absolute stunner across the room. Christ, it already sounds like a sappy Bon Jovi song!” said Johnno. “She was tall, had dark hair, and looked bloody fit. I had enough courage to talk to her and we got along well.”
“He was really sweet,” said Zoe. “I knew he was hammered that night, so I thought I’d wait a bit and give him a few more dates – and he was still nice sober. I was busy playing the Sevens circuit after Christmas, so we did the long-distance thing for a bit. But the patience paid off.”
After a pressured past relationship with an ACT Brumbies player, Zoe was grateful for the lack of attention.
“I watch Johnno play cricket and nobody knows who I am. It’s so much better than my old relationship, when all the private school Rugby tosspots hated me because they didn’t think I played ‘real’ Rugby. The same old tosspots have tried to make a big deal about me and Johnno, but nobody knows who he is, so at least we get some privacy.”
Johnno’s fitness has increased since dating Zoe.
“When we started going on training runs, she’d leave me for dead. But I’m gradually keeping up with her. And I don’t get run out as much now.”
While Johnno’s teammates enjoyed taking the piss out of him at first, they’ve grown to love Zoe.
“We’re used to Johnno talking shit, so nobody believed him at first,” said Johnno’s captain Terry. “We’ve started calling him ‘Swifty’, which we use whenever he plays the ‘I have a famous girlfriend’ card. Zoe’s way too good for him and gives us free tickets to the Sevens tournaments, so hopefully he doesn’t screw this up. She’s got some cracking yarns about her times at the Olympics.”
The Gurgler presents stories of the Park Cricketer, where we explore the lower reaches of the great game of cricket from the suburban ovals and rural grounds across Australia.
Welcome to our Fantasy Premier League 2023-24 FPL GW11 Captain Pick + Preview & Season Stats Summary for another week of exciting fantasy football.
Every game week we take a truckload of stats and compile them into our Captain’s table – our unique way of telling you who should wear your FPL team’s armband. In addition to that is keeping an eye on bonus points, general stats, and trends on the where, when, and how the best Premier League players do their thing for FPL.
2023-24 FPL GW11 Captain Pick – Captain’s Table
Here are this week’s FPL Captain Picks results. A full explanation and full list of the stats and calculations are provided at the end.
FPL GW11 Captain Preview Thoughts
Read on for a quick summary of who we suggest to be considered for FPL captain this week. All in the theme of the Hello, Goodbye Beatles song.
HELLO – Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland looks back in form after becoming human for a while. This week Man City play Bournemouth at home. Man City have yet to lose to Bournemouth in their history and have won all 12 Premier League matches. They have won the six games at home by a combined 22-3.
CALL ME MAYBE – Mo Salah / Other Man City Players
Mo Salah does top our Captain’s Table, but the worry for us is how Liverpool will go up against Luton at Luton. The smaller ground may give them less space, and the Hatters did a decent job against Spurs. Maybe over-reading it, or giving Luton too much credit, but we’re going with Haaland.
Of course if you don’t have Haaland but other Man City players then City’s record v Bournemouth means they are a good option.
GOODBYE – Son Heung-min
Chelsea isn’t quite the team they used to be, and Tottenham are flying up the top of the Premier League, and Son has contributed to that in a big way. But we can’t overlook his dreadful goal/assist rate v Chelsea over the years. Although this Spurs is better, and this Chelsea is worse, and Harry Kane is not around to steal his points. But still, we’re out.
