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.
FORM / STATS – The last two matches between these sides ended in a draw. What more do you need.
AUSTRIA ERSTE LIGA – KSV 1919 v FIRST VIENNA 1984
ODDS – DRAW $3.25
FORM / STATS – Two midfield teams with a healthy number of draws so far this season.
JAPAN J LEAGUE – Urawa Red Diamonds v Vissel Kobe
ODDS – DRAW $3.10
FORM / STATS – Clash between first and third could be a cagey affair neither side wants to lose. Plus the last two games between these sides at Urawa has ended in a 2-2 draw.
SAUDI PRO LEAGUE – Al Hazem v Al-Wehda
ODDS – DRAW $3.40
FORM / STATS – Two lower half teams with not much to play for and two of the last three games at Al Hazem ended in a draw.
HUNGARY NBII – Gyirmot v Nyiregyhaza
ODDS – DRAW $3.10
FORM / STATS – The home side Gyirmot has a solid three draws from their seven home games this season. Nyiregyhaza have three draws from six away games. So almost a 50% chance of a draw here.
The 2023-24 Premier League season rolls on with another big weekend of matches ahead, no big name clashes but a few one-sided games on paper surrounded by some tricky fixtures. There’s no tricks with our 2023-24 Premier League Week 11 Predictions + Stats Summary, just quality tips ‘n’ stats, 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 10 Predictions plus all the stats.
2023-24 Premier League Week 11 Fixtures
2023-24 Premier League Week 11 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.
Fulham 1 Man Utd 2
Brentford 2 West Ham 1
Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 1
Everton 1 Brighton 4
Sheffield Utd 0 Wolves 1
Man City 3 Bournemouth 0
Newcastle 1 Arsenal 1
Nottingham Forest 1 Aston Villa 1
Luton 0 Liverpool 2
Spurs 1 Chelsea 1
Read on for the match by match full preview and stats.
A quick look at the current state of play in the Premier League.
2023-24 English Premier League Week 11 Best Stats
Here are some of our favourite stats from the match H2H stats below. But read on for ore….
Man Utd haven’t lost to Fulham since 2009 – it’s been 13 wins and three draws since.
Both Brentford (W2 D2) and West Ham (W2) are undefeated v London clubs this season.
The last four games between Everton and Brighton have been won by the away side.
All three promoted sides are yet to win a game 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
Nottingham Forest are 0/3 v Top Six sides, and Aston Villa are 3/3 v Bottom Six sides this season.
The last three league games between Spurs and Chelsea on a Monday have ended in a draw.
2023-24 Week 11 – 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 – FULHAM v MAN UTD
THE STAT/S
Man Utd haven’t lost to Fulham since 2009 – it’s been 13 wins and three draws since. Man Utd have scored two or more goals in six of their last seven visits to Fulham. And seven wins in a row on a Saturday anywhere v Fulham. Man Utd have lost both of their away trips to London clubs this season.
OUR PREDICTION
Fulham 1 Man Utd 2
OUR THOUGHTS
After a Manchester derby flogging last weekend a game against Fulham could hardly be better for Man Utd with their superiority in this fixture.
SATURDAY 3:00PM – BRENTFORD v WEST HAM
THE STAT/S
Both Brentford (W2 D2) and West Ham (W2) are undefeated v London clubs this season. Brentford are on a winning run of four matches v West Ham, scoring exactly two goals in all of those games.
OUR PREDICTION
Brentford 2 West Ham 1
OUR THOUGHTS
This could barely be more of a midfield clash with the teams sitting in 9th and 10th, with up and down form. Saturday 3pm suits.
SATURDAY 3:00PM – BURNLEY v CRYSTAL PALACE
THE STAT/S
Burnley are unbeaten in their last five games v Crystal Palace, although the last two games were draws. Burnley have the worst home record so far this season – five losses from five games and conceded 16 goals. Crystal Palace are 2/2 v bottom six sides.
OUR PREDICTION
Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 1
OUR THOUGHTS
This should be a cracker, two teams who are equal second last for goals scored.
SATURDAY 3:00PM – EVERTON v BRIGHTON
THE STAT/S
Although improving, Everton are still in the bottom six. Brighton are 3/3 v bottom six sides this season scoring 11 goals in the process. All of Brighton’s five away games have seen three goals or more. The last four games between Everton and Brighton have been won by the away side.
OUR PREDICTION
Everton 1 Brighton 4
OUR THOUGHTS
An unexpected win for Everton last weekend creeps them further away from the danger zone and into the Dyche sweet spot. Brighton aren’t heading that way just yet but haven’t won in four games.
SATURDAY 3:00PM – SHEFFIELD UTD v WOLVES
THE STAT/S
Wolves have won four straight v Sheffield Utd on a Saturday, with the Blades failing to score in all of those matches. All three promoted sides are yet to win a game at home.
OUR PREDICTION
Sheffield Utd 0 Wolves 1
OUR THOUGHTS
Maybe this is the game where the Blades sharpen their season with a win. Wolves have done well to be unbeaten in their last five games given the opposition they faced, including an unexpected win over Man City.
SATURDAY 3:00PM – MAN CITY v BOURNEMOUTH
THE STAT/S
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. Bournemouth are three losses from three games v big six clubs and are averaging three goals a game conceded.
OUR PREDICTION
Man City 3 Bournemouth 0
OUR THOUGHTS
One of the biggest one-sided games of the season awaits. On paper.
SATURDAY 5:30PM – NEWCASTLE v ARSENAL
THE STAT/S
Newcastle have won just six of the 48 games played between them and Arsenal since 2000. Newcastle last beat Arsenal at home on a Saturday in 2005. Newcastle are also 0/2 v big six clubs this season.
OUR PREDICTION
Newcastle 1 Arsenal 1
OUR THOUGHTS
The premium match of the weekend in an awkward timeslot. Testing the real deal rights of each club.
SUNDAY 2:00PM – NOTTINGHAM FOREST v ASTON VILLA
THE STAT/S
Nottingham Forest are 0/3 v Top Six sides, and Aston Villa are 3/3 v Bottom Six sides this season. Nottingham Forest (W1 D3) are unbeaten at home this season though. Aston Villa (W4 D2) are unbeaten in six v Forest.
OUR PREDICTION
Nottingham Forest 1 Aston Villa 1
OUR THOUGHTS
A midlands clash that will probably end in a draw. Aston Villa aren’t quite the same side away from home. but still very good. Forest are decent at home.
SUNDAY 4:30PM – LUTON v LIVERPOOL
THE STAT/S
Liverpool have won only two of their last ten visits to Luton. Liverpool are 3/3 v bottom six sides and Luton have lost their only big six clash.
OUR PREDICTION
Luton 0 Liverpool 2
OUR THOUGHTS
One wonders if the small nature of Luton’s home ground will be a disadvantage to the major teams that visit. Spurs struggled, so why not Liverpool.
MONDAY 8:00PM – TOTTENHAM v CHELSEA
THE STAT/S
Chelsea have drawn both of their big six clashes this season, Spurs are W3 D1. The last three league games between Spurs and Chelsea on a Monday have ended in a draw.
OUR PREDICTION
Spurs 1 Chelsea 1
OUR THOUGHTS
Another London derby for Chelsea who would have been classed as shock losers last weekend if they hadn’t become so terrible lately. Meanwhile, Spurs sell their best player rather than spending multiple 100Ms and lead the competition.
Another big weekend of F1 action ahead as the F1 circus makes a third stop in three weeks, which no doubt is making lots of F1 personnel very tired. Talking of tired, here is our 2023 Brazilian F1 Grand Prix Preview where nothing has been shaved off.
The Gurgler’s 2023 Brazilian 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.
Looking like a funky kind of snail, the Interlagos track is hardly slow, with long straights, fast sweeping corners and loads of undulation.
It used to be twice the length in the 70’s and 1980 too. Imagine an almost eight kilometre track these days.
There’s plenty of good overtaking opportunities if the DRS sections are worked out right. The infield section gets a bit boring, but it is more than made up for the fast, sweeping final straight heading into the dipping first corners. Although we do like the corner name Bico de Pato, which translates and looks like a duckbeak.
It is a classic, and home of some great title deciders back in the day when Abu Dhabi money wasn’t as important.
2023 Brazilian 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? 7/10 – A good back straight primed for overtaking is good, but the sweeping corners to end the lap are plenty fast and spectacular if drivers get it right or wrong.
ACTION? 8/10 – It is a track where stuff usually happens. First corner prangs, ambitious overtaking, bad overtaking like Verstappen v Hamilton in 2021, title deciders, and there’s always a chance for weather being a factor. Except for this year it looks like.
BIG HISTORY? – 9/10 It’s a race that pre-dates the Date of Births for all of the current drivers, and has a rich history, usually with a bunch of Brazilian F1 stars. Whilst the latter isa not the case anymore, it’s a race where you could go back and watch a dozen old races.
RACE RATING 65% – The potential is there for a big race weekend. If only the other drivers can beat Max Verstappen to pole. But even then….
2023 Brazilian 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.
10th is the lowest grid slot for a win at the Brazilian Grand Prix since 2000. The front row have 17 wins between them split 9-8 to first.
20th grid position is the lowest a podium finisher has come from (just the once).
DRIVER GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT – CURRENT DRIVERS
TEAM GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT
HISTORIC DRIVER RESULTS
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
Max Verstappen will probably win.
Lanced Stroll will pull off some spectacular DNF, probably getting tangled up with another competitor in the run to the first corner.
There will be three safety cars.
Lewis Hamilton will lead the most laps and take pole position.
Ferrari will put at least one of their drivers on the wrong strategy.
Fernando Alonso will miss Q3, not score a point and be extra grumpy after Red Bull rumours during week.
Here are The Gurgler’s 2023 Mexican 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 team mate, fastest lap, and a few more stats that are attempting to highlight a driver outperforming the car and/or thrashing their team mate.
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 19 2023 Mexican 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.
Fernando Alonso is actually second last in our Ratings for the last two races. His average grid position has more than doubled from Round 10 than prior.
Both Haas cars, Alpines and Aston Martins have a worse post Round 10 average grid position than prior.
Max Verstappen and Alex Albon are tied for the lead in the H2H teammate battle this season.
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.
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…..
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 driers 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.
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.
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - OCTOBER 29: Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 collides with Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari SF-23 on the opening lap of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 29, 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images)
As so the F1 circus arrives in Mexico for the Day of the Dead weekend, which was apt as the weekend probably spelled the end of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull career. To rub it Max Verstappen further extended his lead in the championship and Lewis Hamilton closed in on second. Talking of dead, here is our 2023 Mexican F1 Grand Prix Result Summary which covers both races and anything else of interest.
This 2023 Mexican 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 Mexican 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 – It was a strange qualifying session, with Ferrari taking a 1-2 and locking out the front row of the grid. Max Verstappen wasn’t far away in third, which wouldn’t ‘t be far enough back to probably stop him winning the race. That would 40th place on the grid. Daniel Ricciardo was the star of qualifying, ended up 4th on the grid and was around the top in all sessions. Sergio Perez was out-qualified his current and potential future usurper. Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso were the back of the grid surprises, Norris with car problems, and Alonso with a car speed problem.
GRID (Starting Order) – LEC SAI VER RIC PER HAM PIA RUS BOT
Lap 1 – Max Verstappen makes the best start from third and jumps to the inside line for the first corner, edging just in front of Charles Leclerc as they approach turn one, and then squeezing him towards the left. Sergio Perez makes a great start from fifth and is ready to swoop around the outside of Verstappen-Leclerc. But Verstappen squeezes Leclerc too far left and Perez is still trying around the outside and something has to give. The give is Sergio Perez whose car jumps in the air and flies off the road, his home race is officially ruined. Charles Leclerc has damage but continues and Verstappen leads. Again.
Further back Daniel Ricciardo holds onto fourth despite Hamilton being all over his rear end. Hulkenberg is a winner from the first lap going from 12th to 8th, the Valtteri Nottas less so. Lance Stroll started from pit lane so reduced his chances of not making it around the first lap.
ORDER – VER LEC SAI RIC HAM PIA RUS HUL GAS ZHO
Lap 2 – Red Bull pretend to make a pit stop, but alas it is the end for Sergio Perez, and he bashes his steering wheel in frustration. Poor guy, what a way to bow out of your home race. Can’t blame him for trying, but the punishment is severe. And not great while trying to hold onto second place in the Championship and the Red Bull drive.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
Lap 5 – Virtual Safety Car deployed to pick up some pieces of Charles Leclerc’s front wing after his clash with Sergio Perez. Hard to imagine there’s not more damage. Or that Ferrari haven’t stuffed his strategy yet. Give them time we say.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR ENDED
Lap 6 – No change in position from lap one, which is good to allow us to catch up with writing this summary after the first corner crash. Not sure how Ricciardo is still ahead of Lewis Hamilton given the pressure. Under less pressure is Max Verstappen who is edging closer to two seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc in second.
Lap 10 – Not a lot of overtaking as yet, and there’s a couple on nice queues forming. Yuki Tsunoda went straight on a turn one trying to stay ahead of Kevin Magnussen for 13th.
Lap 11 – Lewis Hamilton eventually gets past the Alpha Tauri of Daniel Ricciardo
Lap 12 – Lando Norris pits for new tyres, getting rid of his softs, which may give him a tyre strategy advantage later. For now, Norris comes out of the pits in front of Yuki Tsunoda in 18th, although the Japanese driver had just set fastest lap after pitting earlier.
Lap 15 – Ferrari confirm via radio that they are going with Plan A. Which stands for Absolutely no chance of beating Max Verstappen, so just try and finish second. Missed by the TV cameras or by our ignorant asses was Alex Albon sneaking into the top ten at the expense of Zhou’s Alfa. Albon is up from 14th on the grid.
ORDER – VER LEC SAI HAM RIC PIA RUS HUL GAS ALB
Lap 17 – A point of interest is just how slow the Aston Martins are this race. Currently circulating in 15th and 16th with Stroll ahead of Alonso. Both are behind Logan Sargeant for context.
Lap 20 – Max Verstappen pits from the lead and rejoins in 7th. Safety first as Hulkenberg in 8th was nearly half a minute behind 7th after 20 laps. Closer together are Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, separated by less than a second battling for 2nd.
Lap 23 – Max Verstappen has already got past George Russell and Oscar Piastri. One wonders if he will re-take the lead on the road or will be helped by pit stops of rivals. Wouldn’t ‘t rule out the former.
Lap 28 – Pitstops begin for most of the top ten with Daniel Ricciardo happy dropping from 5th to 6th, George Russell less happy as he lands in the middle of the mid pack squabble.
Lap 29 – Max Verstappen breezes past Carlos Sainz for second place. he is eight seconds behind the leader Leclerc. Not for long as Leclerc pits.
Lap 31- Lando Norris overtakes Alex Albon for 8th. Decent effort from towards the bad of the grid.
Lap 33 – BIG CRASH. It’s Kevin Magnussen who has binned it into the wall. Not sure how but he did run wide on the final corner for the lap preceding the crash which was a bumpy ride. Car is stuffed, barrier is stuffed, and now the car is on fire. Replays show that the Haas just snapped out of control and appears something broke. It happened at the beginning of the esses, which is apt as S stands for the Haas is now Stuffed, and Sh!t my car is on fire. Kevin Magnussen is fine by the way but does spend some time in the medical centre.
SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
RACE RED FLAGGED
The race is stopped on lap 35, conveniently at half distance. They have to sticky tape the barrier and mop up after the fire.
The break in the race means refresh in strategy and tyres for all. So Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ pit stops are no advantage.
ORDER – VER LEC HAM SAI RIC PIA RUS TSU HUL NOR
RACE TO RESTART VIA STANDING START
A good mix of Hard and Medium tyres among the top ten, which gives hope for a decent end to this race.
Race to restart with a standing start, gives the other teams their last chance of annoying Max Verstappen and taking the race win. Or the lead for a lap or two.
RACE RESTARTS
Lap 36 – Leader Max Verstappen smashes the restart and is untouchable in front going into the first corner. Behind the Red Bull there’s so much weaving and changing sides of the track but it is Leclerc who keeps second, but Lewis Hamilton still looks keen to steal it. George Russell gains a couple of places from 7th to 5th at the expense of Australia. No accidents further back in the grid.
ORDER – VER LEC HAM SAI RUS RIC PIA TSU ALB HUL
Lap 38 – Good battle between Hamilton and Leclerc as a secondary battle between Sainz and Russell wages for the next rung of positions. Hamilton gets past on the next lap down the pit straight, with a plume of dust flying into the air as Leclerc pushes Hamilton to the very limit of the track, and beyond.
Lap 42 – The Alpha Tauris are starting to come alive. Daniel Ricciardo is now within a second of George Russell in 6th, and Yuki Tsunoda is 8th and looking equally fast and harassing Oscar Piastri. A haul of points is coming to take them off the bottom of the Constructor standings.
Lap 46 – Lando Norris is making a few moves now as he recovers from dropping down the field due to a poorly timed pitstop. Up to 12th on Lap 45, steals 11th on Lap 46, and inside the top ten a lap later. We bet Red Bull wish he were available for 2024.
Lap 48 – Oscar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda keep fighting for 7th. Tsunoda tags Piastri with his right front wheel, and have seen those end in car failure in the past as was the force.
Lap 49 – Yuki Tsunoda tries again into turn one and he gets it even more wrong, running into the side of Oscar Piastri and spinning off across the grass at turn one. He continues but drops to 16th and end of points for him today.
Lap 51 – Max Verstappen leads by eight seconds. Just in case anyone was wondering. Talking of eighth, Lando Norris doesn’t appear to be wanting to hang around in eighth. He’s catching his teammate for seventh quickly, and then there’s nearly 20 laps to go further.
ORDER – VER HAM LEC SAI RUS RIC PIA NOR ALB HUL
Lap 57 – Lando Norris gets by Oscar Piastri who doesn’t make life very difficult. And Norris can hurt Australia once more as he closes in on Daniel Ricciardo.
Lap 58 – A funny moment as the two worst drivers in the field battle for 14th and Logan Sargeant goes off on the radio about Lance Stroll’s driving. In fairness, Logan Sargeant is slowly improving and Lance Stroll was driving like a jerk.
Lap 60 – Lando Norris gets by Daniel Riccardo for 6th, and they come very close to touching but don’t. Nice move around the outside. George Russell is less than four seconds up the road and then who knows. This McLaren is flying.
Lap 67 – An amazing drive form Lando Norris sees him overtake George Russell for 5th after a couple of laps trying. Meanwhile in a less successful piece of overtaking Lance Stroll is punted into a spin by Valtteri Bottas in the stadium section. Bottas gets five second penalty.
Lap 70 – Good battle between Daniel Ricciardo and George Russell.
Last lap – Max Verstappen wins by enough to secure a 16th win of the season in a predictable outcome for F1. Lewis Hamilton’s second is a good reward and she’s him edge closer to Perez’s second place in the Championships. Pole Sitter Charles Leclerc completes the podium. Lando Norris is the star driver of the day, and Daniel Ricciardo having the best weekend.
FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – VER HAM LEC SAI NOR RUS RIC PIA ALB OCO
Pos
Driver
Car
Result
Grid
1
Max VERSTAPPEN
Red Bull
1:40.028
3
2
Lewis HAMILTON
Mercedes
+ 13.875 behind
6
3
Charles LECLERC
Ferrari
+ 23.124 behind
1
4
Carlos SAINZ
Ferrari
+ 27.154 behind
2
5
Lando NORRIS
McLaren
+ 33.266 behind
17
6
George RUSSELL
Mercedes
+ 41.020 behind
8
7
Daniel RICCIARDO
AlphaTauri
+ 41.570 behind
4
8
Oscar Piastri
McLaren
+ 43.104 behind
7
9
Alexander Albon
Williams
+ 48.573 behind
14
10
Esteban OCON
Alpine
+ 1:02.879 behind
15
11
Pierre GASLY
Alpine
+ 1:06.208 behind
11
12
Yuki TSUNODA
AlphaTauri
+ 1:18.982 behind
18
13
Nico Hulkenberg
Haas
+ 1:20.309 behind
12
14
Guanyu Zhou
Alfa Romeo
+ 1:21.676 behind
10
15
Valtteri BOTTAS
Alfa Romeo
+ 1:25.597 behind
9
16
Logan Sargeant
Williams
+ DNF (70)
19
17
Lance STROLL
Aston Martin
+ DNF (66)
20
18
Fernando ALONSO
Aston Martin
+ DNF (47)
13
19
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
+ DNF (31)
15
20
Sergio PEREZ
Red Bull
+ DNF (1)
5
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 – DANIEL RICCIARDO
It may only have ended up in a P7 race result, but the overall theme is Daniel Ricciardo is back, and timely too, and almost rude to do it at the Mexican Grand Prix at the expense of Sergio Perez. Genuinely fast in qualifying, fourth on the grid could almost have been higher., and he scored his first points of the season.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
LANDO NORRIS – Driver of the day really, but his fantastic day doesn’t have the future implications that Daniel Ricciardo’s weekend had. But what a drive from Norris from the further reaches of the grid to fifth and seeing off his teammate in the process.
CHARLES LECLERC – A surprise pole position wasn’t exactly turned into a stellar race result, but the pole works, and any result was a good thing after colliding with Sergio Perez at the first corner.
MAX VERSTAPPEN – Another relatively easy win. Has won as many Grands Prix this season as the entire number of races in most seasons in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
LEWIS HAMILTON – A second consecutive race where he is second across the line. We presume he will keep this one, and he closes the gap on Sergio Perez for second in the Championship.
ALEX ALBON – Albon continues to shine in the Williams. Two more points and from 14th on the grid
THE GRAPE-EST – SERGIO PEREZ
Possibly the worst weekend for a driver for any team in 2023. Maybe not the weekend as a whole, but the end result. It wasn’t bad enough to be out-qualified by Daniel Ricciardo in the junior Red Bull car, but then to be wiped out at the first corner was crushing. And he looked so sad. We feel for him, but not enough to not give him the Grape-est at the Mexican Grand Prix.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
KEVIN MAGNUSSEN – Turned an anonymous lower midfield race into a must include in 6pm TV News Sports highlights with a show/race stopping prang into the wall. Car failure was the cause of spinning into the barriers.
FERNANDO ALONSO – The Aston Martin was ordinary all weekend and his race was ended early with a DNF.
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 – 3 / 10
The battle for second opens up for Lewis Hamilton, and he closes within 20 points. But it is still only second, and who cares. We are more the vultures for who gets Perez’s 2024 drive.
ON TRACK ACTION – 7 / 10
A first corner clash was super interesting and a little sad for Sergio Perez. Another crash mid race from Kevin Magnussen stops the race too. But otherwise, the race had some good battles, with the halfway red flag lighting things up a bit. A good amount of racing behind the top three, but not enough to stop a few sleepy nods.
ENDING 5 / 10
Lando Norris made the ending mildly interesting as he climbed through the field. Daniel Ricciardo annoying George Russell at the end was also amusing.
OVERALL RATING 15 / 30
Same result, and the result didn’t really matter, but some great action in patches (including a first corner prang which saw Sergio Perez out) and a decent track to follow.
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.
The Gurgler’s Summer Series of rugby league content filler continues, as we look back on the season that was at the players who were the best of the best with our 2023 NRL Team of the Year.
Not only do we unveil the 2023 NRL Team of the Year for the entire season, we have some subcategories to show key periods of the season.
So read on for our definitive….
2023 NRL Team of the Year
Here is the best of the best for the 2023 NRL season, with an explanation of how the scoring works at the end.
A few Panthers as you’d expect, the props take care of themselves, and a few obvious ones who won the Dally M position award.
Others are less obvious, but maybe their contributions went under the radar a little in 2023.
But feel free to debate and leave a comment at the end. And our Team of the Year and Week will return next season.
2023 NRL Team of the Year – Pre Origin
Interestingly, not all of our Pre Origin Team of the Year who were eligible for State of Origin made the grade. Campbell Graham was certainly the unluckiest and Cody Walker sure did show them what they missed with his starring role in Origin III. Pity for Souths fans it was his peak for 2023.
2023 NRL Team of the Year – Post Origin
Just four players from our starting XIII for Pre Origin form make the Post Origin form, Panthers duo Brian To’o and Nathan Cleary and both second rowers.
The extra Knights does highlight their fantastic end to the 2023 NRL season.
2023 NRL Team of the Year – Finals Series
Here is the Team of the Finals Series, with the best of the best from the teams at the sharpest end of the season.
Not as many Penrith players as you’d might expect, but the Broncos were quite handy during the 2023 NRL Finals Series and were twenty minutes from title glory.
Brandon Smith surprises us too in case you’re wondering.
2023 NRL Team of the Year – Bottom Half Teams
Just because the teams didn’t make the finals didn’t mean they didn’t still have quality players.
So here is the Team of the Season for the teams that finished 9th or lower.
2023 NRL Team of the Year – By Position
Don’t agree with our team of the season? Well, you may not agree with the next bit either.
But below are the stats from our huge A to Z of NRL 2023 Stats. Where we name our top ten for each position based on our scoring system. Plus throw in some stats from 2023 as well.
SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 28, 2023 - Halloween dolls and decorations are seen for sale at a mall in Shanghai, China, October 27, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
An older Australian has gone on an epic anti-Halloween rant.
Gavin spent Saturday morning writing a long Facebook post about how Halloween should be banned in Australia. Highlights included “revoking the citizenship of any Aussie who participates in Halloween” and “parents who indulge this evil ‘holiday’ are turning their kids into bloody Yankees!”
Not surprisingly, the reaction to the post was mostly negative, with commentors telling Gavin that Halloween isn’t an American holiday, Halloween parties are fun for adults too, and there’s nothing wrong with letting kids go trick or treating as long as it’s safe and supervised.
“I told him not to post that,” said Gavin’s wife Linda. “The old duck goes on this same bloody tirade every October. But everyone stopped listening to him years ago! The grandkids love Halloween, and I’m happy to join in. We get some exercise, free lollies, and watch a kid-friendly scary movie afterwards. It’s harmless fun.”
While he was initially happy to argue in the comments section, Gavin eventually got tired of it and deleted the post, muttering about “the Americanisation of Australia”, before watching a documentary about the 10 greatest American Presidents.
Australian cricket umpire Darrell Hair adjusts his glasses as he umpires on the first day of the second Test match between England and New Zealand at Old Trafford, Manchester, north-west England, on May 23, 2008. Today's match between England and New Zealand here at Old Trafford will be the first Test that Hair, 55, has umpired in nearly two years since he was involved in penalising Pakistan five penalty runs for alleged ball-tampering at The Oval in August 2006. AFP PHOTO/ANDREW YATES (Photo credit should read ANDREW YATES/AFP via Getty Images)
A former park cricketer’s new career as an umpire has been cut short.
After 15 years, Belconnen Bulls’ fourth grade leg-spinner Adam finally retired at the end of the 2022/23 season, with the intention to become an umpire.
“I’m only in my mid-30s, so I figured I was still young enough to pursue an umpiring career. I spent six months attending the umpiring courses, studied the book of laws from cover to cover, and aced the exam first go. And I watched a lot of YouTube videos. Did you know Stephen Fry is an umpire?”
After all that preparation, Adam excitedly umpired his first grade game – a sixth grade one-day between Bruce and Evatt.
The game started well, with Adam correctly calling a couple of close LBWs, but all changed after the innings break.
“The Evatt opening bowlers quickly put the game away, so the fielders started to relax, s**t-talk each other, and the captain bowled some part-time bowlers, which everyone found hillarious,” said Adam. “All this nonsense reminded me of the fun I’d have with my old teammates. It actually made me a bit sad that I was missing out, because my co-umpire was a gazillion years old and didn’t say a word to me. I got a bit bored when the game stopped being a contest.”
With the game ending early, Adam killed some time by going to the ground’s nets and bowling some leggies. While he was rusty – having not bowled since February – he soon found rhythm.
“Some of the Evatt batters even had a hit and said my leggies were still good. The more I bowled, the more I started getting the bug back. If I’m going to be out there all day, I may as well be playing.”
Once he got home, Adam messaged his old Bulls captain, asking if he could come back.
“Macca gee’d me up about wanting to ‘unretire’, but he said I could turn up to training and see how we go. I’m not going to walk back into the fourths, but see how we go.”
With training on Thursday night, Adam is making plans to go to his local nets after work so he can hit the ground running.
“The umpiring was a fun idea, but I’m happy to be back playing the game I love. Whatever happens after that is a bonus.”
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.
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.
FORM / STATS – The last game between these sides at Adanaspor ended in a 0-0 draw. Just the way you like it. Early-ish days into the new season, but not a lot of draws between these sides as yet – two in nine games for Umraniyespor and none for Adanaspor.
HUNGARY NB II – BFC Siofok v Budafoki MTE
ODDS – DRAW $3.10
FORM / STATS – Two draws in the last six matches between these sides shows that a draw isn’t out of the question. And it’s the same for season form too, with Siofok seeing 2/6 home games end in a draw and Budafoki 2/6 for draws away.
HUNGARY NB II – Soroksar SC v Szeged-Csanad Grosics Akademia
ODDS – DRAW $2.90
FORM / STATS – The last two games between these sides at Soroksar have ended in a draw. Throw in that Szeged-Csanad Grosics Akademia have drawn 7/12 games this season and that five of their last six matches ended in a draw then this could be the special of the week.
ROMANIA LIGA II – FC Metaloglobus Bucuresti v FC Hunedoara
ODDS – DRAW $2.90
FORM / STATS – Can’t find any form, but just look at that price.
POLAND 1. Division – Motor Lublin vs Odra Opole
ODDS – DRAW $3.10
FORM / STATS – The last two games between these sides at Motor Lublin (the venue for this clash) ended in a 1-1 draw. Ticking one box, on each side. From 12 games in the Polish 1. Division Odra Opole have three draws (and lead the table) and Motor Lublin just one draws. But look at that H2H stat.
THIS WEEK’S MULTI FOR ALL GAMES for $1 = $250
LAST WEEK – 0/6
OK, so not a good week, but four of the six games saw a 1-0 win to the away side……
It’s a big weekend of F1 action as the circus arrives in Sergio Perez territory, and there’s plenty of questions left to be answered. Can Perez keep second in the Championship and the Red Bull drive? Will Max win everything again? Will someone else fall victim to an overworked plank? Talking of planking, here is our 2023 Mexican F1 Grand Prix Preview where nothing has been shaved off.
The Gurgler’s 2023 Mexican 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 Will Pittenger – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4492711
It’s a classic old track that looks like different things from different angles. Flip the above one way and it looks like a seal. Flip is another way and it looks like a fish. And the animal references keep coming as the track has a unique esses section that slithers like a snake.
Sadly the mega fast last corner now goes through a stadium, which has produced zero action from memory since installed, but it does have a cool atmosphere.
The early part of the lap has some nice long straights followed by chicanes, so there will be chances for early ambition, and likely early tangles.
2023 US 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? 7/10 – Nice long straights, with the esses section makes the track fast enough. The Stadium section and hairpin slows it down too much.
ACTION? 6/10 – DRS should provide some overtaking down the straights, and hopefully with really only second in the drivers championship and the 2024 Red Bull second seat to be decided the drivers will have a proper crack.
BIG HISTORY? – 6/10 Bit of a stop-start history, with the track hosting over three different periods. The first does go back into the great 1960’s, and often was a title decider. The next period was in the glorious mid to late 80’s and early 90’s with all the fan favourites like Mansell, Prost, Senna and Stefan Johannson. The 1990 edition of the race is one of the best if one is looking for time killing on YouTube.
INCLEMENT WEATHER? – 3/10 20% to 30% chance of rain across the weekend isn’t too bad according to The Weather Channel, so we’ll take those odds.
RACE RATING 55% – An old classic that has long enough straights to produce some action. Prepared for loads of Sergio Perez
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.
No driver has won a modern Mexican Grand Prix from lower fourth or lower on the grid. Fifth is lowest grid slot for a podium.
Yuki Tsunoda is yet to finish a Mexican Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton has not qualified lower than third at this race but taken just one pole.
Lance Stroll has ended qualifying in Q1 for the last four races here.
DRIVER GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT – CURRENT DRIVERS
TEAM GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT
HISTORIC DRIVER RESULTS
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
DID NOT FINISH – DNF
We’ve gone about DNFs through this article, so here is the list of DNFs.
Sergio Perez takes podum on last lap of the race.
Lando Norris takes pole position.
Three car pile up on the first lap at turns 4/5, and involves at least one Alpine.
Point and Q3 for Daniel Ricciardo
Logan Sargeant bins it into the final corner wall at some stage over the weekend.
