Saturday 29 May 2021

Losers Team standings after the Monaco grand prix

Here are the latest standings following the Monaco grand prix.

After being tied with Tardi Minardi, a clever Pitlane Punt ploy leaves VroomDoom in a solo first place in the F1 Losers League. Meanwhile, Team Name shoot from 11th place to second place. 

In the driver standings, Schumacher and Bottas are now joint third, dropping Latifi to fifth. Not much change for the constructors, although it's worth noting that McLaren broke their duck in Monaco, scoring their first two Losers Points of the season. Read on.

Losers Team scores: Monaco grand prix

A disconsolate Charles Leclerc saying "Can't believe I didn't enter the Pitlane Punt"
 
THE BIGGEST LOSERS IN MONACO

The Monaco grand prix was all about Charles Leclerc and his home race woes. To borrow an analogy from a different sport, he faced an open goal with no defenders, and then he uprooted the goalposts and threw them into the nearest marina.  

Not only did he top the points by squandering his poll position so badly, Leclerc's disaster vastly affected the result for Losers Teams in Monte Carlo. Any Team that played the Charles Chance Pitlane Punt, successfully betting on Leclerc not finishing in the top six, got themselves stacks of points.

Let's shimmy around hairpin and peer into the tunnel of doom as we explore the fate of the Losers Teams points in Monaco. Read on.

Driver & constructor points: Monaco grand prix

A Ferrari F1 car being hoisted above the track with a distant crowd member saying "hold on, that's cheating"

What an amazing moment. Charles Leclerc netted poll position at his home grand prix in Monaco, the first Monegasque to do so in 80 years. Not only that, it was Ferrari's first poll position since 1066, when the prancing horse was an actual horse, and the hapless race director featured all the wrong things on the Bayeux Tapestry.

So when Leclerc dinged his driveshaft and failed to make the grid for the race, we knew this was a true F1 Losers League moment. The spirit of loserdom drifted in from the docks and settled on the narrow streets: the yachts sunk a little lower in the water; the chandeliers in the hotels lost their sparkle. Monaco, you are ours now. Mwhahahahaha...

...Er, sorry, where were we? Oh yes. What could have been a boring procession to the finishing line, which it was because it's Monaco, turned into a key loser moment of the year. Poor Charles. He inevitabley scooped up Losers Points along with Ferrari, but what about the rest of the Monaco mêlée? Read on.

Pitlane Punt: Wildlife Wager (closed)

Wildlife Wager: play this Pitlane Punt

PITLANE PUNT: THE WILDLIFE WAGER

Note: this punt is now closed.

Everyone loves a fluffy thing, and we don't mean Pierre Gasly's attempt at a beard. 

Will our superstar racing drivers be upstaged by a stray kitten or an angry wombat?

Bet on an animal making an unexpected appearance at any of the next five grand prix weekends. Read on to play this Punt.

Friday 28 May 2021

Pitlane Punt: The Russell Hustle (closed)

The Russell Hustle. Play this Pitlane Punt.

PITLANE PUNT: THE RUSSELL HUSTLE

He might be eyeing Mercedes for 2022. But surely George Russell has a weakness.

A weakness in the shape of Nicholas Latifi?

Bet on George Russell doing worse than Nicholas Latifi at particular races. Read on to play this Punt.

Thursday 13 May 2021

Losers Team standings after the Spanish grand prix

We Spained, we saw, we conked out.

Here are the latest standings following the Spanish grand prix. It's still tight at the top, although there's no move in the top three. The biggest change in the loserboard was prompted by HAASN'T A CHANCE's genius DRS adjustment, which rocketed them from 21st place to 4th.

Scroll down for the driver and constructor standings. Tsunoda has moved up into second place for the drivers, while Haas has overtaken Williams as the biggest losing constructor. Read on.

Losers Team scores: Spanish grand prix

Freddie Mercury singing "no time for losers" from We Are The Champions, and someone off camera shouting "WHAT?!"
 
THE BIGGEST LOSERS IN SPAIN

Look at you, watching the Spanish grand prix on your big screen telly. Pop corn in one hand, Blue Nun in the other. You've got one eye on the racing action, and one eye on the F1 Losers League app, which is giving blow-by-blow telemetry on the worst elements of the grand prix. The F1 Losers app doesn't exist. It's just some crayon you've scrawled on a piece of toilet paper.

In Spain, one Losers Team absolutely nailed the DRS system to score more points in a single race than any other team so far. While many teams still did pretty well for Losers Points, others will be desperately waiting for the unlocking of the first Ejector Seat, allowing them to dump team choices that are proving to be too successful. Mentioning no names. NORRIS.

Which Losers Teams brought the pain in Spain? Read on.

Driver & constructor points: Spanish grand prix

Yuki Tsunoda showing off his Beige flag and "10 points" snow globe

We asked Valtteri Bottas to write this race report for us. However, at the crucial moment, he disobeyed our orders. See what we did there? That was a reference to Bottas not moving aside for Hamilton at the Spanish grand prix. It's this kind of clever narrative that sets the F1 Losers League apart from other fantasy leagues.

Verstappen described himself as a "sitting duck" as Hamilton reeled him in for a race win. There was plenty of flapping about across the field, with the Spanish race offering more overtaking as usual. However, the usual turkeys reared their ugly heads: Haas finishing 92 laps down; Aston Martin disappointing again; Russell being in the points for about a quarter of a second.

It was no surprise to see constructor Haas top the points in Spain. As for the drivers, it was rookie Yuki Tsunoda who came through as biggest loser, his early promise starting to show more than a few signs of wear and tear. 

Who was a Catalonian car-tastrophe at the Spanish grand prix? Read on.

Monday 3 May 2021

Losers Team standings after the Portuguese grand prix

There was some great overtaking at the Portuguese grand prix so it seems appropriate that we have a new leader in the F1 Losers League (Have a look at the Portuguese scores here.

We present to you some lovely tables showing (a) the F1 Losers League standings, which we're determined on calling the loserboard even though it's not catching on, (b) the driver standings with a familiar name in first place, and (c) the constructor standings where it's pretty close at the top. Read on.

Losers Team scores: Portuguese grand prix

Romans in battle, with an elephant being mistaken for a Haas, and the elephant riders saying "we're on for fastest lap, lads"
 
THE BIGGEST LOSERS IN PORTUGAL

What's the most dramatic thing to happen in Portugal? The Roman conquest of Iberia? The overthrow of dictatorship in the Revolution of the Carnations? Vettel pulling into the McLaren pitstop by mistake?

Wrong. It's DRS. One of the key features in modern Formula One is DRS (Drag Reduction System), the booster button that allows cars to overtake. For the F1 Losers League, we have stolen this idea: we created our own DRS (Double Race Scores) function and in Portugal, 22 Losers Teams had theirs activated. Points all over the place!

This means if you did well in Portugal, you did *really* well in Portugal. And if you did badly...

Let's have a peek at the Losers Teams points in Portugal. Read on.

Driver & constructor points: Portuguese grand prix

Raikkonen looking at his hat saying "Is this a steering wheel?"

Just imagine. You're at the supermarket reaching for the frozen peas. Suddenly, Nikita Mazepin gets in the way. You're at the bowling alley going in for your first strike of the game. Nikita Mazepin walks in front of you, and you drop the ball on your foot. You're in bed in the throes of passion with your loved-one, who's dressed up as Barney the dinosaur for some reason. Nikita Mazepin pops his head from under the covers. Mazepin! Not again!

Mazepin's ability to block everyone made him the biggest losing driver in Portugal, with Raikkonen's front wing prang placing him in a close second place as he scored the only retirement of the race.

Alfa Romeo had a rotten race, with a Biege Flag helping them to the lion's share of the Losers Points. Our reason for giving them the Biege Flag is entirely petty, but they still would have been the biggest losers even without that extra 10 points. Oh and Raikkonen got confused about something obvious.

Who did poorly in Portugal? Read on.