Losers Team points: Austrian grand prix

THE BIGGEST LOSERS IN AUSTRIA

Although none of the weather predictions came true at the Austrian grand prix, there was certainly a perfect storm in the F1 Losers League. This is going to take some explaining.

In the last week of June, we launched a new Pitlane Punt. The Ocon Odds-On offered a bet that Esteban Ocon wouldn't finish in the top ten in a specified race. Four Losers Teams took the bait, gambling that Ocon would fail at the Austrian grand prix. And fail he did, breaking his car's suspension on just the third corner of the race.

At 3:1 odds, it would have been a substantial enough pay-out, but with Double Race Scores (DRS) applied, the F1 Losers League ended up giving out more points than Oprah Winfrey gives out cars. We try to balance potential Punt earnings as a percentage of average race scores, to give teams a healthy but controllable boost. But this mix of Punt winning and DRS doubling was a massive boost for some. It was like getting a rocket, fitting it with rockets, then firing it into the heart of the sun which turns out to be a rocket.

Let's have a look the Losers Teams' performance in Austria. You may need to sit down. Read on to find out more.

The biggest winner in Austria was Team Name, who scored 350 points, most of which came after placing a large 40-point stake on the Ocon Odds-On punt then doubling the win. To put this in context, no Losers Team has scored more than 147 points in any single race this year. It's a Blair landslide, a World Cup victory, a Blockbusters gold run. Astonishing stuff from the team name whose team name is a team name we keep forgetting.

HAASN'T A CHANCE played the same Punt and had their winnings boosted by DRS. They get 230 Losers Points at the Red Bull Ring, itself a staggering result. Two other teams played and won the same Punt, but foolishly moved their DRS from Austria to other races. But even without doubling, it was still a strong score for LockedDownLosers (174 points) and Pierre Ghastly (126 points).

Just imagine we'd had a Sliding Doors moment and none of this would have happened: no Punts; no double scores. Fernando Analonso and Thomas's Tractors would have been the biggest scorers in Austria. They're both strong losing teams but they haven't taken advantage of the F1 Losers opportunities, and they'll have to settle for 124 points each and joint 5th in Austria.

Fancy playing a Pitlane Punt? The seemingly winnable Ocon Odds-On is still live. See all the current Punts here.

All this has had quite the effect on the season standings – see here.

PODIUM OF SHAME

All of the above teams know how to lose. It's in their blood and/or gastric juices. But what about the teams at the bottom of the order? What about the shrivelled husks that went to Austria and didn't lose?    

Cruthers Car Co. had a tough one, with Bottas's surprisingly good race leading them to a poor score of 4. It’s a trap Lando! raked in just 38 points, their Achilles heel being Pierre Gasly who had a perfectly average non-losing race. And bottom once again was Murraylivesforeverinourhearts: their score of 36 almost all came from Alpine: Murraylives's drivers are doing them no favours at all.

You know what to do, teams. We've refreshed our Ejector Seat page. Use one Ejector Seat to replace a driver; use two Ejector Seats to replace a constructor. Go to it!

Access your personal team page here.

LOSERS TEAM SCORES IN AUSTRIA

Team Name	350*+
HAASN'T A CHANCE	230*+
LockedDownLosers	174+
Pierre Ghastly	126+
Fernando Analonso	124*
Thomas's Tractors	124*
Back of the shed	118*
The Pit Lockers	114*
Gunther's Gonna Get Ya	110*
Haas Beens	108*
Panda Pops	106*
Tardi Minardi	102*
VroomDoom	102*
Nikita Mazepimp	94*
The Tour de France is Better	88*
Steady Jordan	86*
Mancunian Badboy Racing	76*
NEEEOOOOWWWW	74*
WereDrivingInReverse	74*
Lou-sers	64*
Clean Trolls	62*
Not good on the BENds	58*
Cruthers Car Co.	44*
It’s a trap Lando!	38*
Murraylivesforeverinourhearts	36*

* Played a DRS (Double Race Score)
+ Won a Pitlane Punt

MORE POINTS

Here are the Drivers and Constructors Points for Austria.

And here's how it's affected the Standings.

WHAT'S NEXT?

We'll launch a couple of new Pitlane Punts shortly. We next go racing at the British grand prix on July 18th, for which we have a dedicated Best of British Pitlane Punt. On August 1st, it's the Hungarian grand prix – you can see all this on the season calendar. Then on August 4th, everyone gets a third Ejector Seat, which gifts you even more flexibility in changing your team picks.