Group Pick'em 2016

[Herb]

Here we go. HAM Joker please

[Jenson's Understeer]

[quote="Jenson's Understeer"]
Italian Grand Prix update

A little late but better than never... Quick and dirty update as I'm incredibly busy with work at the moment!


The champagne moment

Mayhem claims a first victory of the season in what was something of a low-scoring round. 116 points was enough to get it done and end a podium drought which stretched back to Russia. TypingChicane takes an impressive ninth podium in 2016 with 111 points, which Icemanjee1 joins Mayhem in making it onto the rostrum for a third time by scoring 109 points.

Mayhem - 116
TypingChicane - 111
Icemanjee1 - 109

Mayhem's winning team: Hamilton (18); Bottas (8); Ricciardo (10); Perez (4); Alonso (0); Magnussen (0); Grosjean (0); Mercedes (43); Williams (10); Force India (5); Renault (0); Hamilton joker (18)


Because we can't all be winners

Herb: 108
Hamilton_Jar: 105
theferret: 103
Schumacher forever#1: 102
Jezza13: 100
Black_Flag_11 and Fountoukos13: 99
Coulthard's Chin: 98
Exediron and Jenson's Understeer: 93
Remmirath: 84


Jokers update

Mayhem's 18 points from a Lewis Hamilton joker enabled them to take the victory, something Hamilton's failure to do means it could have been seven points better. TypingChicane was helped into second by virtue of a Kimi Raikkonen joker, while Jezza13 and theferret will have been disappointed by Force India's poor performance meaning their respective Hulkenberg and Perez jokers only added minimal points. theferret also used their DG6 joker on Pascal Wehrlein, another move which failed to come to fruition.

Perhaps the luckiest of all was our overall leader, Herb, who attempted to play a joker on Lewis Hamilton but had missed the deadline. Of course, 18 points is better than none, so whether it was a good or bad thing remains to be seen.




Spare a thought for...

Exediron and Jenson's Understeer, who thanks to Mayhem's appearance on the podium have an even more comfortable grasp of the longest streak without a top-three finish.

Overall standings after Italy

Herb - 1589 (-)
Hamilton_Jar - 1532 (-)
TypingChicane - 1529 (-)
Jezza13 - 1447 (-)
Schumacher forever#1 - 1442 (-)
Fountoukos13 - 1386 (-)
theferret - 1384 (-)
Icemanjee1 - 1378 (-)
Mayhem - 1349 (-)
Coulthard's Chin - 1328 (-)
Jenson's Understeer - 1300 (-)
Exediron - 1283 (-)
Black_Flag_11 - 1262 (-)
Remmirath - 1215 (-)

For the first time this season there is literally no movement in the overall standings. Which is convenient when I'm strapped for time! Herb does, however, move three points further ahead of Hamilton_Jar, while TypingChicane closes the gap to second back down to just three points.

Should be back to a fuller update after Singapore. Where I work there are only two of us in that particular role, so whenever one of us is away, the other has to basically do two people's work. And since my colleague is on holiday at the moment I'm busy, busy, busy until he gets back next week. I can usually squeeze this update into the brief moments of quiet during the working week but not this time!

[Exediron]

Joker me up for Singapore! Alonso and Ricciardo, please.

And if that isn't enough to get me at least my first podium in this farce of a season, then nothing will be!

[Herb]

Ah *inaudible* - for some reason I thought the jokers had to be in by Q3, not Q1 - sorry.


Here's an out there pick. Can I play my Group 6 joker on Palmer please.

[theferret]

Ricciardo joker for Singapore please!

[coulthards chin]

Grosjean joker please

[Icemanjee1]

Daniel Ricciardo joker please.

[Jezza13]

Alonso & Grosjean are Singapore jokers for me thank you.

[Mayhem]

Riccardo & alonso jokers

[Fountoukos13]

Ricciardo Joker as well for me!

[Jenson's Understeer]

Joker me up for Singapore! Alonso and Ricciardo, please.

And if that isn't enough to get me at least my first podium in this farce of a season, then nothing will be!

Ah *inaudible* - for some reason I thought the jokers had to be in by Q3, not Q1 - sorry.


Here's an out there pick. Can I play my Group 6 joker on Palmer please.

Ricciardo joker for Singapore please!

Grosjean joker please

Daniel Ricciardo joker please.

Alonso & Grosjean are Singapore jokers for me thank you.

Riccardo & alonso jokers

All noted

Ricciardo Joker as well for me!

Unfortunately FP1 had already begun so that joker came too late.

[Fountoukos13]

Joker me up for Singapore! Alonso and Ricciardo, please.

And if that isn't enough to get me at least my first podium in this farce of a season, then nothing will be!

Ah *inaudible* - for some reason I thought the jokers had to be in by Q3, not Q1 - sorry.


Here's an out there pick. Can I play my Group 6 joker on Palmer please.

Ricciardo joker for Singapore please!

Grosjean joker please

Daniel Ricciardo joker please.

Alonso & Grosjean are Singapore jokers for me thank you.

Riccardo & alonso jokers

All noted

Ricciardo Joker as well for me!

Unfortunately FP1 had already begun so that joker came too late.

OK never mind. Maybe that's a good thing...

[Jenson's Understeer]

Singapore Grand Prix update

Singapore. The race was arguably the most forgettable of the season, but with a whole host of jokers being deployed, as well as some unusual points scorers, let's find out for whom it was Singapore and who it was Singagood!


The champagne moment

After a two-race absence from the podium, series leader Herb gets back onto the rostrum, scoring 127 points to take a a season-high fourth victory. It was, however, a slim winning margin from what turned out to be our busiest podium yet - no fewer than four competitors joining Herb. On the second step, both scoring 123 points, were Icemanjee1 and Hamilton_Jar. For the latter it was also a return to the top three after two races without spraying the champagne, while for Icemanjee1 it was a second-successive podium appearance and a fourth on the year. 123 also improved Icemanjee1's best score for 2016, albeit only by a single point. Sharing the third step of the podium were TypingChicane and Exediron. For TypingChicane it represents a tenth such result, and it is now six podium finishes in the last seven races. For Exediron it was only a third podium appearance but the first since China. 121 points is also a personal best for Exediron.

Herb - 127
Hamilton_Jar and Icemanjee1 - 123
Exediron and TypingChicane - 121

Herb's winning team: Hamilton (15); Raikkonen (12); Ricciardo (18); Perez (4); Alonso (6); Magnussen (1); Palmer (0); Mercedes (40); Red Bull (26); Force India (4); Renault (1); Palmer joker (0)


Because we can't all be winners

With five names on the podium this section of the update might look a little sparse! However, the scores across (most of) the board were generally quite good. The average score for the round broke the 100-point barrier for only the fifth time in 2016. Theferret (115), Mayhem (113), Remmirath (106), Jezza13 (102) and Schumacher forever#1 (101) all helped that with scores in three figures, whilst only Couthard's Chin (83) wasn't close to reaching that mark.

theferret - 115
Mayhem - 113
Remmirath - 106
Jezza13 - 102
Schumacher forever#1 - 101
Fountoukos13 and Jenson's Understeer - 97
Black_Flag_11 - 96
Coulthard's Chin - 83


Jokers update

As I touched upon at the outset of this update, we had plenty of jokers in-play this round. Ten in total, although strangely enough they were only spread across four drivers: Ricciardo, Alonso, Grosjean and Palmer.

Daniel Ricciardo was obviously a decent choice, running second for pretty much the whole race and getting oh-so-close to Nico Rosberg as the chequered flag fell. He helped Mayhem, Icemanjee1, Jezza13 and theferret to an extra 18 points, something which had a big impact on the overall average score being upwards of 100. Should Red Bull not win another race in 2016 then it's possible those 18 points would represent the best return available, meaning Fountoukos13 (who attempted to play a Ricciardo joker but had missed the start of FP1), Jenson's Understeer, Black_Flag_11 and Hamilton_Jar may have missed the best remaining opportunity for their Group 3 joker.
Fernando Alonso was another popular choice, one made by the trio of Mayhem, Exediron and Jezza13. The return? An extra six points. It wasn't McLaren's best result of 2016 (that remains Alonso's 5th-place in Monaco) but if Singapore was to be the track that represented their best chance at scoring strongly in what remained of 2016 then it might've been the last chance to get a decent amount of McLaren-related joker points.
Jolyon Palmer, bravely picked by Herb, and Romain Grosjean, for whom Jezza13 and Coulthard's Chin played a joker on, were less successful choices. Herb was at least correct to think that Renault might sneak into the points but went with the wrong yellow car. As for Romain Grosjean, he had a nightmare weekend and failed to even take the start of the race, so any hope Jezza13 and Coulthard's Chin had of extra points there were quickly extinguished.

All this means that our biggest joker is now Jezza13 who has added an extra 50 points to their score. Icemanjee1 has been particularly impressive as well, tallying up 43 points whilst only deploying two jokers thus far. Meanwhile, of those to play a joker, Remmirath has only managed 25 points despite using the DG1, DG2 and DG3 jokers. Fountoukos13 has been the biggest whiffer, deploying five jokers but only managing to add points with two.

As of Singapore, we have two entrants who have used all six of their jokers: theferret (49 points) and Exediron (48 points). Meanwhile Fountoukos13 (DG3), Jezza13 (DG2), Herb (DG1) and Coulthard's Chin (DG2) only have a single joker remaining left to play.




Spare a thought for...

Jenson's Understeer. Exediron's appearance on the podium not only demotes the game's curator down a further place in the overall standings but now means nobody else has endured a longer absence from the podium. With three jokers left there is at least the possibility of a big points boost at a single event to end that streak, but obviously the rules are going to have to undergo serious changes for 2017 to ensure this doesn't happen again next year

Overall standings after Singapore

Herb - 1716 (-)
Hamilton_Jar - 1655 (-)
TypingChicane - 1650 (-)
Jezza13 - 1549 (-)
Schumacher forever#1 - 1543 (-)
Icemanjee1 - 1501 (+2)
theferret - 1499 (-)
Fountoukos13 - 1483 (-2)
Mayhem - 1462 (-)
Coulthard's Chin - 1411 (-)
Exediron - 1404 (+1)
Jenson's Understeer - 1397 (-1)
Black_Flag_11 - 1358 (-)
Remmirath - 1321 (-)

Herb's fourth victory of the year helps to extend the lead at the top, albeit only by four points thanks to Hamilton_Jar's appearance on the podium. TypingChicane remains in close proximity a place further back. The gap back to Jezza13 in fourth is now over 100 points. In the midfield, Icemanjee1's second place helps them climb above both theferret and Fountoukos13, with the latter also losing a place to the former after finishing near the bottom of the classification in Singapore. Exediron climbs above Jenson's Understeer by seven points. However, with the two rival backmarkers having made the same selections, Jenson's Understeer will find hope in the knowledge that he has three jokers remaining whilst Exediron has used them all. And at the very bottom of the standings Remmirath is able to close in a little on Black_Flag_11.

A Bernie Bonus!

Remember Bernie's ill-fated medal idea? Of course you do; who can possibly forget it! Well let's take a look at how the standings would appear if that same system was applied to the Group Pick'em:

Herb (4 golds, 4 silvers, 0 bronze)
TypingChicane (3 golds, 3 silvers, 4 bronze)
Jezza13 (2 golds, 1 silver, 3 bronze)
Schumacher forever#1 (2 golds, 0 silver, 2 bronze)
Hamilton_Jar (1 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)
Mayhem (1 gold, 2 silver, 0 bronze)
Jenson's Understeer and Remmirath (1 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze)
Icemanjee1 (0 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
Exediron (0 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
Coulthard's Chin (0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
Fountoukos13 and theferret (0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze)
Black_Flag_11 (0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze)

Herb would still be ahead, although it would perhaps be closer in that TypingChicane would only need a round win (rather than the best part of 100 points!) to get pretty damn close to the lead. Hamilton_Jar would be the big loser, dropping from 2nd to 5th in that particular scoring system, whilst it wouldn't look anywhere near as bad for Jenson's Understeer or Remmirath courtesy of their single round victories. And to think, some people suggested such a system would be a bad thing...!

Malaysia's the next race, taking place on October 2nd. The weather was usually a factor in Sepang but with the race taking place later in the year, I actually don't know how that'll impact it (I assume it wouldn't be as bad?) so perhaps the possibility of a rain-induced lottery might deter people from playing risky jokers... or perhaps encourage them? We'll see!

[Jenson's Understeer]

Malaysian Grand Prix update

Malaysia: a disaster for Mercedes; a disaster for Seb Vettel; a delight for Red Bull. It might seem obvious who has done well as a consequence, but let's pretend like we don't know and dive into the update all the same!


The champagne moment

For the first time in the short history of the Group Pick'em, we have a back-to-back winner. And given the domination that has been displayed, it seems fitting that it would be our series leader, Herb, who takes that honour. A score of 123 points was enough to record a fifth victory in 2016, as well as making a ninth appearance on the podium in the past 12 races. Following Herb home was his nearest challenger in the standings, Hamilton_Jar, just four points adrift. A seventh podium of the season for Hamilton_Jar, the majority of which (four) have been scored in second place. You might've expected TypingChicane to complete our usual podium trifecta and yet it wasn't to be. That's because Remmirath's bold predictions - taking Ferrari over Mercedes, McLaren over Force India/Toro Rosso, and Red Bull over Williams - combined to help produce a 115-point score, good enough to take the final step on the rostrum.

Herb - 123
Hamilton_Jar - 119
Remmirath - 115

Herb's winning team: Hamilton (0); Raikkonen (12); Ricciardo (25); Perez (8); Alonso (6); Magnussen (0); Palmer (1); Mercedes (15); Red Bull (43); Force India (12); Renault (1)


Because we can't all be winners

Sebastian Vettel's overly ambitious move on Nico Rosberg, whilst simultaneously taking himself out and leaving Rosberg with the prospect of a fight back through the field, combined with Lewis Hamilton's DNF, meant this was a particularly low-scoring round. In fact, the average of 86.8 points means only China (74.6) and Spain (59.5) saw a poorer average score. Whilst the top three reached triple figures, only TypingChicane (101) and Icemanjee1 (100) also scored a century of points. The rest of the field had to settle for scores between 90 and 83 points in what was a tightly packed midfield battle, with the exception of two entrants who struggled to even reach 70 points.

TypingChicane - 101
Icemanjee1 - 100
Black_Flag_11 - 90
Schumacher forever#1 - 89
Mayhem - 87
Fountoukos13 and theferret - 86
Jezza13 - 84
Coulthard's Chin - 83
Exediron and Jenson's Understeer - 70


Jokers update

A quiet round as nobody elected to deploy a joker in Malaysia. Given the unpredictable nature of the result, those with their Driver Group 1 joker left were wise to make that decision, but those who could still back a Red Bull might well be wishing they'd been a little braver!




Spare a thought for...

Exediron and Jenson's Understeer. A woeful round for both sees them drop closer to the very bottom of the standings. Both will be happy to see the back of 2016, it must be assumed, and have probably already turned all their resources to developing their 2017 entries!

Overall standings after Singapore

Herb - 1839 (-)
Hamilton_Jar - 1774 (-)
TypingChicane - 1751 (-)
Jezza13 - 1633 (-)
Schumacher forever#1 - 1632 (-)
Icemanjee1 - 1601 (-)
theferret - 1585 (-)
Fountoukos13 - 1569 (-)
Mayhem - 1549 (-)
Coulthard's Chin - 1497 (-)
Exediron - 1474 (-)
Jenson's Understeer - 1467 (-)
Black_Flag_11 - 1448 (-)
Remmirath - 1436 (-)

The nature of the result, which saw the top three overall fill three of the top four positions, as well as everyone else (mostly, anyway!) finish within such close proximity of each other, means there is no movement to report in the standings. However, Herb has extended the gap to Hamilton_Jar by a further four points, running it up to 65 points. With five races remaining we are starting to reach the point where it is going to be too much for Hamilton_Jar to bridge. TypingChicane falls further adrift and is now surely relegated to the position of outsider in the title battle. Jezza13 has Schumacher forever#1 hot on their heels just a single point behind, whilst at the bottom, Remmirath's surprise podium closes the gap to Black_Flag_11 to just 12 points. Meanwhile Jenson's Understeer and Exediron slip closer to the bottom two and are now just a single bad result away from finding themselves at the foot of the table.

[Fountoukos13]

I would like to use my last joker on Daniel Ricciardo.

Thanks

[Jenson's Understeer]

I would like to use my last joker on Daniel Ricciardo.

Thanks

I shall also be using my DG3 joker on Ricciardo, as well as my DG6 joker on Romain Grosjean.

[Exediron]

but those who could still back a Red Bull might well be wishing they'd been a little braver!

I shall also be using my DG3 joker on Ricciardo

[Jenson's Understeer]

but those who could still back a Red Bull might well be wishing they'd been a little braver!

I shall also be using my DG3 joker on Ricciardo

So what you're saying is I could already have ensured I finish above you (and, at the rate we're going, not last)?

[Herb]

Ham joker for me please!

[Icemanjee1]

I would like to use my Group 5 joker on Alonso

[coulthards chin]

Raikkonen joker please

[Remmirath]

In a bold move, perhaps born of desperation not to finish dead last in the championship, I shall employ my Jenson Button joker for this race. To hedge my bets in case doing that means the weather will end up clear and sunny ( ), I'll also use my Sergio Pérez joker. Hah!

(Yeah, I'm probably going to be regretting this later.)

[Jenson's Understeer]

Jokers for this race confirmed as:

I would like to use my last joker on Daniel Ricciardo.

Thanks

I shall also be using my DG3 joker on Ricciardo, as well as my DG6 joker on Romain Grosjean.

Ham joker for me please!

I would like to use my Group 5 joker on Alonso

Raikkonen joker please

In a bold move, perhaps born of desperation not to finish dead last in the championship, I shall employ my Jenson Button joker for this race. To hedge my bets in case doing that means the weather will end up clear and sunny ( ), I'll also use my Sergio Pérez joker. Hah!

(Yeah, I'm probably going to be regretting this later.)

I would have to check but I think having jokers riding on seven different drivers is probably the largest variation we've had all year.

[Jezza13]

My spirit guides have told a tale of a Norse comedian who, piloting a red Italian thoroughbred stallion into a battle in a far off eastern land, stood victorious on the highest step of the mountain and covered those below in the nectar of the grape made in the land of the smelly cheese and long bread roll.

So, with that little tidbit of information tucked away, I shall therefore play my 6th and final joker for the 2016 season.

Mr Kimi Raikkonen for tha win.

[Jenson's Understeer]

My spirit guides have told a tale of a Norse comedian who, piloting a red Italian thoroughbred stallion into a battle in a far off eastern land, stood victorious on the highest step of the mountain and covered those below in the nectar of the grape made in the land of the smelly cheese and long bread roll.

So, with that little tidbit of information tucked away, I shall therefore play my 6th and final joker for the 2016 season.

Mr Kimi Raikkonen for tha win.

Too late, I'm afraid. The deadline is the start of FP1.

[Jezza13]

My spirit guides have told a tale of a Norse comedian who, piloting a red Italian thoroughbred stallion into a battle in a far off eastern land, stood victorious on the highest step of the mountain and covered those below in the nectar of the grape made in the land of the smelly cheese and long bread roll.

So, with that little tidbit of information tucked away, I shall therefore play my 6th and final joker for the 2016 season.

Mr Kimi Raikkonen for tha win.

Too late, I'm afraid. The deadline is the start of FP1.

Oh yeah. Got this mixed up with Carl Potters comp.

Kinda slightly embarrassing when you come up with a story like that just to find out your only about 9 hrs too late.

Even more embarrassing when you've been in this comp for almost 7 mths and still don't know the god damn rules.

[Jenson's Understeer]

My spirit guides have told a tale of a Norse comedian who, piloting a red Italian thoroughbred stallion into a battle in a far off eastern land, stood victorious on the highest step of the mountain and covered those below in the nectar of the grape made in the land of the smelly cheese and long bread roll.

So, with that little tidbit of information tucked away, I shall therefore play my 6th and final joker for the 2016 season.

Mr Kimi Raikkonen for tha win.

Too late, I'm afraid. The deadline is the start of FP1.

Oh yeah. Got this mixed up with Carl Potters comp.

Kinda slightly embarrassing when you come up with a story like that just to find out your only about 9 hrs too late.

Even more embarrassing when you've been in this comp for almost 7 mths and still don't know the god damn rules.

It has happened quite a bit recently so you're not the only one! Next year I think I'll call this 'Group Pick'em 2017, in association with GET YOUR GODDAMN JOKER CHOICES IN BEFORE FP1'

(Although we probably won't have jokers at all next year as I'm leaning towards replacing it with some form of transfer system)

[Jenson's Understeer]

Edit: whoops, apparently the Japanese update was so good I posted it twice

Let's get rid of this one to save a bit of scrolling time!

[Jenson's Understeer]

Japanese Grand Prix update

The land of the rising sun saw Nico Rosberg take another step towards claiming his first Formula 1 WDC, but could our own Nico Rosberg, Herb, extend their lead at the top of the table? Or was this to be the race that the two nearest competitors, Hamilton_Jar and TypingChicane, started fighting back? Well, let's find out!


The champagne moment

Not satisfied at being our first ever back-to-back winner, Herb has only gone and made it three in a row. 130 points was enough to comfortably win the Japanese round of the game, a round in which only our three podium finishers even broke the 100-point mark. Joining Herb on the rostrum? Perennial runner-up, and someone who must be more sick of Herb's success than most, Hamilton_Jar. It's the third race in a row in which Herb has lead Hamilton_Jar home, winning by four points in Singapore and Malaysia, but this time taking victory by a handsome 17 points as Hamilton_Jar could only manage a score of 113. It also represents the fifth time Hamilton_Jar has finished second, four times of which have been at events in which Herb has been victorious. Following our two leaders home this weekend was Icemanjee1, who reaches the podium for a fifth time in 2016 and a third in four races. 102 points was enough to secure the third step of the podium. Herb's victory represents a tenth podium of the season, now tying TypingChicane for the most podiums in 2016. Six victories is also double the next amount.

Herb - 130
Hamilton_Jar - 113
Icemanjee1 - 102

Herb's winning team: Hamilton (15); Raikkonen (10); Ricciardo (8); Perez (6); Alonso (0); Magnussen (0); Palmer (0); Mercedes (35); Red Bull (26); Force India (10); Renault (0); Hamilton joker (15).


Because we can't all be winners

As mentioned above, only the top three managed to reach triple-figures. TypingChicane, who is fast seeing their title challenge fade, came closest to joining that group with a score of 99 points, just edging out Fountoukos13 for the 'best of the rest' accolade. Coulthard's Chin, Schumacher forever#1, Jezza13, theferret and Remmirath all managed to at least reach the 90-point mark. At the other end of the scale, Exediron registers a second-successive score in the 70s to finish bottom for the round.

TypingChicane - 99
Fountoukos13 - 98
Coulthard's Chin - 93
Schumacher forever#1 - 92
Jezza13, Remmirath and theferret - 90
Black_Flag_11 - 89
Jenson's Understeer - 84
Mayhem - 83
Exediron - 76


Jokers update

Japan saw a wide variation of jokers in use, some more successful than others. The most successful choice was Herb selecting Lewis Hamilton, claiming an extra 15 points as a result. However, given the margin of victory it didn't actually make any difference, and could perhaps be seen as a bad choice given Nico Rosberg took the victory. Of course, with the lead Herb has, such mistakes aren't too critical! Coulthard's Chin picked up an extra 10 points by backing Kimi Raikkonen, while both Fountoukos13 and Jenson's Understeer would have expected more than a measly eight points from a Daniel Ricciardo joker. Remmirath's six extra points from Sergio Perez actually represents the third most anyone has scored from their DG4 joker, but choosing to back Jenson Button was a swing and a miss. McLaren's poor weekend also had an impact on Icemanjee1, who used their DG5 joker on Button's teammate and failed to gain anything extra. The last joker in use was the second one Jenson's Understeer deployed. For a little while it looked as if backing Romain Grosjean might achieve a couple of extra points but ultimately it was another blank.



Those highlighted in magenta have now used all of their jokers. Herb now has the most joker points but looks vulnerable with Jezza13 and Jenson's Understeer both within eight points whilst still possessing their DG2 joker. TypingChicane is a further two points adrift and has two jokers left, albeit DG4 and DG5, which seem trickier to score big points from (although not impossible). Schumacher forever#1, Icemanjee1 and Mayhem all have scores in the 40s and their DG2, DG4 and DG6 jokers remaining, whilst Black_Flag_11 and Hamilton_Jar have both yet to pop their joker cherry.


Spare a thought for...

Exediron. A second-consecutive last place finished was compounded by Jenson's Understeer picking up the eight points necessary to lift himself back ahead in the standings. With the two having made the same selections at the start of the season, and Exediron having used all the jokers available, it guarantees Jenson's Understeer will finish at least a single point ahead. With the two both slipping closer and closer to the very bottom of the standings, that might just be enough to condemn Exediron to finishing last overall.

Overall standings after Japan

Herb - 1969 (-)
Hamilton_Jar - 1887 (-)
TypingChicane - 1850 (-)
Schumacher forever#1 - 1724 (+1)
Jezza13 - 1723 (-1)
Icemanjee1 - 1703 (-)
theferret - 1675 (-)
Fountoukos13 - 1667 (-)
Mayhem - 1632 (-)
Coulthard's Chin - 1587 (-)
Jenson's Understeer - 1551 (+1)
Exediron - 1550 (-1)
Black_Flag_11 - 1537 (-)
Remmirath - 1526 (-)

Herb's 17-point victory means the gap at the top is now 82 points. Considering the absolute most the field has been separated by at any one round was 75 points in Spain (where Remmirath won with 123 points while Mayhem finished last with just 48) we're now at the stage where we can pretty much say Herb has a race in hand. Hamilton_Jar falls further back from 1st but edges away from TypingChicane in third, whilst Schumacher forever#1 moves ahead of Jezza13 in the battle for 4th. Icemanjee1 is just 21 points further adrift and, with three podiums in four races, appears to be the most in-form of the three. As mentioned earlier, Jenson's Understeer has now guaranteed a finish above Exediron, which is just as well as the duo have been dropping like stones. Exediron is now just 24 points ahead of last-placed Remmirath, having been 83 ahead as recently as Singapore. We also know that theferret will finish ahead of Fountoukos13 as, like Exediron and Jenson's Understeer, both made the same pre-season selections and both have used all their jokers.

[Herb]

Nice one

It's a shame Hamilton_Jar hasn't played any jokers - things might be a little closer!

[Jenson's Understeer]

United States Grand Prix update

Trump vs. Clinton took a backseat as Rosberg vs. Hamilton rolled into Texas. A flawless performance by Lewis saw him eat into Rosberg's lead, albeit actually finding himself further behind (in terms of percentage of points remaining) than he was when the weekend commenced. DNFs for Verstappen, Raikkonen and Hulkenberg, as well as Bottas missing out on the points, lead to some less predictable points scorers, but would that be enough to shake the dominance displayed by leading trio Herb, Hamilton_Jar and TypingChicane, who had combined for seven podiums in the last three races?


The champagne moment

Erm, no, it would not. For the sixth time this season, the podium saw the aforementioned trio of Herb, Hamilton_Jar and TypingChicane all present. However, after three successive victories, Herb had to settle for finishing narrowly in second place, just two points behind winner TypingChicane. Despite being third in the overall standings, it was TypingChicane's fourth victory of 2016, although in scoring only 118 points it was also TypingChicane's least impressive victory. Herb's 116 points was enough to take second with Hamilton_Jar a further four points back, scoring 112 to take a ninth podium in 2016 - a total which, remarkably, still only includes one victory.

TypingChicane - 118
Herb - 116
Hamilton_Jar - 112

TypingChicane's winning team: Hamilton (25); Raikkonen (0); Ricciardo (15); Kvyat (0); Alonso (10); Nasr (0); Grosjean (1); Mercedes (43); Red Bull (15); Toro Rosso (8); Haas (1)


Because we can't all be winners

It was actually quite the competitive round as just nine points separated Hamilton_Jar in third from theferret and Fountoukos13, who shared ninth place. Sandwiched between them were Schumacher forever#1 and Mayhem, who both missed out on a podium by a mere four points, Jenson's Understeer and Exediron, who both had their best round in quite some time, and Jezza13. All scored over a century, a total Coulthard's chin missed out on by the slimmest of margins. Even last-placed Remmirath scored a respectable 81 points.

Mayhem & Schumacher forever#1 - 108
Exediron & Jenson's Understeer - 107
Jezza13 - 105
Fountoukos13 and theferret - 103
Coulthard's Chin - 99
Black_Flag_11 - 94
Icemanjee1 - 92
Remmirath - 81


Jokers update

Nobody fancied a joker in the you ess of eh, which was perhaps a mistake given Fernando Alonso scored ten points for McLaren.



Those highlighted in magenta have now used all of their jokers.


Spare a thought for...

Hamilton_Jar. Nobody really had a particularly bad race, nor did anybody have terrible luck with their choice of jokers (mainly because nobody played any!) so let's go off the board a little. Having just taken a ninth podium of 2016, Hamilton_Jar might be a surprise choice here. However, eight of those podium appearances have been in second or third place, and as Herb's nearest challenger - close but certainly sans a cigar, cigarette, or even one of these new-fangled e-cigarettes! - you have to feel a little sympathy for Hamilton_Jar.

Overall standings after Texas

Herb - 2085 (-)
Hamilton_Jar - 1999 (-)
TypingChicane - 1968 (-)
Schumacher forever#1 - 1832 (-)
Jezza13 - 1828 (-)
Icemanjee1 - 1795 (-)
theferret - 1778 (-)
Fountoukos13 - 1770 (-)
Mayhem - 1740 (-)
Coulthard's Chin - 1686 (-)
Jenson's Understeer - 1658 (-)
Exediron - 1657 (-)
Black_Flag_11 - 1631 (-)
Remmirath - 1607 (-)

Literally no movement in the standings whatsoever. Herb extends the lead by a couple of points whilst TypingChicane moves slightly closer to Hamilton_Jar. Likewise, Schumacher forever#1 moves two points further ahead of Jezza13. Icemanjee1's poor round leaves them 13 points further behind Jezza13, whilst towards the bottom, a stronger showing by both Jenson's Understeer and Exediron - coupled with Remmirath finishing last for the round - helps them move to 50 and 51 points ahead of the bottom of the table.

[Icemanjee1]

Perez joker for the Mexican GP please.

[Mayhem]

Perez joker

[Jenson's Understeer]

Two Checo Perez jokers noted

I believe FP1 starts in just under six hours so any other joker declarations need to be made by then.

[Jezza13]

Raikkonen will win in Brazil, I am quite certain of that so therefore I shall play my last joker.

[Jenson's Understeer]

Mexican Grand Prix update

Mexico saw Lewis Hamilton continue to keep his hopes of a third-successive WDC alive with a commanding victory. Championship leader Nico Rosberg seemed all at sea but managed to limit the damage, while three different drivers thought they had finished third after an action-packed final couple of laps. But what does it all mean for the Group Pick'em? Will Herb take another step towards becoming our first champion, or can nearest rival Hamilton_Jar follow in Lewis Hamilton's wheel-tracks and cut into the lead? And will anyone have reason to tell Charlie Whiting to f**k off? Let's hope not!


The champagne moment

In a season that had seen Hamilton_Jar finish on the podium nine times yet only take one victory, it was perhaps overdue that they return to the top step. And in Mexico, that was exactly what happened: 131 points giving Hamilton_Jar a second victory in 2016. However, in the bigger picture it was Herb who will come away from the weekend feeling like the real winner, finishing a mere five points behind Hamilton_Jar to take second place. It represents a remarkable twelfth podium appearance of the season for Herb, all of which have been in either first or second place. Keeping pace, at least in terms of podium finishes, was TypingChicane, who like Herb recorded a twelfth top-three finish of the season with a second score of 118 in a row. All-in-all, this is the seventh time in 2016 whereby those three have all been on the same podium.

Hamilton_Jar - 131
Herb - 126
TypingChicane - 118

Hamilton_Jar's winning team: Hamilton (25), Raikkonen (8), Ricciardo (15), Hulkenberg (6), Alonso (0), Magnussen (0), Palmer (0), Mercedes (43), Red Bull (27), Force India (7), Renault (0)


Because we can't all be winners

It was another strong round for the rest of the field, punctuated by 110 point scores for not one, not two, but three different entrants: Jezza13, Fountoukos13 and theferret. Also breaking through the 100-point barrier were Schumacher forever#1 (105), Mayhem (102) and Coulthard's Chin (101). Icemanjee1, Exediron and Jenson's Understeer all narrowly missed out as the field recorded the sixth highest average score of 2016.

Fountoukos13, Jezza13 and theferret: 110
Schumacher forever#1: 105
Mayhem: 102
Coulthard's Chin: 101
Icemanjee1: 99
Exediron and Jenson's Understeer: 97
Black_Flag_11: 90
Remmirath: 79


Jokers update

There were only two jokers on display in Mexico as Mayhem and Icemanjee1 both fancied homegrown hero Sergio Perez to have a strong race. As it turned out he did not, spending most of the race staring at the back of Felipe Massa's Williams and ultimately trailing home for just a single point. With two races to go, Herb continues to have the highest joker total but could yet come under threat as a number of us still have one or more joker to play. Will we see a rush to get them in for Brazil or is there going to be a avalanche of jokers in use in Abu Dhabi?



Those highlighted in magenta have now used all of their jokers.


Spare a thought for...

Exediron... nah, just kidding By finishing bottom of the pile for the seventh time in 2016, Remmirath has guaranteed that nobody else will be able to match that unwanted record. Black_Flag_11 has the second most finishes in last place with a mere four, while Exediron and Jenson's Understeer have both 'achieved' it on three separate occasions. Will Remmirath complete a unique double and also finish plum last for 2016?

Overall standings after Mexico

Herb - 2211 (-)
Hamilton_Jar - 2130 (-)
TypingChicane - 2086 (-)
Jezza13 - 1938 (+1)
Schumacher forever#1 - 1937 (-1)
Icemanjee1 - 1894 (-)
theferret - 1888 (-)
Fountoukos13 - 1880 (-)
Mayhem - 1842 (-)
Coulthard's Chin - 1787 (-)
Jenson's Understeer - 1755 (-)
Exediron - 1754 (-)
Black_Flag_11 - 1721 (-)
Remmirath - 1686 (-)

We actually have a change of positions! Jezza13 sneaks above Schumacher forever#1 in the battle for fourth place, taking a one-point advantage into the final two races of the season. Everyone else remained static. Hamilton_Jar did take five points out of Herb's lead at the top, but the gap is still 81 points, enough that Herb will almost certainly be considered out of reach after this weekend's Brazilian grand prix. TypingChicane drops further behind Hamilton_Jar and looks likely to have to settle for third place in the standings. In the midfield, the battle between Icemanjee1, theferret and Fountoukos13 has tightened up courtesy of a poor round for Icemanjee1. While Fountoukous13 is guaranteed to finish below theferret, courtesy of both having the same picks and no jokers left, they could yet both overhaul Icemanjee1.

Meanwhile at the bottom, Black_Flag_11 pulls a further 11 clear of Remmirath. The gap between them is now 35 points; however, all is not lost for Remmirath. While the pair share almost identical driver selections (both picked Vettel, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Perez, Alonso and Magnussen, with only their second DG6 selection differing) their team choices could yet be key. Black_Flag_11 went with the popular threesome of Mercedes, Williams and Force India, while Remmirath was the sole competitor to select Ferrari and McLaren, as well as being one of just four smart enough to go for Red Bull. A bad weekend for Mercedes - something that would surely primarily benefit Red Bull and Ferrari - could yet very easily see that 35-point deficit wiped out in an instance.

What if...?

We saw three different results in Mexico as first Max Verstappen, then Sebastian Vettel, and finally Daniel Ricciardo were in possession of third place. So let's play a game of what if, and see how the result would have changed if the original result had stood, or even if Vettel hadn't taken a penalty.



Regardless of the outcome, Hamilton_Jar would've taken a second victory in 2016, five points ahead of Herb with TypingChicane eight points back in third. The rest of the finishing positions were unaltered whatever order Ricciardo, Vettel and Verstappen had officially been classified in with the vast majority of the gaps also staying static. Jezza/Fountoukos13/theferret could've got as close as three points from the podium had Vettel ended up keeping his third place, a result that also would've seen Black_Flag_11 a mere two points behind both Exediron and Jenson's Understeer. All-in-all, however, very little would actually have changed.

[Exediron]

Will we see a rush to get them in for Brazil or is there going to be a avalanche of jokers in use in Abu Dhabi?

Can you add a rule that any unspent jokers must be playing in Abu Dhabi? I just think it would be funny to see Black_Flag_11 and Hamilton_Jar both score 200 something because they have a joker on every driver!

[Schumacher forever#1]

Raikkonen, Hulkenberg and Palmer jokers let's do this!

[Jenson's Understeer]

Will we see a rush to get them in for Brazil or is there going to be a avalanche of jokers in use in Abu Dhabi?

Can you add a rule that any unspent jokers must be playing in Abu Dhabi? I just think it would be funny to see Black_Flag_11 and Hamilton_Jar both score 200 something because they have a joker on every driver!

I won't, but what I will do is take the most popular driver from each joker category (at the moment that would be Rosberg, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Perez, Alonso and Grosjean) and hypothetically apply them to any remaining jokers in Abu Dhabi. Just to see what could've happened. Funny thing is, Hamilton_Jar is currently 81 points behind Herb, and a (rather unlikely!) 1-2-3-4-5 of Rosberg/Raikkonen/Ricciardo/Perez/Alonso would be worth 80 points...

[Icemanjee1]

Using my Group 6 joker on Kevin Magnussen