GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: J.Clark on November 22, 2016, 01:37:19 PM
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Well, here we are, heading into the final race of 2016, with almost everything just about decided ~ except the Driver's Championship. It is nearly settled, barring some ill conceived fate befalling Rosberg.
I don't know if I would want to attend this race, or not. Here is the location (I haven't tried to link google maps to the wizzard before): https://www.google.com/maps/@24.471713,54.6043216,11z It is right across the road basically from the airport.
The circuit has 21 turns in 5.5 km, most of which are fairly tight, with a lot of flat out running, mostly in sector two, which has both DRS zones. It is a circuit that has had some interesting racing with overtaking. One of the most interesting features of the circuit for me is the pit-out, which passes under the circuit at turn 1. I remain completely amazed that no one has crashed in the tunnel as of yet, but I am also relieved. I found this interesting informative video on the circuit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAXWZbSp0z4
The track's lap record of 1:40.279 was set by Vettel seven years ago in 2009. I can't believe this will be the eighth time we have been to this circuit.
Previous winners:
Vettel (3), Hamilton (2), Raikkonen, Rosberg
From a driver's standpoint, Ferrari and Mercedes have an obvious advantage since every race held here has been won by their drivers. Red Bull may have something to say about it though, as they have been cutting time out of the deficit between them and the other two, and with this being the closing race of the season, they could put a little extra into it. Teams who have won: Mercedes (3), Red Bull (3), and Lotus took one with Kimi.
This race is always interesting for a reason that makes it unique. It begins near dusk and then transitions to night. The reason, if I recall correctly, was to make live coverage happen at a time when Europe (still seen as more or less the seat of Formula 1) would be awake. It also puts the USA in that category, instead of it having middle of the night coverage.
Here are some highlights from a few of the races.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC3ZDHs0K7U
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More of a visual spectacle than a racing one but as this is the decider it could have a bit of extra spice. M. V. could really affect the outcome. Looking forward to it, I hope it's not sorted by a convenient crash at the start.
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Lewis out front in FP1:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:42.869 28
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:43.243 0.374 31
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:43.297 0.428 26
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:43.362 0.493 27
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:44.005 1.136 27
6 Sergio Perez Force India 1:44.155 1.286 23
7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:44.556 1.687 27
8 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:44.685 1.816 21
9 Felipe Massa Williams 1:45.039 2.170 27
10 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:45.168 2.299 20
11 A. Celis Force India 1:45.476 2.607 26
12 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:45.600 2.731 13
13 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:45.778 2.909 17
14 Esteban GutierrezHaas 1:45.925 3.056 20
15 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:45.940 3.071 31
16 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:46.219 3.350 33
17 Kevin MagnussenRenault 1:46.372 3.503 21
18 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:46.379 3.510 21
19 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:46.458 3.589 29
20 Jenson Button McLaren 1:47.127 4.258 10
21 J King Manor 1:47.558 4.689 27
22 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 2:01:989 19.120 04
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The two STR drivers had a combined total of only 9 FP2 laps. They seem to be having problems with something rubbing on the left rear.
Vettel lost a gearbox during the session. Since most teams use an older box for Friday running it shouldn't result in a grid penalty.
Here are the FP2 results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:40.861 36
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:40.940 38
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:41.130 31
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:41.389 24
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:41.390 33
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:41.464 34
7 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:41.959 35
8 Sergio Perez Force India 1:42.041 35
9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:42.264 36
10 Felipe Massa Williams 1:42.268 36
11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:42.366 33
12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:42.823 24
13 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:43.012 35
14 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:43.108 17
15 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:43.272 33
16 Esteban Ocon Manor 1:43.600 35
17 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:43.754 33
18 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:43.903 36
19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:44.045 34
20 Kevin MagnussenRenault 1:44.117 25
21 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:44.478 5
22 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:45.948 4
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I'm not posting Saturday FP.
The grid for tomorrow:
1. Hamilton Mercedes 1m 38.755
2. Rosberg Mercedes 1m 39.058
3. Ricciardo Red Bull 1m399.589
4. Raikkonen Ferrari 1m 39.604
5. Vettel Ferrari 1m 39.661
6. Verstappen Red Bull 1m 39.818
7. Hulkenberg Force India 1m 40.501
8. Perez Force India 1m 40.519
9. Alonso McLaren 1m 41.106
10. Massa Williams 1m 41.213
11. Bottas Williams 1m 41.064
12. Button McLaren 1m 41.272
13. Gutierrez Haas 1m 41.480
14. Grosjean Haas 1m 41.564
15. Wehrlein MRT 1m 41.820
16. Palmer Renault 1m 41.995
17. Kvyat Toro Rosso 1m 42.003
18. Magnussen Renault 1m 42.142
19. Nasr Sauber 1m 42.247
20. Ocon MRT 1m 42.286
21. Sainz Toro Rosso 1m 42.393
22. Ericsson Sauber 1m 42.637
Well, the final qualifying for 2016 is a matter of record, and not much of a suprise.
Ricciardo had better get off the line quicker this race.
Vettel and Raikkonen both have been performing extremely well on the starts.
Verstappen too, has been quick to turn one.
Massa and Alonso are back in P-9 and 10, but are notorious for great starts and huge gains on the first lap.
I think we could be in for a parade however, as this circuit is not known for overtaking, and the times seem rather straight forward.
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Max's mad dash to T1 might be the most interesting part of the race.
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I'm not posting Saturday FP.
The grid for tomorrow:
1. Hamilton Mercedes 1m 38.755
2. Rosberg Mercedes 1m 39.058
3. Ricciardo Red Bull 1m399.589
4. Raikkonen Ferrari 1m 39.604
5. Vettel Ferrari 1m 39.661
6. Verstappen Red Bull 1m 39.818
7. Hulkenberg Force India 1m 40.501
8. Perez Force India 1m 40.519
9. Alonso McLaren 1m 41.106
Wow, except for Hulk in there, that is pretty much my picks if I recall correctly (had Kimi ahead of DR and Alonso ahead of Perez...but whatever). Let's hope it's a procession :tease: :tease: :P :P
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That was pretty dull overall, as per usual for this bland and lifeless venue. It was only Hamilton's questionable tactics which brought it alive in the closing stages, and while I understand why he did it, I don't like this backing your rival up tactic which drivers sometimes use. I think that it looks cheap and is very artificial. Hamilton would have done better just to drive into the distance and lay down a marker for next year in my opinion.
Also, Hamilton's post race comments referring to Rosberg as 'dude', and his dismissive comments about Rosberg's performances this year were rather unsporting. He may not believe Rosberg is good enough to be world champion, but the fact is that Nico has been more consistent this year and deserves to win on merit. Hamilton had worse reliability, but also had too many poor starts and a couple of races where he was bizarrely off the pace at crucial moments, such as qualifying in Baku, and the whole race in Singapore.
For once, Ferrari got their strategy right, making Vettel a threat late in the race, but I never felt he would be able to pass either Mercedes, despite Hamilton's tactics. Force India did really well to secure fourth in the constructors' championship, the competition between the Manors was intense and they outperformed Sauber, which just goes to show how vital Nasr's finish in Brazil was.
Massa's final radio message was wonderful to listen to, a real positive on which to end after so many antagonistic radio messages from other drivers in recent races, while I felt for Button, he was very unlucky today, and it was a shame that he couldn't finish.
Hopefully, 2017 will offer more dynamic and unpredictable racing.
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I agree with Irisado,a boring race made exciting by Lewis
not following orders and behaving like a childish prat.Most
people don't like Rosberg I'd reckon beause f his cold personality
but Lewis is a disgrace to behold.Good on you Nico whatever is
said you deserve it.
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I agree with Irisado,a boring race made exciting by Lewis
not following orders and behaving like a childish prat.Most
people don't like Rosberg I'd reckon beause f his cold personality
but Lewis is a disgrace to behold.Good on you Nico whatever is
said you deserve it.
We'll have to differ on this one Dare. What were the team thinking relaying such pathetic messages for Hammy to speed up. ::) The constructors title was sewn up long ago and Merc has spent the last week saying they are free to race in this last GP, so why oh why were they bothered about the outcome. :DntKnw:
Most of us wanted to see either Nico man up and take the fight to Lewis as he backed into him, which I think Hammy would have done if the roles were reversed, or a proper bun fight between Ferrari, Red Bull and the Mercs.
Lewis was not breaking the rules and is just as entitled to reduce the pace to bring a fight on as Nico is entitled to try and boringly sit out the race in 2nd to ensure his WDC.
I'm afraid to say gentlemanly conduct went out in the 70s during Lauda's ascendency, so I was quite surprised Nikki used mealy mouthed management speak on TV after the race rather than just say Rosberg could always have attacked Lewis for the win instead of expecting help from the team when being backed up.
If this fight had been between drivers in different teams would we still find the tactics surprising? And would we expect the losing rival to be real excited about the other team win?
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Yeah, I'm with John on this one. The WDC was down to these two, so why is any tactic Hamilton (aside from a tap spin or something) used to win it for himself unfair? The team had no right to ask him to hand the title to Rosberg. I was frankly surprised Hamilton waited so long in the race to do it. It was too late obviously. He should have started it immediately after their last pit stops, as by then there was no other tactic available to win the championship. And again, like John said, Lewis' slowing down should have been viewed only as a passing opportunity by Rosberg, but he was playing the 'long' game as he said, and he only needed to place on the podium for the win.
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I'm with John and Scott on this, Lewis wasn't cheating, if it had been in reverse Lewis would have been snapping at Nico's exhaust pipe, also as Scott said, he left it too late.
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I'm in the boat with Scott and John.
What difference should it make if Hamilton wanted to use some sort of tactic to try and win his championship?
If it was to influence the outcome to give the championship to another driver, regardless of what team, then perhaps there would be something to discuss. It wasn't. Rosberg could have used it as an opportunity to overtake Hamilton without worrying about Hamilton trying to take him out since that would be a truly stupid thing to do, scuppering his only shot at the title.
In addition, had Hamilton made it possible for Vettel to get into the mix, Rosberg only needed to come third to win the WDC and could have let Vettel through without incident. That actually would have been a wise move for Nico.
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Merc locked up the Manufacturers Championship weeks ago. Both drivers already have contracts for next season. Lewis wasn't hurting his team. It was just racing.
I'll give Lewis points on one thing - He could have claimed that he had radio problems, but he didn't. He came right out and said what he was trying to do.
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Okay maybe your all right and my views are I just
don't like Hamilton as a person.To me he's a spoiled
brat anddoesn't care about biting the hand that made
him wealthy.Maybe he better learn from what happened to Juan Pabo
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Montoya?
He didn't lose his seat as much because of the team orders issue as he did for recklessly taking out his team mate and other such things.
The beginning of the end of his ride was at Indy, when he hit teammate Hakkonin.
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One simple question - what would Rosberg have done in the same situation?
Something far worse than backing up the pack that's for sure!
These drivers are all competitive to the point of being ruthless.
I think we all owe Hamilton big thanks for adding a little bit of interest to an otherwise dreadful race!
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I'm with Dare on this one. The issue is not with Lewis' tactics, it's failure to follow your boss's orders. If you or I refused a direct order from our boss we would be on the unemployment line.
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I'd be in divorce court ;)
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Could be that Lewis was trying to tempt Nico to try an overtake, then push him off the track. I don't blame Nico for trying to stay away. |-(
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All of this is true in essence on both sides of the argument.
Just one thing though - Lewis not following team orders isn't unprecedented, as others have done it, and it isn't ground shaking news.
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Just one thing though - Lewis not following team orders isn't unprecedented, as others have done it, and it isn't ground shaking news.
Webber can testify about that - "Multi 21 Seb, Multi 21" :D
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It's not that Hamilton was being unfair or cheating, it's that what he was doing was rather tacky in my view, there is a difference. Trying to slow down the race is not really what Formula 1 should be about in my opinion, and I think that he would have sent a much more positive and more psychological message to Rosberg for next season had he just driven off into the distance.
Naturally, I agree that other drivers have done the same thing as Hamilton in the past, and sometimes on a much worse scale, such as when Schumacher let Irvine through into the lead at Malaysia in 1999, and then drove two seconds a lap slower to hold up Hakkinen and the rest of the pack, but I still don't like it.
The beginning of the end of his ride was at Indy, when he hit teammate Hakkonin.
You meant that Montoya collided with Raikkonen ;).
Also, talk about understatement, that collision resulted in a chain reaction which took out approximately one third of the field at the first corner!
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JPM lost his seat at Andretti Racing because imo he was lousey
with the media and sponsors.......remind you of anyone
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Bit of pot stirring here. Does anyone seriously think Merc would fire Hamilton?
http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/lewis-hamilton-faces-possible-sanctions-ignoring-mercedes-f1-team-orders?utm_source=RacingDaily20161128&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=headline-top&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=awracingdaily (http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/lewis-hamilton-faces-possible-sanctions-ignoring-mercedes-f1-team-orders?utm_source=RacingDaily20161128&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=headline-top&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=awracingdaily)
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Did you see Toto on Ch4's post race show? He was being interviewed by DC, Susie Wolff, Eddie, Mark and that host guy. Eddie started out by asking what Toto is going to do about such a bad boy disobeying team orders, so Toto played the typical boss and said he would have to do something because you cant have this happen and we need to win all the races bla-bla-bla, then a few other fence sitters that helped soften Toto's stance, and then finally DC who suggested they do nothing, since they provided as good a show as they could ask for, with drama, action and a Merc 1-2 WDC, WCC...why would you want anything different? Toto seemed to agree with that point too and softened up even more.
I totally agree with DC - for once the cameras were on the Mercs most of the race, so from a corporate perspective, what would you want different? For Toto to clamp down is just a show of his ego needing a stroke.
To answer the question, no, I don't think they would actually fire him.
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More to the point - Mercedes can't fire Hamilton. His contract is rock solid. The worst thing they could do is to stop him from driving while still paying his full salary!
I am disappointed with all the fuss about a guy controlling the race from the front. This has been done for one reason or another for decades. Of course Hamilton hoped that he could get Rosberg involved in a bit of a dog fight. It was his only chance of winning a Drivers World Championship that he richly deserved on merit. He did nothing unfair, illegal or even mildly immoral. I cannot think of a single F1 driver who would not have done exactly the same thing - even Mr Smiley Nice Guy Riciardo!! And if the people are complaining due to sympathy for Rosberg, just look at some of the stunts he has pulled through the years - reversing onto the track at Monaco being just one of many.
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I can't see any problem with anything Hamilton did during the race, it was his only option. He tried to win with tactics rather than speed. Nico would never overtake him in those circumstances, just wait and collect the trophy. It did make an otherwise dull race interesting, and would have been more interesting if MV hadn't spun out (do you think someone was paid to nudge him ;) ) There is no way Hamilton would loose his job or seat in the car, his reaction and statements after the race were worse than what he did on the track.
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Bit of pot stirring here. Does anyone seriously think Merc would fire Hamilton?
Not unless they want to lose a lot of sales in US to Rappers and the like. ;)
Lewis is well known and connected in the Black music scene in the States. With the way things are going with everything at the moment in the US I wouldn't want to be Merc's PR chief who has to explain away why they expected a man of colour to give his teammate an easy ride to the WDC. Shouldn't come into it I know :-[ but with social media platforms fuelling all kinds of agendas the crap storm could be bigger than VW's criminal actions fiddling emissions. :(
On a brighter note, Lewis could probably buy his own team outright with the Multi million settlement Merc would have to cough up. :D
So yes a load of old Bull from lazy, or stupid journos.
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Who would they replace him with that doesn't already have a contract somewhere else? They'll probably hit him with a fine that he can easily afford, declare Nico the team's #1 driver (which, in Nikki & Toto's eyes he already is) and move on.
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Maybe it's all a setup for Lewis to put on the black hat next year and be the bad guy (though he already is to some).
I have to admit that as much as I am not a Rosberg fan, he was perhaps the most gracious champion in ages. :good: :good: :good:
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I think they should do something. Paddy Lowe said Lewis I am ordering you to pick up the pace, and Lewis told him basically to sod off. Can you allow an employee to refuse a direct order?
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I think they should do something. Paddy Lowe said Lewis I am ordering you to pick up the pace, and Lewis told him basically to sod off. Can you allow an employee to refuse a direct order?
It was Lowe's mistake to tell Hamilton to do something he knew Hamilton wouldn't do. You don't hire an F1 champion and ask them to lose. I don't think any driver on the grid would have listened to Lowe if they were in Hamilton's position. (Yes, there are drivers on the grid who would listen to Lowe, but as long as they have that mindset, they won't be in Hamilton's position)
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Honestly I think the radio call simply added to the drama. How many times has Lewis questioned Merc this year? A good handful that were broadcast and likely a few more that weren't. They've talked to him and he just does it again...why would they expect him to listen when a drivers title is at stake?
An F1 driver is perhaps technically an employee, but at that level, he is also heavily invested in the team, but above all himself and his career. There are not very many employees who would listen to a boss if they recognized it meant taking a dip in his/her career path.
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Honestly I think the radio call simply added to the drama. How many times has Lewis questioned Merc this year? A good handful that were broadcast and likely a few more that weren't. They've talked to him and he just does it again...why would they expect him to listen when a drivers title is at stake?
Since the season is done, why not delve into conspiracy territory here?
Maybe Lowe's intention was to create 'plausible deniability' if Hamilton did manage to win the championship. He knew full well what Hamilton would do, but he's on record as telling Hamilton not to do it. He's on Nico's side... but if Hamilton won, he can say he knew Lewis wouldn't listen, so he's on Hamilton's side.
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Nico's cool with it:
"But at the same time, it's easy to understand his perspective. It's about the world championship, so you can understand that he wanted to try whatever it was possible to do. We can just drop the whole discussion. There's no point discussing this topic any more. It's done and it's in the past."
http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/f1-champion-nico-rosberg-asks-critics-lighten-lewis-hamiltons-abu-dhabi-tactics
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Any decent race driver would have at least tried to win the WDC any way they can. Schumacher and Senna went to an extreme way beyond what Lewis tried. Schumacher paid the price, but I don't think Senna did. Backing up cars is a racing tactic, and team rules or not Lewis had every right to give it a shot.
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http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/jackie-stewart-calls-lewis-hamilton-little-ballerina-over-latest-f1-controversy?utm_source=RacingDaily20161130&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=image-top&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=awracingdaily
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http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/jackie-stewart-calls-lewis-hamilton-little-ballerina-over-latest-f1-controversy?utm_source=RacingDaily20161130&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=image-top&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=awracingdaily
at least I'm not alone thinking Lewis was wrong
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As Scott said, it's a tactic whether you think it's fair or not, nowhere near as bad as Prost and Senna taking each other out on successive years to win the championship, although if my memory serves me well I believe Senna got subsequently D/Q'd when he done it.
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As Scott said, it's a tactic whether you think it's fair or not, nowhere near as bad as Prost and Senna taking each other out on successive years to win the championship, although if my memory serves me well I believe Senna got subsequently D/Q'd when he done it.
Senna didn't get DQ'd for it - when he did it, neither driver was intended to go any further in the race, and indeed neither did so.
When Prost is believed to have done it, Senna got disqualified... ...because he rejoined the track in a manner forbidden by the regulations for safety reasons. Prost went no further and could not therefore be DQ'd. (I've seen a non-classified finisher be disqualified in sportscars before, but never a non-finisher from the round in which the non-finish occurred).
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Cheers Ali, knew I'd get it mixed up. :good: