Tourney round: Formula Apterous World Championship 2025: 1. Australian GP

	Dave Robjohns I would like to exercise plan Dave please
	Andy SC I would like to go for the Hard-Soft tyre strategy.
	Elwin Carlos gar ... I'm hoping my two crashes at the start didn't leave my car undriveable!
	Trevor Potts You survived, Elwin! To be honest I think I've set the crash chance a bit low, most crashing are having just a 1 or 2% crash chance. So I may adjust that in updated regulations at some point later in the season
	Dan Southwell Disastrous race from me! Clearly some mechanical issues in those first few laps! And messing up the pit stop strategy! :(
	Mark Jeary-Fairbairn Well I'm hooked on this now. That lap-by-lap was proper exciting...
	Ian Volante Am I right in thinking that any 20s+ solve counts as a pit stop?
	Perry Sarb I think that's the case. I deliberately went for a pitstop on lap 7 and then an accidental one on lap 8 :P
	Ian Volante I had a couple of very early ones...
	Trevor Potts Mark, it warms the cockles of my barge board to hear that! Very glad you're getting the enjoyment out of my nerdy F1 spreadsheet. Please bear in mind though that nothing is final until all times are in (or the deadline passes and DNS classifications are confirmed). Overtakes that show up now may no longer take place when new games are loaded in, as you may not have been able to overtake Rival X if Rival Y and Z had been in the way at the time! Ian, yes! Well, near enough. Technically, only your FIRST TWO 20s+ solves will count as pit stops. Any further ones will not. But those first two will, whenever they happen, even if that's lap 1 and 2. Your first stop will change you onto your chosen tyre in your strategy (or default if you haven't chosen). Your second will always change you onto a Hard tyre, so you will be able to make it to the end of the race even if that was on lap 2.
	Trevor Potts I should state by the way that, so far as I can see* there is no downside to 'completing a pit-stop' early if you don't see the answer until 20s+ Your time for that lap will actually be quicker, as the mutiplier of tyre wear will only be applied to the excess over 20s and not the 20s pit stop time itself. You also get a fresh set of tyres out of it!
	Stephen Elsley Just trying to get to grips with this. I only solved 1 conundrum on 22 seconds, so does that mean my only pit stop was on round (lap) 15? Should I be having a pit stop earlier, so even if I know the answer I should wait til 20 seconds? Sorry if I'm not understanding it correctly.
	Trevor Potts Hi Stephen! Yes, that's right, your pit stop will have come on lap 15. As you started on soft tyres by default, they will have been quite worn by then. So ideally you want to time a pitstop around the recommended window. E.g. if you spot the answer for round 8 early, hold off buzzing until 20s or so have passed. Just make sure you actually have allowed 20s, a 19.9s won't count!
	Stephen Elsley Thank you Trevor
	Trevor Potts All race games in FA have now been played so at the next auto-update of the spreadsheet (which I think should be shortly after noon), we will have our finalised results for the Australian GP in Formula Apterous! One game left to play for Formula Dipterous. Once the results are in I'll do a review of the race and narrativize it a bit. Stats and summary will be released on the shiny new Formula Apterous website over the weekend. We're also drawing to the end of qualifying for the sprint race and GP in China for round 2 of the championship. Tourney games for the races in China will be loaded on Saturday (sprint) and Sunday (GP). Please check the descriptions of those tourney rounds when created for a reminder of pitstop/tyre strats (especially for our first sprint race!) and weather forecast!
	Steven Oldham I have to take my ART-branded cap and doff it to you Mr Potts. The spreadsheet is the most mind-bendingly detailed one I've ever seen on here.
	Dave Kempshall He's the one - https://images.ctfassets.net/m3qyzuwrf176/2ibHAyfEQ1P8TOz8Y1yoKR/fb01b56ce204993bb6a47d455bc26af9/Feb15_THE_MATRIX_Cyberpunk.jpg?fm=webp&w=2000
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	Trevor Potts Thanks guys! That ART cap may be quite the bit of merch given their performance here. Still one race yet to be driven in the FD category but so far they are on for a 1-3 finish from a 6-8 quali, proabably the best team performance of this race!
	Trevor Potts All games played! Thanks so much folks, this makes it nice as I'll be able to confirm the Championship standings ahead of the Chinese Sprint Race going live tomorrow. Will update the spreadsheet and provide the link for the all new Formula Apterous website (your new one-stop shop for all things Formula Apterous) this evening. Chinese Sprint Race games go live tomorrow, and Chinese Grand Prix games go live on Sunday. And of course don't forget to watch the real F1 this weekend!
	Andy SC Two questions: can we get bonus seconds if we have a chinese takeaway while playing the game? Can there be bonus points if we watch the Aussie GP upside down at 4am?
	Trevor Potts Formula Apterous Race Summary: Winner: T-Cap, Mercedes, 89.81s race time Fastest lap: T-Cap, 0.74s, lap 3 Other podium: Chris (2nd, Red Bull), Trevor (3rd, Ferrari) Most overtakes: 16 (Dave R and Dave K) Most net positions gained: Matt OC (9, 13th to 4th) Driver of the Day: Matt OC (9.4 rating) Fastest pit stop: Dave K, 0.4s DNFs: 0 DSQs: 2 This race was largely between Chris and T-Cap, who quickly passed polesitter Trevor to fight it out over the pit stop window. Neither put a foot wrong and the lead was exchanged a handful of times, but in the end T-Cap's frightfully consistent quick laps saw him cross the line 6.6s ahead of his opponent. Polesitter Trevor recovered to take the final spot on the podium. Matt OC blazed through the field to finish 4th, and there were very strong raceday performances from both Daves, with Dave R sneaking into the last points-paying position on the last lap to make Mercedes the only team to score with both cars.
	Trevor Potts Formula Dipterous Race Summary: Winner: Ross, Prema, 278.27s race time. Fastest lap: Wesley, 0.90s, lap 1 Other podium: Mark (2nd, Prema), Colin (3rd, Invicta) Most overtakes: 14 (Andy) Most net positions gained: Andy (7, 13th to 6th) Driver of the Day: Ross (9.1 rating) Fastest pitstop: Damian, 0.3s DNFs: 0 DSQs: 3 This race was a bit of a masterclass from Ross who started well, only dropping pace to make a couple of pitstops but once on the hard tyres from lap 12 it was hammer time. He took the lead from Colin on lap 17 then sailed off into the sunset, finishing 139.3 seconds clear Mark in 2nd place, who pipped Colin on the final lap to seal 2nd place by just 0.6s. His ART teammate Steven got 4th to make it a very successful day for the ART team, turning a 6/8 start into a 2/4 finish. Elsewhere, Andy drove a superb race to claim 6th place, only just missing out on 5th. Both Campos drivers showed promise across the weekend but unfortunately neither scored poin

Tourney round: Formula Apterous World Championship 2025: 1. Australian GP - RACE

<< 2. Chinese GP - QUALIFYING | Reserve Driver pool: sign-up here >>

Notes from the organizer: It's here! The first race of the season. Is it sad that I'm genuinely quite excited about this? You have up to and including 16th March, the day of the actual F1 Australian Grand Prix, to complete your game.

Qualifying is done and you've all earned your places on the starting grid. Those positions could be quite important as Albert Park is one of the trickier tracks for overtaking, according to historical Formula 1 data, with a calculated 2.8 seconds of lap time overspeed required to make a move stick.

The race is a whole different world to qualifying. No longer is this all about nailing one perfect lap at the expense of everything else; this time consistency is key. Every tenth of every second of every lap counts. And now you have much more to lose by risking an incorrect solve: it's not just lap time you could lose but you may even crash the car and sustain damage!

You can follow the race at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aJXVHUg-Lez-c9100vwu4G8QiXFQrl2LXuZ0GcfcGWc/edit?usp=sharing

I will be adding a link to the comments of the sign-up page for posterity that will take you to the folder in Google Drive that houses all session spreadsheets plus some other useful bits like the regulations, the season standings sheet, and a handy lap time/crash chance calculator.

REMEMBER: You MUST make a pit stop in the race or you will be disqualified. To do this you must correctly solve a conundrum in 20.0s or more. Doing so will give you a fresh set of tyres. By default you will start on Soft tyres and switch to Mediums at your first stop. Any subsequent (non-mandatory) stops will switch you to Hard tyres. If you wish to opt for plan Dave instead (Medium-Soft) please notify me BEFORE you play your game.

I have checked the weather forecast for next Sunday in Albert Park and it's clear so expect a dry track. The FIA are recommending an optimal pit stop window of Lap 7 or 8 assuming you start on soft tyres.

Good luck!

Ran from: 9 – 15 March 2025. Format: Conundrum Attack. Matches: One-off. Approved.

Fixtures: 36. Completed: 36.

Results and fixtures

Player 1	Player 2	Status
Apterous Prune	Trevor Potts	10 – 190
Apterous Prune	Matty Artell	10 – 130
Apterous Prune	Chris Hare	0 – 200
Apterous Prune	Tom Cappleman	0 – 200
Apterous Prune	Adam Latchford	0 – 190
Apterous Prune	Thomas Carey	0 – 170
Apterous Prune	Perry Sarb	10 – 140
Apterous Prune	Florence C-L	0 – 190
Apterous Prune	Nick W	20 – 170
Apterous Prune	Dan Byrom	20 – 160
Apterous Prune	Hazel Drury	10 – 180
Apterous Prune	M S R	0 – 150
Apterous Prune	Matt OC	0 – 190
Apterous Prune	Elwin Carlos	20 – 140
Apterous Prune	Dave Robjohns	0 – 160
Apterous Prune	Mike Lee	0 – 140
Apterous Prune	David Holmes	20 – 150
Apterous Prune	Dave Kempshall	0 – 180
Apterous Prune	Anthony Endsor	0 – 130
Apterous Prune	Fiona T	10 – 120
Apterous Prune	Dan Southwell	20 – 80
Apterous Prune	Ian Volante	10 – 90
Apterous Prune	Colin Thompson	0 – 140
Apterous Prune	Dan Spinks	30 – 70
Apterous Prune	Richard Barnett	10 – 120
Apterous Prune	Mark Jeary-Fairbairn	0 – 130
Apterous Prune	Ross Allatt	0 – 180
Apterous Prune	Steven Oldham	0 – 120
Apterous Prune	Damian McEvoy	20 – 110
Apterous Prune	Wesley Barton	20 – 160
Apterous Prune	Fi Thorne	0 – 100
Apterous Prune	Sarah Binns	0 – 90
Apterous Prune	Andy SC	0 – 120
Apterous Prune	Stephen Elsley	0 – 100
Apterous Prune	Gav Grace	0 – 90
Apterous Prune	Jason Turner	20 – 40

Key. Green: winner. Red: loser. Grey: tie. (Stripes: provisional, match in progress.)

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Tourney round: Formula Apterous World Championship 2025: 1. Australian GP - RACE

Results and fixtures