Round 18 · 2011

Yas Marina Circuit

Abu Dhabi, UAE · November 13, 2011 · Circuit History · Wikipedia

Kings of this circuit
The race, in perspective

Race debrief

What did we expect after qualifying—and who beat it?

R182011
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24 stored results 24/24 Elo snapshots 24/24 numbered grid slots 0/24 qualifying results
Elo × qualifying → race result

Did they beat the expectation?

A strong driver recovering from a poor qualifying position isn't automatically a surprise. This model estimates a finish from both inputs, then compares it with what happened.

Experimental · v1

Expected finish assumes a classified finish. DNFs stay in the full grid but receive no performance verdict. Qualifying is not the starting grid; grid differences are flagged, not silently substituted.

Fit on 502 earlier finishes across 33 races, 2002–2011. No results from this race enter its expectation.

0/24 entrants have an estimate. Missing Elo or qualifying stays visible below; a grid position is not used as a qualifying result.

Top 3

Beat the estimate

No comparable estimates available for this race yet.

Flop 3

Below the estimate

No comparable estimates available for this race yet.

0/24 entrants assessed. Up to three per side, ranked by expected minus actual finish. DNFs, missing estimates and gaps rounding to 0.0 are excluded. “Flop” means below the model's estimate—not poor driving. A ranked gap can still be inside the usual error range.

Full grid: pre-race Elo rank, qualifying position, estimated finish, actual result and difference from expectation. Positive differences mean finishing ahead of the estimate.
DriverPre-race EloQualifyingExpectedResultP1 ← position → P24vs expectedReading
L. HamiltonMcLaren #52384 No error range P1 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
F. AlonsoFerrari #22497 No error range P2 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
J. ButtonMcLaren #32465 No error range P3 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
M. WebberRed Bull #42453 No error range P4 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
F. MassaFerrari #72240 No error range P5 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
N. RosbergMercedes #62258 No error range P6 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
M. SchumacherMercedes #102140 No error range P7 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
A. SutilForce India #82181 No error range P8 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
P. di RestaForce India #92169 No error range P9 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
K. KobayashiSauber #162022 No error range P10 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
S. PérezSauber #122098 No error range P11 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
R. BarrichelloWilliams #142062 No error range P12 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
V. PetrovRenault #132068 No error range P13 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
P. MaldonadoWilliams #191974 No error range P14 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
J. AlguersuariToro Rosso #112131 No error range P15 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
B. SennaRenault #152027 No error range P16 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
H. KovalainenLotus #181976 No error range P17 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
J. TrulliLotus #221891 No error range P18 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
T. GlockVirgin #231851 No error range P19 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
V. LiuzziHRT #241801 No error range P20 Not assessedQualifying unavailable
D. RicciardoHRT #201898 No error range DNFMechanical Not assessedQualifying unavailable
S. BuemiToro Rosso #172017 No error range DNFHydraulics Not assessedQualifying unavailable
J. d'AmbrosioVirgin #211894 No error range DNFBrakes Not assessedQualifying unavailable
S. VettelRed Bull #12641 No error range DNFPuncture Not assessedQualifying unavailable
How useful is the model? See the historical check

Average absolute error on 502 classified finishes in 33 earlier races within the last ten years. Each race was held out and predicted using only older races; all three models use the same samples.

Elo + qualifying
2.51places
Qualifying only
2.60places
Elo only
3.02places

The range scales the 80th percentile of earlier held-out absolute errors to this field size, rounding outward. It is an empirical error guide, not a guaranteed 80% chance for a particular driver. We require at least five checked races and 100 checked finishes before showing it.

Inputs are field-normalised Elo rank and qualifying position. The target is position among all race entries, trained only on classified finishers. Estimates are averages, not a unique predicted finishing order. Penalties, the circuit, weather, incidents and strategy aren't model inputs. Historical qualifying coverage is patchy; this is an exploratory backtest on corrected records, not proof of live forecasting accuracy.

The rating ledger

What changed in Elo?

These are actual rating changes. The expectation model above does not change Elo or fantasy scoring.

Largest Elo loss

Vettel−134.5 Elo

The bigger picture

Championship after this round

Top five in the stored standings. Points include sprint results where applicable.

  1. 1 Vettel 374pts 0
  2. 2 Button 255pts 0
  3. 3 Alonso 245pts 0
  4. 4 Webber 233pts 0
  5. 5 Hamilton 227pts 0

Movement since round 17. A dash means the earlier standing is unavailable.

Explore the season →
Across the garage

Teammate results

Two-driver constructor entries from this race. A result comparison, not an adjustment for strategy or reliability.

HRT

LiuzziP20+0.4 Elo
RicciardoDNF−18.5 Elo

Non-finish recorded; no finishing gap comparison.

What this analysis can—and cannot—tell you

This debrief is calculated from stored results and rating snapshots. The experimental expectation model learns from earlier races only, using Elo rank and qualifying together; it never feeds back into Elo. It is not a separately reviewed race report.

Elo uses the result order, including retirements. It does not isolate driver skill from the car, reliability, penalties or strategy. Elo seed comparisons use pre-race ratings, never today's ratings. Equal ratings share the midpoint of their rank range (for example, tied first and second become seed 1.5).

Grid gains use numbered starting slots and classified finishes only. Zero or missing grid values are excluded; a position gained is not necessarily an overtake. Qualifying gaps use the latest segment both teammates have a valid time for, never Q1 against Q3.

Lap-by-lap pace, tyre stints, pit-stop execution and safety-car effects are not available in this report. Missing data is omitted, not inferred.

Read the Elo methodology →
24
Result Entries
Avg Elo
Highest Elo (Alonso)
4
Non-finishes

Race

Qualifying

# Driver Grid +/- Points Season Pts Season # Elo Change Elo
P1 🇬🇧 L.Hamilton 2 +1 +25 227 P5 +33.8 2,418
P2 🇪🇸 F.Alonso 5 +3 +18 245 P3 +15.6 2,512
P3 🇬🇧 J.Button 3 +15 255 P2 +12.3 2,478
P4 🇦🇺 M.Webber 4 +12 233 P4 +7.3 2,460
P5 🇧🇷 F.Massa 6 +1 +10 108 P6 +28.0 2,268
P6 🇩🇪 N.Rosberg 7 +1 +8 83 P7 +18.9 2,277
P7 🇩🇪 M.Schumacher 8 +1 +6 76 P8 +31.1 2,171
P8 🇩🇪 A.Sutil 9 +1 +4 34 P11 +18.2 2,199
P9 🇬🇧 P.di Resta 10 +1 +2 23 P14 +13.7 2,183
P10 🇯🇵 K.Kobayashi 16 +6 +1 28 P12 +31.7 2,054
P11 🇲🇽 S.Pérez 11 0 14 P16 +12.7 2,111
P12 🇧🇷 R.Barrichello 24 +12 0 4 P17 +12.4 2,075
P13 🇷🇺 V.Petrov 12 -1 0 36 P9 +5.1 2,073
P14 🇻🇪 P.Maldonado 23 +9 0 1 P19 +14.2 1,988
P15 🇪🇸 J.Alguersuari 15 0 26 P13 -18.0 2,113
P16 🇧🇷 B.Senna 14 -2 0 2 P18 -7.0 2,020
P17 🇫🇮 H.Kovalainen 17 0 0 P22 -5.1 1,971
P18 🇮🇹 J.Trulli 18 0 0 P21 +1.4 1,892
P19 🇩🇪 T.Glock 19 0 0 P25 +0.5 1,852
P20 🇮🇹 V.Liuzzi 22 +2 0 0 P23 +0.4 1,801
DNF 🇦🇺 D.Ricciardo 20 0 0 P27 -18.5 1,879
DNF 🇨🇭 S.Buemi 13 0 15 P15 -43.4 1,974
DNF 🇧🇪 J.d'Ambrosio 21 0 0 P24 -30.7 1,864
DNF 🇩🇪 S.Vettel 1 0 374 P1 -134.5 2,507

Qualifying results are not available for this race.

Elo Changes