Mid-season review 2013

Now that we're at the halfway point of the season, I'd like to take some time to reflect on the first half. It's been pretty incredible, there's been a heated battle for the top positions and with nine races and the mid-season category left there are plenty of opportunities to win both the drivers and constructors championships. The Minichamps Car is still up for grabs as our top prize but a £30 Amazon voucher is now available for the player who scores the most points in the second half of the season.

There'll be a lot going on in the prediction league in the coming months so stay tuned. This post should cover a lot of important stuff and by popular vote we'll be having a mid-season category. I'll be releasing the full details next week so please check back. The picks will be due at the same time as Spa (22/08/2013)

The contents of this post are:

• Championship standings and winners during the year
• League movements during the year
• Team report and constructor transfer talk (plus offers of a new contract for some - also see the driver speculation 2014 page)
• Random stats (most picked driver and teams, best and worst weekends and sessions so far this year etc.)

Championship Standings

Just of for a re-cap of both the drivers and constructors standings:

Going into the mid-way point of the year, the lead has been closed from 23 points after Britain to a mere 5 points after Hungary.

Every team on the grid has scored at least one victory, only Sauber have scored more than one winning on three occasions in Malaysia, Spain and Hungary.

League movements over the season

There's been a lot of movement but hopefully this helps you see your progress throughout the year. Amazing progress has been made by both Rajaram, Kiszol, Dragan and Sangan in particular since the start of the year and they've joined the front runners.

Team Report

The constructor’s championship isn’t to be taken too seriously. It’s a bit of fun, it offers a bit of variety and allows you to work together with someone else to achieve success. You may want to commit your future to Force India or you may want to move to the bigger teams, where bigger salaries are offered (see here for further detail about salaries – it’s based off of 2012 salaries currently but salaries can be negotiated for 2014). 

There's a transfer system in place, please see the driver speculation thread. The idea is that teams will make offers to drivers if they feel like they are a prime candidate for their drive or if their current drivers have easily fulfilled the expectations set by the team. 

All offers made as of today are listed below in the team report and on the driver speculation thread. If you yourself want to court a move to another team, please make a comment on the driver speculation thread. This is especially important for those who haven't been offered a position currently. No worries though, everyone will get a team. It's just early days and more positions will be sorted soon.

Note 1: Please bear in mind the expectations set by teams. If you are only marginally better than the current driver and you are requesting their seat, the move is likely to be declined however if you're far better the team may consider it. 

Note 2: Please be aware that you can only declare an interest for one team at a time and excessive declarations will harm your relationship with other teams.

Note 3: Each offer has a deadline to accept, see the driver speculation thread.

The actual results to compare against expectations are in the table below:

Red Bull

Target

Driver 1: 3^rd (Actual: Wander 11^th)

Driver 2: 5^th (Actual: Jasper94 14^th)

Mid-season report

The main problem so far is that both drivers have been too busy partying and on some occasions have not bothered to turn up to the circuit at all! With a spell of consistency and attendance one or both drivers might stay on for next term. Jasper94 showed incredible form in Britain, securing a surprise win, and would have won in Spain had they not received a penalty for braking too late and taking a backmarker out. Wander has finished on the podium twice and has been very strong overall, including being in the top three at various points.

Current driver offers for 2014: Kiszol (Number 1 Driver)

Ferrari

Target

Driver 1: 3^rd (Actual: Rajaram 4^th)

Driver 2: 8^th (Actual: Joe 6^th)

Mid-season report

While not hitting expected pre-season targets, Ferrari are very happy with their driver line-up as they are performing strongly at every race. The major high point was at the first race in Australia, where Joe took Ferrari’s only win of the season. Since then three more podiums have materialised, including both drivers finishing on the podium at Monaco. The team will probably look to secure both drivers in the near future for next season although this may depend on the movements of other top drivers.

Current driver offers for 2014: None.

 

McLaren

Target

Driver 1: 4^th (Actual: Kim 3^rd)

Driver 2: 9^th (Actual: Michael 12^th)

Mid-season report

McLaren’s season has been reasonable so far, including a win and three more podiums. A brief lull at the start of the European season cost McLaren momentum but they have been strong ever since. Both drivers are under consideration for next season. Kim has been offered a new contract while the team have agreed to review Michael’s progress. They believe he has been cost dear by a number of unfortunate incidents and has deserved better so far in the campaign. The team understand the issues and are looking positively forward to the second half of the season. 

Current driver offers for 2014: Kim (Number 1 Driver)

Lotus

Target 

Driver 1: 6^th (Actual: Dragan 6^th)

Driver 2: 10^th (Actual: Sangan 8^th)

Mid-season report

Both drivers are performing well and are meeting targets, the team are pretty happy with the one victory and four podiums so far. Both drivers are pushing the team forward so Lotus are pretty satisfied with the drivers they currently have.  The highlights of the season were in Monaco (with Dragan’s win) and Germany, when both drivers finished in the top four. Overall early indications suggest that both drivers will be retained for next year.

Current driver offers for 2014: Dragan (Number 1 Driver)

Mercedes

Target 

Driver 1: 8^th (Actual: Aled Lewis 9^th)

Driver 2: 11^th (Actual: Paul Smith 13^th)

Mid-season report

The performance so far has been so-so; results were initially troubling but the second half of the season has picked up substantially. Aled Lewis originally struggled however a victory in Bahrain, has led to five consecutive point scoring finishes to move up to 9^th in the constructors table.  Mercedes are relatively happy with their drivers but will reserve judgement to later in the year.

Current driver offers for 2014: None.

Sauber

Target 

Driver 1: 13^th (Actual: Scott 1^st)

Driver 2: 16^th (Actual: Kiszol 2^nd)

Mid-season report

Sauber are ecstatic with the progress this term. Firstly leading the constructors championship is far more than they were hoping for at the start of the season; wins in Malaysia, Spain and Hungary have added to the enjoyment. Additionally the two drivers have bagged four more podiums (so seven visits in ten races). The high point was undoubtedly in Spain with the first one-two in the prediction league. Sauber were keen to offer both drivers new contracts so were dismayed when Scott Williams announced a move to Williams for 2014. They are very keen to retain Kiszol but realise bigger teams will be moving in.

Current driver offers for 2014: Kiszol (Number 1 Driver)

  

Force India

Target 

Driver 1: 14^th (Actual: Ediglo 5^th)

Driver 2: 15^th (Actual: Dead Jedi 10^th)

Mid-season report

Force India have been majorly impressed with Ediglo. Ediglo missed the first two races but won on their debut with a fantastic performance in China. Two more podiums in Britain and Hungary have underlined Ediglo’s strong credentials. The team will be keen to secure Ediglo's services as soon as possible. Force India are also very happy with their other driver, Dead Jedi who’s year is getting stronger and stronger with two top five finishes in the last two races. Both drivers are performing above expectation and will probably attract the attention of other teams going into the second half of the year. Both drivers have offers on the table from Force India.

Current driver offers for 2014: Ediglo (Number 1 Driver), Dead Jedi (Number 2 Driver).

Williams

Target 

Driver 1: 12^th (Actual: MetalGatherer 15^th)

Driver 2: 13^th (Actual: Ayat Rizeq 16^th)

Mid-season report

Williams are happy with MetalGatherer’s progress since joining the team part-way through the season.  A win in Canada was a fantastic achievement although Williams are hoping for more consistency in the second half of the year. The departure of Ayat Rizeq has left the team with only one driver for the majority of races this season, which is disappointing. They are hoping to recruit another driver for the second half of the season to develop the car although the move may be temporary depending on the status of their second driver for 2014.

Confirmed drivers for 2014: Scott (Number 1 Driver).
Current driver offers for 2014: None. 

Random Stats

Most picked driver (including random)

Most picked team (including random)

Best twenty scores so far

Highest and lowest scoring races

Best score per picker: Hungary 13.86pts per picker

Lowest score per picker: Monaco 9pts per picker

Hungary was a strong race for the majority of players. As predicted by most Hamilton took pole, while second favourite Vettel took second place. In the race although no one predicted the winner, Hamilton, most popular picks Raikkonen and Vettel finished second and third. Similarly Red Bull and Lotus dominated as predicted and ten of the fourteen pickers scored 2 or more points for the random category. 

On the other hand Monaco saw a number of surprises, mainly the failure of Alonso and Ferrari who were considered relatively heavy favourites heading into the weekend by many people in the prediction league.

 

 

Highest and lowest scoring qualifying sessions

Best score per picker: Malaysia 6.77pts per picker

Lowest score per picker: China 1.08pts per picker

Ten of twelve people picked Vettel to triumph in Malaysia, while the other two picked Hamilton. Vettel did qualify on pole but Hamilton had to settle for fourth. 

Similarly eight out of twelve pickers chose Vettel to put his car on pole again in China but he didn't make the top five.The remaining picks were split between four other drivers so this was a lacklustre week for qualifying picks.

 

 

Highest and lowest scoring race results

 

Best score per picker: China 5.92pts per picker

Lowest score per picker: Malaysia 1.38pts per picker

This is an exact opposite of the qualifying above with the two races switched. In China the vast majority of pickers went for Alonso with Raikkonen as the second favourite. In the end, Alonso did win with Raikkonen second. The other pickers, who picked Vettel, also scored points when he finished with blistering speed on the soft compound of tyres.

In Malaysia Alonso and Raikkonen were also favourite but an uncharacteristically error strewn race saw Raikkonen finish outside the top five while an error by both Alonso and Ferrari, with the front wing, saw Alonso's race end spectacularly. 

 

Highest and lowest scoring constructors predictions

Best score per picker: Spain 3.33pts per picker

Lowest score per picker: Australia 1.77pts per picker 

Spain was a rare weekend when picking Ferrari has paid off. In the first half of the season most of the pickers went for Ferrari with a large proportion of the remaining pack going for Red Bull. Ferrari and Red Bull were the two best teams that weekend in terms of point scoring so this bagged a lot of pickers points.

In Australia, the prediction league backed Red Bull heavily however a difficult race for both Vettel and Webber left Red Bull only the third best team that weekend. A few pickers went for Lotus and Ferrari who scored a better return.

Highest and lowest scoring random predictions

Best score per picker: Hungary 1.86pts per picker

Lowest score per picker: Spain 0pts per picker 

Hungary's random was a huge success for the league, 10 pickers out of the 14 taking part picked Ricciardo, Grosjean or Hulkenberg who occupied the first three positions out of twenty-two drivers. All three drivers put in a strong qualifying effort to outstrip their championship position.

Spain's random was which drivers will gain the most positions from their grid position, no pickers predicted a driver in the top six so 0 points was scored overall on this random. This was a prediction league low point, as Di Resta, Massa and Button had generally been gaining good places over a race distance in previous races.

Consistency across each of the four different categories

Of those in the top 10, Kim and Dragan are the most consistent across the qualifying, race, constructors and random category. 

Kim is 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 5th.

Dragan is 8th, 4th, 9th and 6th.

Kim is the most consistent, for others there are certain categories that harm chances e.g. random for Joe, constructors for Kiszol, race for Aled Lewis and Rajaram.

 

Overall top five standings for each category

 

For other stats please go to the F1 prediction league 2013 page. Please feel free to comment with your thoughts!