F1 Prediction League 2014

Welcome to the fifth year of the F1 Prediction League! Following on from the success of last year where 17 players competed across 20 rounds of the F1 2013 season, the league will run again!

Welcome back to all the old players but also welcome to any new perspective players. The league will run to a maximum of 22 players in line with the current grid, with each player assigned a constructors team to race for. This led to an incredibly interesting constructors championship with 1st and 3rd in the league leading Sauber to the championship!

Last year the winner of the competition received a 2013 Sebastian Vettel Mini Champs model. A similar prize will be on offer with the winner of the F1 2014 Prediction League receiving a Mini Champs model of the 2014 World Champion. There will also be a chance to win £30 of Amazon vouchers later in the year.

The league gives you the chance to show off your knowledge and intuition by making picks on:

1. Four categories every race weekend (Maximum 25 points each race) 
2. Season results (Maximum 50 points) 
3. Mid-season categories (Maximum 25 points)

 See below for further details.

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Race Weekend Picks

Every weekend there will be a chance to pick on four categories - three are similar every week with one changing.

Categories

1. Pole Position (Maximum 7 points)
2. Race Winner (Maximum 8 points)
3. Constructors who scores the most points (Maximum 6 points)
4. Random category (will change every race weekend) (Maximum 4 points)

Based on feedback last year the random category has increased from 3 points to 4 and qualifying has been decreased to 7. 

Ahead of each race weekend I will post a thread (usually 3-5 days ahead of FP1) with the random category for the next race. 

You'll then be able to post a comment on the thread or send an email with your picks (I'll post all emailed picks after the deadline for full visibility).

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The allocation of points for the four categories is:

Pole Position

1st – 7 points

2nd – 5 points

3rd – 3 points

4th – 2 points

5th – 1 point

Race Winner

1st – 8 points

2nd – 5 points

3rd – 3 points

4th – 2 points

5th – 1 point

Constructors

1st – 6 points

2nd – 3 points

3rd – 1 point

Random

1st – 4 points

2nd and 3rd – 3 points

4th, 5th and 6th  – 2 points
7th, 8th, 9th and 10th - 1 point

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Season Picks

These are picks which relate to results over the course of the entire season. You only need to make these once, the deadline is Thursday 13th March 2014 (23:59 GMT).

Summary

1. Drivers Championship - Max. 12 points
2. Constructors Championship - Max. 6 points
3. Most season session points - Max. 4 points
4. Driver vs. Driver - Max. 11 points
5. Team vs. Team - Max. 5 points
6. Most Team Retirements - Max. 3 points
7. Least Team Retirements - Max. 3 points
8. Random Categories - Max. 6 points

Total - Maximum 50 points

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Drivers Championship

Pick who you think will finish in the top three positions in the drivers championship.

1st 

2nd

3rd

Constructors Championship

Pick who you think will finish in the first three constructors positions, receive the points below for their final position in the constructors world championship.

1st 

2nd

3rd

Most Season Session Points

For every session (practice 1, P2, P3, qualifying and the race) everyone in the top ten scores points like in races (1st = 25, 2nd = 18, 3rd = 15 etc.). This also applies to the fastest lap so there are six categories overall. 

If Alonso finishes in the following positions across the weekend (P1 - 1st, P2 - 2nd, P3 - 1st, Qualifying - 4th, Race - 1st, Fastest Lap - 2nd) then he'll score 123 points (25 + 18 + 25 + 12 + 25 + 18). These points will be added to points from every other weekend in the season and the driver at the end of the season with the most points wins. Qualifying has been grouped as one session per F1 rules. 

1st - 4 points

2nd - 2 points

3rd - 1 point

Driver vs. Driver

Which teammate will score the most points in the championship standings, ties will be decided by the placing in the world championship standings (For example: http://www.formula1.com/results/driver/).

Alonso or Raikkonen? (1 point)

Hamilton or Rosberg? (1 point)

Bottas or Massa? (1 point)

Button or Magnussen? (1 point)

Vergne or Kyvat? (1 point)
Sutil or Gutierrez? (1 point)

Grosjean or Maldonado? (1 point)

Hulkenberg or Perez? (1 point)

Vettel or Ricciardo? (1 point)
Bianchi or Chilton? (1 point)

Kobayashi or Ericsson? (1 point)

Team vs. Team

Which team will score the most points in the championship standings, ties will be decided by the placing in the world championship standings (For example: http://www.formula1.com/results/team/)

Ferrari or Red Bull? (1 point)

McLaren or Williams? (1 point)

Force India or Lotus? (1 point)

Sauber or Toro Rosso? (1 point)

Marussia or Caterham? (1 point)

Most Retirements

Pick which team will have the most retirements, this includes any result where one of the team's drivers either aren't classified or have a reason stated for retirement (i.e. not finishing the required race distance). F1.com used as the decider.

1st - 2 points

2nd - 1 point

An extra bonus point will be earned if you pick the driver who will retire the most from that team.

Least team retirements

Pick which team will have the least retirements, this includes any result where one of the team's drivers either aren't classified or have a reason stated for retirement (i.e. not finishing the required race distance). F1.com used as the decider.

1st - 2 points
2nd - 1 point

An extra bonus point will be earned if you pick the driver who will retire the least from that team.

Random Categories

A few random yes or no questions for variety!

1. Given Mercedes strong testing performance will Mercedes powered cars have the least total engine retirements throughout the year?
2. Will we have a new race winner in 2014? (Current winners: Vettel, Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Rosberg, Massa, Button, Maldonado)
3. Given the introduction of double points at the last race will the championship go down to the final race?
4. Will any driver score points at 15 or more races this year?
5. Will four different teams win races in 2014?
6. Will Marussia or Caterham finish in the top 13 in any race?

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How to get involved

Post your picks in the comments section here or email me here.

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The two templates are here: 

Race Weekend

The Random category for Australia is which teammates will finish closest throughout the weekend? 

This is based across the three categories - qualifying, race, fastest lap. Drivers will score 1 point if they finish next to their teammates, 2 points if they finish two places away etc. 

The overall winner will be the team which scores the least points across the three categories. As discussed above the player who makes the best pick will score 4 points, 2nd and 3rd will score 3 points etc. 

Tie-breaks are resolved by the player who picks the closest average position for their teammates. For example if one player picks Button/Magnussen and another picks Rosberg/Hamilton. If Button/Magnussen finish 7/8 7/8 7/8 and Rosberg/Hamilton finish 1/2 1/2 1/2, both teams score 3 points. Then it would come down to what the picked average position was. If the first player picked 4th for Button/Magnussen and the second player picked 2nd for Rosberg/Hamilton then the second player would win as 1.5 is closer to 2 than 7.5 to 4.

People should post their picks in the following format:

Pole: Rosberg

Race: Vettel

Constructors: Caterham

Random: Alonso/Raikkonen (average position: X)

Season Picks

World championship
1st –
2nd –
3rd –

Constructors Championship
1st – 
2nd –
3rd –

Most season session points:

1st -

Driver v. Driver:

Alonso/Raikkonen
Hamilton/Rosberg

Bottas/Massa

Button/Magnussen 

Vergne/Kyvat
Sutil/Gutierrez

Grosjean/Maldonado

Hulkenberg/Perez

Vettel/Ricciardo
Bianchi/Chilton

Kobayashi/Ericsson

Team v. Team

Ferrari/Red Bull

McLaren/Williams

Force India/Lotus

Sauber/Toro Rosso

Marussia/Caterham

Most team retirements:

Driver in that team who will retire the most:

Least team retirements:

Driver in that team who will retire the least:

Random categories:

Given Mercedes strong testing performance will they be the engine with the least engine retirements throughout the year? (Yes/No)

Will we have a new winner in 2014? (Yes/No)

Given the introduction of double points at the last race will the championship go down to the final race? (Yes/No)

Will one driver score points at 15 or more races this year? (Yes/No)

Will four different teams win races in 2014? (Yes/No)

Will Marussia or Caterham finish in the top 13 in any race? (Yes/No)

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The deadline for submission for both the first race and the season picks is Thursday 13th March 23:59 GMT. It's important that people post before practice 1. Any picks posted after the start of practice 1 will limited to 50% of the points on offer. Any picks made on Saturday or Sunday will not count.

After every race weekend I will post results quickly so on the Sunday or Monday. As always there is a one hour window of change once you have picked. After that window your picks cannot be changed.

If you're a new poster please state which team you'd like to race for. There's still a place free at Sauber, Force India and two places at Toro Rosso, Caterham and Marussia. Please see full line-up at Driver Speculation. One last thing, good luck!