F1 2014 Mid-Season Categories

It's with great pleasure that I introduce this year's F1 Prediction League mid-season categories. As always we take the opportunity created by the mid-summer break to spice up the Prediction League.

What's on offer? 

A huge total of 25 points towards your final season score and £30 in Amazon vouchers for the player who scores the most points in the second part of the season (mid-season categories + last 8 races).

Why get involved?

As a current player this season in the Prediction League, that’s an easy one; it’s an opportunity to boost your final season score (and position in the table), and there’s the £30 of vouchers available if you get on a hot streak in the second half of the season.

But the mid-season categories are also an ideal entry point for new players. Perhaps you’ve been perusing the Prediction League, and wondering about pitting your mighty F1 wits against the rest of us, or you know someone who would relish the challenge. For new players, there's also an opportunity to win the £30 and to get used to the current format before next year. 

There are also a number of vacancies open down the grid so you can fight for a team of your choice to win the Constructors Championship!  It's a perfect time to get involved especially as every player fights for individual race glory each race weekend. We keep a record of individual driver stats and records so make your mark on Prediction League history by getting involved!

Current Championship Standings

Categories

Risks vs. Rewards (5 points)

Position of your driver (5 points) 

Teammate domination (5 points)

Most improved constructor (4 points)

I was on holiday during the first half (2 points)
I live for the Champagne (2 points)
Highest average qualifying position (2 points)
Total 25 points

Risk vs. Rewards (5 points)

Pick up to five of the below statements (1 point will be scored for each correct statement but all need to be correct to score points) 

You can also choose any of these statements to not happen but you will only score ½ point for those statements. The same rules apply in that all statements you select to either happen or not must turn out to be correct. Have a look at the options below!

• Rosberg will finish the season with the most pole positions (can be tied)
• Ricciardo will finish in the top 3 in the Championship
• Williams will win a race or score a double podium
• Sauber will score at least a point
• Maldonado will reach Q3 at least once
• One of the top drivers (Hamilton, Rosberg, Alonso, Raikkonen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Button, Bottas) will either announce their retirement or that they are moving to another team before the last race of the season (before the Abu Dhabi race weekend begins at FP1)
• Mercedes will have more combined qualifying and race retirements than Red Bull (ties don't count)
• Red Bull will have more combined qualifying and race retirements than Mercedes (ties don't count)
• There will be a race with 14 or under finishers
• There will be a race with 20 or more finishers
• Raikkonen will score a podium
• Massa will retire from another race through collision damage
• The world championship winner will win the Abu Dhabi race
• Hamilton will win both Suzuka and Brazil (two of the few races he has not won)
• Alonso will score points in every remaining race
• Mercedes will score at least six 1-2s out of the remaining eight races
• Mercedes will win the constructors championship at or before Singapore
• Vettel will win a race this season

So for example I could pick:

1. There will be a race with 14 or under finishers (Potential 1 point)
2. There will be a race with 20 or more finishers (Potential 1 point)
3. Alonso will score points in every remaining race (Potential 1 point)
4. Williams will NOT win a race or score a double podium (Potential ½ point)
5. Maldonado will NOT reach Q3 at least once (Potential ½ point) 

This represents the FIVE maximum statements that can be picked. If all statements are correct then I will receive four points in this case, if any are wrong then I will score zero points.

Position of your driver (5 points)

Each player is randomly assigned one driver from the five categories below. They must pick whether their driver will finish 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd in the remaining 8 races within the assigned category. Ties will be settled by standard F1 countback rules. For each correct driver position you will score 1 point.

Category 1

Alonso
Bottas
Vettel

Category 2

Button
Massa
Raikkonen

Category 3

Hulkenberg

Magnussen

Perez

Category 4

Grosjean
Kvyat
Vergne

Category 5

Gutierrez
Maldonado
Sutil

All eighteen active players this year will be allocated one of the three drivers from each category. See the end of this post for random.com evidence - it's important that we make this as objective and transparent as possible! 

The categories above are ordered in alphabetical order, with random.com’s 1-6 player list in each category getting the first name (Alonso, Button, Magnussen, Grosjean or Gutierrez), 7-12 player list in each category getting the second name (Bottas, Hulkenberg, Perez, Kvyat or Maldonado) and 13-18 getting the third name (Vettel, Massa, Raikkonen, Vergne or Sutil).

Check out the table below to see which drivers you have been assigned.

For any new players feel free to select one of the combinations below (it’s first come, first serve so do not pick the same combination as another player).

Selection 1: Alonso, Button, Magnussen, Grosjean, Gutierrez

Selection 2: Bottas, Massa, Perez, Kvyat, Maldonado

Selection 3: Vettel, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Vergne, Sutil

Selection 4: Alonso, Massa, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Maldonado

Selection 5: Bottas, Raikkonen, Magnussen, Kvyat,

Selection 6: Vettel, Button, Perez, Vergne, Gutierrez

Selection 7: Bottas, Button, Hulkenberg, Vergne, Gutierrez

Selection 8: Alonso, Massa, Perez, Grosjean, Sutil

I feel the random element to this category makes it very interesting.

Teammate Domination (5 points)

The idea for this mid-season category is to pick a combination of three drivers, within an allocated budget, who you think will have the greatest domination over their teammate. You have a budget of €12m.

The scoring is as follows. For each practice session your chosen driver(s) beats their teammate they score 1 point, for each qualifying session 5 points and each race session 7 points.

When a teammate doesn't take part in a session (for example not setting a time in a session) no points will be scored. The only exception is race. A driver will score 3 points if:

1. that driver finishes the race
2. his teammate finishes at least half of the race (unless driver error)
3. the driver was clearly beating his teammate when his teammate started experiencing terminal problems (if the two drivers are on different strategies then there might need to be a pit stop adjustment - this will count as 20 seconds on all tracks for simplicity).

The following driver costs are as follows. Remember you have a €12m budget:

Note: Caterham removed from TMD as driver line-up uncertain for the rest of the year.
Note: A driver will be compared to their teammate throughout the season regardless of driver changes.

Points will be given depending on final finishing order within the prediction league table, see below:

1^st – 5 points
2^nd and 3^rd – 4 points
4^th, 5^th and 6^th – 3 points
7^th, 8^th and 9^th – 2 points
10^th, 11^th and 12^th – 1 point

You will also be required to post a nominated best race. This will be the tie-break question - the player who scores the most points on their nominated race weekend will win the category if points are equal. If there is still no winner, time of posting will be the decider.

Most improved constructor (4 points – 2 + 1 + 1)

Predict who will be the most improved constructor in the second half of the season. The current standings are as follows:

The measurement criteria will be the standings now compared to the theoretical standings of the last eight races only.

Say the standings from the last eight races are: (1) Mercedes, (2) Ferrari, (3) McLaren, (4) Red Bull, (5) Williams, McLaren is clearly the best pick as they have gained 3 places, from sixth to third.

Points

Best pick - 2 points

2nd best pick - 1 point

One extra bonus point for the exact number of positions gained for your picked team e.g. if you picked 3 for McLaren or 1 for Ferrari in the example above you'd score a point. An extra point will be scored for predicting which driver scores the most points for your chosen team e.g. Button or Magnussen.

In the event of a tie, both predictions will score the maximum points available.

For example:

Williams 2

McLaren 1

Caterham 1

McLaren and Caterham pickers would score 1 point for the equal second best pick. Similarly if both Williams and McLaren improved by 2 positions then both sets of pickers would score 2 points. No other pickers would score any points.  

I was on holiday during the first half (2 points)

Which driver will make the most improvement from the first half of the season to the second half of the season? 

This will be measured by comparing the Driver's standings from the first half of the season (standings at round 11 - post-Hungary) to the total of points scored between rounds 12 and 19 to assess which driver has made the most position gains.This is similar to the Constructors category above and has the same rules. The only difference is that the scoring is as follow:

best pick - 2 points

2nd and 3rd best picks - 1 point 

I live for the Champagne (2 points)

Which driver will score the most podiums (without Mercedes drivers)? 

Best pick - 2 points

2nd best pick - 1 point

In the event of a tie, both predictions will score the maximum points available.

Highest average qualifying position (2 points)

Which driver will have the highest average qualifying position (without the Mercedes drivers)?

Best pick - 2 points

2nd best pick - 1 point

In the event of a tie, both predictions will score the maximum points available.

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Template to use for posting:

Risks vs. Rewards

Statement 1:

Statement 2:

Statement 3:

Statement 4:

Statement 5:

Driver Allocation:

C1: [Your Driver] [Position finished within that category, using results from remaining races]

C2:

C3:

C4:

C5:

Teammate Domination

Driver 1:

Driver 2:

Driver 3:
Highest scoring race:

Most Improved Constructor:

Positions gained:

Driver to score most points: 

Most Improved Driver:

Most Podiums:

Highest Average Qualifying Position:

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Random.Org random selection evidence