How to join the best F1 prediction league in 2015

Reckon you know your stuff where Formula One is concerned? We invite you to join our Prediction League and prove it!

The Prediction League has been running in one form or another since 2010, and we’ve had more players each year. Last year we had 16 active players, and we’d love to push that up to 20 to reflect the number of drivers on the F1 grid at the moment.

So how does it work?

It’s pretty straightforward – prior to every race you pick:

1) Which driver you think will win the race

2) Which driver you think will be on pole

3) Which constructor will score the most points in that race

There is also a fourth ‘random’ category, which changes from race to race and is often themed depending on the circuit or what is going on at that stage of the season. This will be announced in the race thread, which will be posted the Monday before each race and also cover the current F1 news. Picks are due before Free Practice 1.

In addition to the race weekend picks we have season picks (made before the first race) and midseason picks (made during the summer break, usually after Hungary).

We keep a log of the points scored by each participant every weekend and cover this in a post-race thread. Unsurprisingly, the picker with the most points at the end of the season wins!

We also have a ‘Constructors’ Championship’ to add a bit of extra interest, whereby pickers are paired up in the teams that are participating in the Formula One season that year.

You can take a closer look at the rules and scoring here:http://f1podium.com/prediction-league-rules/

Alright sounds good, how do I join?

There are three key steps to joining ahead of the season opener:

1) Register on the f1podium.com site, using the left sidebar or register menu button at the top
2) Read the season prediction league post and make your picks by leaving a comment. Please feel free to post using the template within the thread. The deadline for picks is before free practice 1
3) Read the Australian GP thread and make your picks by leaving a comment. Please feel free to post using the template within the thread. The deadline for picks is before free practice 1

If you’re thinking of joining, or have any further questions then email Nathaniel at nathanielsmith14@gmail.com

We’ll chat about the vacant seats in the League and which team you’ll be joining, and run over any other bits and bobs ahead of the season opener. If you want to take part in the full season then please get in touch by Thursday 12th March at the absolute latest. If you want to join later then that’s fine too so long as there’s space, but you won’t be able to make season picks and will potentially have missed out on some of the races. Still, there will be plenty to play for!

Are there any prizes?

Indeed there are, in addition to the gargantuan ego boost of having beaten out a bunch of other F1 know-it-alls with your superior knowledge. We provide Amazon vouchers and sometimes a Minichamps model of that season’s Drivers’ Champion to

1. The winner of the Prediction League
2. The picker who scores the most points in the second half of the season (so that people who missed the start of the year still have a prize to aim for)

That’s all from us. We hope to see you on the grid this year 

New site - F1 prediction league 2015 continues on new site

Hi all,

After some debating and weighing up of pros and cons, we've decided to move to a new site - please see www.f1podium.com.

We've posted the 2015 prediction league post and we'd love to have you aboard!

The site has several advantages and I'm confident this is the right move.

I'll be taking a bit of a step back to develop the site and to ensure we move towards a more rounded prediction league and analysis site. Nat and Michael will be having far greater input into the writing of articles and running the prediction league - don't worry I'll be around to try (probably in vain) to defend my title.

Hope to see you all very soon!

Final Championship Results 2014 (and Abu Dhabi results)

The finish to this prediction league championship was akin to some of the F1 championship deciders in the past - unpredictable, crazy and contentious. The points difference was very close and the Red Bull disqualification unfortunately changed the outcome. 

As Sangan and Paul Smith discussed here that the rules in the FAQ state FIA classification is final, which means Red Bull were excluded from the qualifying results. I feel it's a very unfair way for the championship to end and numerous thoughts have crossed my mind about changing the rules etc.

I've taken counsel from Nat, Michael and Sangan himself and while I don't feel good about it, they've all re-iterated that the rules are the rules. Sangan has made it clear he has no intention of accepting the championship as a result of a 'rule change' as he put it.

This underlines his class and Sangan can be incredibly proud of an amazing year - a year where he won twice and finished on the podium seven times. Given the closeness of the battle, I've also given Sangan the opportunity to vet the results and all of my workings and he's happy with everything. 

As a result of a long overdue Nat maiden victory (to go along with 10 other top five finishes) Marussia were catapulted into first place in the Constructors. Admittedly Nat has been a huge part of our success during the year (10-6 head-to-head record against me) and I'd honestly install him as favourite for the prediction league next year, a claim he'd probably deny! Hopefully (somehow) this victory will send positive energy towards Jules and the team in general so they can both recover to good health.

Huge commiserations to Sangan and Dragan, who again fought fantastically throughout the year. Both of you are excellent pickers and would have been worthy champions. It's been a rocky road but I feel your time will come, perhaps next year!

I've published the results like I usually do but if anyone else wants to see their season results etc. and for me to go into more detail, please let me know.

Race Review

The F1 race was reasonably good, about average for this year. Hamilton's superlative start off the line meant Rosberg had a mountain to climb. Unfortunately terminal problems on his car meant his race got progressively impacted but huge respect to him for wanting to finish the race. Mercedes attempted to retire his car before Hamilton lapped him but Nico was having none of it!

Wow. Daniel Ricciardo also put in a scintillating drive to finish 4th from the pitlane. The class difference was evident compared to Vettel who once again was unable to be clinical when it counted. Ricciardo has been phenomenal this year.

In what may have been Button's last race in F1 (a travesty if ever there was one), he excelled and recorded another top five finish. That brings the points total to 126 (compared to Magnussen's 55). I'm a fan of Magnussen but surely an Alonso/Button pairing will bring most success to McLaren-Honda. Ferrari will not be happy with their finish to the season and the prospect of having Vettel and Raikkonen (two drivers who have suffered this year) may be slightly unnerving as they need to deliver a strong car for the two of them to exploit effectively.

I could go on more but want to leave you with the final standings.

Final Championship standings

Podium facts
Nat's maiden win
Aled Lewis' 4th podium of the season and 5th overall
Kim's 3rd podium finish of the season and 8th overall (tied 5th)
 
Current streaks 
Nat - 11 points finishes (best points streak ever, new record!)
Kiszol - 8 points finishes
Kim - 5 points finishes
Marussia - 16 points finishes
McLaren - 13 points finishes
Ferrari - 10 points finishes
Red Bull - 8 points finishes

Streak ended
Joe - 2 podium finishes (tied 3rd)
Chris Grigson - 6 points finishes

Abu Dhabi 2014 (Final Round) - F1 Prediction League

Welcome to the Abu Dhabi GP prediction league thread! 

A fantastic weekend is in store with the title hanging in the balance. There are many defining battles throughout the field past the battle for the title, including the battle for fourth in the championship between Vettel, Alonso and Bottas. There are other questions surrounding the weekend, will this be Button's last F1 race!? Hopefully not as he still has tons of talent. Will Alonso be confirmed at McLaren? And will Vettel see out the end of his Red Bull career in style? 

Given the positions in the championship, Sangan is in the nice place of only having to score 12 points or so to win the league (out of a possible 25). It's all dependent on season and midseason too as 9 points is enough if they stay static. Don't forget the Constructors championship is still up for grabs too, Sangan and Dragan sit pretty in those standings too but Marussia could still turn this around.

Happy to accept new entrants (the rules/FAQ thread may be of help) and hoping to see all of our established players back for the final race. Please just make a comment at the end of my post using the template later in this thread. There's one final opportunity to win a race this season - who will take this golden opportunity!?

For new players, please stipulate whether you want to join Toro Rosso, Force India or Caterham. Team places will be given on a first come, first served basis.

Read on for the random questions, championship standings and a template to post picks.

Brazil Results and Championship Standings (18/19)

First off, congratulations to Sangan and Dragan who take the lead in both championships! Sangan's lead in the championship is almost unassailable, barring reliability issues, due to a massive 28-point swing this weekend.

While some of their competitors looked to the skies (Red Bull's best chance of victory) and cursing the promise of rain, Massa and Williams strolled to a podium and the best constructor score.

The success of Massa (not without precedent given his victories in 2006 and 2008) resulted in a perfect Lotus 1-2 (scoring 25 and 24 points respectively including a 1-2 in random). This is the fourth time a team has scored a 1-2 this year (2 for Marussia, 1 for Williams and now 1 for Lotus) but none have been this dominant. The nearest competitor finished 11 points behind!

The Constructors Championship is still open but relies on a big point score for the Marussia pair. 

Other notable mentions include Nat breaking the all-time consecutive points record, now with 10 points finishes in a row, and Joe scoring his fifth podium of the season. Ferrari are now improving with Chris and Joe really hitting their stride in recent races. 

It's been a thrilling year so join us in Abu Dhabi to witness the climax to this unpredictable season.

Championship standings

 

 

Podium facts
Sangan's 2nd win of the season (tied 2nd) and 3nd overall (tied 3rd)
Dragan's 4th podium of the season and 10th overall (3rd)
Joe's 5th podium finish of the season (3rd) and 8th overall (tied 5th)
 
Current streaks 
Joe - 2 podium finishes (tied 3rd)
Nat - 10 points finishes (best points streak ever, new record!)
Kiszol - 7 points finishes
Chris Grigson - 6 points finishes
Kim - 4 points finishes
Marussia - 15 points finishes
McLaren - 12 points finishes
Ferrari - 9 points finishes
Red Bull - 7 points finishes

Streaks ended
Scott - 7 points finishes

Brazil 2014 (Round 18) - F1 Prediction League

Welcome to the Brazilian GP prediction league thread! A fantastic weekend is in store with storms looming, although the thought of rain unfortunately brings back memories of the Japan race.

Perhaps it is only fitting Marussia can wrap up the title here, needing only 18 more points than Lotus and 7 points more than McLaren. It’s difficult but not impossible, both Marussia drivers will undoubtedly be pushing hard to make it a reality!

The driver’s championship will go down to the final race, with Michael tight in the slipstream lining up an overtake and Sangan not far behind. Let’s make this one to remember. 

There’s plenty still to play for in the prediction league regardless of both championships including the glory of an individual race weekend win. There are a number of people throughout the field deserving of a win that haven’t quite had the luck. For example Nat who has so far scored 10 (out of 14) top 5 finishes but no victory...

Perhaps the storms will also provide one last non-Mercedes winner this season although the rain often exaggerates the gap from Mercedes to the rest of the field so I wouldn’t count it.

The random this time will be a mixture of driver groupings (think teammate domination style), Felipe Massa questions and tie-breaks.

Read on for the random and other information including team contracts, championship standings and a template to post picks.

United States 2014 Results and Championship Standings (17/19)

The decisive moment

Hamilton does it again! The title is now out of Rosberg's hands but there may still be heartbreak at the last race if Mercedes encounter reliability problems or Hamilton puts in two sub par performances.

Other notable mentions in the race include the excellent Daniel Ricciardo, who once again put his teammate in the shadows, and Pastor Maldonado, who scored his first points of the season.

Ricciardo was particularly impressive as a series of brilliant overtakes and bursts of speed saw the young Aussie jump from 9th/10th on the first lap to the podium. Well done! This has huge implications for the prediction league too.

The crowd goes crazy as MICHAEL WINS THE US GP! 

A lot of silly season nonsense was ended with the following announcements:
Note: none concern Alonso and his involvement in the prediction league.

Ferrari

Ferrari have signed Joe Watson and Chris Grigson to lead their charge next season. In a bold press conference Marco Mattiacci stated both drivers had put the team ahead of their own needs and that he couldn't thank them enough. He also praised their skill in delivering three top four finishes in as many races. Mattiacci promised an improvement on Ferrari's worst year ever, currently in 7th in the constructors championship, building up to an onslaught on the title in 2016. 

Red Bull

Red Bull have signed Ediglo as number two driver to Kiszol, who is currently 5th in the drivers championship. Christian Horner was extremely critical of the Renault engines, stating only one word did justice to the disgrace they were and that word was cucumber! He also said they were considering replacing the engine with a couple of horses. The team expect to be challenging for both titles next year regardless of which animal they employ.

Mercedes

Finally Mercedes have signed Aled Lewis to accompany Metalgatherer into the 2015 season. Toto Wolff claimed Aled Lewis' two wins and a podium were instrumental in the decision but that he, Niki and Paddy wanted more consistency going forward. 

As mentioned before, Ricciardo's excellent race and utter ruthlessness in the face of Williams' inadequate strategy has given Michael a weekend to remember. The gap at the top of the championship is now paper thin and promises an extremely entertaining end to the season, also don't forget Sangan who is within touching distance. Good luck Michael and Sangan! 

Championship standings

Podium facts
Michael's 2nd win of the season and 2nd overall
Joe's 4th podium finish of the season (tied 3rd) and 7th overall (tied 6th)
Paul's 2nd podium finish of the season and 4th overall (tied 10th)

Current streaks
Nat - 9 points finishes (tied 1st, personal best)
Scott - 7 points finishes
Kiszol - 6 points finishes
Marussia - 14 points finishes
McLaren - 11 points finishes
Ferrari - 8 points finishes
Red Bull - 6 points finishes

Streaks ended
Scott - 2 win streak

United States GP 2014 - F1 Prediction League

Sorry for the delay (I've been travelling on business), thanks to Nat for his contribution to this thread.

Welcome to the US of A for the 17^th Grand Prix of a terrific 2014 season. With the title fight going down to the wire and Nico Rosberg desperately needing a win to grab the momentum back off the hard-charging Lewis Hamilton, this weekend could be huge – like everything else in the USA, particularly their burgers.

Less huge will be the Formula One grid this weekend, with both the financially troubled minnows of the sport, Marussia and Caterham, missing the Grand Prix. The news about Marussia was something of a surprise, although Caterham’s cash problems (and ownership issues) have been well-documented in recent months, including an astonishing story that all kinds of key equipment (simulators, development parts and so forth) was to be auctioned off. It prompted this amusing article on the satirical site Sniff Petrol suggesting that Kamui Kobayashi may be the next to be auctioned off.                                                  

It will be a shame to see just 18 cars on the grid this weekend – the lowest since 2005 – and the latest development in what has been a tough month for the sport with Bianchi’s accident in Japan. Bianchi is now a in stable condition, but there’s still a long way to go – our thoughts and wishes are with him.

On the Prediction League front last weekend proved fairly dramatic, with changes at the top of both the Constructors and main Prediction League following Red Bull’s disastrous performance around the Sochi Autodrom. There’s still plenty to play for with both titles remaining closely fought, as they have done all season, and people fighting to retain their seat – or grab a nice shiny new one. Marussia's plunge into administration has huge implications for the PL but Ross Brawn (Team Principal) has convinced Bernie to support him for three more races, before he goes fishing again. Who will come out on top this weekend?

The current championship standings are:

Russia Results and Championship Standings (16/19)

Russia had Hamilton stamped all over it from FP1 (where he looked faster but failed to hook the sectors up). In FP2, FP3 and qualifying Hamilton excelled and the only moment of the weekend which shifted the balance towards Rosberg was on the run down to turn 2. Clinical from Hamilton who takes a 17 point lead into the rest of the championship - can Rosberg stop his momentum in one of Hamilton's best races?

Fine performances from Valtteri Bottas and Jenson Button led to significant points scored for Williams and McLaren in their respective championship battles with Ferrari and Force India.

In the prediction league  there has been a complete shift in the balance. Red Bull's poor weekend made this the second poorest scoring weekend of the whole championship (after Britain). There has been a change in first, second, third, fourth and fifth in the championship and Nat moves into the top nine after starting in China (Round 4 without season). Also there has been a change at the top of the Constructors Championship.

Championship standings

Podium facts
Scott's 5th win of the season (1st) and 8th overall (1st)
Nat's 4th podium finish of the season (tied 3rd)
Chris's 2nd podium finish of the season

Current streaks
Scott - 2 win streak
Nat - 8 points finishes (tied 2nd, personal best)
Scott - 6 points finishes
Kiszol - 5 points finishes
Marussia - 13 points finishes
McLaren - 10 points finishes
Ferrari - 7 points finishes
Red Bull - 5 points finishes

Streaks ended
Sangan - 8 points finishes (tied 2nd overall)

Sangan - 3 podium finishes (tied 1st)
Lotus - 26 points finishes

Russia 2014 (Round 16) - F1 Prediction League

A cloud follows F1 to the inaugural Russian GP in Sochi after Bianchi's severe injuries at Suzuka. As stated before, everyone is routing for him to pull through and to recover from his diffuse axonal injury.

Russia had big celebrations planned but these will (rightfully) be toned down despite a Russian driving in F1 (Kvyat) who has just secured a place at the four-time constructors champions, Red Bull. 

The random this week will be based around Kvyat and a few other topical issues.

There are, as always, plenty of interesting threads to this weekend. Will Rosberg be able to stop Hamilton from achieving his second four-win streak of the season? Can Williams overcome Red Bull? Will Fernando actually finish a race? 

For updates on the team hiring situation see the previous post (results from Japan).

The current championship standings are:

Japan Results and Championship Standings (15/19)

First off before anything else, I echo Jenson's tweet. The only positive news so far is that Jules is 'stable' - fingers crossed he can keep fighting and will come through this.

In the last few days Jean Todt reported that Michael Schumacher 'can live a relatively normal life within a short period of time' which is potentially promising news so I'll be hoping for Bianchi.

Apart from the incident the race was quite promising, a first wet race since Brazil 2012. It saw titanic performances from Hamilton and Button. Jenson was on the pace of the Mercedes early in the race and really showed his worth to the McLaren (Honda) team - once again braving the conditions and making his driving in the intermediate conditions pay-off. The Red Bull's also pushed hard and looked impressive throughout with Vettel critically scoring a rare victory over Ricciardo in the race.

Then there's the ongoing Alonso saga and Vettel's departure from Red Bull. Who knows what will happen from here? Alonso claims to hold all of the cards but the only options seem to be: (1) McLaren-Honda (2) somewhere like Lotus (3) a sabbatical (4) refusing to leave Ferrari and (5) three car teams. I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

In the prediction league Sangan extends their lead at the top to nine points, courtesy of a third podium in a row.

Championship standings

Podium facts

Scott's 4th win of the season (1st) and 7th overall (1st)
Sangan's 6th podium finish of the season (tied 1st) and 10th podium overall (2nd)
Kim's 2nd podium finish of the season and 7th overall (6th)

Current streaks
Sangan - 3 podium finishes (tied 1st, personal best)
Sangan - 8 points finishes (tied 2nd, personal best)
Nat - 7 points finishes (tied 6th, personal best)
Scott - 5 points finishes
Kiszol - 4 points finishes

Streaks ended
Michael - 8 points finishes (tied 2nd overall, third time this landmark has been reached by Michael)

Japan 2014 (Round 15) - F1 Prediction League

Suzuka, Japan. One of the best tracks on the calendar - it's always a joy to watch cars attack here, around the S's, the Degners and the Spoon curbs.

For updates on the team hiring situation see the previous post (results from Singapore).

The battle for the championship will be intense here - Rosberg needs to stop Hamilton's momentum (just like at Monaco) but Suzuka has never been his best track. In 2013, he qualified 6th compared to Hamilton's 3rd and in 2012, he qualified 14th compared to Schumacher's 12th. Arguably he needs to be on pole to put doubts in Hamilton's mind but that's going to be very difficult to do.

There are many other thoughts - who will be second best...Red Bull? Williams? Ferrari? Any could feature around the technically demanding Suzuka.

The current championship standings are:

Singapore Results and Championship Standings (14/19)

Sorry for the delay! This has been an incredibly hectic week and I wanted to think on the most appropriate method of how teams will judge/hire drivers.

If you want to battle for a seat, please post here. See later on in the post for details of team responses and current progress.

Singapore was just the tonic Hamilton needed after a season of ill luck and qualifying mistakes. The qualifying mistake was almost there but he did enough to edge Rosberg and set up a tantalising race. Unfortunately Nico had to retire from mechanical problems. Aside from the luck becoming more equal (it's always great when the better driver wins the championship) the beginning of the race was dulled by the lack of Rosberg's presence.

Cue Perez and Sutil (two of F1's more likely crashers) and the safety car comes out. How Sutil didn't receive a penalty for putting another driver in the wall is beyond me - despite the initiative to let drivers race, in clear cut cases like this penalties should be applied. 

The safety car took 7 long laps (it felt like 100) to sort itself out (way too long and I agree it would be better to make lapped cars fall to the back of the pack - it could be done instantly and would solve so many problems). 

The race from that moment was exciting - Hamilton had to push, on reasonably old super softs, in an impressive display of driving. This was remniscent of Vettel last year at Singapore or some of Schumacher's race stints in the past.

So all-in-all we had another good race. There have been so few bad races this year which is positive for the sport!

Onto the prediction league, congratulations to Sangan (2nd win), ediglo (5th podium) and Aled Lewis (4th podium)!

This was one of the closest weekends in prediction league history with 8 drivers separated by one point at the top. There were multiple ways to get to that score with the relatively unfavoured Ricciardo winning qualifying and relatively unfavoured Vettel winning race.

Sangan's strong weekend extended their advantage out in front for both the championship standings and constructors.

Here are the championship standings:

  

Singapore 2014 (Round 14) - F1 Prediction League

Welcome to the Singapore prediction league thread! Things are heating up at the top of the PL with only five points separating first and second. 

Singapore is always a spectacle, not always completely entertaining but there have been enough exciting races to merit its place on the calendar. The night lights and the intensity of driving the cars here adds something different to many other locations.

There are many questions: Can Hamilton keep up the pressure on Rosberg? Or will this be a decisive blow to his title hopes like 2010 and 2012? Also will Ferrari fare better on a track less dependent on engine power? Di Montezemolo has stepped down so they will be hoping their fortunes turn soon.

2015 Contracts

It's that time of the year again, it is time to claim your stake in your preferred Constructor next year. Please see the table below for team moods:

Either post in the comments below or in the speculation thread. This can be a re-iteration of your commitment to your current team (with potential wage increases) or an offer to drive for another team. Typically once an offer has been made to take another seat, there will be a battle between the current driver and the offerer over three or so races. Depending on the current situation within a team the incumbent driver sometimes will have a positive handicap so the offerer needs to do something special to take their seat.

Teams will often decline offers straight off if they are very happy with their current drivers (e.g. Lotus) so you'll need to balance how realistic the bid is (based on your constructors points and past year performances) versus how happy each team are with their drivers.

Note: it's possible to make a maximum of two offers at once, including your current team. Each team will only consider three offers at once.

Without further ado let’s introduce the championship standings:

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Random

Thanks to everyone who has helped so far on random this year - please feel free to post suggestions here for other races. Michael helped with the random this time.

Predict the order of the full qualifying grid by highest classified car (e.g. Williams will finish ahead of Red Bull if they qualify 3rd and 17th while Red Bull qualify 4th and 5th) per Constructor. For each Constructor predict the driver who will do better across the weekend and whether the Constructor will finish higher, lower or the same in the race. 

For example:

1. Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, Same
2. Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel, Same
3. Williams, Felipe Massa, Lower
4. Ferrari, Fernando Alonso, Higher
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Scoring

Qualification order

3 points will be scored for predicting the position of a team exactly right, 2 points for being one away and 1 point for being two away.

Driver prediction

1 point for finishing higher in qualifying and 1 point for finishing higher in the race. Both cars must set a time in qualifying and finish the race for the respective points to count. 

Race prediction

2 points will be scored if correct, 1 point if the outcome is one away from succeeding e.g. if same is predicted but the Constructor gains one place.

Note: If neither driver sets a time in qualifying for a team or neither driver finishes in the race then they will be ignored in the calculation. For instance, in the example above if neither Mercedes driver sets a time in qualifying then anyone who stated Red Bull 2nd (with Mercedes 1st) will score maximum points.

Tie-break

What will the gap be between a) Hamilton and Rosberg and b) Alonso and Raikkonen in qualifying? 

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Template

Hamilton, Rosberg and Mercedes banned.

Feel free to post picks in the following format:

Qualifying: 
Race: 
Constructors:
Random:
[Constructor, Driver, Higher/Same/Lower]
[Constructor, Driver, Higher/Same/Lower] etc.

Tie-break: HAM/ROS: X seconds, ALO/RAI: X seconds

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I'm looking forward to this weekend. As always with the title battle nicely poised (both around evens on most bookmakers) there is plenty of excitement left in this season.

As always picks are due before Free Practice 1.