(A few days late with this, but my master's thesis is being handed in tomorrow so I have an excuse
)So hello there to everyone, and welcome to the brand new season of Predicament Predictions, back again for its fifth year under my terrifying command. What shall follow for the season ahead is a grand effort by our forumites to attempt to predict the future, to varying success, and for GRAND PRIZES! Each racing weekend our competitors will attempt to guess from the F1 race the top 10 results, as well as a variety of other bonus answers. A template would look something like this.
1. The driver that will come in 1st.
2. The driver that will come in 2nd.
...etc.
10. The driver that will come in 10th.
Pole: The driver who gets pole position.
Fastest Lap: The driver who gets fastest lap.
First Retirement: as it says on the tin. Generally, DNSs are nowadays counted as first retirements as well.
Reject of the Race: the driver, person, country or abstract concept who wins the Reject of the Race award on our forum following the race.
Infinite Improbability Drive of the Race: the driver who most exceeds expectations in a positive way during the race.
Deadbeat Teammate of the Race: the driver who is mathematically the furthest behind their teammate in terms of positions when the race is done.
Last Place: the driver who will cross the line in last place.
How Far Back: How many laps down will said last-placed driver finish.
There is also a bonus point handed out each event for the funniest alternative race title that you can come up with.
This competition is run every race weekend, almost always opening on the Monday preceding the event. It closes the moment FP3 finishes for that event - if you're late you can still post, but will incur penalties on your prediction score.
Scores are counted as such: 1st: 5 points; 2nd and 3rd: 3 points; 4th - 10th: 2 points; any top 10 incorrectly placed: 1 point; pole position: 2 points; fastest lap: 1 point; first retirement: 2 points; ROTR and IIDOTR: 3 points; DBTMOTR: 2 points; LP and HFB: 1 point; funniest alternative race title: 1 point.
This is probably a big overload of information, but it is very simple, and everyone can take part. Due to the absolute bloat that is the current calendar, I'm operating dropped scores the moment any participant tops 18 different scores. That way, if you do miss a weekend, it won't make a difference to your score. Here's a typical template:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Pole:
Fastest lap:
First retirement:
ROTR:
IIDOTR:
DBTMOTR:
LP:
HFB:
My prediction will be that Ferrari will finally have got their arses into gear for the start of a season. In vain I shall hope that this is Leclerc's year:
1. Charles Leclerc
2. Carlos Sainz
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Daniel Ricciardo
5. Max Verstappen
6. Sergio Pérez
7. Valtteri Bottas
8. Pierre Gasly
9. Kevin Magnussen
10. Lance Stroll
Pole: Carlos Sainz Jr.
Fastest lap: Daniel Ricciardo
First retirement: Guanyu Zhou
ROTR: George Russell (not at all on Hamilton's pace, and retires from an unforced error)
IIDOTR: Daniel Ricciardo (his best race in years, and chases Hamilton for the podium all race)
DBTMOTR: Mick Schumacher
LP: Lando Norris (some kind of puncture and he has to trundle around depressed for the second half)
HFB: 2 laps
Good luck everyone, and looking forward to the new season
