Think you know who’s going to be on pole position at Sepang? Fancy your chances of picking the top five finishers in the race?
Put your predicting powers to the test against thousands of other F1 fans for your chance to win from a stack of F1 prizes. But be quick – you have until the start of practice three on Saturday morning to make your Malaysian Grand Prix predictions.
Announcement: Predicting pole position
As of this round you can now also predict the pole position lap time. You will not score any points for this but how close you come to predicting the pole position time correctly may be used as a tie-breaker if necessary.
View the F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship standings here
The prizes
This year we’re giving away a pair of prizes every race weekend.
On top of that at the end of the year the top 12 finishers all get prizes – and whoever scores the highest overall will be going to the 2011 British Grand Prix. Here are the prizes in full:
Grand prize: Two grandstands tickets to the 2011 British Grand Prix
The person who scores the most points in the 2010 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship will win grandstand tickets to the 2011 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
This is the first time we’ve offered F1 race tickets as a prize at F1 Fanatic and I hope you all agree it’s a fitting reward for the F1 expert who can best predict who will be on top in 2010.
The grand prize winner will receive tickets to all three days of the 2011 British Grand Prix with reserved grandstand seating for the race.
Second place prize: An F1 painting of your choice
The second place finisher in the championship will win an F1 painting by Rob Ijbema.
You get to choose which F1 driver, present or past, will feature in the painting. Or you can pick one of the other motor racing paintings on Rob’s site Car-a-day.
Runners-up prizes: Autocourse 2010-2011
The ten players who finish in third to 12th positions in the championship will win a copy of the 2010-2011 edition of Autocourse.
The highly respected journal of Formula 1 and other major international four-wheeled racing series is published at the end of every season.
This year the publication marks its 60th anniversary edition.
NB. 2009 edition cover used for illustration
Race winners prize: The Lotus Story DVD Box Set
Duke Video are supplying the prize for the player who gets the highest score in each round.
With the Lotus name returning to F1 in 2010 what better prize than a DVD box set showing the history of this great team. This four-disc set “The Lotus Story” chronicles Lotus’s participation in F1 from the company’s beginning in 1948 up to its F1 withdrawal in 1994.
Duke are also offering a special promotion exclusive to all F1 Fanatic readers – whenever you order from them you can get 15% off using the promotional code F1Fanatic at the checkout.
Race runners-up prize: F1 race winner print
The second place finisher in each race will win a 40x35cm print of the race winner from Motorsport in Print.
How to enter
Entries will open in the week before every race. You have until the start of free practice three on Saturday to make your predictions.
You can post your predictions for the first race now below or wait until nearer the deadline. A reminder will be posted on the site after free practice two on Friday.
Each player may predict the pole sitter, the pole position lap time and the top five finishers in the race. See below for the rules in full.
Please try to pick an original and distinctive user name – something a bit more descriptive than just a first name. We had a lot of very similar entries last year!
[motorracingleague entry=4]
Competition terms and conditions
1. Maximum one entry per household.
2. The competition is not open to employees, friends or family of F1 Fanatic, Silverstone Circuit, Duke Video, Motorsport in Print, Car-a-Day or Icon Publishing Ltd.
3. Predictions will open up to one week before the start of final practice on the Saturday of a Grand Prix weekend and will be promoted on the front page of F1 Fanatic before closing prior to the start of final practice.
4. In each round players are invited to predict (a) who will be on pole position and (b) what the top five finishers will be (five different drivers).
5. Players accumulate points in each round as follows:
a. Correctly naming the pole sitter: 2 points
b. Correctly naming one/two/three/four/five driver/s who finish in the top five: 1/2/3/5/8 points
c. Correctly predicting where one/two/three/four/five driver/s finish: 2/6/14/24/40 points
6. Whoever scores the most points over the 19 races from round one (Bahrain) to 19 (Abu Dhabi) wins the grand prize.
7. In the event of a tie on points the winner will be determined by who came closest to predicting the pole position time correctly. If that fails to produce a winner the editor will choose a means of deciding who has won.
8. Predictions must be entered using the form or e-mailled to competition@f1fanatic.co.uk
9. Once a prediction has been made it cannot be altered.
10. In the event of a dispute the editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
11. No cash alternative is offered for any of the prizes.
12. Grand Prix tickets: Children must be accompanied by an adult. Accommodation and transport to the venue not included. Event date TBC.
13. Players who have won prizes will be notified by email within seven days of each Grand Prix. Lotus DVDs and F1 paintings will be despatched within 28 days of that email being sent. Grand Prix tickets will be despatched once they are available. Autocourse books will be despatched once they are published.
Don’t miss a single round of the F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship. Subscribe to F1 Fanatic using RSS, email or Twitter: Click here for more information.
Image (C) Ferrari spa
bob
2nd April 2010, 8:47
Everyone is betting only big8 and Kubica
Sabatino
2nd April 2010, 10:21
If it rain will be very difficult to make a correct prevision : I have decided to risk .
bob
2nd April 2010, 10:23
I think the kinda stupid predict is going to win. Just like we have :)
Patrickl
2nd April 2010, 12:25
Love the addition of the pole time.
Damon
2nd April 2010, 12:29
A POLE TIME?!?!?
Wow, what is that???
How do I put it???
00:00,000 or 00’00.000?
And how is this prediction scored??
Keith, this is a completely new thing. Care to explain it precisely, please?
Steven
2nd April 2010, 12:51
I can’t work it out. I put the lap time in and it comes up with ‘Lap time must be MM:SS.ccc format’ so I re-entered in like 01:33:103 (not the ACTUAL time I picked) and it still won’t enter :(
bob
2nd April 2010, 12:58
u have to put 1:33.103
irishlad (@irishlad)
2nd April 2010, 13:07
hope this helps
first you put 01(i presume)
then :33
the .333
so it shoul read 01:33.333
GQsm
3rd April 2010, 2:56
Key points.
You need a preceding 0 for the minute.
You need a colon : and a dot . in the right place or it won’t work. Look carefully at the format.
Your time should have a total of 7 digits.
For example 01:34.000
Nathan Bradley
2nd April 2010, 12:45
Sorry, completely wrong pole time!
I meant 01.33.762.
Hope there isn’t a tiebreak!
Player name: Nathan Bradley
innim
2nd April 2010, 16:29
I know how you feel, did exactly the same thing! Im now hoping that there is just enough rain to slow down the drivers in Q3 by 6 seconds!!!
Sharon
2nd April 2010, 21:48
Glad it’s not just me made a typo on the pole time…I am also now hoping for wet quali!
Sam...wise
2nd April 2010, 13:47
I reckon you should get 100 points if you predict the pole time to 100th of a second…it would be pretty special!!
MacLeod
2nd April 2010, 14:07
Which qualifer is going to count your you pole time? Q1, Q2 or Q3? I hope Q3
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
2nd April 2010, 14:12
The pole position time is the lap time set in Q3 by the driver who starts the race from pole position. (i.e. if a driver sets the fastest time but gets a grid penalty, the ‘pole position time’ is that time of whoever inherits pole position from him).
MacLeod
2nd April 2010, 14:32
i forgot it will be raining during the qualifer stupid of me…
polishboy808
2nd April 2010, 16:10
oh crap me too…… NOOOOO!!!!!!
George
2nd April 2010, 17:02
so if qualifying is wet then does the top ten tyre rule thing not count?
bob
2nd April 2010, 17:09
It not counts if q is dry and race wet or q wet and race dry, but if both are wet, Probably TOP10 can change tyres
F1 Novice
2nd April 2010, 17:47
If it rains Vettel/Schumacher on Pole if not my entry prediction stands
fernando
2nd April 2010, 17:58
Alonso, did you forget about Hungaroring? :)
Eastvillboy
2nd April 2010, 18:56
How many races do we need to go before people see that Vettel and Webber are not the same as last year.
The car has major reliability issues. Webber went off track in P2 and Vettel was complaining about Power steering issues.
For my money, Alonso, Button, Hamilton and Massa are the ones to back (in that order).
bob
2nd April 2010, 19:04
Red bulls are fast, but they often have some issues. I think Vettel is going to finish year in third position in drivers championship
Martin
2nd April 2010, 21:04
maybe assuming a Vettel retirement (in my predictions) wasn’t really a stretch at this point…
statix
2nd April 2010, 19:13
someone bet 01:28.175 for pole!
this is crazy!!!! :)
bob
2nd April 2010, 19:18
there is also 1:23.5 and 1:23.5. People simply dont care it :D I think no chance to be better then 1:35 because of rain. I tried 1:38
slr
3rd April 2010, 22:44
LOL! Someone predicted a 1:13.
theRoswellite
2nd April 2010, 20:37
Keith: Excellent touch with the pole time.
The site just keeps getting better and better. If it isn’t too personal…is this a full time “job” for you now? In any case, you are doing a great job and it is nice to see everything growing and improving.
verstappen
2nd April 2010, 20:50
M, that pole time is hard, I’m thinking about rain, so… 01:51.021 – hope I’m not expecting a too slow lap
VET SCH VET ROS SUT MAS
Invoke
2nd April 2010, 21:06
Lot’s of people going for a wet pole lap time!
I’m risking it staying dry, with lots more rubber down by q3 gaining them another second, then another trademark lap from Vettel earning him pole once again.
Invoke
2nd April 2010, 21:09
Keith, if you made the ‘when’ column wider to allow the date to fit across one line, it would significantly reduce the size of the table & page.
Robbie
2nd April 2010, 21:14
Wow, someone predicted Liuzzi on pole. That’s crazy!
Giuseppe
2nd April 2010, 21:22
I cant put a prediction, quite frustrated now.
How do you do the pole lap time, keeps telling me to use the correct format?
Ive tried 01.39.414 and 01:39:414 and 1.39.414 but they don’t work
Patrickl
2nd April 2010, 21:29
The only thing I didn’t get was the leading zero. Why do we need the ability to enter 2 digits for the minutes?
Other than that … it’s a lap TIME! So enter 01:39.414
ianhaycox
2nd April 2010, 22:49
When I wrote the plugin I pondered this for some time and noted that lap times for the old Nurburgring are +10 minutes. Hence the leading zero.
Robbie
2nd April 2010, 21:53
First break is a colon, second break is a period / full stop.
You want to put in 01:39.414
Giuseppe
3rd April 2010, 5:57
Thanks, worked!
sumedh
2nd April 2010, 21:37
Erm, how are the points for prediction of the pole lap time being calculated?
Enigma
3rd April 2010, 8:40
No points, it’s just a tie-breaker, in case two people have the same number of points. Then it’s probably about who is closest to the actual time.
matt90
2nd April 2010, 22:21
A lot of people didn’t seem to take rain into account. Unfortunately, I have no idea how much of an impact rain would have on time anyway.
Martin
2nd April 2010, 22:34
I don’t get why Ferrari is tweeting this stuff (as mentioned above) – sandbagging? It IS going to rain, right?
“session finished with alonso 7th and massa 15th. There is a lot of work to do to prepare the race: we can foresee a very difficult weekend”
John
3rd April 2010, 1:55
I think that Button takes a huge step forward this weekend and starts to drive like a champion. I also expect a better showing from Mercedes in general and Schumi in particular.
chesat
3rd April 2010, 2:04
I missed to complete the last race prediction. Now, I get this error: “Email address does not match previous entry”.
Does that mean I cannot predict anymore this season?
radanovic petar
3rd April 2010, 2:06
my forecast of a 2 1 Fernando Alonso Felipe mass 3niko Rosberg
inc0mmunicado
3rd April 2010, 3:28
I just used last year’s fastest Q2 time!
Blake Merriam (Pengo)
3rd April 2010, 3:57
I’m looking at peoples predictions, and I think there is some confusion about Pole and Position 1. They are one and the same right? I see a lot of people predicting one driver for pole but another for position 1. Yes, the person scoring pole could get a penalty, but my guess is that people are confused by the way its presented.
Also, how does the lap time work? Who is “closest”? Does it matter if the predicted time is less than or greater than the actual time?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd April 2010, 7:58
No.
No.
Pole is who starts from pole position.
Position one is who finishes first in the race:
anthony
3rd April 2010, 4:14
01:36.103s for pole
Ozzi
3rd April 2010, 5:55
I seem to be having trouble making my prediction?
Pole Time 1:32.792
Pole Sebastian Vettel
Position 1 Sebastian Vettel
Position 2 Fernando Alonso
Position 3 Mark Webber
Position 4 Lewis Hamilton
Position 5 Nico Rosberg
maclarista
3rd April 2010, 6:58
1’33″580
Vetel
Vetel
Hamilton
Massa
AlonsoB
Button
Weber
bob
3rd April 2010, 8:10
Why people are publishing their predictions in comments?
Mouse_Nightshirt
3rd April 2010, 8:17
01:32.935
Pole: Vettel
P1: HAM
P2: ALO
P3: BUT
P4: VET
P5: MAS
Keith, submission time should end when qualy begins, I suspect it’s finishing too early.
bob
3rd April 2010, 8:28
I suspect u had 2 free minutes in thursday and friday when u could add predictions
Mouse_Nightshirt
3rd April 2010, 8:40
But then you’re at a disadvantage as you haven’t seen practice form yet.
And yesterday, boy I didn’t have time!
The Comedian 39
3rd April 2010, 8:29
Dam! I’m too late, was busy yesterday & just got up :(
Arhn
3rd April 2010, 8:38
I woke up early this morning to predict… The Internet went down for about 2 hours… came back 15 minutes too late… Too bad. I guess back luck can happen to drivers and “predicters” =p
Patrickl
3rd April 2010, 16:25
I guess the predictions can go in the bin again, but still. I did my usual calculations on them and came up with the following:
Pole Perc Number
VET 56% 530
HAM 36% 344
ALO 4% 34
WEB 2% 17
BUT 1% 10
Not a whole lot of people got that one right :)
For the race win we have the following:
P1 Perc Number
HAM 44% 416
VET 32% 305
ALO 12% 119
BUT 5% 44
MAS 4% 35
WEB 1% 13
SCH 1% 13
ROS 1% 7
SUT 0% 1
I gave the predictions F1 style scores again and added all those up. For instance a prediction with HAM to finish on P1 and ALO on P2 would give HAM 25 points and ALO 18 points.
The resulting top 5 scores from 953 predictions are:
Driver Score
HAM 17744
VET 14771
ALO 13316
BUT 9354
ROS 5580
Not many people got close to the pole time. The closest one was well over half a second away:
Player PoleTime Difference
Oxley_K 1:08,798 -0,529
Gusto 1:08,565 -0,762
Richard Smillie 1:08,323 -1,004
verstappen 1:11,021 1,694
Swanky F1 1:11,133 1,806
Darren
4th April 2010, 4:54
I seem to be good at predicting poles, Ive got 2 outta 3 this season, but races are a different matter:(