Your 2018 F1 Predictions: The Results

2018, Twitter Predictions / By /

Back in March, ahead of the 2018 F1 season, we posted 15 prediction polls on the Lights Out twitter account about the upcoming year. Now we’ve reached the end of the season, it’s time to take a look back! How many of your predictions were correct? Find out below!

1. Which rookie will score more points in 2018?

CORRECT ANSWER: CHARLES LECLERC

75% of you correctly predicted Charles Leclerc would score more points over the course of the season than Sergey Sirotkin. The Sauber was much more competitive throughout the year, with Leclerc putting in a handful of impressive drives to score 39 points over the course of the season. Meanwhile, Sirotkin scored just one point in 2018 in his uncompetitive Williams. Despite never finishing in the top ten on track, the Russian claimed his only point as a result of Romain Grosjean’s disqualification from the Italian Grand Prix. 

2. Which nationality will score more points over the season?

CORRECT ANSWER: FINLAND

Yes, the Finnish drivers once again scored more points collectively than drivers from any other nation. Kimi Raikkonen’s third place in the Drivers’ Championship and Valtteri Bottas’ fifth gave the nation a combined score of 498, 90 more than Lewis Hamilton single-handedly scored for Britain. Sebastian Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg scored 389 points in total for Germany, while Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Romain Grosjean mustered up 115 points for France. 

3. Will Fernando Alonso win a Grand Prix in 2018?

CORRECT ANSWER: NO

In what has turned out to be his final year in Formula 1, Fernando Alonso failed to score a race win due to the McLaren car’s lack of performance. Perhaps the Spaniard would be sticking around for 2019 had he been given the goods to take victories with. 



4. How many races will be affected by rain?

CORRECT ANSWER: 2 or LESS

The German Grand Prix was the only race to be truly affected by rain this year. While rain threatened at several events this year, it seemed to only come after the podium celebrations. Meanwhile, both qualifying sessions in Hungary and Belgium were hit by rainfall. 

5. What will Renault’s best result be?

CORRECT ANSWER: 5th

Many of us thought this season we’d see Renault on the podium; in fact just 21% believed the team’s best result this year would be as low as fifth. While the Enstone team have been far more consistent this season on their way to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, we didn’t see many headline performances from their drivers. Their best result was fifth – which Carlos Sainz achieved at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and Nico Hulkenberg equalled at his home event.  

6. Which team will finish higher in the Constructors’ Championship?

CORRECT ANSWER: HAAS

As 52% of you correctly predicted Haas upped their game this season to be best of these four teams. They finished a best-ever fifth in the championship in only their third season in the sport. Sauber, who finished last in this poll, scored more points than both Williams and Toro Rosso combined. 

7. How many different drivers will win a Grand Prix in 2018?

CORRECT ANSWER: 5

Valtteri Bottas was the only driver from the top three teams to fail score a victory in 2018, meaning five drivers won a race in total. The number of different winners is the same as in 2017. Lewis Hamilton took the most victories with eleven, Sebastian Vettel won on five occasions, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen each recorded two wins for Red Bull and Kimi Raikkonen became the fifth different race winner of the year with a popular victory at the US Grand Prix.

8. Will McLaren finish on the podium at any race this season?

CORRECT ANSWER: NO

The optimism around McLaren’s chances at the beginning of the 2018 season was high, as 65% of you believed a McLaren car would finish in the top three at least once this year. Sadly, the team didn’t take the step forward expected as they switched from Honda to Renault power, and were far from taking a podium at any round in 2018. Fernando Alonso’s fifth place at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix was the team’s best result of the entire season. Nevertheless, with sixth in the championship, McLaren equal their best championship result since 2014.

9. Will Max Verstappen take his maiden pole position in 2018?

CORRECT ANSWER: NO

Almost 80% thought Max Verstappen would become the sport’s youngest polesitter this season. Perhaps he blew his main chance by crashing in Free Practice Three in Monaco and being unable to set a single lap during a qualifying session in which his team-mate took pole position. He also missed out by 0.026 seconds to his team-mate in Mexico. The youngest polesitter is a record which Verstappen has now missed out on, as by the time of the 2019 Australian Grand Prix he’ll be older than Sebastian Vettel was when he took pole at Monza in 2008. The Dutchman could still become the sport’s youngest World Champion next year though.  

10. Will the title be decided at the final Grand Prix of the season?

CORRECT ANSWER: NO

Lewis Hamilton’s impressive form, and Sebastian Vettel’s lack thereof, saw the title decided in Mexico, at the nineteenth round of the 21 race season. The Constructors’ Championship was wrapped up by Mercedes at the penultimate round of the year in Brazil. It’s the first time since 2004 that the Drivers’ Championship hasn’t been decided at the final round of the season in an even-numbered year. 

11. How many points will the 2018 World Champion score?

CORRECT ANSWER: 381 OR MORE

Lewis Hamilton’s domination in the second half of the season saw him set a new record for most points scored in one year. By the end of 2018, Lewis Hamilton took 408 points from the 21 races. There are only 22 drivers in the history of F1 who have scored more points than that in their entire careers! 

12. Will any driver be replaced during the 2018 F1 season?

CORRECT ANSWER: NO

For the first time in Formula 1 history, all the teams maintained the same driver line-ups for the entire season. There were rumours of Brendon Hartley being replaced by Pascal Wehrlein around the time of the Canadian Grand Prix, though that failed to materialise. Meanwhile, Sky F1 reported that Lewis Hamilton was ill ahead of final practice for the German Grand Prix, even suggesting that George Russell was running down the paddock to jump into his car for the weekend. As it turned out, Hamilton had no ailments. 

13. Will Kimi Raikkonen re-sign with Ferrari for 2019?

CORRECT ANSWER: NO

Over three quarters of you believed this would be Kimi Raikkonen’s final season with Ferrari, and you were correct. The Finn put in some great performances this year, notably taking pole at Monza and winning the US Grand Prix, but the team have opted to switch old for new as Charles Leclerc will step up to the Scuderia in 2019. Raikkonen will remain in the sport though, as he moves back to Sauber; the team he made his debut with in 2001. 

14. Which team will win the 2018 F1 Constructors’ Championship?

CORRECT ANSWER: MERCEDES

For only the second time in F1 history, a team have won five consecutive Constructors’ Championships. Ferrari were first to achieve the record in 2003, and Mercedes have done the same in 2018. It wasn’t plain sailing for the team this year though; they accumulated their lowest number of points across a season since the beginning of the hybrid era and won by the smallest margin since Red Bull in 2012. Should they win again in 2019, Mercedes will equal Ferrari’s record of six consecutive championships.   

15. Who will win the 2018 F1 World Championship?

CORRECT ANSWER: LEWIS HAMILTON

It was a question we posed after each race of the season, with the leader changing seemingly after every race. In the end though, just as over half of you predicted before the season began, Lewis Hamilton took the 2018 honours and became only the third driver in Formula 1’s history to secure five championship victories. 

THE FINAL SCORE: The majority of you got nine out of the fifteen prediction questions correct. We’ll be back next season with more!



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