The 2018 Formula 1 Season - 15 Questions

Jimlaad43 · Mar 15, 2018

Formula 1 is back in 1 week! Who's excited? I am, and I'm sure a lot you are as well. Pre-season testing always throws up questions, and here at RD, we want to see them answered. A mini-tradition on the site now, 15 questions about the upcoming season to be answered before it starts. At the end of the season we will revisit these and find out who guessed best!

Disclaimer: Please try to be specific in your answers, it makes it really difficult if your answer is vague and not exactly what the question asks for. Answers not clear enough will be counted as wrong.

Who will win the Drivers Championship?
Which team will win the Constructors Championship?
The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be...
Who will out-qualify their team mate the most? What will their head-to-head record be? (21 races)?
Which drivers will win a race?
Which teams, other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, will score a podium?
Will any drivers be replaced for a race/races? If so, who for who?
Will every team score points? If so, when will this first happen?
What will be the biggest controversy of the season?
How many Red Flags will there during races?
How many races will Lewis Hamilton not be on Pole Position?
Which race will be the best of the year?
How many wet races will there be (at least 1 driver running on Intermediate or Wet tyres)?
Which team will take the most Grid Penalties?
At which race will the Drivers Championship be decided?

Post your predictions below.

the202 · Mar 18, 2018

14. Toro Rosso (Honda engines)
6. Force India, Renault

Jimlaad43 · Mar 18, 2018

I better get my predictions posted early on.

Who will win the Drivers Championship? Hamilton
Which team will win the Constructors Championship? Mercedes
The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be... Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas
Who will out-qualify their team mate the most? What will their head-to-head record be? (21 races)? Vettel (18-3)
Which drivers will win a race? HAM, VER, RIC, BOT, VET, HUL
Which teams, other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, will score a podium? Renault, McLaren, Force India
Will any drivers be replaced for a race/races? If so, who for who? Magnussen with Giovinazzi
Will every team score points? If so, when will this first happen? Yes, Canada
What will be the biggest controversy of the season? The halo saves a drivers life and internet haters have to shut up
How many Red Flags will there during races? 0
How many races will Lewis Hamilton not be on Pole Position? 9
Which race will be the best of the year? French
How many wet races will there be (at least 1 driver running on Intermediate or Wet tyres)? 3
Which team will take the most Grid Penalties? Red Bull
At which race will the Drivers Championship be decided? Brazil

the_sigman · Mar 18, 2018

Hamilton
Mercedes
Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo
Vettel, 16-5
Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Bottas
McLaren and Renault
None
Yes, they will, Sauber will be the 10th team to score points and it will happen at Baku
A debate between the teams about regulations, let's say oil burning.
One
12
Paul Ricard
Four
Toro Rosso
Brazil

the_sigman · Mar 18, 2018

Jimlaad43 said:
Which drivers will win a race? HUL

Bold statement there Mr. Laad

Jimlaad43 · Mar 18, 2018

the_sigman said:
Bold statement there Mr. Laad

Renault should be quick this year, and Hulkenberg deserves a win. It'll be in a bonkers wet race like at Brazil, where he's always quick in the wet.

the_sigman · Mar 18, 2018

Jimlaad43 said:
Renault should be quick this year, and Hulkenberg deserves a win. It'll be in a bonkers wet race like at Brazil, where he's always quick in the wet.

Well, it is not impossible, but I still think that Sainz will take a couple of podiums and Hulk none

Deleted member 205301 · Mar 18, 2018

Who will win the Drivers Championship? => Hamilton
Which team will win the Constructors Championship? => mercedes
The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be... => Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel
Who will out-qualify their team mate the most? What will their head-to-head record be? (21 races)? => Gasly on hartley (14-7)
Which drivers will win a race? => Hamilton / Bottas / Vettel / Ricciardo
Which teams, other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, will score a podium? => Renault
Will any drivers be replaced for a race/races? If so, who for who? => Ocon, by Russel, for a race
Will every team score points? If so, when will this first happen? => nope, Sauber and Williams won't
What will be the biggest controversy of the season? => Verstappen and Ricciardo fight in France (track-limits violation by both and the eternal talk about track limits)
How many Red Flags will there during races? => 3 in the entire season (2 for rain)
How many races will Lewis Hamilton not be on Pole Position? => 7
Which race will be the best of the year? => COTA
How many wet races will there be (at least 1 driver running on Intermediate or Wet tyres)? => 4
Which team will take the most Grid Penalties? => Toro Rosso
At which race will the Drivers Championship be decided? => COTA

@++

dersirromet · Mar 18, 2018

Who will win the Drivers Championship? Hamilton
Which team will win the Constructors Championship? Mercedes
The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be... Hamilton, Vettel, Hamilton(after deciding to split his points into two parts)
Who will out-qualify their team mate the most? What will their head-to-head record be? (21 races)? Whoever's the teammate of Vandoorne. 20 - 1(we all remember the infamous Belgium GP-qualifying, where Alonso's car slipped over mysteriously appearing and highly-delicious waffles in Turn 6, as cameras were showing quickly leaving members of the Vandoorne family closeby. The car crashed into the wall, broke a suspension and a front wing and is still suffering from Diabetes II.)
Which drivers will win a race? Hamilton, Vettel, Ricciardo, Raikkonen(unintentionally though), Verstappen, Bottas, Alonso(After stealing a Mercedes and painting it orange, nobody noticed)
Which teams, other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, will score a podium? All of them! This is a highly-interesting and close racing series as it is the most famous one, there are only 10 teams and there are 63 spots on the podium over the year, so of course all of them will make the podium at some point, because if it's just 3 or 4 again that share the podium all the time, why would we be watching this?
Will any drivers be replaced for a race/races? If so, who for who? Kubica will sporadously jump into random cars on the starting grid before the races, but elsewise, no, mostly because no driver actually wants to do F1 anymore, they're all lined up to get a seat in the action-packed and highly respected Formula E!
Will every team score points? If so, when will this first happen? First race, straight away!
What will be the biggest controversy of the season? Pee-gate.
How many Red Flags will there during races? Oh, a lot of them. My girlfriend for example will ask me during the Bahrain GP whether I will watch the WHOLE race, how long it takes and then start texting with her old boyfriend. If that's not a red flag, I don't know what is.
How many races will Lewis Hamilton not be on Pole Position? Dozens! Mostly in other racing series though.
Which race will be the best of the year? Still the 1993 European Grand Prix from Donington Park!
How many wet races will there be (at least 1 driver running on Intermediate or Wet tyres)? 8, although 9 if you include pee-gate.
Which team will take the most Grid Penalties? Wait, who has the Honda-engines this year? Toro Rosso? Okay, Toro Rosso.
At which race will the Drivers Championship be decided? Melbourne, the moment Hamilton decided to actually attend this year's championship.

* I just wanted to briefly mention the fact that pee-gate has NOTHING to do with Stroll, even though the name implies it. It also has nothing to do with Vandoorne, but that should be a given, as he's Number 2.

paracletus · Mar 18, 2018

Great that F1 is back. Will watch every race from start to finish.
Outside bet maybe:
1. FA
2. McLaren
3. FA, LH, SV
4. LH
5. FA, LH, SV, DR, MV
6. McLaren
7. No
8. Yes
9. Yes
10. 2 - Grid restarts.
11. 4
12. Spa
13. 4
14. TR
15. Abu dabby

Smartbean · Mar 18, 2018

I'll chime in on this one.

Who will win the Drivers Championship? Hamilton
Which team will win the Constructors Championship? Mercedes
The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be... Hamilton Vettel Verstappen
Who will out-qualify their team mate the most? What will their head-to-head record be? (21 races)? Leclerc over Ericsson 15-6
Which drivers will win a race? Hamilton Bottas Vettel Verstappen Ricciardo
Which teams, other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, will score a podium? Renault, Force India
Will any drivers be replaced for a race/races? If so, who for who? Alonso, if McLaren doesn't fare well again this season, could be replaced by Oliver Turvey, or maybe even Jenson Button
Will every team score points? If so, when will this first happen? Yes, if so, it will be early in the season at the French GP.
What will be the biggest controversy of the season? Halo snapping/breaking in a crash, resulting in a head injury for the driver.
How many Red Flags will there during races? 1
How many races will Lewis Hamilton not be on Pole Position? 4
Which race will be the best of the year? Singapore
How many wet races will there be (at least 1 driver running on Intermediate or Wet tyres)? 3
Which team will take the most Grid Penalties? McLaren, still a lot of liability issues
At which race will the Drivers Championship be decided? Suzuka

Filip Carlén · Mar 18, 2018

Who will win the Drivers Championship? Vettel
Which team will win the Constructors Championship? Mercedes
The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be... Vettel, Hamilton, Bottas
Who will out-qualify their team mate the most? What will their head-to-head record be? (21 races)? Alonso on Vandoorne, 16-5
Which drivers will win a race? Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Verstappen, and Alonso
Which teams, other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, will score a podium? McLaren and Williams
Will any drivers be replaced for a race/races? If so, who for who? Yes, Sirotkin will be replaced for one race only by Kubica
Will every team score points? If so, when will this first happen? Yes, after COTA
What will be the biggest controversy of the season? Something something halo, either saves a life or cases a big crash
How many Red Flags will there during races? 2
How many races will Lewis Hamilton not be on Pole Position? 12
Which race will be the best of the year? Mexico
How many wet races will there be (at least 1 driver running on Intermediate or Wet tyres)? 5
Which team will take the most Grid Penalties? Toro Rosso, because of the Honda engine
At which race will the Drivers Championship be decided? Abu Dhabi

apex11 · Mar 18, 2018

I was reading the other day that factory teams will have a bit more pressure on them to give the customer teams the same spec engines etc as the factory team, cough. Mercedes...cough.... hopefully they will at least give Bottas the same spec engine....

Enzo Fazzi · Mar 18, 2018

Who will win the Drivers Championship? - Sebastian Vettel
Which team will win the Constructors Championship? Mercedes
The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be... - Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas
Who will out-qualify their team mate the most? What will their head-to-head record be? (21 races)? Alonso, 15 vs 6
Which drivers will win a race? Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo
Which teams, other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, will score a podium? Renault and McLaren.
Will any drivers be replaced for a race/races? If so, who for who? Tempting to say Sirotkin but I'm gonna go with a "No"
Will every team score points? If so, when will this first happen? Yes, Monaco.
What will be the biggest controversy of the season? Fist fight between Verstappen and Raikkonen
How many Red Flags will there during races? 1
How many races will Lewis Hamilton not be on Pole Position? 14
Which race will be the best of the year? Well done Baku
How many wet races will there be (at least 1 driver running on Intermediate or Wet tyres)? 3
Which team will take the most Grid Penalties? Engine looked reliable in testing but I'm going to go with Toro Rosso anyway.
At which race will the Drivers Championship be decided? Probably not how it's going to pan out but I'd like to see an exciting finale at Abu Dhabi.

Macxyn · Mar 18, 2018

Who will win the Drivers Championship? Hamilton
Which team will win the Constructors Championship? Mercedes
The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be… Hamilton, Vettel, Riccardo
Who will out-qualify their team mate the most? What will their head-to-head record be? (21 races)? LeClerc (14:7)
Which drivers will win a race? Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Riccardo, Verstappen
Which teams, other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, will score a podium? McLaren, Force India and hopefully Renault (Hülkenberg)
Will any drivers be replaced for a race/races? If so, who for who?
Will every team score points? If so, when will this first happen? Yes. In Hockenheim
What will be the biggest controversy of the season? Mercedes engine blowing up xD
How many Red Flags will there during races? 7
How many races will Lewis Hamilton not be on Pole Position? 15
Which race will be the best of the year? Hockenheim, Germany
How many wet races will there be (at least 1 driver running on Intermediate or Wet tyres)? 10
Which team will take the most Grid Penalties? McLaren
At which race will the Drivers Championship be decided? Interlagos, Brazil

pjlee1998 · Mar 18, 2018

Who will win the Drivers Championship? VET
Which team will win the Constructors Championship? Ferrari
The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be... VET, HAM, BOT
Who will out-qualify their team mate the most? What will their head-to-head record be? (21 races)? VET v RAI (15-6)
Which drivers will win a race? VET, HAM, BOT, VER, RIC
Which teams, other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, will score a podium? Force India, Renault, McLaren
Will any drivers be replaced for a race/races? If so, who for who? SIR for KUB
Will every team score points? If so, when will this first happen? Yes, French GP
What will be the biggest controversy of the season? Williams will not score any points until Kubica is promoted from reserve driver.
How many Red Flags will there during races? 3
How many races will Lewis Hamilton not be on Pole Position? 9
Which race will be the best of the year? Baku
How many wet races will there be (at least 1 driver running on Intermediate or Wet tyres)? 6
Which team will take the most Grid Penalties? McLaren
At which race will the Drivers Championship be decided? Abu Dhabi

Deleted member 205301 · Mar 18, 2018

Filip Carlén said:
Who will win the Drivers Championship? Vettle

The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be... Vettle,

Which drivers will win a race? , Vettle,

A new driver on the grid ?

Ryder7538 · Mar 18, 2018

1.Vettel
2.RedBull
3.Vettel, Hamilton, Verstappen
4.Vettel (20-1) He really sucks at Silverstone usually.
5.Vet,Ham,Ver,Ric,Bot,Hul,Str
6.Mclaren,Renault,Force Whatever,Williams
7.No
8.Baku only points for williams
9.Mercedes being so op at Fast corners until Spain that Lewis mistakes a normal Turn of Vettel in Baku for a brake test crashing him into a wall at race speeds saying afterwards Vettel disgraced himself and accidentally admitting he actually brake tested him last year.
10.7, 6 of which are in Baku the other one in the only wet race making f1 officially Nascar.
11.8
12.Mexico, but everyone will say Baku because it became an absolute sh'tshow with only the Williams drivers finishing and Stroll winning through Team Orders.
13.1
14.Mclaren
15.Abu Dhabi *cries silently*

Omer Said · Mar 18, 2018

Hamilton
Mercedes
Hamilton-Vettel-Verstappen
Vettel, 17-4
Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Verstappen, Ricciardo
Renault
Sirotkin will be replaced by Kubica for a few races
At Monaco
Ferrari giving victory to Vettel with team-orders upon Raikkonen
2
7
USA
3
McLaren
Abu Dhabi

rms4455 · Mar 18, 2018

Who will win the Drivers Championship? Hamilton
Which team will win the Constructors Championship? Mercedes
The top 3 drivers in the Drivers Championship will be... Hamilton, Vettel, Verstappen
Who will out-qualify their team mate the most? What will their head-to-head record be? (21 races)?Alonso, 14-7
Which drivers will win a race? Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo, Verstappen
Which teams, other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, will score a podium? Force India, McLaren
Will any drivers be replaced for a race/races? If so, who for who? No
Will every team score points? If so, when will this first happen? Yes, not sure
What will be the biggest controversy of the season? ???
How many Red Flags will there during races? 2
How many races will Lewis Hamilton not be on Pole Position? 9
Which race will be the best of the year? Baku, or Hockenheim
How many wet races will there be (at least 1 driver running on Intermediate or Wet tyres)? 3-4
Which team will take the most Grid Penalties? Toro Rosso or McLaren
At which race will the Drivers Championship be decided? Brazil