Source: Own work
The first day of testing is in the books, and by tradition that means it's time for two things: wild speculation about the competitive order of the teams, and...
The Planet F1 Top Three Championship of 2018Now entering its 6th year as a competition on PF1, the Top Three Championship was first set up by PF1 member CarlPotter; unfortunately he stopped posting in 2014, and the competition became curated by Black_Flag_11, who did a great job taking us through two seasons of the championship. Sadly, life has gotten in the way for him as well, and as the first (and only) forumite to step forward, the curation of this noble competition fell to me for 2016 and beyond, until such time as I also inevitably burn out and turn to someone else for help. That hasn't happened yet, but I haven't climbed my mountain and reached my peak yet, so there's always a chance it could happen suddenly a few days after the end of any season.
Here's how our little championship works:
The RulesThe vast majority of the rules are still the same as was laid down originally in the inaugural season by CarlPotter; a few changes have been voted on by the members of the competition over time, and incorporated into the body of the rules. Here they are as they stand ahead of the 2018 season:
The scoring works like this:
You pick your predicted podium. For example, 1st: Vettel, 2nd: Hamilton, 3rd: Alonso.
1st Place Correct: 5 Points
2nd Place Correct: 3 Points
3rd Place Correct: 1 Point
All Three Correct: 5 Bonus Points
There are no points given out for having the correct drivers in the wrong order, so if you choose Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, but it comes out Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, then I'm afraid you score nothing.
NOTE: Effective from the start of the 2016 season, the time limit to submit your picks has been extended to any time before the official beginning of FP3. Any changes or any new entries made after the official start of FP3 will not count; this rule is not supposed to be flexible, although I have been known to let someone off for only 1 minute late.
You can only pick a driver once for any of the three positions. So you can't have Vettel, Vettel, Vettel.
At the end of the season, if there is a draw, the winner will be decided by whoever has achieved a "Perfect Podium" the most number of times. A Perfect Podium is, of course, getting all three correct. If that is equal, then it will come down to most rounds won and if that is equal, then the winner will be decided by the number of 1st Places correct, then 2nd, then 3rd... If it's still tied after that, then it will be declared a draw and the Championship will be shared. In addition to these original rules, in 2014 we introduced a (highly popular!) team championship to the competition. The mechanism for the team championship (you can call it the constructor's if you want) is exactly like in F1; each team has two 'drivers', and their points totals are added together to determine the team's points. Team orders, collusion and plotting are all very much allowed and encouraged, provided everything stays within the bounds of friendly competition and no rules are broken. It's Formula One, after all!
Further adding to the spice of the championship, in 2016 we added a knockout cup to the competition. The knockout cup is run passively alongside the main Top Three Championship - one needs do nothing additional to participate. The knockout cup is curated by Jenson's Understeer, contingent upon his continued participation in the competition, and is described thusly:
After the first six races, the standings would be used to create a knockout tournament. Everybody who had participated in at least one of the first six races would be seeded according to their overall ranking, with the highest seeds receiving a bye into the last 16. How many exactly would depend on how many entrants we had, of course. Using the 21 participants we had last year as an example, the top 11 would advance to the last 16 with those ranked from 12 through to 21 taking part in the qualification round. In the qualification round, the highest seed would face the lowest seed (so 12 vs 21, 13 vs 20, etc.) and that system would continue for the rest of the tournament, with the highest remaining seed always facing the lowest remaining seed, second highest facing the second lowest and so on.
Each round would take place over three races (as below). It would therefore be a best two-out-of-three system. For each individual race, the points scored would be compared and the highest scorer in each match-up would win that race, giving them a win towards the two they need to advance. In the event of neither person winning two of the three races, we would have the following tiebreakers (applied in this order): most points scored over the three races; most perfect predictions over those three races; most 1st places over those three races; highest seed.
Races 7, 8 and 9: Qualification Round
Races 10, 11 and 12: Last 16
Races 13, 14 and 15: Quarter-finals
Races 16, 17 and 18: Semi-finals
Races 19, 20 and 21: FinalMost people apparently don't actually understand how the knockout cup works, and that's fine - it's totally passive! Throughout the season there are updates letting everyone know what's happening there, and it adds some extra excitement for those who aren't doing very well in the normal competition - or, for those who
are doing well, it adds the chance to claim both championships are rule the roost completely. This feat has only been achieved once so far.
And that concludes the rules!
The Top Three Championship, 2018 edition, is now open for entries.You may enter as a single competitor or find a partner and form a team; being part of a team is not a requirement for entering the championship, although without a teammate you won't be able to contest both titles. It is entirely possible to contest, and potentially even win, the knockout cup without a teammate - in fact, the majority of historical champions have done exactly that, for whatever reason. Entries will be accepted up until the Grand Prix weekend of Melbourne (defined as the start of FP1); late entries are possible, but not preferred.
Good luck everyone, and have fun!
![:]](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif "Grin")
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