#1 ·
Tournament Summary:
- This tournament runs for 10 rounds. We’ll have 7 group stage races, followed by 3 knockout rounds where the top two from each group face off in head-to-head matchups. Basically, the group stages run from the Australian GP through to the Canadian GP, and then we move into the elimination phase, covering the races from Austria through Germany...
- To get into the group stages, all you need to do is submit your prediction for the top 10 qualifying positions before the start of the third free practice session. Just make sure you list each driver you think will crack the top 10 exactly once. Once the qualifying results are in, the group standings will be set according to the rules...
- You officially sign up for the tournament by submitting your very first prediction.
Tournament Rules:
General Provisions:
1. This is a forum-based game centered on predicting F1 qualifying results. Participants are anyone who submits their qualifying predictions either before the tournament begins or during the group stages within the designated timeframe. Each user is limited to one single forum identity. Using alt accounts or clones will result in an automatic disqualification for this tournament and the next one...
2. We need a minimum of 12 participants to proceed. If we don't hit that number by the time the first round of predictions is due, the tournament is canceled. There is no upper limit on how many people can join...
Competition Format:
3. The tournament lasts for a total of 10 races (the exact length is decided before we kick things off). Seven of those are group stages, and three are knockout-style duels. The total number of races might change if something unexpected happens—like a race being canceled or the season ending early—but the rule remains that the final three rounds will always be head-to-head eliminations...
4. The first phase consists of 4 groups (A, B, C, and D). After the first round is complete, players will be sorted into groups based on this seeding pattern:
- 1st place finisher goes to Group A
- 2nd place finisher goes to Group B
- 3rd place finisher goes to Group C
- 4th place finisher goes to Group D
- 5th place finisher goes to Group D
- 6th place finisher goes to Group C
And so on for everyone else. Anyone joining after the first round will be slotted into the groups using the same logic, picking up wherever the current standings left off based on their results for the specific round they joined...
5. The second phase—the knockout stage—is played in duels using the following bracket system:
Quarterfinals (Elimination Round I):
a) 1st in Group A vs. 2nd in Group B
b) 1st in Group C vs. 2nd in Group D
c) 1st in Group B vs. 2nd in Group A
d) 1st in Group D vs. 2nd in Group C
Semifinals (Elimination Round II):
a) Winner of match a) vs. winner of match b)
b) Winner of match c) vs. winner of match d)
c) Loser of match a) vs. loser of match b)
d) Loser of match c) vs. loser of match d)
Finals (Elimination Round III):
- Championship Match: Winner of a) vs. winner of b))
- 3rd Place Match: Loser of a) vs. loser of b))
- 5th Place Match: Winner of c) vs. winner of d))
- 7th Place Match: Loser of c) vs. loser of d))
Group Stage Rules:
6. During the group stage, players attempt to predict the top 10 finishers in qualifying (Q3). Rankings are determined strictly by the results immediately following qualifying; any subsequent penalties or adjustments won't be factored in. For a prediction to count, it must be submitted on time (before the start of the third free practice session) and must include a list of 10 different drivers with their predicted qualifying positions. Incomplete lists or lists with duplicate drivers will be ignored. Late entries won't count for the current round, though they can still participate in the next one if a new prediction is sent in time...
7. Once qualifying wraps up, the tournament organizer compares the predictions against the actual results and awards points as follows:
- Correctly predicting the exact qualifying position: 5 points...
Dropping just one spot from where you actually qualified... that’s a 3-point hit...
Just two spots shy of moving up... a gap of two places...
Dropping three spots... that's only one point...
A little extra credit for every driver that managed to claw their way into Q3...
Points are only tallied for the drivers who actually make it into Q3. If you don't qualify for that final session, those points just don't count, regardless of any deviation...
If there’s a tie in secondary points—either within a group or during that initial prediction phase before groups are set—the earlier submission takes precedence. And if two posts somehow hit the system at the exact same moment, we just go by the timestamp... whoever posted first on the forum wins the tiebreaker...
Once those secondary tie-breaking points have been settled, the main points—the ones that actually dictate the group standings—are handed out based on this principle...
The player with the sharpest predictions in the group... sitting on 5 points...
The player with the second-best prediction in the group... sitting on 3 points...
The driver sitting on the third-best prediction in the group... only managed to grab 2 points...
The player with the fourth-best prediction in the group... only managed one point...
Playing in the knockout stages of the tournament...
During the second part of the tournament—the elimination stage—the duels follow that same crossover format we talked about earlier. Here’s how those matchups actually play out...
Every single duelist is obligated to provide their opponent with three driver picks—no strings attached and without any bias or preference indicated—no later than the scheduled start of the first free practice session...
The rules regarding the pairings offered by duelists are pretty clear: they can't overlap. If it turns out that some of those pairs are identical once the first free practice session kicks off—meaning there was actually enough time to fix any mistakes—the player who submitted the matching pair later on just loses the point automatically... regardless of how things shake out during qualifying.
The duelists are stepping up. Before we even hit the scheduled start for qualifying practice, they’re going head-to-head in these matchups, picking which driver they think will pull the better qualifying result. To make their pick, they just bold the name or add a "1" next to the driver they’re backing to win that specific pairing...
After qualifying wraps up, the host goes through all six pairings—three from one duelist and three from the other. For every single pair, they award a point to the challenger if they nailed the prediction, or two points to the house if the challenger missed the mark...
If we end up with a tie, the win goes to whichever duelist accepted the challenge first...
Additional notes...
Just so we're all clear on how this works... once you submit a prediction, it stays valid until the next round of submissions or until the group stage wraps up. But there's a catch. If someone ends up sitting in first or second place after the first phase, but they haven't sent in a new prediction—or even just reposted their old one—for the last two races, they're out. In that case, the spot for the second phase goes to the very next person in the standings who actually meets the requirements... keeps things fair, I suppose...
If nobody actually manages to meet the group advancement requirements, or if a player who does qualify fails to submit their pair offers on time—or just ignores the offer for a duel altogether—then we just hand the win to their opponent... it’s as simple as that...
The official results come straight from the director, and once the moderator posts them on the first page of this thread, that's it... they’re considered final.
Listen, if you want to get in on this, there's only one way to do it. All entries, predictions, and registrations have to happen right here in this specific thread to be part of the tournament. If you try to send yours through some other topic or random post... it just won't count. No exceptions...
The tournament director handles the technical side of things, essentially using common sense to settle disputes when things get messy or if the rulebook doesn't cover a specific scenario... It’s all about discretion. If the director decides to step down, or if more than 50% of the competitors demand a change, we move to elect someone new. To pull that off, you need at least 50% of the players who participate in the public poll to vote for them. That poll stays open on the subforum for at least 48 hours to make sure everyone has a shot... Just keep in mind, a new director can't go back and undo what's already been done. They only handle current or future situations. Any decisions made by the previous director regarding past events stay permanent... nothing changes after the fact.
I hereby declare the tournament open...
- This tournament runs for 10 rounds. We’ll have 7 group stage races, followed by 3 knockout rounds where the top two from each group face off in head-to-head matchups. Basically, the group stages run from the Australian GP through to the Canadian GP, and then we move into the elimination phase, covering the races from Austria through Germany...
- To get into the group stages, all you need to do is submit your prediction for the top 10 qualifying positions before the start of the third free practice session. Just make sure you list each driver you think will crack the top 10 exactly once. Once the qualifying results are in, the group standings will be set according to the rules...
- You officially sign up for the tournament by submitting your very first prediction.
Tournament Rules:
General Provisions:
1. This is a forum-based game centered on predicting F1 qualifying results. Participants are anyone who submits their qualifying predictions either before the tournament begins or during the group stages within the designated timeframe. Each user is limited to one single forum identity. Using alt accounts or clones will result in an automatic disqualification for this tournament and the next one...
2. We need a minimum of 12 participants to proceed. If we don't hit that number by the time the first round of predictions is due, the tournament is canceled. There is no upper limit on how many people can join...
Competition Format:
3. The tournament lasts for a total of 10 races (the exact length is decided before we kick things off). Seven of those are group stages, and three are knockout-style duels. The total number of races might change if something unexpected happens—like a race being canceled or the season ending early—but the rule remains that the final three rounds will always be head-to-head eliminations...
4. The first phase consists of 4 groups (A, B, C, and D). After the first round is complete, players will be sorted into groups based on this seeding pattern:
- 1st place finisher goes to Group A
- 2nd place finisher goes to Group B
- 3rd place finisher goes to Group C
- 4th place finisher goes to Group D
- 5th place finisher goes to Group D
- 6th place finisher goes to Group C
And so on for everyone else. Anyone joining after the first round will be slotted into the groups using the same logic, picking up wherever the current standings left off based on their results for the specific round they joined...
5. The second phase—the knockout stage—is played in duels using the following bracket system:
Quarterfinals (Elimination Round I):
a) 1st in Group A vs. 2nd in Group B
b) 1st in Group C vs. 2nd in Group D
c) 1st in Group B vs. 2nd in Group A
d) 1st in Group D vs. 2nd in Group C
Semifinals (Elimination Round II):
a) Winner of match a) vs. winner of match b)
b) Winner of match c) vs. winner of match d)
c) Loser of match a) vs. loser of match b)
d) Loser of match c) vs. loser of match d)
Finals (Elimination Round III):
- Championship Match: Winner of a) vs. winner of b))
- 3rd Place Match: Loser of a) vs. loser of b))
- 5th Place Match: Winner of c) vs. winner of d))
- 7th Place Match: Loser of c) vs. loser of d))
Group Stage Rules:
6. During the group stage, players attempt to predict the top 10 finishers in qualifying (Q3). Rankings are determined strictly by the results immediately following qualifying; any subsequent penalties or adjustments won't be factored in. For a prediction to count, it must be submitted on time (before the start of the third free practice session) and must include a list of 10 different drivers with their predicted qualifying positions. Incomplete lists or lists with duplicate drivers will be ignored. Late entries won't count for the current round, though they can still participate in the next one if a new prediction is sent in time...
7. Once qualifying wraps up, the tournament organizer compares the predictions against the actual results and awards points as follows:
- Correctly predicting the exact qualifying position: 5 points...
Dropping just one spot from where you actually qualified... that’s a 3-point hit...
Just two spots shy of moving up... a gap of two places...
Dropping three spots... that's only one point...
A little extra credit for every driver that managed to claw their way into Q3...
Points are only tallied for the drivers who actually make it into Q3. If you don't qualify for that final session, those points just don't count, regardless of any deviation...
If there’s a tie in secondary points—either within a group or during that initial prediction phase before groups are set—the earlier submission takes precedence. And if two posts somehow hit the system at the exact same moment, we just go by the timestamp... whoever posted first on the forum wins the tiebreaker...
Once those secondary tie-breaking points have been settled, the main points—the ones that actually dictate the group standings—are handed out based on this principle...
The player with the sharpest predictions in the group... sitting on 5 points...
The player with the second-best prediction in the group... sitting on 3 points...
The driver sitting on the third-best prediction in the group... only managed to grab 2 points...
The player with the fourth-best prediction in the group... only managed one point...
Playing in the knockout stages of the tournament...
During the second part of the tournament—the elimination stage—the duels follow that same crossover format we talked about earlier. Here’s how those matchups actually play out...
Every single duelist is obligated to provide their opponent with three driver picks—no strings attached and without any bias or preference indicated—no later than the scheduled start of the first free practice session...
The rules regarding the pairings offered by duelists are pretty clear: they can't overlap. If it turns out that some of those pairs are identical once the first free practice session kicks off—meaning there was actually enough time to fix any mistakes—the player who submitted the matching pair later on just loses the point automatically... regardless of how things shake out during qualifying.
The duelists are stepping up. Before we even hit the scheduled start for qualifying practice, they’re going head-to-head in these matchups, picking which driver they think will pull the better qualifying result. To make their pick, they just bold the name or add a "1" next to the driver they’re backing to win that specific pairing...
After qualifying wraps up, the host goes through all six pairings—three from one duelist and three from the other. For every single pair, they award a point to the challenger if they nailed the prediction, or two points to the house if the challenger missed the mark...
If we end up with a tie, the win goes to whichever duelist accepted the challenge first...
Additional notes...
Just so we're all clear on how this works... once you submit a prediction, it stays valid until the next round of submissions or until the group stage wraps up. But there's a catch. If someone ends up sitting in first or second place after the first phase, but they haven't sent in a new prediction—or even just reposted their old one—for the last two races, they're out. In that case, the spot for the second phase goes to the very next person in the standings who actually meets the requirements... keeps things fair, I suppose...
If nobody actually manages to meet the group advancement requirements, or if a player who does qualify fails to submit their pair offers on time—or just ignores the offer for a duel altogether—then we just hand the win to their opponent... it’s as simple as that...
The official results come straight from the director, and once the moderator posts them on the first page of this thread, that's it... they’re considered final.
Listen, if you want to get in on this, there's only one way to do it. All entries, predictions, and registrations have to happen right here in this specific thread to be part of the tournament. If you try to send yours through some other topic or random post... it just won't count. No exceptions...
The tournament director handles the technical side of things, essentially using common sense to settle disputes when things get messy or if the rulebook doesn't cover a specific scenario... It’s all about discretion. If the director decides to step down, or if more than 50% of the competitors demand a change, we move to elect someone new. To pull that off, you need at least 50% of the players who participate in the public poll to vote for them. That poll stays open on the subforum for at least 48 hours to make sure everyone has a shot... Just keep in mind, a new director can't go back and undo what's already been done. They only handle current or future situations. Any decisions made by the previous director regarding past events stay permanent... nothing changes after the fact.
I hereby declare the tournament open...
