Your 2019 F1 Predictions: The Results

2019, Twitter Predictions / By /

Back in March, ahead of the 2019 F1 season, I posted 20 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. WHO WILL WIN FIRST – LECLERC OR GASLY?

YOUR PREDICTION: LECLERC

CORRECT ANSWER: LECLERC

Two drivers joined top tier teams in 2019 – Charles Leclerc moved from Sauber to Ferrari, while Pierre Gasly moved from Toro Rosso to Red Bull. One went on to win two Grands Prix during the season, while the other found themselves back at their previous team at the midpoint of the year. As 85% of you correctly predicted, it was Leclerc who won a race first from this pair, while Gasly failed to impress at Red Bull. Leclerc took his maiden victory at Spa-Francorchamps.

2. WHICH BRITISH ROOKIE WILL SCORE FIRST?

YOUR PREDICTION: NORRIS

CORRECT ANSWER: NORRIS

Lando Norris picked up the first points of his career at the Bahrain Grand Prix, with a season-best result of sixth place. He scored 49 points throughout the season. In the uncompetitive Williams, George Russell failed to score a point in his rookie year.

3. WILL OCON RACE IN 2019?

YOUR PREDICTION: NO

CORRECT ANSWER: NO

Esteban Ocon was on the sidelines for 2019 after losing his Racing Point seat to Lance Stroll. He did not make a race appearance at any event this year. At the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix, however, Ocon was announced as a Renault driver for 2020, partnering Daniel Ricciardo.

4. HOW MANY Q1 EXITS WILL KUBICA HAVE?

YOUR PREDICTION: MORE THAN 15

CORRECT ANSWER: MORE THAN 15

Both Williams drivers were eliminated in Q1 at every round of the season, and more often than not it was Robert Kubica who lined up at the back of the field. Kubica was out-qualified by George Russell at every round of the 2019 season.

5. WILL ANY DRIVER FINISH EVERY RACE?

YOUR PREDICTION: YES

CORRECT ANSWER: YES

Lewis Hamilton finished all 21 of this year’s races, becoming only the first driver to complete every lap of a Formula 1 season. It was also only the ninth occasion in F1 history that a driver has crossed the line in every race of  a season.

6. WHICH ROOKIE WILL SCORE THE MOST POINTS?

YOUR PREDICTION: GIOVINAZZI

CORRECT ANSWER: ALBON

Ahead of the 2019 season, many had expected Alfa Romeo to be ‘best of the rest’, hence why Antonio Giovinazzi fared so well in this poll. As it happened, the Italian picked up 14 points over the course of the season. While, George Russell failed to score, Lando Norris picked up 49 points, including two sixth places, for McLaren in his maiden season. Up to the summer break, Norris was leading the rookie battle, scoring 24 points compared to Alex Albon’s 16. But with Albon’s switch from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, he soon started out-scoring the rest of the rookies. He ended the year on 92 points – more than the other three rookies combined!

7. WHO’LL FINISH MORE RACES – KVYAT OR KUBICA?

YOUR PREDICTION: KVYAT

CORRECT ANSWER: KUBICA

Both Daniil Kvyat and Robert Kubica returned to Formula 1 in 2019 – and both had low DNF rates during their comeback years. Kvyat recorded three retirements through the season – in China, Azerbaijan and Italy. But it was Kubica who recorded the fewest non-finishes of the pair, with just two retirements. The Pole’s DNFs came in Russia and the United States.

8. HOW MANY WET RACES WILL THERE BE?

YOUR PREDICTION: 3 OR MORE

CORRECT ANSWER: 1

There was just one wet race in 2019. That was the German Grand Prix – and it certainly delivered a spectacle! The race, in which Max Verstappen won and Daniil Kvyat took a surprise podium finish – was voted the 2019 Grand Prix of the Year by Lights Out’s Twitter followers.

9. WILL RENAULT FINISH ON THE PODIUM?

YOUR PREDICTION: YES

CORRECT ANSWER: NO

There were high hopes for Renault ahead of the 2019 season, but neither Daniel Ricciardo nor Nico Hulkenberg finished on the podium. Overall the team scored just two top five finishes. Both top five results came in the same race, with Ricciardo finishing fourth and Hulkenberg fifth at the Italian Grand Prix. Ricciardo recorded a further three sixth place finishes.

10. WHO’LL SCORE MORE POINTS – HAAS, MCLAREN, RACING POINT OR ALFA ROMEO?

YOUR PREDICTION: ALFA ROMEO

CORRECT ANSWER: McLAREN

The two teams which received the least votes in this pole finished ahead of the two teams which received the most! The winners of this poll, Alfa Romeo, ended the season eighth in the Constructors’ Championship. It was McLaren who finished comfortably ahead of the other teams in this poll, acquiring ‘best of the rest’ status.

11. HOW MANY DRIVERS WILL WIN A RACE?

YOUR PREDICTION: 5

CORRECT ANSWER: 5

Five different drivers won a race this season. Lewis Hamilton had the most wins, with eleven. Valtteri Bottas was next on the list, with four victories and Max Verstappen recorded three wins for Red Bull. Both Ferrari drivers took victories in 2019, with Charles Leclerc taking the first two wins of his career and Sebastian Vettel emerging victorious in the Singapore Grand Prix.

12. WILL VERSTAPPEN TAKE A MAIDEN POLE?

YOUR PREDICTION: YES

CORRECT ANSWER: YES

Max Verstappen did indeed take the first pole position of his career. He did so at the Hungarian Grand Prix, becoming the fourth-youngest polesitter in F1 history. He went on to take pole position again later in the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Verstappen also set the fastest time in qualifying for the Mexico Grand Prix, but a penalty for ignoring yellow flags saw him start from fourth on the grid.

13. WILL RAIKKONEN STAY AT ALFA ROMEO IN 2020?

YOUR PREDICTION: YES

CORRECT ANSWER: YES

Kimi Raikkonen already had a contract to stay with Alfa Romeo in 2020 – but Kimi is a free spirit and there was no guarantee that he’d see that contract out. The Iceman, who turned 40 this year, is set to continue racing next season alongside Antonio Giovinazzi – unless he has a last minute change of heart!

14. WILL BRITAIN STAY ON THE CALENDAR?

YOUR PREDICTION: YES – AT SILVERSTONE

CORRECT ANSWER: YES – AT SILVERSTONE

Silverstone’s future looked uncertain, but as 65% of you predicted, a deal was done to save the British Grand Prix. The new deal was announced over the 2019 British Grand Prix weekend, and will see the event remain at Silverstone until at least 2024.

15. HOW MANY DRIVERS WILL SCORE?

YOUR PREDICTION: 18

CORRECT ANSWER: 19

George Russell was the only driver who failed to score this season. His team-mate, Robert Kubica, picked up his only point this season with a tenth place finish in the chaotic German Grand Prix.

16. WHAT WILL McLAREN’s BEST RESULT BE?

YOUR PREDICTION: 6th or LOWER

CORRECT ANSWER: A PODIUM 

Very few people predicted a McLaren podium in 2019 ahead of the season! In fact, 70% predicted that the team would fail to finish above fifth place. Carlos Sainz recorded three fifth place finishes in seven races before going on to finish third at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

17. WHERE WILL THE TITLE BE DECIDED?

YOUR PREDICTION: ROUND 20 – BRAZIL

CORRECT ANSWER: ROUND 19 – USA

We all hoped that the title would go down to the wire, but in the end Lewis Hamilton wrapped up his sixth Drivers’ Championship at the nineteenth race of the season at the United States Grand Prix. The Constructors’ Championship was decided in Mercedes’ favour at the Japanese Grand Prix.

18. HOW MANY POINTS WILL THE 2019 CHAMPION SCORE?

YOUR PREDICTION: 371 – 385

CORRECT ANSWER: OVER 400

Lewis Hamilton scored 413 points in 2019 on the way to his sixth World Championship victory. It’s a new record for most points scored in a season, eclipsing his previous record of 408 from 2018. Despite this, Hamilton ended the year with a smaller advantage than in 2018. He finished 88 points ahead of Valtteri Bottas in 2018, 87 ahead in 2019.

19. WHICH TEAM WILL WIN THE CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP?

YOUR PREDICTION: FERRARI

CORRECT ANSWER: MERCEDES

The pre-season hype about Ferrari’s pace led to 59% of you backing Ferrari to win the 2019 Constructors’ Championship. In the end Mercedes started the season with five consecutive 1-2 finishes and ultimately won their sixth consecutive championship with Ferrari a distant second.

20. WHO WILL BE THE 2019 F1 WORLD CHAMPION?

YOUR PREDICTION: SEBASTIAN VETTEL

CORRECT ANSWER: LEWIS HAMILTON

There was a close result between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel in our pre-season poll about who would be this year’s World Champion – and Vettel won the poll by just 2%. The favourite for this year’s crown ended the season in fifth place, behind the Mercedes pair, Max Verstappen and his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Formula 1 proved to be quite unpredictable, with the majority getting just 9 of our 20 polls correct! What surprised you the most about F1 2019? Leave a comment below!






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