Running an F1 prediction league in a spreadsheet

What columns do you need?

Four per player per session: the driver, where the player predicted him, where he actually finished, and the points.

Row 1 holds the headers and the ten drivers go in rows 2 to 11. Use one tab per race with a block of four columns for each player side by side, and a totals tab that adds everything up. Copy the block for the next player and the formulas move along with it.

Which formula scores the points?

This one, in D2 and filled down to D11: 5 points for the exact spot, 2 fewer for every place off, never below zero.

Excel or Google Sheets in English

=IF(C2="",0,MAX(0,5-2*ABS(B2-C2)))

The session total, in D12

=SUM(D2:D11)

That is the same sum Predict the Race uses: 5 for exact, 3 for one place off, 1 for two places off, and nothing from three places off.

The IF part is there for blank cells. Without it, a blank counts as position 0, and a player can pick up points for a driver who had no classified position.

Where decimals are written with a comma, as in much of Europe, the commas in the formula become semicolons.

What about drivers outside the top 10?

Enter their actual position like any other. If a player puts someone in P10 and he finishes eleventh, that is one place off, so 3 points.

That is why you need the full result, not just the top 10. Only leave the cell blank for a driver with no position in the official classification, such as not classified or disqualified. He scores zero.

Where does a spreadsheet let you down?

Rarely in the formula. It goes wrong in the upkeep: a few races in, one person is doing all the work, every weekend.

• Typing in every result. The full qualifying and race result, every race weekend. Swap two rows and the standings are wrong, and nobody notices.
• Penalties after the flag. A time penalty after the finish reshuffles the result. Then you go back to that tab and check everything again.
• Deadlines. Who sent their top 10 before the start? In a group chat, "I had already typed it" is impossible to check, and a list that turns up after lights out starts an argument.
• Standings on a phone. You can share the sheet, but four columns per player is hard to read on a phone.

Can you do it without a spreadsheet?

Yes. Predict the Race scores the same way, and the results come in on their own.

After every qualifying session and race the app fetches the official result and works out the points. Predictions close when the session starts, so nobody can change anything afterwards. And if a penalty changes the result shortly after the race, the app scores it again.

It is free and nobody needs an account. You share the league with a code in the group chat.

Frequently asked questions