It’s getting closer in the Predictions Championship

Six players each scored a massive 48 points in the Brazilian round of the F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship.

That has closed up the top of the championship table with just one round left.

The Brazilian round winner was none other than live blog moderator Arun Srini, with Sabatino claiming the prize for second place.

The other four players who scored highest were sblontour, Chrisayyy ,nicko029 and MacademiaNut. As usual the pole position tie-break was invoked and Arun and Sabatino were the ones who came closest.

Not a single person predicted Nico Hulkenberg’s pole position. In fact, he only featured in five people’s predictions, and never any higher than fourth place.

However Sebastian Vettel was the favourite to win with 43% of players correctly naming him as the winner.

Going into the final round jimfaekillie has a reduced championship lead with 189 points. It was a tough round for the championship leader who was out-scored by 119 of his rivals.

There’s a three-way tie for second between Arpi_, chiliching and J-Canada all on 161.

With a maximum score of 50 points available there are 46 players in contention for the 2010 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship title heading into the last race. Though of course some of you are looking a bit more like Lewis Hamilton than Fernando Alonso…

Predictions for the Abu Dhabi round are already open and even if you’re not in the hunt for the championship there are prizes to be won at each race. Make your predictions here now.

View the F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship standings in full

F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship race-by-race statistics

The prizes

This year we’re giving away a pair of prizes every race weekend.

On top of that at the end of the year the top 12 finishers all get prizes – and whoever scores the highest overall will be going to the 2011 British Grand Prix. Here are the prizes in full:

Grand prize: Two grandstands tickets to the 2011 British Grand Prix

The person who scores the most points in the 2010 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship will win grandstand tickets to the 2011 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

This is the first time we’ve offered F1 race tickets as a prize at F1 Fanatic and I hope you all agree it’s a fitting reward for the F1 expert who can best predict who will be on top in 2010.

The grand prize winner will receive tickets to all three days of the 2011 British Grand Prix with reserved grandstand seating for the race.

Second place prize: An F1 painting of your choice

The second place finisher in the championship will win an F1 painting by Rob Ijbema.

You get to choose which F1 driver, present or past, will feature in the painting. Or you can pick one of the other motor racing paintings on Rob’s site Car-a-day.

Runners-up prizes: Autocourse 2010-2011

The ten players who finish in third to 12th positions in the championship will win a copy of the 2010-2011 edition of Autocourse.

The highly respected journal of Formula 1 and other major international four-wheeled racing series is published at the end of every season.

This year the publication marks its 60th anniversary edition.

NB. 2009 edition cover used for illustration

Race winners prize: The Lotus Story DVD Box Set

Duke Video are supplying the prize for the player who gets the highest score in each round.

With the Lotus name returning to F1 in 2010 what better prize than a DVD box set showing the history of this great team. This four-disc set “The Lotus Story” chronicles Lotus’s participation in F1 from the company’s beginning in 1948 up to its F1 withdrawal in 1994. (Please note this DVD is in PAL format).

Duke are also offering a special promotion exclusive to all F1 Fanatic readers – whenever you order from them you can get 15% off using the promotional code F1Fanatic at the checkout.

Race runners-up prize: Two F1 T-shirts

The second place finisher in each race will win a race winner’s T-shirt and Official F1 Fanatic T-shirt from Unlap.

This prize is supplied by Unlap.

How to enter

Entries will open in the week before every race. You have until the start of free practice three on Saturday to make your predictions.

You can post your predictions for the first race now below or wait until nearer the deadline. A reminder will be posted on the site after free practice two on Friday.

Each player may predict the pole sitter, the pole position lap time and the top five finishers in the race. See below for the rules in full.

Enter your pole position lap time prediction in the following format: MM:SS.ccc – e.g. for a lap of one minute, 25.386 seconds enter 01:25.386

Please try to pick an original and distinctive user name – something a bit more descriptive than just a first name and use the same name for every race you enter.

Competition terms and conditions

1. Maximum one entry per household.
2. The competition is not open to employees, friends or family of F1 Fanatic, Silverstone Circuit, Duke Video, Motorsport in Print, Car-a-Day or Icon Publishing Ltd.
3. Predictions will open up to one week before the start of final practice on the Saturday of a Grand Prix weekend and will be promoted on the front page of F1 Fanatic before closing prior to the start of final practice.
4. In each round players are invited to predict (a) who will be on pole position and (b) what the top five finishers will be (five different drivers).
5. Players accumulate points in each round as follows:
a. Correctly naming the pole sitter: 2 points
b. Correctly naming one/two/three/four/five driver/s who finish in the top five: 1/2/3/5/8 points
c. Correctly predicting where one/two/three/four/five driver/s finish: 2/6/14/24/40 points
6. Whoever scores the most points over the 19 races from round one (Bahrain) to 19 (Abu Dhabi) wins the grand prize.
7. In the event of a tie on points the winner will be determined by who came closest to predicting the pole position time correctly. If that fails to produce a winner the editor will choose a means of deciding who has won.
8. Predictions must be entered using the form below. If you have trouble submitting your entry via the form please email competition@f1fanatic.co.uk
9. Once a prediction has been made it cannot be altered.
10. In the event of a dispute the editor’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
11. No cash alternative is offered for any of the prizes.
12. Grand Prix tickets: Children must be accompanied by an adult. Accommodation and transport to the venue not included. Event date TBC.
13. Players who have won prizes will be notified by email within seven days of each Grand Prix. Lotus DVDs and F1 paintings will be despatched within 28 days of that email being sent. Grand Prix tickets will be despatched once they are available. Autocourse books will be despatched once they are published.

Don’t miss a single round of the F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship. Subscribe to F1 Fanatic using RSS, email or Twitter: Click here for more information.

Image © Red Bull/Getty images