Players Guide and FAQ

OVERVIEW

Fantasy GP by BadgerGP.com is designed to be fun and simple to play (but tricky to win!)

In a nutshell: you create your own 'dream team' of three drivers and three cars and then you score points according to how your dream team perform in the 2012 F1 World Championship races.

To add a touch of strategy you have a budget of £70million to spend on cars and drivers so you wont be able to afford all the top drivers and top cars. Instead you'll need to spend wisely and decide which midfield and back of the field competitors you want in your team.

After each race the real results are input on the Badger's abacus and you'll be able to logon to see how you are getting on. If you win, i.e. score more points than any other team in a Grand Prix then you'll win a prize. Keep this up all season and you'll take the Championship and the main prize.

To give everyone a fair chance the first two Grands Prix - Australia and Malaysia are classed as practice rounds. You'll still score as normal and prizes will be rewarded for the victorious teams but after before Malaysia (round 2)  the total points so far will be set to zero for everyone and team changes will be reset.

Make the most of the first two races to suss out your strategy!  During the first two rounds you can make as many team changes as you like - use this opportunity!!

From China onwards all points will count towards the Fantasy Grand Prix World Championship.

PRIZES

RACE PRIZES:

In real F1, the winning driver gets to take home a rather elaborate silver trophy. With Fantasy Formula One you also get to take home a drinking vessel but a more appropriate and useful one.

The winner for each Grand Prix will be sent an official Badger certificate and an Badger FantasyGP 'Winners' mug, ideal for a morning coffee and equally suitable for an afternoon brew. They may not be as big and clever as Lewis Hamilton's trophies but they are just as exclusive - so exclusive in fact that even he doesn't have one!

There will be additional race prizes... we often have companies, including F1 teams and their sponsors endorsing a Fantasy GP race and providing additional prizes. In the past these included Henri Lloyd, Unlap, Silverstone, Virgin Racing, Johnnie Walker and more...

CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZE:

The overall season winner will scoop the big prize of not only an exclusive Badger mug, but also a £100 Amazon gift certificate to spend how you wish. Additional prizes will also be added as the season progresses.

SCORING

RACE POINTS:

As with real Grand Prix the winning driver scores 25 points, 2nd place receives 18, then 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2... to 1 point for 10th place. If any of your drivers finish in the top ten places they will receive the same points.

Again, in symmetry with real F1, cars also score points so if you choose McLaren as one of your cars and Jenson Button (McLaren Driver) finishes 3rd then you'll still score 15 points even if you didn't have Button because you have McLaren as a car. If McLaren scored a 1-2 finish then you'd receive a whopping 43points (25+18).

BONUS POINTS:

This is a neat bonus that rewards those truly great race drives. If you have Mark Webber (for example) in your team and he starts 16th on the grid after a dismal qualifying but finishes 2nd you'll receive not only the 18 points for 2nd place but also 42 bonus improvement points for such a great drive through the field - that's 3 points per move up the field, i.e. 16th to 2nd is an improvement of 16 positions hence (14 x 3) 42 points.

Bearing this in mind, having less expensive drivers such as Kamui Kobayashi can be advantageous if they consistently finish when others drop out. If he starts 21st and ends up 11th then that's a solid 30 points in the bank even though he didn't finish in a points paying position.

These 'bonus' or 'improvement' points only apply to drivers and not cars, since it is generally the driver that brings the car home and is responsible for making great moves.

PREDICTION POINTS:

To add an element of excitement to following the races on telly you can also predict pole position for the starting grid, the race podium results and the fastest lap before each Grand Prix and score bonus points for being correct.

If you correctly guess who is on pole position you'll get 25pts, likewise if you correctly predict who wins then you'll receive 25pts. The same again if you correctly guess 2nd or 3rd place, however if you predict the entire podium as well as pole position and fastest lap, you'll receive 25 points for each correct prediction and an additional 50pts for getting all of them correct.

It really is worth submitting your predictions to stand a chance of winning!

RULES

TEAM CHANGES:

If at some point you decide that a driver or car isn't worth having in your team you can change that driver or car for another one. You will retain your current points total and score points on the next race with your new line up.

Of course, changing your drivers and cars every race would be a bit ridiculous so to add an element of risk, you are allocated 3 free changes for the whole season and after that each change will cost you 15 points so be careful making flippant decisions!

Note: during the practice rounds of Australia and Malaysia, you have unlimited team changes - use this time to work out your strategy.  A week before China, team changes will be limited.

Predictions can be changed as many times as you like before the Grand Prix happens without a penalty.

DURING GRAND PRIX:

While a Grand Prix weekend is in progress you can still login and view your team and predictions for the race, but team changes and prediction changes are not possible. The game will go into this 'lock down' state from up to 1hr before qualifying on Saturday, until up to 1hr after the race on Sunday. Make sure you're happy with your team and predictions before qualifying begins!

TIE BREAKS:

In the event of two or more dream teams scoring equal points for a Grand Prix then the prize for that Grand Prix will go to a team who hasn't won before or failing that the team that registered first for the Fantasy Grand Prix game (league tables are in this order when teams are on equal points).

MULTIPLE TEAMS:

Registration for Fantasy Grand Prix allows one team per person, validated by an email address. We are fully aware that you could have multiple addresses and this would allow you to have multiple teams and effectively spread your bets but be warned that if Badger finds itself sending prizes to different teams at the same address or by any other means we will disqualify all teams entered by that player.

If you particularly want multiple teams then this will be allowed if a donation of £5.00 or more is made to Badger. Donations help keep the game live and free to enter as well as funding the running costs and support for the mainwebsite. You can donate to the Badger here: Throw Money at Badger

CLAIMING PRIZES:

For each Grand Prix prize, the winning team has five working days to reply to the Winners email with a postal address for the prize to be dispatched to. Failing to do so will mean your victory is defaulted to the next highest scoring team.

For the championship prizes they are stated as is, i.e. if the champion chooses the Silverstone prize then the experience itself will be awarded to the winner in the form of a voucher. Travel and any other costs are at the champion's expense. Badger is not responsible for any injuries/incidents as a result of the prizes should anything unfortunate happen.

MISC

If the 2011 season sees many driver changes then the driver lists will be updated and everyone will be entitled to an extra free change. (drivers are not added, merely replaced - i.e. if HRT have a merry-go-round like in 2010, the names will change in according to their changes.

Further to these statements, we reserve the right to alter rules and format as we see fit although we hope to not have to do this.

The decision of Badger is final in any misunderstanding. Appeals will be heard but those along the lines of 'I couldn't access the internet to change my team' or other 'the dog ate my homework' type claims will be dismissed.

If you do have a question at any point about the game or these terms/rules then do contact us here or use the Forum

FAQ

Below are some common FAQs so please read these as well as the information below for asking us.

If you cannot find an answer here then do contact us and ensure you mention your email address you used to register and your team as well as the full details of your query. Otherwise we hope you enjoy the game and wish you the best of luck.

Q. Why can't I see more stats on the stats page?
A. Limited stats for drivers perfomances are included for each race to help you make judgements when changing your line up. We won't disclose such as the best driver/car combination for a race since this is up to you to work out!

Q. Can I see the winning teams driver and car lineup?
A. In short, no! We will not disclose competitors tactics - it's the nature of the game to figure this out for yourself.

Q. I had the winning driver and winning car - why didn't score the most points?
A. Points are awarded for improving positions and also for correct predictions - read the rules!

Q. My team called "!$&?! Racing" has been removed - why?
A. We will remove any inappropriately named teams to avoid offending other players

Please do not use any racial, sexual or any other discriminating terms/language for your team name or friends league name

Q. I cannot logon after qualifying and change my team before the race
A. During a Grand Prix weekend the site does not allow new team registration or existing members to change their team/predictions. This is to avoid team changes and prediction changes after events have happened.
The game will be 'locked' upto 1hr before qualifying begins and upto 1hr after the race has finished or results have been published.

Q. If a result is appealed will we see the changes on the site?
A. Once the result is published officially by the FIA, those results will be submitted into the game. Any changes will be made at the discretion of Badger.

Q. I'm bored
A. Read www.BadgerGP.com and enjoy it!

Q. If there is a dispute over results what happens here?
A. In any such case Badger has the final say on any matters.

Q. Help! After Malaysia my total points score is zero!?
A. Pay attention! The first two rounds (Australia and Malaysia) are practice rounds to give everyone a chance to get used to the game and how it works as well as sussing out their strategy. From China onwards all points count towards the championship.