Prediction that 'aged like milk' as F1 great took a battering

Another marathon F1 season is over, and Lando Norris was crowned the 35th world drivers' champion.

But before the season kicked off in Melbourne back in March, Wide World of Sports sat down and made five predictions for what would happen on track.

Some were more bold than others. Several were correct, one was woefully wrong. If you want to have a glimpse into the rationale at the time, you can do so here.

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Max Verstappen will not win a fifth-straight title

CORRECT: He didn't, although he came much closer than anyone expected him to.

His brain fart in Barcelona when he rammed the Mercedes of George Russell off the road, earning him a 10 second penalty and dropped him from 5th to 10th in the results.

It cost him nine points, and although it seemed a crazy thought at the time, his fifth-straight world championship.

Max was without doubt the form driver at the back-end of the year. From 104 points down after the Dutch Grand Prix in late August, he rallied to win six of the last nine races to claw back within two points of the title.

Oscar Piastri will be McLaren No.1

PARTIALLY CORRECT: For much of the season, he was. It wasn't until the sport left Europe that Piastri's troubles really started.

The McLaren favouritism debate can be held elsewhere, but the bare facts are he wasn't good enough. He made two huge errors in Azerbaijan, and another in Brazil. Coupled with a few massive strategy blunders from his team, and it's easy to draw the sabotage conclusion.

Whether it was the pressure of leading a world championship, the pressure to maintain such incredible performance week-in-week-out, or other factors, only Piastri and those closest to him will know. We have to remind ourselves he's only three seasons into what will no doubt be a lengthy career in Formula 1.

Either way, depending on the form in pre-season testing, he will likely head to Melbourne with the best chance (again) of at least getting on the podium and finally breaking the Australian Grand Prix curse.

Lewis Hamilton will win his eighth world championship

WRONG: No, no, no, no, no.

This prediction aged like milk, like your old man's Rolf Harris album collection, like the banana your kid will leave in the bottom of their school bag over summer (make sure you check).

It all started pretty well for the seven-time world champion. Sure, 10th in Melbourne was underwhelming, but the conditions were tricky and it was his first grand prix driving a Ferrari after a career driving Mercedes-powered cars. An exception was made.

In China, he shocked everyone when he took pole for and duly won the sprint. Even after Ferrari's double-disqualification from the grand prix for separate technical breaches, confidence was high. Maybe the fairytale Ferrari world championship was genuinely on.

Dearest reader, it was not. Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

While Charles Leclerc stood on the podium seven times throughout the season – including two second places in Monaco and Mexico – Hamilton never got on the rostrum. It was the first time in his career he had gone an entire season without a finishing on the podium.

At the start of the year, Hamilton looked rejuvenated. Three years in a largely uncompetitive and temperamental Mercedes car had sucked most of the life out of him.

His move to Maranello seemed to have given him the injection he needed.

But by season's-end, it was all gone. He was knocked out in the first part of qualifying in each of the last three grands prix, as well as the Qatar sprint race.

There were even whispers he would leave Ferrari one year into his three-year deal with the Scuderia, and while that still seems unlikely, if Ferrari miss the mark with the new regulations next year, don't expect Hamilton to see his 21st season in 2027.

Williams will get a podium

CORRECT: They got two! And they were genuinely on merit.

In my pre-season prediction, I said they would likely come as a result of misfortune to others, weather, or a combination of the two.

In Azerbaijan, Carlos Sainz qualified a sensational second, and backed it up with third in the race. Then in Qatar, a combination of fantastic race pace and some quick work in the pits saw him leapfrog the two works Mercedes, the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar as well as Lando Norris to finish third.

The Spaniard, in his first season with Williams since splitting with Ferrari, scored 48 points after the mid-season break – the seventh most on the grid. Only the two McLarens, the two Mercedes, Leclerc and Verstappen scored more.

In the second year under the leadership of James Vowles, Williams was easily most-improved year-on-year. Having finished ninth in the constructors standings with only 17 points last season, they scored 137 this season to finish fifth.

Jack Doohan will not see the season out with Alpine

CORRECT: I'll concede this was probably like shooting the proverbial fish. Doohan, the first Queenslander ever to race in F1, was under pressure to keep his seat well before his rookie campaign had even begun.

While the circumstances were highly unusual and unfair, he did little to convince those at Alpine – or at least the team's ruthless boss Flavio Briatore – he was the best man for the job.

He crashed out on the opening lap in Australia, copped penalties for identical, clumsy collisions in both the sprint and grand prix in China. Then in Japan, having been forced to sit out of the first practice session for a young driver, he had a monumental crash only minutes into the afternoon session.

There's an old saying that you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs. To be fair to Doohan, other rookies are usually given a whole basket of eggs as well as the best utensils and mentoring in the world with which to practice and hone their craft.

Doohan was given a spoon, a half-smashed carton rescued from the back of the Woolies fridge and told to make do.

After his first-lap DNF in Miami, he was reportedly told he was out of his seat before the end of the race. His best result a 13th – although that was 16th on the road before three disqualifications – in China.

All doors back into F1 appear closed, and having competed in only seven grands prix, Doohan will go down as having one of the shortest F1 careers of any full-time driver.