How to bet on F1 Racing?
How to bet on F1 Racing?
We explain why the odds on Formula One racing are so high, and how they can be dramatically reduced with the right research.
Formula One (F1) is regarded as the pinnacle of motor sport, as 10 teams battle each other over a series of races in a season which runs from March to November, taking in almost every part of the world. What distinguishes a Formula One race from many other sports is the sheer number of possible results. Football, tennis, rugby, to name but three are one-on-one affairs, and there are only two, or three possible outcomes – a win for either side or, in the case of football, a draw.
With F1 Racing, by contrast there are a scarcely comprehensible 2.5 billion different combinations of race finishing results. From a gambling viewpoint, whilst this offers great possibilities, it can also seem extremely daunting.
However, as with many things, once you get to know a bit about the sport, it becomes easier than you might think to place a successful bet. Here are a few key pointers.
F1 is a multi-million dollar sport, used by motor manufacturers to develop power engines, chassis and tyres. The more money and budget a team has, the more likely they are to win. There may be ten teams lining-up on the grid, but, barring a freak result, only Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull will take the chequered flag – and the latter will enjoy success less frequently than the other two.
Equally, although each team has two drivers, one of them (officially or unofficially) will be regarded as the Number One driver. That means that the team will favour them in terms of race strategy, spare parts, and, tactics, and, particularly towards the end of the season, if the Championship is on the line, may ask the other driver in the team to cede to them in critical situations. There is rarely a straight fight between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, or between Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, for example – the Finns know their place in the pecking order.
It is also important to understand how an F1 weekend works as well, and its five component parts. Friday (Thursday in the case of Monaco), consists of two practice sessions. These are not always a reliable guide to race form, as teams will be testing set-up, balance, and tyre strategies.
Saturday morning will see teams, having worked on cars overnight, start to get them much closer to racing trim, and prepare them for the all-important qualifying session in the afternoon.
Qualifying is where the action starts to get serious because teams are racing to set the fastest times possible to determine the all-important grid positions for the race itself. Where a car starts on a grid can have a major impact on where they finish in the race itself because, for all their speed, overtaking in an F1 car is very difficult, and, on a street circuit like Monaco or Singapore, practically impossible.
And then there is the race itself which can take up to 2 hours, consisting of 60 or 70 laps of a circuit through open countryside or through the heart of a city.
But how to bet on Formula 1? Here is a simple F1 Betting Guide.
First of all, consider the various options available. There are the long-term bets like who will win the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships for the season but, given current performance, budgets and team strengths, you will long odds against it being Hamilton or Vettel, Mercedes or Ferrari.
More interesting possibilities lie in betting on a race weekend itself. A popular bet is to place a wager on qualifying, and grid position. Factors which need to be taken into account include a car’s straight-line speed, cornering ability and the amount of downforce that it has. However, the human factor should not be forgotten either. Hamilton has had more pole positions than any other driver in history, 22 greater than his rival Vettel and 50 more than any other driver on the grid. It is not always that he has the fastest car – he is just better at qualifying than any other driver, living or dead.
Weather also can have a big part to play when it comes to Qualifying and the race itself. Results suggest that if it is raining, bet on Hamilton, who is a master in the wet, or a driver like Fernando Alonso.
In terms of the race itself, there is the option to bet on the race winner, but this might be heavily influenced by grid position and towards the latter end of the Championship by team strategy.
Better odds can be found by betting for a driver from one of the midfield teams to finish in the podium in one of the top three positions. There are always several races in a season which see high attrition rates or the intervention of rain, resulting in one of the lesser lights being sprayed with champagne at the end of a race.
Bets can also be placed who will set the fastest lap – this will normally be set by a driver from one of the major teams towards the end of a race, when fuel loads are light and they are on fresh tyres.
Finally, not least, gamblers can place a simple yes or no bet as to whether a safety car will appear or not, which normally happens towards the start of a Grand Prix when the cars are bunched closely together, increasing the risk of a collision.
Whilst the number of possible betting permutations on F1 might seem overwhelming, some research on drivers, cars, tracks and performance in varying weather conditions can help reduce the uncertainty when placing a bet. And, if you think that it is too boring to betting on F1 racing is too predictable with the likes of Mercedes or Vettel dominating, you can always get your crystal ball out and place a wager on who you think will be the next Lewis Hamilton.