Few sports are quite as high-octane as Formula 1, and as such, Formula 1 betting also takes on an exciting aspect every race weekend. With over 20 races in a typical season, plus 20 or so drivers competing for around 10 teams, the chances for good value betting look good.
Yet, over the last decade or more, it has increasingly been the case that it is one, two or three teams that dominate the season, and it is often the same three or four drivers that contest the three spots on the podium at the end of a race.
That means that traditionally popular betting markets, such as betting on which driver will win the race, have seen a radical change, with the most likely winners offered at very short odds, while the remaining 15 or 16 drivers are all very long-odds options.
So, finding value for Formula 1 betting enthusiasts can be tricky. So to help you out, we have put together this top ten best value Formula 1 betting markets you can find on each raceday weekend of the lengthy F1 season!
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Outlined below are ten of the best value Formula 1 betting markets that are available each race weekend of the season.
While the market for a driver to win a race may be dominated by just one, two or three rivals, all at very short odds, the market for a driver to finish third in a race is much more competitive and as such, tends to offer by far better value odds Formula 1 betting odds.
The reason for this is that there is more variation in the cars that finish third in a race than those that finish first or second.
That’s because the top drivers can have a race where issues can cause them to drop down the field, or there can be a race where top drivers crash out or have technical issues which leads to a driver from lower down the field earning a podium finish.
This is a very popular bet and it is one that has paid out several times over the years. It is simply a wager on any driver to win the race and also record the fastest lap.
One word of caution here though is that new rules in F1 mean that the driver that earns the fastest lap wins one World Championship point.
This can often mean that if a driver is well out of contention in a race for a fast team, the team may take a pit stop and try to earn that point by setting up the car to record a fastest lap.
Modern F1 cars are now very reliable, so retirements are less common than they used to be, but they still happen at almost every race and sometimes, it is not the cars you would expect that are forced out of a race.
This Formula 1 betting market is based on which of the drivers on the grid will retire first from the race, and it is a bet that can sometimes be concluded quickly.
With all the cars closest together at the very start of the race, drivers can be retired from a race at the first corner if mistakes are made.
This is a complicated bet to land, but in the modern era of dominance by a single team and driver, it is a bet which has landed more frequently now than in the past.
A Grand Slam is a bet on an F1 driver to have the fastest lap in qualifying, thus earning the pole position in the race. Then the driver must lead every lap of the race from start to finish and in doing so set the fastest lap of the race.
Of course, with pit-stops, leading every lap is very difficult, as drivers will pit at different stages of a race, so it is often the leading every lap of the race aspect of this bet that makes it difficult to land a winner.
However, if a race suits one driver and car in particular, and the driver is expected to have a one-stop strategy and take a big lead in the race, then the Grand Slam bet can be a very enticing option.
This is a bet on how far the winning driver in the race will win by. This can range from just a fraction of a second in very close races, to many seconds in a race in which one driver has dominated the proceedings.
A good knowledge of the driver, teams and the track, as well as how the tyres perform, is a good starting point for this bet for any would-be punter.
Similar to the winning margin bet above, this is a Formula 1 betting market based simply on how much time there is between the driver that finishes first in qualifying for the race, thus earning pole position, and the driver that finishes second.
This Formula 1 betting market makes pit stops far more entertaining for the viewer, as it is a bet on which team will have the fastest pit stop in the race.
It doesn't matter which driver gets the benefit of the fastest pit stop, so each team has two potential chances to land this prize for every pit stop their drivers make.
This market is one of the more wide-open on any F1 race day, as any car could be the last classified finisher.
Poor performance by top cars, accidents, retirements, engine issues, poor driving conditions, changeable weather, tyre wear and the use of safety cars are just some of how a car could end up at the back of the field in a race.
If you like Formula 1 betting markets with longer odds options, this is a great market to consider.
This is another very wide-open Formula 1 betting market as there can be lots of reasons why a driver may make a later pit stop in a race. It could be a tactical move, it could be that the car requires tyres or a replacement wing after a collision or similar, or it could be simply to put on fast tyres to try and land the point for the fastest lap.
This makes this a challenging market to get correct, but the flip side is that the odds on each driver are usually a good value for every competitor in the field.
This Formula 1 betting market is similar to bet 3 in the list, the first driver to retire, but this time we are specifically looking at a driver that may retire on the first lap.
This is a bet which can be useful if there is a driver who is known for causing issues in the early stages of a race, when the cars are all bunched together heading into the first few corners of the race, when places can be gained quickly.
There have been many occasions when drivers have collided on track on the opening lap and been forced to retire, and it can include both the fastest and slowest drivers on the circuit.
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