Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Yas Marina Round-Up

Once again my post-qualifying tips outperformed my pre-qualifying tips

In general I always like to wait until after qualifying before placing my bets, so to test whether that's the best strategy or not, every Grand Prix weekend I give myself 100 points and then place a few hypothetical bets both before and after qualifying using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then analyse their performance and see which set of tips do best.

Once again my post-qualifying tips outperformed my pre-qualifying tips, making a modest profit for the second week running, so the way things are developing it’s looking like after qualifying is definitely the best time to place your formula 1 bets…

Post-Qualifying Tips:

Lap 1 Leader:

10 points on Mark Webber at 6.0 - LOSS

Webber made a very poor start and wasted his strong qualifying, so this bet was already looking doomed by the first corner.

To Finish On The Podium:

20 points on Kimi Raikkonen at 2.63 – WIN 53 points

With the benefit of hindsight, I was too conservative with this bet but nevertheless Kimi justified his pre-race confidence with a strong controlled performance.  He made an excellent getaway from the grid which meant he was perfectly placed to capitalise when Lewis suffered more mechanical woes.

Top Six Finish:

20 points on Fernando Alonso at 1.29 – WIN 26 points

Alonso has had a very consistent second half of the season and always seems to get the maximum out of the Ferrari, so it was no surprise to see him record another top six finish and on reflection this was another bet which was overly cautious.

To Finish In The Points (Top Ten Finish): 
20 points on Bruno Senna at 2.63 – WIN 53 points

Despite a collision on the opening corner of the Grand Prix with Nico Hulkenberg, Bruno Senna recovered well and brought his Williams home in 8th place to record his 9th top ten finish of the season.  His points scoring finish at Abu Dhabi was at least partially thanks to a number of incidents involving the cars ahead of him, but Senna proved once again that he races stronger than he qualifies and has a knack for bringing the car home in the lower end of the points.

To Win Outright:

10 points on Mark Webber at 4.0 - LOSS

Webber had a race to forget and from very early on this bet looked doomed.

To Win (Eachway Bet):

10 points on Pastor Maldonado at 34.0 - LOSS

In the early stages of the Grand Prix, Pastor Maldonado was in contention for a podium finish, but a KERS failure after the first safety car period left him vulnerable and cost him a chance of a top three finish.

Not To Be Classified:

10 points on Sebastian Vettel at 4.5 - LOSS

Vettel had an early scare during the first safety car period when he swerved to avoid Ricciardo and was forced to pit for a new nose, but he went on to drive a brilliant race and ended up with an impressive and unexpected podium.

Making an overall return of 132 points from 100 points and therefore an overall profit of 32 points.

In the early stages of the Grand Prix, my pre-qualifying tips seemed in reasonable shape with Lewis Hamilton in particular looking in a commanding position.  However, as already mentioned in the end my pre-qualifying tips performed poorly and the only bet to come off was 10 points on Daniel Ricciardo to finish in the points at 3.5.  After qualifying, Ricciardo’s odds drifted out to 5.0 in the Top Ten Finish market, so although this was a winning bet, the timing of the bet could have been better and proved to be a missed opportunity for a potentially bigger return.

So once again my post-qualifying tips have comfortably outperformed my pre-qualifying tips suggesting that after qualifying is definitely the wisest time to place a formula 1 bet.

The running totals in the comparative performance of my pre and post qualifying tips now stands at:

Pre-qualifying tips – 1.5

Post-qualifying tips tips – 4.5

I’ll post my pre-qualifying tips for the United States Grand Prix on Tuesday 12th November 2012, i.e. the Tuesday before the Grand Prix.

Disclaimer:  A small bet can make a formula 1 race more exciting but gambling can be a risky business so never bet more than you can afford to lose.  The safest way to bet is with a free bet, so if you'd like the chance to claim a totally free £10 bet then sign up to SkyBet today using the banner link below:




Footnote: All odds were correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.

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