Belgian Grand Prix: Round-Up

"It is still open.  We just need to keep trying to improve our performance and try to turn it around." ...Fernando Alonso

Unfortunately, this year's Belgian Grand Prix was far from being a classic and couldn't come anywhere near to reproducing the excitement of qualifying.  Sebastian Vettel quickly strolled into a comfortable lead and then controlled the race from there on in, so hopefuly Monza in a couple of weeks' time will produce better racing.

Overall, it was also a disappointing weekend for my tips as several of my bets were undone by the weather.  A few still came up though, so this is the round-up of how I got on...

Post-Qualifying Tips

Shorter Priced Bets:

Podium Finish:
10 points on Fernando Alonso at 3.0 (Ladbrokes, Coral, BetFred) - WIN 30 points
Alonso was up to 5th place by the end of the first lap and then made his way up through the field very quickly, so by a very early stage in the race he was already looking good for the podium.

Lap 1 Retirements: 
10 points on Lap 1 Retirements - Nil at 1.6 (Bwin) - WIN 16 points
'Lap 1 Retirements - Nil' has been a contender for the bet of the season and once again it proved to be a winning bet.

Safety Car:
10 points on Safety Car - Yes at 1.57 (Ladbrokes, Paddy Power) - LOSS
There weren't as many incidents as we've seen in previous years at Spa, with Pastor Maldonado's coming together with Paul Di Resta being the only significant accident of the race.  In any event, the safety car wasn't required and throughout the Grand Prix it was never called into action.

Making an overall return of 46 points from 30 points and therefore my ongoing total now stands at 106 points.

Taking A Risk/Longer Priced Bets:

Podium Finish:
10 points on Jenson Button at 12.0 (Bet365) - LOSS
The weather forecast proved to be wide of the mark and so the chances of Jenson Button making the podium in the dry were always going to be a longshot.

Fastest Lap:
10 points on Mark Webber at 8.0 (Bet Victor) - LOSS
Red Bull had the pace, but it was Webber's team-mate Vettel who recorded the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:50.756 on the 40th lap.

Not To Be Classified:
10 points on Felipe Massa at 4.5 (Ladbrokes) - LOSS
Felipe Massa eventually finished the Belgian Grad Prix in 7th place.

Making an overall return of 0 points from 30 points and therefore my ongoing total now stands at 40 points.





It was a bad week for my pre-qualifying tips...

Pre-Qualifying Tips

Shorter Priced Bets:

Podium:
10 points on Kimi Raikkonen at 2.15 (Sporting Bet) - LOSS
Even before he retired, Kimi's brake troubles looked more or less guaranteed to make a podium finish beyond him. 

To Reach Qualifying Session Three:
10 points on Daniel Ricciardo at 2.0 (Bet Victor) - LOSS
Daniel Ricciardo had a strong race but got caught out in qualifying and was eliminated in Q1.

Winning Margin:
10 points on Under 6 Seconds at 2.1 (SkyBet) - LOSS
Sebastian Vettel was the class of the field and finished the race 16.8 seconds clear of Alonso in second place.

Making an overall return of 0 points from 30 points and therefore my ongoing total now stands at 76 points.

Taking A Risk/Longer Priced Bets:

Pole Position:
10 points on Lewis Hamilton at 2.75 (SkyBet, BetFred, Bet Victor, Ladbrokes) - WIN 28 points
Another brilliant qualifying lap when it mattered gave Lewis Hamilton his 4th successive pole position.  However, with a few minutes to go it was looking like it would be Paul Di Resta taking pole.  Di Resta began Q3 priced at 101.0 but once it became apparent that he was the only driver to opt for the intermediates, his 'Bet In Play' odds quickly plummeted and he was as low as 1.05 to take pole when SkyBet eventually suspended their Bet In Play market.

I'd got on Di Resta at 34.0 and then again at 21.0, so although I was pleased for Lewis I was disappointed to lose out on a potential big payout.  It illustrates though, how volatile the Bet In Play market can be and that there's money to be potentially made if you can react quick enough.

Top Ten Finish:
10 points on Nico Hulkenberg at 2.75 (Bet365, Bet Victor) - LOSS

Qualifying Match Bets:
10 point accumulator on: - LOSS
Lewis Hamilton V Nico Rosberg - Lewis Hamilton at 1.57 (w)
Sebastian Vettel V Mark Webber - Sebastian Vettel at 1.25 (w)
Kimi Raikkonen V Romain Grosjean - Kimi Raikkonen at 1.73 (l)
Jules Bianchi V Max Chilton - Jules Bianchi at 1.17 (w)
Hamilton, Bianchi and Vettel out-qualified their team-mates but the bet was let down by Kimi Raikkonen who lined up on the grid in 8th place, one spot behing his team-mate Romain Grosjean.

Making an overall return of 28 points from 30 points and therefore my ongoing total now stands at 101 points.


. . . . . . . .


Next up is Monza in two weeks' time and as usual during the gap I'll be taking a look at the form guide and analysing recent results to see which drivers have been the most profitable bets in various formula 1 betting categories.


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