The Bahrain Grand Prix: Sakhir Pre-Qualifying Tips

Formula 1 Tips For The Bahrain Grand Prix

There's been a lot of talk about the Pirelli tyres so far this season and some criticism of the fact that the current tyres don't allow the drivers to push 100% for the entire race, and that somehow that devalues the racing.  However, at the Chinese Grand Prix the top five places were Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Vettel and Button ... all former world champions.

This season the opening three Grand Prix have been won by Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.  I think it's fair to say that those victories owed more to the fact that Raikkonen, Vettel and Alonso are all brilliant drivers, rather than any random lottery caused by the tyres.  You're never going to produce a tyre which keeps everyone on the grid happy, but the results so far this season would suggest that whatever the tyres, the cream will always rise to the top.

Anyway, onto my pre-qualifying tips for the Bahrain Grand Prix...

Race Winner:
10 points eachway* (20 points total) on Lewis Hamilton at 11.0 (Price Boost)
Mercedes and Hamilton in particular have been close but not quite there all season.  A race victory in Bahrain might just be beyond them just yet, but with two podiums behind him Lewis nevertheless looks a decent eachway bet.

* SkyBet pay 1/5 the odds for first 3 places.

The Australian Grand Prix: Melbourne Pre-Qualifying Tips

Formula 1 Tips For The Australian Grand Prix

The wait is over and the new season is finally here!

For each Grand Prix of the season I'm going to place a few hypothetical bets pre and post qualifying using the odds available from SkyBet.com and see which set of tips perform best.  In 2012 my post-qualifying tips generally outperformed my pre-qualifying tips so I'll see if that's how things turn out once again.

It's always a bit of a step into the unknown at the start of a new season when making predictions, but I'll see how I go...

To Win Outright:
20 points on Jenson Button at 6.0
Jenson Button wasn't overly pleased with the way things went for McLaren at the recent Barcelona test, but he clearly likes the Albert Park track and has won three of the last four Australian Grand Prix.  At odds of 6.0 he therefore looks worth a small bet for another Australian victory.

Brazilian Grand Prix: Interlagos Pre-Quaifying Tips

Formula 1 Tips For The Brazilian Grand Prix

Every Grand Prix weekend I give myself 100 points and place a few hypothetical bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com and see how I do.  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, I'll make some tips before and after qualifying and see which set of tips do best.

I would add a note of caution to keep an eye on the weather forecast for Sunday's race, as a wet race will of course add a degree of unpredictability to things making all betting markets harder to predict.  Anyway, here are my pre-qualifying tips...

Race Winner:
10 points on Lewis Hamilton at 3.75
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel looked to be the class of the field in the US, so you have to fancy them to contest things again in Brazil.  Lewis just had the edge on Sunday and with Vettel being focussed on the championship he'll be primarily concerned with finishing ahead of Alonso and therefore unlikely to want to take too many risks battling for the lead.  I'm therefore edging slightly towards Lewis Hamilton at odds of 3.75.

To Finish In The Points (Top Ten Finish):
20 points on Daniel Ricciardo at 3.5
A poor qualifying session hindered his chances at the US Grand Prix, but Ricciardo has nevertheless managed 5 top ten finishes from the last 8 Grand Prix and therefore looks decent value for a points scoring finish at Interlagos at odds of 3.5.

The United States Grand Prix: Austin Pre-Qualifying Tips

Formula 1 Tips For The United States Grand Prix

Every Grand Prix weekend I give myself 100 points and place a few hypothetical bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com and see how I do.  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, I'll make some tips before and after qualifying and see which set of tips do best. 

To Finish In The Points (Top Ten Finish):
20 points on Daniel Ricciardo at 5.0
Daniel Ricciardo has now sneaked into the lower end of the top ten at 5 of the last 7 Grand Prix and yet the bookies still continue to rate him as an outsider in this market.  His odds to finish in the points at the United States Grand Prix this weekend are 5.0, so at that price he seems worth a punt.

To Qualify On The Front Row:
20 points on Mark Webber to Qualify On The Front Row at 1.91
Mark Webber has qualified on the front row at each of the last four Grand Prix, so this looks like another decent bet.
 

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Yas Marina Pre-Qualifying Tips

Formula 1 Tips For The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Every Grand Prix weekend I give myself 100 points and place a few hypothetical bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com and see how I do.  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, I'll make some tips before and after qualifying and see which set of tips do best. 

GP Winning Margin:
20 points on 6 Seconds Or More at 1.73
All of Sebastian Vettel's four recent victories have been won by more than 6 seconds.  Maybe part of the reason for this is that Vettel, being the competitive racer he is, likes to put in fast laps in the closing stages of a Grand Prix in an attempt to get the fastest lap of the race.  Whatever the reason, we haven't seen a really close finish for a while now so a winning margin of more than 6 seconds would seem to be the bet to go for.

To Win Outright:
10 points on Sebastian Vettel at 1.73
The unpredictability of the start of the season now feels a long time ago after Sebastian Vettel's domination in recent Grand Prix.  Vettel now has four straight victories so you can understand why the bookes have him as the odds on favourite as he looks unstoppable at the moment.  At odds of 1.73 though, there's too much risk for not enough reward so I'm going to limit myself to a small 10 point bet on Sebastian Vettel to continue his run and then go for an additional eachway bet on one of the chasing pack...

The Indian Grand Prix: New Delhi Pre-Qualifying Tips

Formula 1 Tips For The Indian Grand Prix

Every Grand Prix weekend I give myself 100 points and place a few hypothetical bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com and see how I do.  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, I'll make some tips before and after qualifying and see which set of tips do best. 

To Finish In The Points (Top Ten Finish):
20 points on Daniel Ricciardo at 3.5
Toro Rosso's steady improvement in form throughout the season seems to have gone unnoticed by the bookies, so given that Ricciardo has achieved a points scoring finish at four of the last five Grand Prix he looks to be generously priced at odds of 3.5.

Retire On First Lap:
10 points on Romain Grosjean at 23.0
Given his well publicised first lap troubles I was surprised to see SkyBet offering odds of 23.0 for Grosjean to retire on the first lap, so this one has to be worth a small bet.

The Korean Grand Prix: Yeongam Pre-Qualifying Tips

Formula 1 Tips For The Korean Grand Prix

Every Grand Prix weekend I give myself 100 points and place a few hypothetical bets using the odds available from OLBG.com and see how I do.  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, I'll make some tips before and after qualifying and see which set of tips do best.

To Win Outright: 
25 points on Lewis Hamilton at 4.5
Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel in particular looked very strong at Suzuka, but given the unpredictable nature of the season so far, Vettel's odds of 2.62 look a little short.  Lewis Hamilton had a bad day at the office in Suzuka but a lot of that was down to Lewis going in the wrong direction with car set-up, so he'll be aiming to bounce back to form in Korea.  Admittedly, the reliability of the McLaren hasn't been too great in recent races but before Japan, Lewis had won the last two races that he managed finished, so at odds of 4.5 for the victory he looks a slightly more attractive bet than Sebastian Vettel. 

To Finish On The Podium:
15 points on Fernando Alonso at 2.5
Excluding retirements (neither of which were Fernando's or Ferrari's fault), Alonso has finished on the podium at all but two of the last eleven Grand Prix.  His consistency therefore makes him an attractive bet for the podium at odds of 2.5.