Brazilian Grand Prix: Interlagos Tips Round-Up

An unbelievably exciting finish to an absolutely classic season.

Before I move onto my tips I just want to say how much I've absolutely loved the 2012 formula 1 season.  I first got into formula 1 during the days of Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen, etc, and although those first few few seasons as a formula 1 fan got me completely hooked, I think it's fair to say that in terms of excitement and entertainment the bar just keeps getting higher.

Credit to the drivers for some of the amazing races we've witnessed this season and credit also to all the teams for the current atmosphere of co-operation which has allowed rivalries to be put aside for the greater good of the sport.  Today's race has to go down as another brilliantly dramatic finale to a formula 1 season and I'm already looking forward to 2013.

Anyway, this is how my post-qualifying tips performed...

Race Winner:
10 points on Lewis Hamilton at 2.38 - LOSS
Things were looking good for Lewis Hamilton until lap 54 when Nico Hulkenberg slid into him at the first corner and put him out of the race.

Race Winner (Eachway):
10 points on Felipe Massa at 34.0 (5 points on the win - LOSS, 5 points eachway - WIN 33 points)*
Felipe Massa rounded off his strong finish to the season with a podium at his home Grand Prix, ensuring a return of 33 points from this bet.

* On an eachway bet, SkyBet pay 1/5 the odds for the first three places.

The Korean Grand Prix: Yeongam Post-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 place a selection of tips before and after qualifying and see which set of tips do best.  You can find my pre-qualifying tips here:

The Korean Grand Prix: Yeongam Pre-Qualifying Tips

And here are my post-qualifying tips...

To Win Outright:

25 points on Mark Webber at 4.33

Mark Webber has had a poor spell by his standards recently but he tends to race strongly when he starts from the front row of the grid.  Of course, there’s the potential matter of team orders to consider but Mark is still in with a mathematical shout at the championship and given that he hasn’t taken too kindly to team orders in the past, I’m therefore going to risk 25 points on Webber to win outright at 4.33.

To Finish On The Podium:

20 points on Kimi Raikkonen at 5.5

You would have to say that with Webber, Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso starting on the front two rows of the grid, you would probably expect the podium to most likely come from those four drivers.  However, with the driver’s championship balanced the way it is we may see some very competitive opening laps so if there are any incidents then Kimi Raikkonen is well placed starting from fifth to take advantage if any of the front four encounter problems.  He wasn’t too far away from the front row pace during qualifying and therefore given the short odds available on the front four, I’m going to go for a small bet on Kimi for a podium at odds of 5.5.

The Japanese Grand Prix: Suzuka Post-Qualifying Tips

Formula 1 Tips For The Japanese 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 place a selection of tips before and after qualifying and see which set of tips do best.  You can find my pre-qualifying tips here:
The Japanese Grand Prix: Suzuka Pre-Qualifying Tips

And here are my post-qualifying tips...

To Win Outright:
20 points on Mark Webber at 6.0
The Red Bulls were clearly the team to beat in qualifying but at the time of writing Sebastian Vettel is still under investigation for allegedly blocking Fernando Alonso during Q3.  With Vettel's odds for the victory as short as 1.57 that therefore looks a risky proposition as things stand.  Mark Webber has been off the pace slightly in the last few races but with the question mark currently hanging over Vettel's starting grid position, a small bet on Mark Webber at odds of 6.0 looks the safer option.

To Win Outright (Eachway)*:
15 points on Sergio Perez at 26.0
This looks like a bit of an optimistic bet given that Sergio Perez has yet to win a Grand Prix.  However, excluding retirements, Perez has improved on his grid position during the race in all but one of the last ten Grand Prix, and always looks strong during the closing stages of races.  Starting from 5th he therefore looks a reasonable bet to claim his 4th top three position of the year, so while the top step of the podium looks a longshot, an eachway bet at odds of 26.0 seems worth a small punt.

* NB. Some bookies pay 1/5 of the odds for a top three finish, while others pay 1/3 of the odds for a top two finish.  I'm picking this bet based on 1/5 of the odds for a top three finish but would probably give it a miss if 1/3 of the odds for a top two finish were offered.