Formula 1 Betting
The Formula One season is the pinnacle of the Motor Racing calendar with the World Championship being the biggest title in the industry, therefore, with that in mind, our betting markets are centralized around these events. You'll be able to place bets on individual races or the whole Championship, you can do exactly that at BetUK. F1 has been running for 73 full seasons and it is rare that we see as much action as we have in recent years, Red Bull and Max Verstappen dominated last seasons competition after a fierce battle with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in the 2020/21 F1 season. This year, 10 teams with 2 drivers apiece will battle across 23 Grand Prix' to determine the winner of this years competition.
What has changed between this year and last years competition? We have two additional races with the Qatar Grand Prix returning to the calendar after missing out last year. We also have a brand new track as, for the first time since 1982, the Las Vegas Grand Prix returns to Formula One! These will replace the Russian Grand Prix and the French Grand Prix in the calendar. There are a number of changes in regards to teams as well but we will see two Formula 1 debuts with Logan Sargeant filling the role of Nicholas Latifi at Williams and Oscar Piastri who will fill the void left by Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren.
Formula 1 Betting Odds
Formula 1 is a sport where finding the balance between likely bets and outlandish bets is difficult. Drivers from the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes are widely expected to fill the top six spots on the track every Grand Prix with Max Verstappen expected to win a large number of the Grand Prix' in the calendar. This means that the odds you'll find for these elements to come off during Sunday's race are very low and because the number of drivers who likely can win a Grand Prix is so low (a polar opposite of the likes of Golf Betting that it is fairly unlikely that you'll find good odds for that market. However, when online betting for all sports, the most popular bet isn't always the best value for money and in this scenario, Formula 1 betting is no different. F1 provides a number of betting markets for a race day, starting with the race winner all the way through to whether or not a safety car will be used during the race. So, we recommend looking at the more in-depth betting markets to find the best odds for Formula 1 betting.
Formula 1 Betting markets
There are three main types of bets that can be placed in Formula 1 and they will vary depending on whether you're placing a bet on the event on a race or the overall competition. Betting on overall competitions is outright betting while betting on a race during the event is live betting, betting live on Formula 1 can be a truly unique experience as it brings added drama to some of the biggest races in the calendar. For example, if you placed a bet on the Drivers Championship winner in 2020/21, it would have been a truly unique experience but it also demonstrates how quickly a bet can change. If you'd bet on Lewis Hamilton to win the Drivers Championship before the last events of the final race, you would have been confident in your bet coming through, if you had bet on Max Verstappen, you had probably resigned yourself to your bet not coming through but in a split moment, everything changed and that is something that Formula 1 offers that some sports aren't able to.
If you're looking at the main markets for outright betting you'll find the following:
Betting on the Drivers Championship Winner
The Drivers Championship is the most prestigious prize in Formula 1, which makes this one of the most popular bets in Formula 1. Historically, it has been fairly easy to predict the winner in recent years but we have seen some seasons ending in a surprise winner. Nico Rosberg in 2016, Fernando Alonso in 2005 and Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 being three memorable surprise winners.
In 2023, Max Verstappen started the campaign under evens to win the Drivers Championship with Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell taking second and third. Realistically, no other drivers are expected to come close to Verstappen with Charles Leclerc and Ferrari arguably blowing their best chance last season. The only surprise winner out of the lot would be Russell, who won his first Grand Prix in 2022 but that will all depend on the strength of the Mercedes car in the 2022/23 season.
Betting on the Constructors Championship
Red Bull Racing claimed their first Constructors Championship win since 2013 in 2022 as they strolled to victory, leading Ferrari by 200+ points. They are widely expected to do the same in 2022, end of year tensions between drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will have brought a small level of worry to Red Bull faces but it is doubtful that this impacts their performance across the season.
Mercedes are a team who are expected to perform better than last season as at the start of the campaign, Mercedes admitted their car wasn't up-to-par and it was rare that Mercedes drivers were the fastest driver on the track during a session. If they can get back to their best next season, we should see a fantastic fight between Red Bull and Mercedes in 2023.
The best value-for-money bets could come in the form of the smallest constructors as you'll find bets that pit a Constructor against their perceived closest rivals to see which team will finish higher. Typically, we see the likes of Alpine Vs McLaren, Haas Vs Williams and more, betting odds will be based on previous seasons but if you have an incline that the best drivers are on the team that finished lower last season, you might be able to sneak some fantastic value in our betting odds for Formula 1.
Betting on the Race Winner
On the other end of our betting odds, you'll find bets for individual Grand Prix', the main betting market for individual races comes in the form of the race winner. This has the objective of betting on the driver who will be the first over the finish line during the final lap of the race. You can get a good indication of which drivers may overperform in a race during practice sessions but you may also find an outsider who can land the fastest lap. Following practice and qualifying, you'll find the driver who is in pole position, typically, the best Formula 1 betting odds for this market will involve either the drivers at the front of the grid.
Betting on the Fastest Lap
Betting on the driver to provide the fastest lap of the race is a particularly interesting experience, it doesn't always necessarily mean the winner of the race will be the winner of this betting market. However, it is also the betting market to keep an eye on the most during a race as if you're looking at a track where drivers typically have one pit-stop and change between hard to medium tyres, a driver who needs to pit later on in the race, will likely switch to softs and have a fantastic chance of landing the fastest lap on the new, softer tyre and it is in this market where you might be able to find the best value.
Forecast and Tricast F1 betting
If you're looking to increase your betting odds while backing the favourite to win a race, you may look at Forecast or Tricast betting, firstly, a straight forecast bet is the method of betting on the winner and second placed driver in a race. If you backed a Max Verstappen - Sergio Perez 1-2 every race it would have come off seven times over the course of the year. The previous year, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen took the top two positions 14 times in 22 races during the 2020/21 Drivers Championship. If you can correctly predict the winner and the runner-up, you may find fantastic enhanced odds for your betting experience.
Tricasts follow the same suit but work as a trio rather than a duo. However, it is significantly harder to predict the front three, for example, the top three drivers last season Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez finished as the top three drivers in only two races only twice and only once did they end up in the same order as their end of season positions, making this bet a difficult one to pull off.
Betting on the First Driver to Retire
An unfortunate certainty in Formula 1 is that in most races, something goes wrong and we see a driver crash or a car failure, it can be one of the worst moments in Formula 1 but in most occasions, we see a safe and simple retirement of a driver during a race. Often, you can look at teams with the most retirements and pick the first retirement based on that. However, in 2022, we saw 71 retirements across 23 races with Alfa Romeo suffering 12 retirements and Williams suffering 10 retirements. However, despite this Carlos Sainz Jr actually suffered the most retirements with 6.
Formula 1 Betting FAQs
Who is favoured to win the 2023 Drivers Championship?
Max Verstappen sits as the pre-season favourite to win the 2023 Drivers Championship and is the only driver who sits with odds under evens to win. His closest competitors are George Russell and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
Can you bet on Formula 1?
Yes! You can bet on Formula 1 in multiple formats, starting with bets on the two Championships (Constructors and Drivers) and then you'll also be able to find betting odds for individual Grand Prix' across the season with multiple betting markets for every race.
Has a Rookie ever won the F1 Championship?
A Rookie has never won the F1 Championship but one rookie has come agonizingly close. Lewis Hamilton in 2007 is one driver who nearly made the impossible happen taking a 12-point lead into the final two races, Hamilton was forced to retire in the penultimate race and only managed a 7th placed finish in Brazil as Kimi Raikkonen overtook Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to secure the victory over the rookie Hamilton.
What is the worst a Rookie has performed in their first season in Formula 1?
99.9% of people in the world will never admit that they are the worst to have done anything in their lives. However, Japanese driver Taki Inoue openly admits that his horrific 1995 season for Footwork is the worst debut season in the history of Formula 1. In a world where retirements are a lot more common than they are in the modern day, Taki Inoue began his career with five successive retirements, Taki had 9 retirements in his first 10 races, his most respectable performance came after 5 of the top 6 drivers ended up retiring in Italy. He retired 13 times in 17 races. However, his co-driver during this season also had 9 retirements but finished 6th and 3rd during the season which made Taki Inoue look even worse. He painfully admits in interviews he had 'no idea what a pit stop was and was nowhere near good enough for Formula 1'.
Where can I find Formula One Betting Tips?
Here at BetUK, we have Formula One betting tips for every single race of the season, these can be found at the BetUK blog.
