The F1 Times gambling contest between Ryan Wood (Editor) and Daniel Chalmers (Feature Editor) heads to the 19th round in Austin for the United States GP
Both men have a budget of £5 to spend on a maximum of 3 different bets relating to the upcoming event. The deadline for these bets to be placed is before the start of the first Friday practise session.
At the end of the season the winner will be the person who has made the most profit, or made the lowest loss.
Here are the results from last time.
Ryan Wood
Bet 1 – Sebastian Vettel to do the treble – Pole, Win and Fastest lap – £2.00 at 3/1
Bet 2 – Lewis Hamilton to win the Abu Dhabi GP – £3.00 at 6/1
Daniel Chalmers
Bet 1 – Lewis Hamilton to qualify on pole – £1.00 at 13/2 – Won £7.50
Bet 2 – Lewis Hamilton to win the Abu Dhabi GP – £3.00 at 6/1
Bet 3 – Jenson Button to set the fastest lap of the race – £1.00 at 12/1
Daniel and Ryan were both right in that McLaren were going to return to good form in Abu Dhabi. Daniel won £7.50 for correctly predicting that Hamilton would qualify on pole.
On Sunday, Daniel and Ryan were both set to win £21.00 each until reliability gremlins struck Hamilton’s car, whilst he was leading comfortably.
After 18 races £90.00 has been spent by both men. Ryan now has £51.74 worth of profit, whilst Daniel has £35.90 worth of losses. Therefore there is a difference of £87.54 between the two gamblers.
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Ryan Wood |
Daniel Chalmers |
This weekend F1 makes an overdue return to the US at the newly build Circuit of the Americas in Austin. These days new tracks fill fans with dread thinking that it will just more of the same, as we have seen at other new circuits.
On paper this looks like a more exciting circuit than the last four or five newly built tracks put together.
The first section is very much like the maggots/becketts section at Silverstone or the legendary first sector at Suzuka. This section should really challenge the drivers and cars alike.
In the final sector of the track is a corner similar to turn 8 at the Istanbul track. This sector also features some slower corners, and there is the customary long straight in the middle sector.
However the steep climb to turn one may well turn out to the iconic part of the track. Seeing 24 cars going into there at the start is certainly going to be exciting.
So with fast corners, elevation changes aplenty, places to overtake and a strong crowd for Sunday this new circuit could very well break the mould. Let’s hope so.
There is no doubt the teams and drivers will have plenty of work to do on Friday in order to get adapted to the track.
Round 19 United States
Ryan Wood
Bet 1 – Jenson Button to top 1st practice for the US GP – £2.00 at 6/1
Why not? I think McLaren will suit this circuit, particularly the final sector which is quite similar to the stop/start nature of Abu Dhabi. However, topping a practice session certainly doesn’t mean said driver has the quickest car. This would count as a lucky guess if it were to pay out.
Bet 2 – Lewis Hamilton to win the US GP – £3.00 at 5/2
The season has boiled down to a two-horse race between Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Lewis Hamilton is therefore out of the race for the title, but he’ll be going hell for leather to win in the US – he is of course the most recent winner of the US GP having won in Indianapolis in 2007 ahead of then team-mate Fernando Alonso.
He led the Abu Dhabi GP ‘comfortably’ before retiring from the lead and was fastest on Saturday by some distance. There is no reason why McLaren won’t be competitive in Austin, especially following on from the young driver test in which they completed the most laps in a bid to further understand their upgrades, reliability issues and tyres.
On a final note, I would probably have chosen Sebastian Vettel as the winner had his odds been a little more profitable.
Daniel Chalmers
Bets 1 and 2 – A British 1-2 in qualifying – £2.00 at 20/1 and a British 1-2 in the race – £2.00 at 16/1
I think McLaren will be very strong this weekend. Last time out in Abu Dhabi Hamilton took a comfortable pole position over the Red Bulls. He was also leading the race comfortably until another reliability gremlin struck. I think the team have definitely rediscovered their pace at least after a slight dip, albeit with the risk unreliability striking.
The young driver test at Abu Dhabi was also very fruitful for McLaren. The fact that Gary Paffett appeared on two out of the three days (and Gary is certainly not a young driver), demonstrates that the team were busy trying to find more pace in time for the final two races.
The last two sectors of the circuit should suit the McLaren. The middle sector is dominated by the long straight, and final sector is quite fiddly like the final sector in Abu Dhabi.
They may lose out to Red Bull slightly in the first sector but upgrades this weekend could certainly help in that respect.
If Mclaren go to Austin having found a couple of tenths during the test, that could propel both cars right to the front.
Let’s also not forget that McLaren are out of both championships, so there is no pressure on them like there is on Red Bull and Ferrari. They will be going to broke to end 2012 on a high.
For these bets to work I need Jenson to be on good form. However on a weekend when McLaren bring a good car, and he can find a good setup in practise he is more than capable.
Of course Paul Di Resta also counts in this bet, however it’s highly unlikely Paul will trouble the top two.
Bet 3- Paul Di Resta to be the first retirement of the United States GP – £1.00 at 25/1
This one is just a stab in the dark. I think the steep climb to turn one at the start of the race is going to be very tricky and potentially hazardous. I think it’s very likely that will see a bit of contact, and a few car parts making a bid for freedom.
Ultimately the midfield group is where the most danger is, so I have basically picked one of the middle pack drivers completely at random.
The first retirement market offers brilliant odds so it’s worth a shot.
