F1 - 2010

[Rod]

With the first couple of days testing complete do you think the results have any bearing on what will happen at the start of the season? Massa has topped the times on both of the days so far, Hamilton, Schumacher and Rosberg has been on the pace as well. Merecede's have performed quite well, Rosberg has been faster than Schumacher so far but Michael has a full days testing today, as do Alonso and Button. Red Bull don't start testing until next week.

Who do you think will be fighting for the championship this year? I still believe McLaren are going to be the team to beat, although I am interested to see how Red Bull will perform next week.

Expecting Alonso to top the times in testing today.
In the betting Betfair have Hamilton at 9/2 which seems quite good, although 9/1 on Massa is also tempting. Alonso is favourite according to Betfair at 4/1. Most other sites have Hamilton as the favourite. Vettel might be good value at 7/1.

Edit @ 11:30 - Alonso quick and money going on him on Betfair he has come in from 5.0 this morning down to 4.7 and money still going on.

Edit @ 12:30 - Alonso now at 4.5 has been as low as 4.3 this hour. Should probably lay him now as I believe you will get better odds on him later today as these current odds are no better than the bookies are offering.

[EvilPie]

Only 10 days to go to the new F1 season and it looks like being the most interesting championship for years. Certainly at the start anyway until someone shows some dominance.

What are everybody's thoughts on this season?

Can Schumacher do anything special with his old team principal Brawn? Surely they're tough to back against?

Hamilton vs Button will be interesting for the first few races. Will one of them be significantly quicker or will they just take points off each other leaving another driver a clear run at the championship?

Latest testing is leaning towards McLaren, BMW Sauber and Renault but how long will this last? Mercedes have a new upgrade which will ready for the first race so they can't be ruled out.

Latest betting has Alonso favourite at around 3.5 and I'd struggle to go against the man I personally consider the best driver in the championship. At those odds though I think he's unbackable this early.

Vettel @ 5.5
Hamilton @ 6
Schumacher @ 7
Button as high as 15

Non of these look particularly good value to me as the start of the seaon will be so close. Button has to be better value than Hamilton. I can't see them being that far apart and Button's smooth driving style may pay dividends now that fuel stops aren't allowed.

For a good long shot I quite fancy Nico Rosberg @ around 29. If the Mercedes upgrade is as good as Brawn is suggesting he could be challenging at the front which could see these odds drop significantly after the first couple of races.

Same car as Schumacher and a fellow German who Schumacher may take under his wing and try to push. With Brawn and Schumacher behind him the guy will do much better than his odds suggest.

So although I think Alonso is rightly the favourite my picks for this season are Button and Rosberg. Both are well worth an e/w at 1/5 odds for top 3.

There will be plenty of betting to be had this season and I may ressurect my F1 gambling career which has been dormant since 2005 when the value finally disappeared. This was the Alonso / Renault year. 16's for Alonso and 12's for Renault pre season. Toasty.

Plenty of match betting to be had and with fuel stops gone there may be some value to be found at each race. The bookies aren't as stupid as they were in '05 so it could be tough to find. That year was like buying money. If I get the buzz back I'll post any of my selections up here. If the bookies just go ridic tight like last year I'll get bored looking after Bahrain.

[Sack it off]

I want a F1 PS3 game, whats the latest one?

[Rookie (Rodney)]

Moody told me to back Nico Huldenburg is it?

[marcin123]

My money would be on Hamilton now that Raikkonen is not in F1 lol...

[EvilPie]

Moody told me to back Nico Huldenburg is it?

Back him to do what?

And I think it's Hulkenberg is it?

[Rookie (Rodney)]

Moody told me to back Nico Huldenburg is it?

Back him to do what?

And I think it's Hulkenberg is it?

for the drivers championship, lol

[TightEnd]

Latest testing, indeed all winter testing, has Ferrari and Red Bull slightly ahead of McLaren

For Ferrari this is not surprising as they have been working on this car since last June when they gave up on 2009

Not sure where you get Mercedes and Renault as being leading Winter testing. Renault had one quick test but are plagued by balance and grip problems. Mercedes not quite ready to win yet, according to Schumacher

Williams meant to have a corking engine, and likely to be best of the rest outside the big four teams

Of the new teams Lotus and Virgin about 5 seconds a lap off the pace, and with big reliability problems. Still got to start somewhere

All the signs are with races run on full tanks, and most on one pit stop, tyre wear and qualifying one lap speed will be key. 

[vegaslover]

Believe Sauber have tested well. May be worth taking an early price to trade

[Dino]

The season is getting off to a good start, USF1 has laid off it's staff and will not compete in the 2010 season and Campos will not be testing their car before the first GP.

[EvilPie]

The season is getting off to a good start, USF1 has laid off it's staff and will not compete in the 2010 season and Campos will not be testing their car before the first GP.

At least that's 2 of the mobile chicanes out of the way.

[Rod]

I'm really having problems trying to predict anything this year - I believe McLaren are stronger than they looked in testing and agree that Button will be closer to Hamilton than a lot of people think but I think Hamilton will win the Mclaren battle.

Last season betting in running on Betfair was not too bad. I can't see anything on there that I see as value at the moment. Button is probably the best value but I can't honestly see him winning it.

Anybody think there is any value in Webber @ 19.5?

[TightEnd]

I think Vettel is a class above Webber and in a "luck evens out" 16 race contest against his teammate will win it

As such while 19.5 looks attractive, I'd rather be on Vettel at shorter.


Would like to have Alonso over Massa if a match bet existed, too

[EvilPie]

I think Vettel is a class above Webber and in a "luck evens out" 16 race contest against his teammate will win it

As such while 19.5 looks attractive, I'd rather be on Vettel at shorter.


Would like to have Alonso over Massa if a match bet existed, too

I'd like it at 10/11 the pair but the chances of that are miniscule.

Pretty sure this will be priced accordingly with Alonso the clear favourite.

We'll get to see just how good Alonso is this year against a quality team mate on equal footing.

The only team mate who's beaten him was Hamilton and that was only because he couldn't be arsed and hated life at McLaren. Alonso will win 2/3 of the HU against Massa and probably more so in quallifying.

Bold statement I know but I'll stick by it.

[fatshaft]

Great reprise of Schumacher's career by the Beeb today. So basically, they think he's a big fucking cheat then?