Bet On Formula One As It Moves From Sepang To Suzuka

With the battle of the silver arrows from Mercedes reaching its climax the predictability of Formula One has become one of its greatest bugbears and the last few seasons have all but been a rather nippily paced parade celebrating the dominance of the boys under Toto Wolff, but the Malaysian Grand Prix confounded all expectations and has made a bet on Formula one in the final five races of the year a far more interesting proposition than the Ecuador lottery or even the English Premier League.

You can always bet on Formula One drivers to make excuses, and the rather extreme heat at the Sepang International Circuit was all they needed to coast through interviews prior to the race, but if things had been warm on the grid, they got very heated very quickly on lap one. Sebastian Vettel decided to make a rush from row three down the inside and had his front left taken off by one of the Mercedes, leaving him out of the race, and Max Verstappen crowing on the team radio. “Sebastian is crazy!” he broadcast, revenge perhaps for being called “immature” by Vettel after doing precisely the same in Spa.

Japanese GP Odds At Bet365

• Hamilton – 11/10
• Rosberg – 15/8
• Ricciardo – 6/1
• Verstappen – 8/1

However the drama was not yet done, and if you like to bet on sports in Japan the Grand Prix next weekend's race should be a cauldron of resentment and embittered rivalries in no small part due to the on track antics in Malaysia. Qualifying hadn't been a bundle of laughs, and lap one was already costing big names, and it would seem Lewis Hamilton, now leading, would stroll off with a victory as Nico Rosberg came into the pits after his clash with Vettel, returning to the race in last place, his title chances dwindling, but just to confound people who bet on Formula One at Bet365 being predictable, it wasn't.

Bet On Formula One At Bet365 As Only Five Races Remain

Lewis Hamilton was leading, Nico is fighting his way through the field and it looked to all who bet on Formula One like the Championship would be back neck and neck come the checkered flag, but then Hamilton's car did an impression of an Ozzy Osbourne stage show pyrotechnic, dramatically exploding for no readily apparent reason. The timing of this catastrophic engine failure was awfully fortunate for the languishing Rosberg who went onto finish third behind the two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo, the winner, and Max Verstappen in second, putting him twenty points ahead of Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton is still the betting favorite to win the Grand Prix (photo: jomomag.blogspot.com)

“Someone doesn't want me to win this year.” Hamilton told BBC radio, “We are fighting for the championship and only my engines are failing, it doesn't sit right with me.” Which seemed to indicate his belief there was a conspiracy within Mercedes against him. Of course a few hours after he'd calmed down he was blaming a “higher power” instead, apparently bad mouthing god is less risky than making accusations against your employers. Lewis said he would “Recollect” himself before next weekend's race but there could be the odd Japanese gambling news next Monday is not of his big come back.

Will Suzuka Be As Surprising As Sepang?

Bet365 now have Nico Rosberg as favorite to take the championship at 8/15 with Lewis Hamilton falling behind on 6/4, but a bet on Formula One this weekend for the Japanese Grand Prix is a bit of a different ball game with Vettel suffering a grid penalty of three places for his sins and despite Lewis Hamilton perhaps needing a whole new engine he's still 11/10 favorite to win in Suzuka, with Nico on 15/8, Ricciardo on 6/1 ahead of Max on 8/1 and Vettel at 20/1 with poor Kimi Raikkonen only 28/1 to take a victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, oh how Ferrari have fallen, but not as far as F1 has.

F1 Championship Odds

• Nico Rosberg – 15/8
• Lewis Hamilton – 6/4
• Anyone Else – 1000/1+

The conspiracy theory is, alas, probably just sour grapes, it's not really in the interests of a car manufacturer to have one of their top two creations be pictured in flames failing at the moment it is needed most, and whilst Nico Rosberg is now ahead, we've seen this immature German's unseemly eagerness and sense of self-entitlement get him into trouble before. Japanese gambling laws haven't really caught up with the idea of the internet, and I wonder how many will be betting on the laws of karma catching up with the gurning Nico Rosberg going into the tightening combination of turns at the start of Suzuka next weekend.