When most people think of sports betting, few will associate it with Formula 1. The sport doesn’t exactly go hand in hand with betting but it is a sport at the end of the day, which does go hand in hand with betting!
Let’s clear one thing up straight away; you aren’t going to get the hundreds of markets to bet on like you will with football or horse racing. Betting on Formula 1 is going to be much more limited than that. Even though the majority of sites will cover the sport in some form, we have taken into account that the market for betting on the sport is going to be much smaller than most.
Even taking all that into account, we are still looking for bookmakers to provide as comprehensive a section as possible. It’s not always going to be feasible for all of our sites to live up to massive expectations. But the sport is still massively popular and has a huge global fan base. We feel that each of the bookmakers below should at least provide the basics to get started with betting on Formula 1. As ever, whilst we rank them 1-5, we do feel that it comes down to personal preference as to which you choose and as a result, we have tried to compile as much information about how the sport is covered on each site for you to essentially make your own mind up.
- In this Article:
- Bookmakers
- How to Bet
- Betting Markets
Best Formula 1 Betting Sites
#1 – BetVictor
BetVictor offer up one of the best opportunities to bet on forumal 1 in the industry. Their sites covers more markets than any other bookmaker and like a lot of sports that they cover, their pricing is excellent. As there is just one race each week over half of the year, the coverage for races is actually very limited. But we feel that BetVictor probably do the best job over the limited race time that’s on offer.
The best section of their sports book for F1 betting is entering into the popular race markets section where you can select between all the drivers in that field, then the market in which you want to bet on for that driver, before BetVictor spit a price out at you (not literally). They’ve included this section with a number of other sports and we were impressed with it then; the inclusion of this into their Formula 1 section was a welcomed one, to say the least.
Race weekends are where you get the biggest flurry of activity on the site and we found that the live betting section opened up quite nicely for this. The race tends to unfold at a pace, which suits live betting as it’s fast, but there is still time to try and predict possible race strategies that will have an effect on how the race pans out.
#2 – Coral
Coral have finishes an unbelievably close second in our list, but in all honesty, it should really be a case of joint first with BetVictor. Their F1 section is another solid addition to an already improving bookmaker. You can bet on a number of markets that include upcoming races, world championship betting and a specials section.
The specials section is something we want to touch on briefly. We are often spoilt with the more mainstream sports when it comes to betting specials, such as next manager to be sacked in football or a horse to be retired by a certain date. Formula 1 often gets left behind with these types of bets but Coral have bucked this trend. This section often includes young driver bets, even those that aren’t involved with F1 just yet. Something like X to race in formula 1 before 2015 or along those lines. They aren’t going to be your bread and butter markets by any means, but they add something a little different to a sport that often suffers from any real diversity in its betting markets.
Coral turn the outright winners market live for each race whilst still offering up reasonably competitive odds. In fact, it’s probably the pricing of their market which puts them marginally in second place, with BetVictor getting the nod in this area.
#3 – Betfred
Betfred offer up a solid, without ever being particularly awe-inspiring section for Formula 1 betting. They do cover each race and allow you to bet on both the overall winner of the race and the constructor’s winner for that race. The market options are pretty limited for race days beyond that.
They do provide F1 cover in their betting blog though and whilst their sources are unknown, the articles are actually a really interesting read. We find that so few bookmakers have produced this sort of coverage that it’s been refreshing to see that Betfred have done so. This all comes off the back of Betfred being a very much football focusing site, so it’s nice to seem them diversify a little.
Finally, Betfred are always worth keeping an eye out for betting offers, especially those particular to F1. Again, not many bookmakers run offers specifically for F1, so when we see someone giving their punters a range of money back specials, enhanced odds and even F1 betting specific bonus, we tend to get a little excited!
How to Bet on Formula One
One thing that you will find in Formula One is that the same group of drivers tend to win most weeks. The group will contain 3 or 4 that just dominate and you will be able to see who to target each week by looking at the current drivers championships.
A good way to start is by looking at the form of drivers who continue to do well and finish in place positions. Let’s take an upcoming grand prix at Monza for example. Seb Vettel is priced 20/1 to win the race and unless the drivers up top have car issues or crash out, it’s unlikely he will beat them. But, he has a great record around the track and he has shown signs of improvement the past couple of races. You can place an each way bet that will still pay handsomely should he finish within the places.
There’s not an awful lot in the bookmakers we have chosen. They all offer pretty much the same basic markets and these are limited at best. The biggest difference comes to when you need to start choosing which bookmaker to go with in terms of pricing. The site that offers the best odds is likely going to be the one you go with long term. A site like OddsChecker.com will help you see who’s offering what price on a series of markets and may be the best way to decide which bookmaker you are going to choose.
F1 Betting Markets
As you’ve probably guessed by now, there aren’t all that many betting markets to choose from for Formula One. The most popular are that of the Drivers Championship, the Constructors Championship and then outright winner for each race.
What some bookmakers offer is that of handicap markets. These are often to do with the times that are involved for races. You may be able to get an increased price for one of the favourites with a 10 second handicap, where the 10 seconds is removed from their overall time at the end and the places re-sorted and paid out accordingly.
Spread betting on the drivers championship is a market that has only recently emerged but you can bet on how many points you think a certain driver will finish up on. It works by betting a certain amount per point. You may bet on a point with the spread at 190-200. This means that’s for every point the driver gets over 200 you get 1 unit back and for every point under 190 it costs you 1 unit. If the driver finishes within the 190-200 brackets then the bet is either pushed meaning your stake is returned or you get a very slight return on your initial investment.
F1 Blogs
- Malcolm in the Middle Is Now a NASCAR Driver (But Is He Any Good?)
- Why Are There No Female Drivers in Formula One?
- What Do Disqualification, Retirement & Did Not Finish (DNF) Mean in F1?
- A Really Simple Guide to Formula One: How Do F1 Races Work?
- F1 Street Circuits: Formula 1 Racing Around City Streets