Betfan F1 Race 5
11th May 2014
Sgt Lucian Reviews Betfan F1
GRAND PRIX DE MONACO ended with the 7th victory of Mercedes Team. Again the duo Rosberg and Hamilton won and this year seems to be the Mercedes year. Thirteen races follow but Merceds team and Hamilton already made a “show of force”
Here is the argument behind fastest lap bets:
<< Monaco Grand Prix
A Fastest lap for Hamilton? It doesn’t follow…
While every other European city is desperately trying to get rid of motorcars, Monaco lies on its back in the street like a trucker’s prostitute braced for a petrolheads’ gang-bang.
Tiny Monaco is not a practical place to live and it is also totally impractical as an F1 race-rack. It’s not a race-track, it is the setting for a mindless spectacle where cars circulate, albeit at high speeds, in a monotonous gridlocked fashion.
Overtaking on track is near impossible, often there is no on-track overtaking. Whoever leads generally wins and whoever is in a god position is told to “hold station” and not jeopardise championship points trying to overtake in a place where two cars cannot fit side-by-side.
There’s been no team orders in Mercedes this season but I guarantee there will be one here. Namely whichever Merc reaches the opening turn in front must stay there, unhindered un-harassed.
Lewis Hamilton is the man, driving a vastly superior car which has given him four consecutive race wins and four pole positions from five races this year. Consequently the popular treble of ‘starting the race on pole, win the race and set the fastest lap’ looks over-priced at 2/1 about the Englishman.
WRONG: Only once in the last 12 Monaco Grand Prix has the race winner claimed the ‘fastest lap’. Technically whoever qualifies on pole should be a near double-digit price to also set the fastest lap.
There is a straightforward reason too. The race leader here controls the pace from the front, not unnecessarily punishing his car safe in the knowledge he cannot be passed on the narrow streets of the principality. That is how the last four renditions of this race have unfolded and this is why the winning margins here are invariably small.
Hamilton is 4/7 to start the race on pole and 6/4 to set the fastest lap. One has a negative effect on the other, it’s a mockery.
Naturally the race second favourite and fellow Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has a huge shout. You have to envisage him going hell for leather when his teammate stops for fresh tyres but at the stage he will be on old/slow tyres (as the leading car has the luxury of pitting first).
Therefore, while fearing Rosberg, over-priced contenders can be identified starting with Sebastian Vettel (6/1 Bet365).
The reigning World Champion set the fastest lap in Barcelona a fortnight ago and has done so here twice from the last four years. His car is showing improvement and the German driver is one of very few that actually strives for the accolade of setting a fastest lap.
The Williams of Felipe Mass and Valtteri Bottas can both be backed at 33/1 (Coral, SKYBet). This is worth a few pennies. Their car is ‘geared low’ meaning they have low gear ratios and should be well suited to this circuit where stop-go is order of the day. It’s very different to the type of flat-out racing found at Spa and Monza (where they may be bouncing off of the rev-limiter).>>
Now the results.
Review Results starting with Race 2:
Start Bank : 250 points
Race 5 Bank: 261.13 points
| 261.13 | |||
| Sunday 25th May 2014 | |||
| BET – On Fastest lap: | |||
| S. Vettel 6/1 2pts | Loss | -2.00 | |
| F. Massa 33/1 0.5pt | Loss | -0.50 | |
| V. Bottas 33/1 0.5pt | Loss | -0.50 | |
| 258.13 |
Overall P/L//: +8.13 points
Running Bank : 258.13 Points
WIN P/L/: -3.00 points
Next – Canadian Grand Prix June 8 – and soon after next review post.
Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy the review.
Regards,
Sgt Lucian Reviews Betfan F1
