What types of bets are available from bookmakers for F1 races?
Want to know about F1 Betting? Here’s everything you need to know!
The Formula 1 (F1) season is now one of the longest sporting seasons in the world today. The first race usually occurs around February or early March; the season is not completed until December. As such, there are plenty of opportunities for you to indulge in some F1 betting. 24 races to be exact, for the 2024 season. And that number looks to be set for a good few years yet.
With its global fan base, Formula 1 is a popular option for bettors all over the world, especially on race weekends. Yet, for many, it is an untapped source of betting opportunities.
F1 betting offers diverse options beyond simply wagers on the race. This article will explore the various bet types available on Formula 1, in terms of futures betting on the season itself and bets available on a typical race weekend.
By the end of the post, you’ll better understand Formula 1 betting, including the types of markets available and some of the most popular bets made on the sport.
For convenience of organisation, the post is split into three sections:
- Futures F1 Betting Markets
- Race F1 Betting Markets
- In-Play F1 Betting Markets
Futures F1 Betting Markets
Given that the F1 season is organised into many races (for the 2024 season, that number is 24), betting on the entire season is one of the more popular options for F1 betting fans.
Two of the most popular betting markets for the Futures betting options on Formula 1 are:
1. Who Will Win The F1 Driver’s World Championship?
One of the most popular bets every F1 season is backing which of the drivers competing in the races each week will be crowned the F1 Driver’s World Champion.
While there may be 20+ drivers to pick from for this bet, the market often has a relatively small number of potential winners. This is often due to just one or two teams dominating the sport and winning the vast majority of races.
Additionally, there will be a driver’s hierarchy within many teams, where one of their two drivers will be their ‘first choice’. This means that in a race, if the top driver lies in a position one behind the other driver, team orders will ensure the top driver is allowed to pass the other driver. These unwritten rules mean that, at most, only one, two, or three drivers are in with a realistic chance of winning the Driver’s World Championship each season.
Because this market may not be the most competitive, top bookmakers will offer additional futures markets to bet on. One popular option is to have a bet on the Driver’s World Champion, without the big favourite (in 2024, this was Max Verstappen) included.
2. Who Will Win The F1 Constructor’s World Championship?
Similar to the F1 Driver’s World Champion bet, punters can also bet on which team will win the Constructor’s title. There are half as many options for this bet (each Constructor has two drivers) and often this makes this bet less appealing in terms of value than even the driver’s world champion bet.
Again, top bookmakers may offer an F1 Constructor’s Champion market without the dominant team (in 2024, this was Red Bull).
Other F1 Futures betting markets you can find available with bookmakers include:
- Season Match-Ups - A bet on which out of two drivers will win more points in the F1 Drivers Championship that season.
- Drivers to win a race - a bet on a driver winning one of the 24 races over the course of the season. There are modifications on this bet available, too, such as betting on a driver winning 2,3,4,5,6,7 etc races over the course of the season.
Race F1 Betting Markets
For a typical F1 Race weekend, the number of markets available on the race will increase as the week progresses towards the weekend. With most bookmakers that offer F1 betting, you can bet on who will win the next race in the season at any point following the previous race.
However, the full option of race weekend betting markets becomes available only when the race weekend approaches.
These bets tend to be organised into two main categories:
- Bets on Qualifying
- Bets on the Race
Qualifying Bets
Qualifying for an F1 race can provide punters with good value betting. On a typical race weekend, there are a couple of practice sessions followed by the official qualifying, which will decide the grid for the start of the race.
Good bookmakers will allow punters to bet on at least qualifying and often the practice sessions too.
Popular bets will include:
- Betting on who will get the fastest lap in qualifying/who will claim pole position
- Who will be fastest in Practice 1 (P1) or Practice 2 (P2).
- Which row of the grid a driver will start the race on after qualifying.
Race Betting
The actual race is the pinnacle of a typical F1 race weekend. As such, it is on the race itself where most F1 betting takes place.
Top bookmakers will offer an extensive range of bets on every F1 race including: -
- Race Winner
- Podium Finish
- Finishing Positions
- Fastest Lap
- Winning Constructor
Alongside these commonly available bets, top F1 betting sites offer punters a range of other more diverse markets, such as betting on whether there will be rain in the race, whether teams will adopt a one, two, or three pit-stop strategy, whether a safety car or virtual safety car will be deployed in a race, how many cars will finish the race and many more.
In-Play F1 Betting Markets
The last type of F1 betting you will find on any given F1 race is In-Play betting. Most bookmakers will offer In Play betting on every F1 race of the season.
There is a considerable difference in markets available with bookmakers for In Play F1 betting. Our review found bet365 Sport a particularly good option for In-Play betting with extensive markets available on the race as it is being contested.
Markets include betting on which driver will be the next in for a pit stop, betting on which lap a driver will come in for their first pit stop, betting on which driver will make up the most places from their start position on the grid and more besides.
F1 betting is very popular and with a myriad of markets for both Futures, Pre-Race and In-Play betting it is easy to see why!
