Arbitrage betting spans all sorts of sports. Formula One is not the most wagered on the sports betting market in the world of sports, but amongst those who follow it, there is an experience to be had. Does arbitrage betting work when wagering on F1, though, and if so, how? If this ques>on puzzles you, but you regularly bet on motorsports, then this is the guide for you. Allow us to explain sports arbitrage betting on Formula 1 today.
Is F1 Arbitrage Betting Trickier Than Other Sports?
Arbitrage betting is about covering all the possible outcomes of a sporting event. In betting sites such as tennis match, this is unlikely to be much of an issue - after all, there are only two possible outcomes. Football matches can result in three outcomes, and that can be trickier. However, in motorsports such as Formula One, there are (usually) ten teams and twenty drivers. Naturally, you might think that there is a lot of ground to cover, with many possible outcomes. However, this is not necessarily the case.
Yes, F1 can throw a few curveballs, where driver errors, wet weather, and wayward pit stops can mess with the established order. However, for the most part, the same drivers tend to end up towards the front of the grid, meaning that in reality, you only need to cover two or three leading drivers to stand a decent chance of winning.
In 2021, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are the drivers most likely to finish on top of the podium. Sure, Sergio Perez, Val8eri Bo8as, and perhaps even one of the McLaren or Ferrari drivers might ruin the party, but that is not as likely to occur. So, given this knowledge, how does a typical F1 arbitrage bet work?
How Does F1 Arbing Work?
In 2021, both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are picking up wins and are the favourites to win most races. We will use these two championship-chasing drivers for our example.
Let us pretend that you want to bet £100 on Lewis Hamilton to win a race, knowing full well that Max is a threat. To ensure that you do not lose out, you will also want to bet another £100 on Max Verstappen to win. Now a bookie will never give you the same odds on both, as you could easily bet on both (the essence of arbitrage betting) to guarantee a profit if one of those two wins. Instead, you are going to need to wager £100 on Hamilton at one online bookmaker and £100 on Verstappen at another.
If both online bookmakers offer you odds of over 2.05 (or 6/4) or better on either driver, then you are guaranteed to end up a winner, assuming either driver wins. This is because the total profit won exceeds the combined stake of both bets.
Of course, you may only be talking about fractional bet wins here, with extraordinarily little profit. However, the more money you are prepared to risk, the greater your profit will be.
Is It Smarter to Arbitrage Bet on Teams?
Given that there are only ten teams in Formula One at present, you can opt to double your odds of success by choosing to wager on teams instead. By simply betting on Team X to win a race, you can pocket a win if Driver A or Driver B wins for that team. There are only ten possible outcomes, and in previous years, when Mercedes dominated everything, that meant either Bottas or Hamilton.
While you can still do this, betting that either a Red Bull driver (Verstappen or Perez) or a Mercedes one (Hamilton or Bottas) will win, it is not as easy as, say, in 2020. However, bookmakers are wise to this, and some choose not to offer you decent odds on teams to win a race. Where this bet is possible, a team bet is more likely to result in a win (any four out of twenty drivers can win your bet), but you will then get reduced odds than if you were to pick a driver to win outright.
Types of Arbitrage Formula One Bets
There are many ways to wager money on arbitrage betting in F1, and it is up to you to decide which options you see as ideal for arbitrage best bets. However, to help get you started, we have listed some of the most common ones below. Remember, try, and bet on things that have few possible outcomes. The F1 World Champion and pole positions are not likely to be picked up by the backmarkers, for instance.
- World Champion: The overall winner of the Formula One World Championship. This can be a driver (Drivers Championship) or a team (Constructors Championship).
- Race Winner: The driver who comes in the first position during a race.
- Race Topper: The driver who finishes top of any three practice sessions is typically involved
in a race weekend.
- Podium Finisher: The top three finishing drivers in a race.
- Fastest Lap: The driver who went around the circuit the fastest over a single lap during the
race.
- Points Finish: A driver has finished inside the top ten (or twenty) at the end of a race.
- Retirements: Any driver who has failed to finish and re>red from the race, either for a
failure, disqualification, or crash.
- Q1, Q2, Q3 Leader: The fastest driver in each of the three qualifying sessions on a Saturday.
- Pole Position: The driver who starts the race in the first place, having set the fastest time in the
third qualifying session.
The Advantages (and Disadvantages) of Arbitrage Betting on F1
There are both pros and cons to betting on F1 with an arbitrage opportunity. One of the best things about F1 arbitrage betting opportunities is that the season lasts a long time, and the races are usually a fortnight apart. Typically running from March to October/November, you will then get plenty of time to consider the optimal odds to bet on and to pay close attention to how the odds fluctuate. This gives you a reasonable window to choose the perfect me to bet when the odds are in your favour.
There are disadvantages, too, such as many different possible outcomes compared to other sports. However, by studying the drivers and teams, monitoring the results, and checking out their lap times, you can often gauge which drivers are “most likely” to end up winning races and which are mere bystanders. This will help you cut down the fields to just a handful of options or outcomes.
Is F1 Arbitrage Betting Trickier Than Other Sports?
Arbitrage betting is about covering all the possible outcomes of a sporting event. In betting sites such as tennis match, this is unlikely to be much of an issue - after all, there are only two possible outcomes. Football matches can result in three outcomes, and that can be trickier. However, in motorsports such as Formula One, there are (usually) ten teams and twenty drivers. Naturally, you might think that there is a lot of ground to cover, with many possible outcomes. However, this is not necessarily the case.
Yes, F1 can throw a few curveballs, where driver errors, wet weather, and wayward pit stops can mess with the established order. However, for the most part, the same drivers tend to end up towards the front of the grid, meaning that in reality, you only need to cover two or three leading drivers to stand a decent chance of winning.
In 2021, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are the drivers most likely to finish on top of the podium. Sure, Sergio Perez, Val8eri Bo8as, and perhaps even one of the McLaren or Ferrari drivers might ruin the party, but that is not as likely to occur. So, given this knowledge, how does a typical F1 arbitrage bet work?
How Does F1 Arbing Work?
In 2021, both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are picking up wins and are the favourites to win most races. We will use these two championship-chasing drivers for our example.
Let us pretend that you want to bet £100 on Lewis Hamilton to win a race, knowing full well that Max is a threat. To ensure that you do not lose out, you will also want to bet another £100 on Max Verstappen to win. Now a bookie will never give you the same odds on both, as you could easily bet on both (the essence of arbitrage betting) to guarantee a profit if one of those two wins. Instead, you are going to need to wager £100 on Hamilton at one online bookmaker and £100 on Verstappen at another.
If both online bookmakers offer you odds of over 2.05 (or 6/4) or better on either driver, then you are guaranteed to end up a winner, assuming either driver wins. This is because the total profit won exceeds the combined stake of both bets.
Of course, you may only be talking about fractional bet wins here, with extraordinarily little profit. However, the more money you are prepared to risk, the greater your profit will be.
Is It Smarter to Arbitrage Bet on Teams?
Given that there are only ten teams in Formula One at present, you can opt to double your odds of success by choosing to wager on teams instead. By simply betting on Team X to win a race, you can pocket a win if Driver A or Driver B wins for that team. There are only ten possible outcomes, and in previous years, when Mercedes dominated everything, that meant either Bottas or Hamilton.
While you can still do this, betting that either a Red Bull driver (Verstappen or Perez) or a Mercedes one (Hamilton or Bottas) will win, it is not as easy as, say, in 2020. However, bookmakers are wise to this, and some choose not to offer you decent odds on teams to win a race. Where this bet is possible, a team bet is more likely to result in a win (any four out of twenty drivers can win your bet), but you will then get reduced odds than if you were to pick a driver to win outright.
Types of Arbitrage Formula One Bets
There are many ways to wager money on arbitrage betting in F1, and it is up to you to decide which options you see as ideal for arbitrage best bets. However, to help get you started, we have listed some of the most common ones below. Remember, try, and bet on things that have few possible outcomes. The F1 World Champion and pole positions are not likely to be picked up by the backmarkers, for instance.
- World Champion: The overall winner of the Formula One World Championship. This can be a driver (Drivers Championship) or a team (Constructors Championship).
- Race Winner: The driver who comes in the first position during a race.
- Race Topper: The driver who finishes top of any three practice sessions is typically involved
in a race weekend.
- Podium Finisher: The top three finishing drivers in a race.
- Fastest Lap: The driver who went around the circuit the fastest over a single lap during the
race.
- Points Finish: A driver has finished inside the top ten (or twenty) at the end of a race.
- Retirements: Any driver who has failed to finish and re>red from the race, either for a
failure, disqualification, or crash.
- Q1, Q2, Q3 Leader: The fastest driver in each of the three qualifying sessions on a Saturday.
- Pole Position: The driver who starts the race in the first place, having set the fastest time in the
third qualifying session.
The Advantages (and Disadvantages) of Arbitrage Betting on F1
There are both pros and cons to betting on F1 with an arbitrage opportunity. One of the best things about F1 arbitrage betting opportunities is that the season lasts a long time, and the races are usually a fortnight apart. Typically running from March to October/November, you will then get plenty of time to consider the optimal odds to bet on and to pay close attention to how the odds fluctuate. This gives you a reasonable window to choose the perfect me to bet when the odds are in your favour.
There are disadvantages, too, such as many different possible outcomes compared to other sports. However, by studying the drivers and teams, monitoring the results, and checking out their lap times, you can often gauge which drivers are “most likely” to end up winning races and which are mere bystanders. This will help you cut down the fields to just a handful of options or outcomes.