2105 British Grand Prix Betting

The British Grand Prix is the ninth race of this year’s F1 calendar. The race itself will be held Sunday 5 July 2015. Two days before, on Friday, is the practice sessions. The day before, on Saturday, is the final practice and qualifying. This article here covers information about the circuit and historical results. The idea is to give handicappers some information to consider towards making smart wagers.

Understanding the Circuit Dynamics

In order to bet the 2015 British Grand Prix with an advantage it is perhaps helpful to first understand that dynamic of the circuit. Here is brief run down on that.

Location: Silverstone, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Circuit: Silverstone Circuit
Circuit Length: 5.891 km
Total Race Distance: 306.227 km
Turns: 18
Hard Turns: 12 (3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18)
Hard Turns/Km: 2.037
Fastest Lap Time: 1:30.874 (Alonso, 2010)
Fastest Seconds/Km: 15.426

Despite a high hard turns per Km stat, Silverstone is a very fast circuit. Between those turns lie a number of long straights that greatly decrease lap times. There are five legitimate straights, plus three fast curves, two of which that lead directly into straights.

Acceleration and top speed are critical here because a lot of overtaking happens on the straights. Turns 1 and 2 are fast curves, leading into a hard switchback in turns 3 and 4. Drivers are hard on the acceleration after turn 4, leading through turn 5, then onto a long straight before slamming the brakes going around turns 6 and 7. 7 to 8 is a short straight where drivers are all the way on the gas through a fast turn 8. After turn 8, drivers once again slam on the gas, with a slight lift going through 9, then hard on the gas again until they reach the chicane which begins on turn 10.

14 marks the end of the brutal, but exciting chicane, leading to the longest straight at Silverstone. Turn 15 marks the end of the straight with a hard right turn, and back onto a slightly curved straight which leads to 16. A hard left at 16, a hard right at 17 continuing through 18, then down the straight past the start/finish line.

Betting on Race Winners at the 2015 British Grand Prix

This is a fast circuit and thus the polesitter who was fastest in qualifying should hold an advantage. However, there is a lot more in play. In this race tyre strategy and pitstops play a big factor. Also The British Grand Prix often gets wet weather. Betting too far in advanced can be risky. If betting closer to or after qualifying, check weather reports to see if rain is in the forecast. If so, be sure to select drivers that perform well in the rain, and have confidence in their cars/tyres in this type of weather. Do note that local favorite Lewis Hamilton who is the defending World Drivers’ Champion, who won this race last year from a P6 start, does perform well in the rain.

As the 2015 race comes closer we will be able to update this page with some more information on what to look for in betting race winner. For now note, historically the pole-sitters have a surprisingly low win percentage at the British Grand Prix. In the past 20 British GP F1 races (1995-2014) the starting pole-sitter has won only 4 of them (20%). Since the circuit was last modified (2010) there have been five races, and not a single time did a driver starting P1 win the race. Last year it was P6 and counting back the races before that were P2, P2, P3, P2 respectively.

The low win rate for starting P1, and P6 winning last year might mislead bettors into thinking this is a race to look deep in the starting grid for a long shot. However, prior to Lewis Hamilton’s win after starting P6 in 2014, it had been 18 races since a driver lower than P4 won the race. Also in the 13 races prior to his win, 6 times the race finished with P1, P2, and P3 all on the podium. That’s especially remarkable when you consider that the pole sitter hasn’t been dominating the titles.