Formula One - 2010 F1 Drivers Championship Odds
by Charles Jay
BetUS Sportsbook Formula One Odds
This obviously creates a much bigger disparity between those at the head of the pack and those who are at the tail end of points scoring, because the scoring now becomes top-heavy. I don't know if that will ultimately take some of the drama out of the race for the Constructors' title or not, but it will certainly eliminate a lot of teams early. On balance, though, I'm not so sure it's a bad thing to force these teams and drivers to place more of an emphasis on winning, rather than being content with a finish that just makes the podium.
To Win 2010 F1 Drivers Championship
Lewis Hamilton +225
Fernando Alonso +300
Sebastian Vettel +550
Felipe Massa +850
Jenson Button +600
Mark Webber +1500
Nico Rosberg +1000
Robert Kubica +3500
Rubens Barrichello +4500
Nick Heidfeld +4500
Heikki Kovalainen +12500
Adrian Sutil +10000
Jarno Trulli +10000
Timo Glock +10000
Bruno Senna +10000
Michael Schumacher +350
SCORING CHANGE, FERRARI, AND OF COURSE, SCHUMI
Formula One announced a major change to its scoring system that should have a very real effect on the ability of the "smaller" teams to stay within earshot in the standings. Beginning with this season, the points for any given race will be awarded as follows:
1st - 25
2nd - 20
3rd - 15
4th - 10
5th - 8
6th - 6
7th - 5
8th - 3
9th - 2
10th - 1
One might wonder why Giancarlo Fisichella, who raced for the emerging Force India team for much of last season, would be willing to pass up a possible chance to race for another team in 2010, especially since not all the spots are filled. I wonder if Fisichella, who stepped in for Ferrari at the tail end of last season, is contemplating that Felipe Massa (+850 to win the drivers title at BetUS), who was seriously injured and had to surrender his ride last year, might not be able to handle the rigors of an entire Formula One season. At any rate, he will remain as a test driver for them. In 2009, Massa's place was originally taken by Luca Badoer, who failed miserably and was replaced by Fisichella. This season, though, with Massa back and the coveted Fernando Alonso (+300 at BetUS) filling other seat, even the legendary Michael Schumacher (+350 to win the title at BetUS) had to move to the Mercedes team (known as Brawn GP last year).
Ferrari unveiled its new racing car, the F10, and traffic on the website was reportedly flooded to the extent that navigation was unusually slow. In case you were wondering how popular F1 racing is around the world, over three million fans logged onto the Scuderia Ferrari website to catch a glimpse of the new equipment. Testing for the car may come as early as Friday, but because of weather conditions, may be postponed until Monday.
Here are the proposition odds from BetUS as regards 41-year-old Michael Schumacher's finishing position in his first F1 race this season, which we expect will be the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14, which kicks off the Formula One season.
Here they are:
1st place +450
2nd place +400
3rd place +375
4th to 8th place +150
9th to 20th place +350
Schuamcher insists that he is not pulling a Sugar Ray Leonard, meaning he is not returning for a one-shot fling before retiring again. Indeed, he signed a three-year contract with the Mercedes team and says that he plans to be racing even beyond the duration of that deal. "The current contract was not my idea, it came from the team and I see it as a mark of confidence in me," he says.
Maybe he'd like to close out his career at Ferrari, where he had been functioning as a consultant. Even though he is not there anymore, he is in familiar company anyway.
Ross Brawn, who won the constructor's title last year under his own banner of Brawn GP and merged it with Mercedes this year, was the man behind all seven of Schumi's world titles. Brawn has been put in the position where he's basically had to deny that he had been talking seriously to Schumacher during the course of the 2009 season, and that it wasn't his plan to throw '09 world champion Jenson Button (+600 at BetUS to win this year's crown) overboard to accommodate the legend.
The USF1 team, which begins its Formula One journey this season, announced its first driver signing, and it's Argentina's Jose Maria Lopez, who has never competed in a Formula One race but has plenty of experience as a test driver with over 6000 miles to his credit for the Renault team.
USF1 is the only American-based team, which was put together with money from Chad Hurley, one of the founders of YouTube. Peter Windsor (formerly a commentator for Speed TV) and Ken Anderson will run the day-to-day operations. Lopez never got his shot to be a regular competition driver with Renault, and now will become the first Argentine driver in F1 since 2001. There was no further information as to when his teammate would be named.
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