Formula One Betting - The Japanese Grand Prix
by Charles Jay
PREDICTING THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
BetUS Sportsbook Odds
To Win Japanese Grand Prix
October 4 - Suzaka
Sebastian Vettel +200
Lewis Hamilton +275
Mark Webber +600
Rubens Barrichello +850
Jenson Button +1000
Kimi Raikkonen +2000
Adrian Sutil +1500
Heikki Kovalainen +2000
Fernando Alonso +1600
Robert Kubica +3500
Nick Heidfeld +3000
Nico Rosberg +2000
Jarno Trulli +3000
Vitantonio Liuzzi +6000
Giancarlo Fisichella +10000
Kazuki Nakajima +5000
Romain Grosjean +25000
Sebastien Buemi +20000
Jaime Alguersuari +50000
Bob Bell, who has taken over the disaster that is the Renault team in the wake of the ousting of team principal Flavio Briator and engineer Pat Symonds, insists that his team is going to remain strong, even as rumors persist that the manufacturer might pull out of the sport entirely.
Well, I like the cheery talk, but I'm not putting lame-duck driver Fernando Alonso (+1600 at BetUS) in my bet. Alonso is headed over to the Ferrari team, and I wonder about the conflict of interest that is created when a driver is competing against a team that he is going to working for in a couple of months. That's an ugly part of F1, though some would insist it is necessary.
Perhaps the same goes for people like Robert Kubica (+3500), Nico Rosburg (+2000), Nick Heidfeld (+3000), et al, but they haven't committed anywhere yet.
This is the race where Jenson Button (+1000 at BetUS) can clinch the driver title if he finishes five points ahead of teammate Rubens Barrichello (+850 at BetUS) but what has he really accomplished recently that would indicate it could be done? Button could have had this thing virtually wrapped up a while ago, but he went cold, and you can't blame it on the equipment or the engineering, because Barrichello, driving with the same Brawn GP team, has been coming on strong, with his only two victories since 2004 coming in the last four races.
The reports are that the Brawn people won't be favoring either driver, and I kind of believe that, since one of the two is likley going to win the title, and the team has the constructor's title all but locked in. Button says, "I don't come into the race thinking I am going to seal the title here. There are so many things that can happen this weekend."
One of those things that can happen is Lewis Hamilton (+275 at BetUS), the 2008 world champion who won at Singapore and has finished first or second in three of the last five races, after having only one result better than sixth place previous to that. Yes, he's on a roll, and he does see himself as a spoiler of sorts, even though he can't win the overall title. Hamilton is making better use of his KERS technology, which many think won't be as big a factor here as it has been in previous races, even though there are straight-aways that can really give a driver the chance to accelerate.
When you talk about KERS, you are also talking about Kimi Raikkonen (+2000 at BetUS), who is seemingly a fixture on the podium lately. Like Hamilton, he has really come on in the second half of the schedule, with only one top three finish in his first nine races, then second, third, first and third before a tenth-place in Singapore.
Raikkonen is in the interesting position of not really knowing whether he is going to be in an F1 car next season, since Ferrari is looking to go with Alonso next year, and it is clear he wants to go out with a bang, in case he goes off to rally racing or to a beach in St. Tropez or somewhere else with the $50 million or so he's earned for each of the last few years. However, is Ferrari saving resources for the time being, pending Alonso's arrival?
A wild card here is that the Suzaka circuit could be affected by rain, which has hit this race one-third of the time in the last quarter-century. Sebastian Vettel (+200 at BetUS) is one driver who has shown himself to be very competent under wet conditions. Adrian Sutil (+1500 at BetUS) of the Force India team, which has shown great improvement lately, said he is not expecting very much this weekend, though he was very good in practice Friday and demonstrated at Spa that his car can handle a lot of high-speed cornering.
Here is my podium, with BetUS odds in parentheses:
RUBENS BARRICHELLO (+850)
SEBASTIAN VETTEL (+200)
ADRIAN SUTIL (+1600)
Here is the rest of my top ten:
Lewis Hamilton (+275)
Mark Webber (+600)
Jenson Button (+1000)
Kimi Raikkonen (+2000)
Nico Rosburg (+2000)
Giancarlo Fisichella (+10000)
Fernando Alonso (+1600)
...And so Rubens and Jenson go down to the last race. See how nicely that works out?
