Bet On Max Verstappen Not As Optimistic As Hope Of Change

Image source: Morio, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A bet on Max Verstappen to win the Emilia Grand Prix is no bad wager. The odds on Red Bull now hover ahead of their Mercedes rivals. However, on the evidence of Bahrain, the seachange in F1 they promised hasn’t arrived. Putting a bet on Lewis Hamilton is still just as valid as it was last year. So we have a close season ahead. Great stuff. Just a shame, then, that your bet on F1, at online sportsbook sites in Italy like Bet365, remains under the influence of external influences.  

They assured us of change. Red Bull have the faster car. Mercedes dominance is no longer guaranteed. Those two teams will provide us with a close season of wheel-to-wheel racing. No longer will Mercedes just stroll off into the distance with race wins. We’ll love it. Unfortunately, that’s not quite what happened in Bahrain, is it? You can bet on Max Verstappen still wincing at that narrow loss. The rest of us, of course, are wincing at the fact some things haven’t changed.

No, I’m not complaining about Lewis Hamilton winning again. The odds on Mercedes winning F1 races are always going to be short at online betting sites in Italy like Bet365. Why? Because they’re really very good at it. Bookies will always give low odds on Lewis Hamilton winning. However in Bahrain the problem wasn’t with the drivers so much as it was, once again, with the stewards. Anyone want to bet on Max Verstappen having a good opinion of them at present? 

Stewards Make F1 Look Silly Again

The problem is interpretation. The stewards have a myriad of overly complex regulations to impose upon any ongoing race. Many of these are open to differing applications. Different stewards at different races may impose differing judgments. This means that alas whilst you can bet on Max Verstappen that wager may depend more on a steward’s opinion than his position on track. In Bahrain, it appeared the stewards shifted the goalposts half way through the race.

Emilia Romagna GP Odds

• Anyone Else – 125/1
• Carlos Sainz – 66/1
• Pierre Gasly – 66/1
• Lando Norris – 66/1
• Daniel Ricciardo – 50/1
• Charles Leclerc – 50/1
• Sergio Perez – 11/1
• Valtteri Bottas – 8/1
• Lewis Hamilton – 5/4
• Max Verstappen – 6/5
• See more at bet365…

The odds on Max Verstappen punching a steward this year are probably quite low. Not as low as his odds on the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but close. As long as the sport fails to provide a uniform application of its already overly complex rules, it’ll suffer. This isn’t about the rights and wrongs. There do have to be rules. It’s about how it looks for those who have taken advantage of Italian gambling laws to bet on Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton or anyone else in F1 racing.

Bet On Max Verstappen At Bet365

Rivals teams have banded together on this issue. Drivers are busy driving and shouldn’t have to also deal with sudden changes in the rules, or even application of them. Radio messages in which teams clarify regulations for drivers are less than entertaining. The odds on F1 retaining fans if it continues this idiocy are slim. It would appear the F1 owners have forgotten it’s a sport not just a business. You can run a business on spreadsheets and blue-sky thinking, but not a sport like F1. 

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

• Date – 18th of April
• Location – Imola, Italy
• Track – Enzo e Dino Ferrari
• Length – 4.909km
• Laps – 63
• Turns – 19

Sure, the drama on track distracts a little from this inherent flaw in one of the world’s most popular sports. The midfield is far more competitive this year. Drivers further down the grid, including Ferrari, are racing hard. They won’t actually win, of course. Those who regularly bet on sports in Italy, and on F1 in particular, will know this. So, for all the hints and dark mutterings about change, F1 remains, alas, the same flawed sport blinded by its own technical brilliance.

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We take a look at why a bet on Max Verstappen to win the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix could still be at the mercy of the stewards.