Is F1 not competitive enough?

[Chewbaccer]

I'm a casual fan at best, so I'm genuinely asking. I went to place a bet on this morning's race in Austria, and I know enough to know that Lewis Hamilton is the best out there now, so he was who I was gonna bet on anyways, but my bookie had him at -120.

In NASCAR, in the Cup Series at least, even the favorites ate at least +200 most of the time, and the only times I've ever seen a driver be a - in NASCAR is when Kyle Busch is the only Cup driver entering a Truck race.

Never have saw it in the Cup Series. Not when Jimmie Johnson was a virtual lock to win at Dover, not when Kevin Harvick was a virtual lock to win at Phoenix, never.

Is Hamilton so much better than the rest of his competition that you're better off taking him than betting the field? Or does Hamilton just have a history of dominating the Austrian track?

I know Vettel crashed out on the first lap through no fault of his own today, but it wasn't that long ago when he was right there with Hamilton and had a good argument to be the top driver, has he fallen off to the point where he's not even in the same league as Hamilton?

 

[forty_three]

I'm a casual fan at best, so I'm genuinely asking. I went to place a bet on this morning's race in Austria, and I know enough to know that Lewis Hamilton is the best out there now, so he was who I was gonna bet on anyways, but my bookie had him at -120.

In NASCAR, in the Cup Series at least, even the favorites ate at least +200 most of the time, and the only times I've ever seen a driver be a - in NASCAR is when Kyle Busch is the only Cup driver entering a Truck race.

Never have saw it in the Cup Series. Not when Jimmie Johnson was a virtual lock to win at Dover, not when Kevin Harvick was a virtual lock to win at Phoenix, never.

Is Hamilton so much better than the rest of his competition that you're better off taking him than betting the field? Or does Hamilton just have a history of dominating the Austrian track?

I know Vettel crashed out on the first lap through no fault of his own today, but it wasn't that long ago when he was right there with Hamilton and had a good argument to be the top driver, has he fallen off to the point where he's not even in the same league as Hamilton?

F1 is not a spec series, so the teams that can spend on development typically run at the front. The next set of regulations is expected to level that out a bit (starting 2022), but for the better part of the past decade it's been Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull as the only competitive teams. They have been so far ahead even when they make strategy mistakes they are typically the top 6 cars. The midfeild battle is the only competition, don't know if any bookies take wagers on "Best of the rest". In today's race the Racing Point, McLaren and Renault all had strong showing and battled the whole race and with 10 laps to go all three had legit shots at 5th. McLaren with Lando Norris got it on the last lap.

That being said, Lewis has won a race in every one of his 14 years on the grid. He is arguably the best there ever was. Unquestionably top 3. Tie that with him being in the best funded, designed and built car and he is going to mop the field up 98% of the time.

NASCAR is a spec series so all cars are essentially the same so the deciding factor in races often comes down strategy, setup, driver skill and good old fashioned luck.

And Vettel's crash out today wasn't his fault. But more often than not lately when his car is in pieces it's because he did something less than ideal. Like last week.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Hamilton is the man.

Any doubters just have to watch his wet qualifying on Saturday. In wet like that it's the driver, not so much the car. that qualifying was almost red flagged for wet.

Any race he's in, he's the favourite to win.

Then you get the best driver in the best car and it comes down to tracks.

Last year Mercedes could do a thing in Austria. This year they win both races.

The mid pack racing is the best it's ever been for my nickel.

 

[Chewbaccer]

My questions have been answered, but just as a point of comparison.

Hamilton was -120 to win this morning.

Kevin Harvick was the favorite for the NASCAR race today, he was +475.

I'm a casual fan, so I don't really have a favorite F1 driver. I pull for the Haas team because he's the co owner of my favorite NASCAR driver(Kevin Harvick), but they seem to be mediocre at best.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

My questions have been answered, but just as a point of comparison.

Hamilton was -120 to win this morning.

Kevin Harvick was the favorite for the NASCAR race today, he was +475.

I'm a casual fan, so I don't really have a favorite F1 driver. I pull for the Haas team because he's the co owner of my favorite NASCAR driver(Kevin Harvick), but they seem to be mediocre at best.

This year anything with a Ferrari lump is sucking. They had gobs of straight line speed last year till a protest found they had illegal fuel flows.

They've been Renault slow ever since...

Hamilton/Benz is as dominant a package as there has ever been.

 

[pachyderm]

My questions have been answered, but just as a point of comparison.

Hamilton was -120 to win this morning.

Kevin Harvick was the favorite for the NASCAR race today, he was +475.

I'm a casual fan, so I don't really have a favorite F1 driver. I pull for the Haas team because he's the co owner of my favorite NASCAR driver(Kevin Harvick), but they seem to be mediocre at best.

I know nothing of betting so...

But Lewie, or Bottas, are usually going to be locks to win.

Off topic:

Isn't the Racing Point car last year's Mercedes? I know Renault had filed a protest against them that was overturned already. I actually thought it was last year's Mercedes painted pink, no?

Back to Hamilton, probably is the best we've seen. He's always had great equipment and made the best of it. That's what great drivers do. I can't believe anyone will surpass Michael Schumacher but her he comes...



AAAAANNND No, it isn't competitive enough.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

They took pictures, a lot of pictures and likely are as close to being a Benz as can be without being one.

Like Haas using off the shelf parts from Ferrari??

Renault should be worrying about how they can't even beat one of their own customer cars (McLaren) instead of whinging about Racing Point.