How To Bet on Formula One and NASCAR

Formula One (F1) and NASCAR are the most popular forms of motor-racing. While NASCAR has a huge following in the United States, F1 has a bigger fan base worldwide. With the popularity of both racing entities, the rise in sports betting interest for both have also risen.

But because these sports aren’t the traditional games to bet on, we’ll be giving you an overview of how to bet on F1 and NASCAR. Hopefully, at the end of this discussion, you will not only learn how to bet on Formula One and NASCAR, but you will learn how to make the winning bets that will maximize your earning potential. So just sit back and relax because we have you backs here.

Basic Betting

The FIA Formula One season is composed of 21 Grand Prix races held all-year round in different venues. A total of 20 drivers representing 10 teams battle it out in every race with points given to the race winner and top finishers. At the end of 21 races, the player with the most points is declared as the Drivers’ Champion. Meanwhile, drivers points are added to get the Team points. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the Constructors championship. On the other hand, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is composed of a total of 36 races, with the last 10 races being the NASCAR Playoffs where only 16 seeded drivers compete in to determine who will be the Drivers’ champion.

Now the basic betting in both Formula one and NASCAR is simply to bet on who will win the race. Weeks or days before the race, betting sites like Bovada will already post the betting lines for the upcoming race. In the oddboard, you will find that the favorites are priced. The first name on the list has the lowest betting value and the reason is because he is the favorite to win the race. So for example, Lewis Hamilton came in as favorite at say +150, that means that you have to bet $150 to win $100 on Lewis Hamilton. There will also be drivers who are priced with plus money. For example Sebastian Vetter coming in next to Hamilton at +200. That means that if you bet $100 on Vettel and he wins a particular race, that’s going to win you $200.

Some sportsbooks will carry proposition bets for bigger races. These prop bets can include what nationality is the winner going to be, what car will win the race or who finishes at the podium and so on. The most common prop bets are the futures bets which ask who is going to win the Drivers’ Championship and the end of the season or which car-maker will be awarded the Constructors Championship. You can also make these bets if you want to but the outcome of these futures bets won’t be determined until the end of the season. For the other prop bets, the results are out at the end of the Grand Prix races. Same goes with NASCAR and sorry NASCAR fans if we use F1 as the example.

Betting Tips

When you take a look at NASCAR odds ( and Formula 1 as well), you will find very tempting underdog bets that go at something like +5000 or even +10000. But don’t be lured by these big payout bets because when we’re talking about car racing, NASCAR and Formula 1 in particular, the favorites almost always dominate the races and get the job done. For example, I took the list of the Top 3 finishers for the first 26 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races and found out that 46 out of a total 78 Top 3 finishes ( 26 races x 3) belonged to just three names: Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr and Kevin Harvick. Now these were the Top 4 in last year’s NASCAR series and as such the favorites in most races.

Formula One was worse. Lewis Hamilton won 8 out of the last 11 Grand Prix last season. On the other hand Hamilton and #2 Sebastian Vettel also combined to win seven out of the first 10 races. The year before in 2017, Hamilton won a total of 9 races while his teammate Valtteri Bottas won 3, giving their team Mercedes 12 win in 21 races. Back in 2014, only Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo. If you want, you can check the other years, both in NASCAR and Formula One. You’ll end up agreeing with me on this one. Generally, there are only around four to six cars per race that have a real shot at winning. Don’t go for the longshots. They’re going to win these races. Go for the favorites. Check the internet about their current form, how they finished the most recent race and their racing history on the particular race.

Likewise, some people put a lot of premium on the driver who earns pole position, Sure, when you’re at the pole, you get an advantage over the field because right from the get go, there are no cars that ahead of you. But when it comes down to numbers, the driver who has pole position only wins around 40-50 %. That’s still a good percentage but given that you have to pay a premium to bet on these drivers, the risk isn’t worth the reward most of the time. Instead, look for an excellent driver who isn’t at the pole and who has a better price. Remember that there are around four to six cars who have legit shot at winning the race.

Where To Bet?

Most betting sites carry Formula One and NASCAR odds. Different bookmakers carry different odds but most of the time, the best betting sites have the best odds. If you want to be sure, you can check them one by one. Don’t just settle for one site. Get the best value for your bets. Remember that those small differences can add up in a hurry .