Do you love F1?

f1

The Formula One racing seems to be one of those “Marmite” things; you either love it or hate it. Personally, I love every minute of it and can’t wait for the new season to begin, perhaps more so than ever before.

That’s because the required designs for the cars have undergone their most sweeping changes for a generation. Firstly, they need to embrace green technology so the 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 engines are out and 1.6-litre V6 turbos are in. There’s also a fuel limit of 100kg, roughly 130 litres – down from 150kg or so last year when there was no such limit. Also, engines must now consume fuel at nothing above 100kg per hour.

But the new engines will be hybrids, using ‘energy recovery system’ which harnesses kinetic energy from the back axle during braking through an electric motor that harnesses energy from the turbo which would otherwise be wasted as heat.

Such big changes will mean the results for the first few Grand Prixes could be all over the place as constructors and drivers get to grips with the new technology in real race situations. This is fun for those of us who enjoy a bet on Formula 1 now and again as the races could throw up some pretty anomalous results.

Currently with Betfair, for example, Sebastian Vettel remains a firm favourite to win the opening Grand Prix in Melbourne on 16th March. He’s also less than 2-1 with Betfair at the time of writing to retain the driver’s championship.

These look like very short odds given the huge technological changes required – and there are even more that we haven’t mentioned like the lowering of the noses of the cars, making them look like enormous anteaters. Then there are the exhaust changes which require a single, central exhaust pipe exiting over the gearbox, so the previous usage of exhaust gases to boost down-force is no longer possible.

This will, arguably, hurt Vettel-Red Bull more than anyone else – so the cards really are up in the air and a longshot on Betfair – with a few to laying the bet back at shorter odds as the season progresses looks to be the shrewdest bet – and it all adds to the fun if you’re a “love it” kind of person when it comes to F1. .