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Michael Schumacher has had a very rough beginning of the season. The F1 Chinese Grand Prix begins next weekend. Up to this point he has only collected nine points in his first three races of the season. First he was forced to make an extra pit stop to replace a broken front wing in the Australian Grand Prix. Despite the incident, the seven-time world champion, still managed to finish 10th. Then, he had to quite the Grand Prix of Malaysia prematurely because of a loose wheel nut on his Mercedes.

Schumacher was still able to finish sixth in Bahrain. It’s has not been a great start for the German. But perhaps we should really think of the high –very– high expectations that have been imposed on the racer. After all, he might have been (and some say he still is) the greatest F1 racer ever, but we cannot forget that Michael was out of the tracks for over 3 years. And that is long enough to build some rust on him. If we are able to put Schumacher’s season in the right perspective, we can understand why he recently stated that his return is going as planned.

But there is one other issue involved. No matter how you look at it, at the end of the day, Mercedes is not, by any means, as strong a racing team as Ferrari under Ross Brown and with Michael at the zenith of his career.  And that is one big obstacle that the team has to deal with. Mercedes’ engine and chassis are not as quick in the racetrack as Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren, so unless they can fine-tune their machine and really get competitive, it will not make much difference who is behind the steering wheel.

As of press time, BetIAS.com’s handicappers have made Sebastian Vettel the favorite to win this race. He is ML +150 favorite in the odds to win the Chinese Grand Prix 2010. He is followed closely by Fernando Alonso at ML+400 and Mark Webber at ML+450 and Lewis Hamilton at +500. Michael Schumacher on the other hand is paying +2600, so if you are a long time fan of the Red Baron and have a tendency for underdog stories, at this odds Schumi might seem like a good choice.

There is one very cool new set of lines available for wagering on F1 Grand Prix events. BetIAS is one more time making great innovations in their lines, and is now offering F1 Exactas. If you have ever wagered on a racetrack, then you might find this interesting. Just like you would wager in the horsebook we are offering F1 racing exactas. Be it a Win and Place or a Win, Place, Show combinations, this is a chance to mix and match this racers and improve your winnings.

By Claudia Beckford

By next October 12th one of the remaining three Formula One races will be held at the Fuji Circuit in Japan; the other two races are China and Brazil respectively.

Last year in Japan, the McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton crowned himself as the winner. In this occasion, the race continues to build up more expectation as Hamilton leads the drivers’ standings closely followed by the Ferrari driver Felipe Massa and the BMW-Sauber driver Robert Kubica.

It has been indeed a very different Formula One year than what we expected, especially due to all the unbelievable situations that have taken place at every one of the fifteen races that are already completed, in which all these extraordinary drivers have participated.  We, the Formula One fans, have witnessed action all around the world, since the very first race in Australia where Lewis won his first title of the year, followed by the Malaysian race where the current Formula One champion, Kimi Räikkönen showed his driving skills by grasping the title. Also, we saw how Massa’s flawless performance kept growing steady as he won a total of five races for the Italian team Ferrari; a real accomplishment for the Brazilian as he is Ferrari’s second driver.

Another unexpected turn was that of the Canadian Grand Prix where the Polish Robert Kubica won the race, giving the BMW-Sauber team a real push into the top three best Formula One teams, during the present campaign. Two additional surprises we need to disclose are those of the Hungarian Grand Prix, where McLaren second driver Kovalainen took the title and the incredible victory of the Toro Rosso driver, the German Sebastian Vettel, in Monza only a couple of weeks ago. Once again these situations show us how complex and uncertain these speed races are, as there is nothing secure until the first vehicle crosses the finish line.

There have also been several disappointments as better things were expected from drivers such as the Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who currently drives for the Renault team, as well as that of the world champion Kimi Räikkönen, who still has not found the winning formula to retain his title, as it is known he will not keep it for a second consecutive year. Räikkönen has been but inconsistent in his performance, he has faced several mechanical issues and for some reason he is just not the same we saw last year. These are the reasons Hamilton, Massa and Kubica are above him in the standings and it is very likely the situation will stay as it is now.

Regarding the Spaniard driver Fernando Alonso, this was a quieter year for his professional career as he was able to get away from the spotlight that followed him while he drove for McLaren. We know his decision to drive for Renault was mainly due to his struggle in the Formula One industry and the spy saga link he was connected with. Despite his low profile performance, Alonso triumphed at the Singapore Grand Prix and gave his team the victory they had not had in a long period.

The new world champion will be crowned during the first week of November, right after the conclusion of the Brazilian Grand Prix, and this will also be a new chapter in the history of the Formula One world as neither Hamilton, Massa or Kubica have been world champions before.

About the author
Claudia Beckford provides current English Premier League content as well as information in the sports betting industry. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.

By Claudia Beckford

This year’s Formula One World Championship has been a very different story from the one we witnessed last year when the leading car constructors and some drivers were involved in a dark spy saga which ended in a multi-million dollar fine and the point-withdraw from the Mercedes team. Nevertheless, there were and still are many expectations in regards to the vehicles and the strategies Ferrari and Mercedes laid on the table as well as the remaining contenders that also play a very important role in the current championship.

As the championship comes closer and closer to an end and the defending champion, Ferrari’s driver, Kimi Räikkönen gets further away from repeating a consecutive title win there is now a new battle taking place at the world rankings, as the Brazilian Felipe Massa and the Britton Lewis Hamilton have become the two drivers who have the best chances to achieve this year’s championship. Massa’s present situation is one that we will remember for a long time as things seem to favour him every day that goes by.

A good example is the recent Grand Prix which took place in Belgium where Hamilton was stripped down of the triumph and it was given to Massa therefore he achieved ten points while Hamilton only six.  Due to this situation, the gap between the drivers has shorten even more and now only two points separate them and it is clear this adds more pressure to the current issue. Furthermore let us not forget there are only five races remaining including this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

The 23-year-old Britton Hamilton has stated that he trusts his racing skills and his vehicle’s power as he is sure he can win the next race. Now, if we take a look at the statistics from last year’s race we find Fernando Alonso – who at the time drove for McLaren in first place followed by ex teammate Hamilton and Räikkönen from Ferrari in third place. But this year the story has not yet been written and there are high possibilities Räikkönen will be one of the leading figures along side with Massa. Also, let’s not forget BMW-Sauber driver Robert Kubica who is having his best after winning the Canadian Grand Prix and presently being in the third position in the general standings.

Massa’s and Hamilton’s professional careers have had very different approaches and both drivers have come to where they are today by traveling completely different paths, but it seems their previous choices have made them meet each in this year’ race for the title and only one will be the champion. It is a real task to say whether one is better than the other; we could say Massa is a more experienced driver than Hamilton, but Hamilton’s determination has no match. On the other hand, Italy will be the place where either Massa will surpass his rival or where Hamilton will consolidate his current leading position.

The Italian Grand Prix will take place in the afternoon of Sunday September 14th at the Monza circuit and within a couple of hours we will learn who the best driver turns out to be.

About the author
Claudia Beckford provides current Formula One content as well as information in the sports betting industry. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.