Sponsors and Teams to Make the Max of Formula 1 in Monaco
Author:
Roy Brindley
The jewel in Formula 1s crown, the Monaco Grand Prix, takes place this weekend. The growing number of American Grand Prix races may never be matched in the razzamatazz stakes, but for glamour and prestige, this race, with its history dating back to 1929, is the contest teams and drivers want to win most.
In 2023 the Red Bull team has proven to be the sport’s dominant force. Their double world champion, Max Verstappen, has won three races and finished second twice. Such is his superiority; onlookers suggest he could match Michael Schumacher’s amazing 2002 feat of finishing on the podium of every race of the year.
Sergio Perez landed the Monaco Grand Prix for Red Bull in 2022. The team are big favorites to win the race again this year. ©Mark Thompson/Getty Images
However, Verstappen and all drivers know the Monaco Grand Prix is a potential banana skin for everyone. The first challenge is to ace Saturday qualifying. Many pundits declare the Monaco Grand Prix a race that is “won on a Saturday but raced on a Sunday!”
Not since 1996 has a driver starting lower than third won the Monaco Grand Prix. Thirteen of the last 18 Monaco Grand Prix winners have started the race from the pole position. It means whoever claims the slot at the front of the grid will begin the race as a strong favorite.
Who Is Betting on F1?
In 2023, there are more Formula 1 betting opportunities than ever before. Furthermore, as bookmaker logos slowly disappear from the shirts of the world’s leading football clubs, sponsors have increasingly turned to Formula 1 to promote their companies.
Eurobet, a division of Coral, was the first to promote an online betting site. In 2000 its logo appeared on the cars raced by the Arrows Grand Prix team. Then, its star driver was Jos Verstappen – the father of Max Verstappen!
Currently, a US-facing online poker site, Global Poker, has its branding on Charles Leclerc’s and Carlos Sainz’ Ferraris. PokerStars is in its second year of sponsorship of Red Bull. Crypto betting site, Stake, is paying $100 million to the Alfa Romeo team for a three-year association. The Betsafe logo had previously featured on the Swiss team’s cars.
Party Casino and the McLaren Formula 1 team became bedfellows just days ahead of the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix. In 2023, game maker Aristocrat Gaming will enter the sport as the official provider of Formula 1 slot machines. The new slots will debut before November’s Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Be Smart and Ignore Likely Race Winner for Fastest Lap Bet
The gambling industry is backing the sport, but who is the smart money backing this weekend? Ignoring the unique nature of this circuit – where on-track overtaking is nearly impossible, and races can be lost in qualifying – the stats support a Red Bull or Mercedes victory. Eleven of the past 12 Monaco Grand Prix have been won by one of these two teams.
Online betting sites are taking no chances. The collective odds of either Red Bull driver scoring on race day equate to almost 75 percent. Considering the early weather forecast suggests there could be rain in the air on Sunday, the odds are very short.
Therefore, the fastest lap betting market appears to offer the best value. Only twice in 20 years has the Monaco Grand Prix winner set the fastest lap of the race. And, during the past five years, there have been some big-priced winners of this accolade. Sergio Perez was 100/1 in 2017, Pierre Gasly could be backed on 16/1 in 2019, and Lando Norris was 20/1 twelve months ago.
Supporting a brace of big-priced drivers in the fastest lap betting market cannot be condoned, and it could prove to be a winning formula in Monaco this Sunday.
