Formula 1: Is It Vettel, Alonso Or Hamilton In Pole Position For The 2011 Drivers Title?

It doesn't seem five minutes since we landed a big 13/2 gamble on the 2010 Formula 1 Drivers' Championship as Sebastian Vettel took the title in Abu Dhabi (see full story here).

In the process, the 23-year-old German became the youngest ever F1 champion and gave Red Bull their first major success (to add to the Constructor's Title they also clinched in the season finale).

Winning Monopoly For Leading Constructors

Vettel (5 wins) headed the list for race victories in 2010 along with Fernando Alonso (5). Next up was Mark Webber (4), Lewis Hamilton (3) and Jenson Button (2) ensuring the season was a lock-out for Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes.

Vettel (11/4) heads the market going into the new 2011 season which starts in Bahrain on March 13th. The defending champion is followed by Alonso (3/1), Hamilton (4/1), Button (12/1) and the luckless Webber (14/1) who handed last year's championship to his team-mate after a late season collapse.

Settled teams, improved cars and the usual application of poorly thought through and hard-to-understand changes will surely mean the title race revolves around these three teams once again. Surely, Mercedes GP with Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg will be more competitive but race wins, at the very best, must remain their short-term target.

In truth, but for some genuine bad luck and a few poor mid-race decisions the Red Bull pairing, with their huge qualifying advantage in 2010, should have had the rest of their opponents firmly in their mirrors a long way from home last year. It will be interesting to see if they can be as dominant pre-race this time around and then be more reliable once the red lights have gone out.

Best Of The Rest

For sure, Robert Kubica (when able to race again), Schumacher and Rosberg will be snapping at their heels but the betting seems spot-on in its focus on the 'lead drivers' of the top teams. The trio of Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton.

Each guy, in their own way, is talented, fearless and ultra-competitive. Their proximity in last season's points table (Vettel 256, Alonso 252, Hamilton 240) meant the title went down to the very last race ... and who's not to say it won't this time around?

Conspiracy theorists might well say Vettel is in the toughest spot as his co-driver (Webber) is more of a rival, possibly, than Button is to Hamilton and particularly Massa to Alonso. It will be interesting to see how that plays out over the 20 races which span 2011.

It was a thrilling title race in 2010 and we should expect no different this time around. For outright winner bets and the pick of regular F1 betting... join us today!

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