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Tony Annesar, readaBet.com?
An in-depth Betting Preview of the F1 2002/2003 season.
Please note betting verdict was published after the Australian GP.
Mediocrity looms again. A schoolboy style error in the wind tunnel has left them in worse shape than ever for the coming season and consequently they have been generally poor in testing. The team has so much politics surrounding it, that racing almost comes secondary to justifying their budget to owners Ford every season. Unlikely to do well this year, expect a few more 5th and 6th places from Eddie Irvine, but little more.
Testing pace has been very poor, and the cold truth is that a slow car generally stays slow for a whole season and Jaguar certainly are not focused enough to turn things round.
Eddie Irvine
The enigmatic Irish man runs into the third year of his pension plan/contract with Jaguar. He must be laughing at Jaguar behind their backs. He is probably in the top five earners in F1 and all he has to do is score a top six finish once or twice a season and everyone thinks he’s great, expect him to achieve precisely that this year.
Pedro De La Rosa
Bad driver, bad car. He has never done much to justify his place in F1 and it seems unlikely that 2002 will help him out.
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| Betting Verdict |
1pt Mclaren to win Constructors Championship at 7/1
Drivers Championship - Coulthard for the title 12/1 is an excellent price. In Australia he was emerging as the main challenger to Schumacher, even with a misbehaving engine management system that kept launching him off the track. Admittedly much of his hopes rest upon the performance of the Michelin tyres and Mercedes engine, but that’s motorsport. Michael Schumacher at 2/5 is a non-starter.
Constructors Championship – The ominously good form of Ferrari has given them very poor odds at ½, but this is based on Michael Schumacher dominance. If Coulthard and Mclaren can raise their game, particularly when Ferrari run the new car for the first time to take advantage of the inevitable teething problems then they have an excellent chance at the title. Another major factor is the simple fact that if Coulthard is challenging for the title, then Schumacher is not running away in the points and so teammate performance will have a much larger effect on the outcome. This is where I feel Mclaren are better equipped to make a challenge with rising star Kimi Raikkonen.
Take the 7/1 on Mclaren winning the Championship
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