posted July 18, 2008 at 14:47 in Other Articles

We’re exactly halfway through the 2008 Formula 1 season; nine races down, nine to go. And nothing is even close to being settled on the F1 betting scene.

No one driver has been able to take control of the standings thus far. There’s a three-way tie for first place: Lewis Hamilton of McLaren-Mercedes has 48 points, as do the two Ferrari teammates, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. But there’s a third team making noise in the standings. BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica is just two points behind the leaders with 46, followed by Nick Heidfeld with 36.

This sets up what should be a very interesting German Grand Prix this Sunday at the famed Hockenheimring. The three co-leaders in the driver standings were also the three top favorites at press time:

Raikkonen +160
Hamilton +200
Massa +300

Raikkonen is the presumptive No. 1 driver at Ferrari, but if that’s the case, Massa is No. 1A. This is one of the rarest of situations for the top teams on the F1 circuit; Ferrari is allowing its two drivers equal status even though Raikkonen is the defending champion. From an F1 odds standpoint, this makes Massa the value pick of the two, and the Brazilian has made good with three victories this season to Raikkonen’s two.

The hierarchy at McLaren, on the other hand, is firmly in place – which is the main reason why No. 2 driver Heikki Kovalainen is priced at +1000 for Sunday’s race. But the Finland native is making huge strides in his second season in F1, finishing in the Top 5 on five occasions and taking the pole position at the British Grand Prix. There will be a breakthrough performance at some point for the talented 26-year-old.

Rain is on the forecast for Hockenheim this weekend, adding an element of chaos to the race and adding value to the drivers farther down the odds list. This opens the door for Kubica (+1200) and especially Germany’s own Heidfeld (+2500) to pull off an upset. Heidfeld finished second in two of the last three events; he’s raced at the Hockenheimring multiple times working his way up the racing ladder to F1, and BMW Sauber is keen to win a race on its home turf.

If you have SpeedChannel, you can watch the race on television starting at 7:30 a.m. Eastern. They’ll also have Friday’s practices live at 8:00 a.m. and Saturday’s qualifying at 9:00 a.m.

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