Max Verstappen may be dominating the motor racing headlines as he bids to become the youngest-ever F1 driver by taking part in practice in the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, but punters are focusing on the thrilling championship battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

With the Mercedes pair dominating the fixed odds betting, here we highlight how spread betting on F1 can potentially offer greater choice when it comes to long term and individual race betting.

Despite the best efforts of newcomer Daniel Ricciardo, the betting has largely focused around Hamilton and Rosberg given Mercedes’ advances ahead of their rivals when it comes to adapting to the new engine regulations.

Long-term Forumula 1 spread betting

So that is where long-term spread betting on F1 can create some added interest by being able to bet on drivers further down the field.

For example, while the long-term fixed odds championship betting may only feature three drivers (with Ricciardo a distant 50/1 shot behind Hamilton at 4/7 and Rosberg at 6/4), the spreads still offer prices for all the drivers.

This is because the Drivers’ Championship Index pays out to six places based on a 60-40-30-20-10-5 make up for drivers who finish top, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively in the end of season standings.

So if you fancy Fernando Alonso to claim fourth place, or better, come the end of November, you could buy the Spaniard’s 11 – 14 spread at 14 and make six times your stake if he ends fourth (20 – 14) or 16 times your stake if he ends third (30 – 14).

However, it’s important to remember that with spread betting you can lose more than your stake size should your bet go against you. So, in the above bet example, if Alonso was to finish seventh or lower in the standings at the end of the campaign, your bet would have lost 14 times your stake.

Another popular long-term spread betting market is Drivers’ Season Points. Here the spread betting companies predict how many points they think each driver will finish on at the end of the season and you can either buy if you think the driver’s total will end up being higher or sell if you think it will end up being lower.

For example, Spreadex has Hamilton’s Points Total prediction at between 343 and 348 (he currently has 241 points). If Hamilton was to win all five remaining races (including double the usual 25 points to the winner in the final race at Abu Dhabi) he would end on a total of 391. So a buy at 348 could potentially result in a profit 43 times your stake (391 – 348). But if Hamilton actually only ended up on a total of 300 points you would lose 48 times your stake (300 – 348).

The spreads also offer similar markets on Constructors’ Season Points and a Constructors’ Index.

Spread betting on each Grand Prix

As for spread betting on the races themselves, the spreads pay out on the top 10 finishers due to a 80-60-50-40-30-25-20-15-10-5 index. So here you can bet on drivers further down the field either doing better or worse than their predicted spread.

E.g. if you didn’t fancy Felipe Massa ahead of the Suzaka Grand Prix you could sell his 23 – 26 Race Index spread with Spreadex at 23 and make money if he finished seventh or lower in the race. Of course, if Massa went on to win, the potential worst outcome could be a loss of 57 times your stake (23 – 80).

The spread betting firms also offer a Qualifying Index, giving each driver a spread based on 25 points for securing pole position, 10 points for second place on the grid and five points for third place on the grid.

And for the ultimate thrill of in-play betting during a Grand Prix, the Live Index offers a spread on each driver, which is updated as the action happens on the circuit, based on the eventual winner being awarded 25 points, the eventual runner-up being awarded 10 points and the eventual third place driver being awarded five points.

So if you don’t feel inspired when you look at the fixed odds F1 prices, take a look at the spread and you may feel you have turned the corner.