MorrisF1

New engines, weight limit and fixed gear ratios are all part of the 2014 regulation changes. We also have a big change to the driver lineups. I’m going to look at the regulations first (warning, this post will probably be bloody enormous). Weight limit - F1 cocked this up. In essence, the weight limit’s too low which means taller drivers (Button, Hulkenberg, maybe Grosjean) will be penalised, and dinky chaps (Alonso, Massa) will benefit by quite a bit. We’re talking 0.2-0.4s per lap, give or take. That’s a huge chunk of time. However, it may matter less than it otherwise would due to the significant changes made in other areas. The weight limit is likely to be increased for 2015. “That means a smaller driver such as Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who weighs 68kg, is at an advantage over a taller one such as Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, who weighs nearly 80kg, to the tune of 0.42secs a lap if the team cannot reduce the car by the amount of their weight difference.” ...

2013 was the fifth year I’ve offered tips on pb.com, pb2 and/or the new blog here. So, I thought it’d be interesting to post graphs of each year (partial for 2009) and some interesting(ish) bets and races. I’ll probably put up a look ahead to 2014 article next week, and that’ll be it for quite some time. The graphs reflect what would have happened if you backed each of my tips at £10 (I think the first two are just bet-and-forget, rather than hedged). They don’t include anything other than qualifying and race bets, so no title or driver market bets. Best tip: Button to win the 2009 title at 70/1. Most satisfying result: Button climbing from last to first in the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix (backed McLaren at 5.9).     Most profitable race: Monza 2009. With a standard £10 stake, the profit was £81. Best run of bets: Six in a row (2011). Worst result: Canada 2010, China 2011 (-£40). Morris Dancer

This year was weird, in all kinds of ways. The most obvious and irksome was that after two good years this one was red overall. Not to an enormous degree, but still. Another oddity was that untipped bets (typically due to lack of liquidity, instant regret or backing something unusually early) were generally green (the reverse is normally true), so I actually finished ahead. Another weird feature was that I lost almost all the time on Betfair, and won almost all the time with Ladbrokes. So, one of my accounts is diminished and feeble, and the other is overly large. The season got off to a great start. Solely to avoid voluntarily missing a bet on the first race I backed Ferrari to top score at 5.5, and they did. Given my seasons usually start with 2-4 races of redness before I get my eye in I thought this boded well. How wrong I was. Every other race in the first half of the season was red (excepting a 45p profit in the UK). The second half was similarly poor, althou...