It’s the British Grand Prix this weekend and the patriotic betting public are likely to out in force to buy Lewis Hamilton’s finishing position – hoping that he can become the first Briton to win the race since David Coulthard in 2000. Silverstone has had some very close, exciting finishes in recent years and the chicane at Woodcote is the place to look out for fast, overtaking manoeuvres. It is the perfect track for spread betting due to its unpredictability and in the last 10 years, five winners have won by a winning time margin of 2.7 seconds or less, with three of the last four under this figure. Buyers of the winning time margin should take note. Qualifying, as we all know, is so important on the Grand Prix circuit. However, it doesn’t appear to be as important at the Northamptonshire track. Only two of the last 10 winners started from pole, whilst half in the last decade have won from the second line of the grid. Punters looking to have a bet on the outsiders in the win index should be careful though, as Ferrari have won 5 and McLaren 4 of the last 10.

Kimi Raikkonen is currently favourite in Sporting Index’s season points market and his spread is 104-108, whilst team-mate Felipe Massa (currently 5 points ahead) is trading at 101-105. Massa buyers will obviously be concerned that Raikkonen has that all-important experience, but they will be delighted to hear that since 1987, the driver leading the Championship after eight races has gone on to win the title 18 times – with the other three all coming second. They will be further buoyed by the news that at this stage of the season, 19 of the last 21 champions had won three races (Massa is the only driver to register three wins so far this year). Buyers of Hamilton and Kubica at 92 and 93 respectively will be concerned that 18 of the last 20 champions had started in at least 50 races before the start of their winning season.

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