TJ13’s F1 bet tips 2019, providing the F1 community who enjoy a ‘dabble’ some insight and analysis into who and what might be good value at the bookies.

Please take this information as opinion, and in no way does TJ13 guarantee winnings or good results by gambling your money betting on Formula One. PLEASE BET RESPONSIBLY – www.gambleaware.co.uk

F1 bet tips 2019 – Melbourne, the Australian GP: Why you need to bet on Haas, the dark horse

In modern F1, podium finishes in teams other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull Racing are a real rarity, but can there be the exception for the season opener in Melbourne on March 17th?

Haas was already on the right track in 2018; fifth place in the constructors’ championship – that’s just past the “Best of the Rest” – Renault took fourth place behind the three top teams Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.

Certainly Haas wants to attack in 2019 in a bid to overtake Renault and to secure something special: a podium position. Because this is a real rarity in Formula 1 these days and something to take note of if looking to have a flutter on our sport.

A podium finish not of the top three teams has only happened twice in the last two seasons: Sergio Pérez in Force India at Baku and Lance Stroll in Williams in 2017. A lot has to happen for the three top teams to make it to the podium. But that’s exactly when Haas wants to be there and in TJ13’s opinion, a very real possibility, especially early in the season.

“This is a dream. It would be very nice if we could manage that,” said team boss Günther Steiner.

For the Austrian GP last year the US team got very close: Romain Grosjean finished fourth, his teammate Kevin Magnussen fifth with a very impressive display.

“Hopefully it will be our season. Maybe we will finally have the luck that we lacked in the past. But if everything goes normally, nobody can reach the podium except the three top teams,” said Steiner.

But he also knows: “Sometimes things happen in the race – when you’re there, you can grab the podium place. But you always have to be there. You have to be constantly on fourth place as a team to get the podium.”

What impression did Haas make during the tests in Barcelona? A very promising one and one we might say could be the dark horse, certainly for Melbourne in under two weeks time. After a rather difficult first week with only 1783 kilometres Grosjean and Magnussen lapped a strong 2272 kilometres in the second week.

The final race simulation proved: If the racer doesn’t suffer from teething troubles, it is constantly fast. With the potential for fourth place behind the top three. And thus also with potential for podium places.

Ex F1 driver turned technical pundit, Karun Chandhok thinks that Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Haas has excellent pace and very much slipped under the radar of many by the end of the test in Barcelona.

Did some more digging through the test times & found a very impressive run from @grosjeanromain on the C3 tyre which slipped under the radar! Worth noting that Haas also had the 2nd best corrected time of the 2018 test & had the fastest car of the midfield in Melbourne #F12019 pic.twitter.com/DrjdBRrT8n

— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) March 4, 2019

In Melbourne last year the team did manage to throw away some very good results with botched pit stops and bad strategy calls, but the car and drivers were surprisingly fast. A true Ferrari B team some might say.

Looking at the bookies’ odds for such a result currently, see’s Romain Grosjean, the quicker of the two Haas teammates, down at a decent 12 to 1 odds. This may well change come Friday free practice so I would recommend securing a stake today before Haas further shows pace in Australian practice.