Other Sports / Graham Lewis / 10 July 2009 / Leave a comment

The Formula 1 action continues this weekend as the German Grand Prix takes place at the historic Nürburgring. Graham Lewis takes a look at the current state of play in an attempt to find the best betting value.

F1 betting fans will be hoping that the recent political storms within the sport will be put aside, at least for now, as the Formula One continues in earnest over in Germany.

Fernando Alonso summed it up well when asked about the situation. The former double world champion said: "We have spent too much time talking about this, and it doesn't help Formula 1. Hopefully, we can talk about the sport instead".

There have been more problems with the peace deal this week as the members of FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) walked out of an FIA meeting. There is still the question mark over Max Mosley resigning and there has also been a report of rally legend Ari Vatanen wanting Mosely's job. Still, enough about this, let's focus on the racing.

Mark Webber took the top position in first practice this morning while the Brawn GP cars of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello both struggled with front end grip. Button still put in an impressive performance to take the second spot though, and you have to imagine he would have been first if his car had been performing the way he wanted.

McLaren used the first session to test their new upgrades. They are reported to have a new floor, top body and front wing. Kovalainen finished 18th with Lewis Hamilton in 13th position.

Second practice saw Lewis Hamilton making the most of his modifications as he managed to get his McLaren into top spot. It has been a while since he saw himself on the top of a standings list, and it will be interesting to see if he can keep that performance going into qualifying tomorrow. Vettel took second with Button in third.

Looking at the betting strategy, we finally see a bit more value for Jenson Button. Bettors' confidence has taken a knock since Button failed to keep up his good form at Silverstone. However, he did look good during the practices, probably equalling his best practice runs of the season so far. I can see him taking both the qualifying and the race.

However, Vettel will want this race more than any other and if it rains (and rain is predicted), then it might well give him the edge he needs. While I would love to see Hamilton in with a shout, I just feel it is still out of his reach. But for how much longer?