Red Bull and PokerStars Players Aim to Race to the Top
Author:
Roy Brindley
PokerStars, the leading global online gambling and entertainment brand, announced a partnership with Formula 1s Oracle Red Bull Racing earlier this year. The multi-year collaboration, which features branding on the team’s cars and race suits, is now paying dividends to the PokerStars poker-playing community.
Lando Norris has given his McLaren team and fans plenty to smile about during 2022. He is predicted to deliver another strong result at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix. ?GettyImages
From now until November 20th, a new Formula 1 themed Spin & Go Races game offers PokerStars players a shot at guaranteed weekly leaderboard prizes totaling $105,000. There are multiple Spin & Go Races leaderboards to choose from – based on the tournament buy-ins – and each leaderboard comprises of 22 races (tournaments).
The Game Is Fuel Preservation
Fittingly, the 2022 Formula 1 season also consists of 22 races. But similarities with the sport become diluted from there. In essence, PokerStars’ new Spin & Go Races see players begin with a full tank of fuel which will remain full for those who win their race. It will decrease if they place second or third.
Fuel is key to speeding to the top of a leaderboard. A string of poor results will lead to a player’s taking a race-ending pitstop. Nevertheless, Red Bull Racing Team Principal and CEO, Christian Horner, is upbeat. He said: “It’s been a phenomenal season, and we’ve been proud to have the PokerStars community, reaping rewards along the way and mirroring our drive to stay at the top.”
That drive to stay at the top will continue in Mexico this weekend. Its Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez – the third-shortest circuit on the F1 calendar – is the setting for the 20th round of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship.
Two Points Between the Top Two in Race for Second
As a competition, the two championships are over. Max Verstappen is the 2022 World Drivers’ champion, and his Red Bull team was confirmed as World Constructors’ champions in Texas last weekend. But the struggle for second place in the Drivers’ Championship is still an exciting battle.
In it, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has 267 points. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez trails by two points and, with only a slim chance of snatching second, George Russell has 218 points. The best online betting sites favor Leclerc in the race for championship second. He is 4/9 ahead of Perez at 13/8, and Russell is 100/1.
Interestingly both Leclerc and Perez can be backed at 9/2 for race victory this Sunday. Max Verstappen – winner of seven of the last eight races – is understandably an odds-on favorite. But could this be the race where there is an unexpected result?
A Wing and a Prayer for Lando
Only a Red Bull or Ferrari driver has claimed a race victory in 2022. Furthermore, Lando Norris is the only driver outside of the big three teams – Mercedes also being amongst the top trio – to claim a podium finish. Could he repeat that performance in Mexico this weekend?
Strikingly, some of Norris’ best results have come at circuits that require cars to run big wing levels to create abundant downforce. He was fourth in Singapore and sixth in Monaco. These form pointers suggest Mexico – another venue that needs cars to race with a high-downforce configuration – could suit his McLaren.
The leading sports betting sites have attractive odds advertised alongside Norris’s name in all betting markets this weekend. He is 250/1 to win the race, 14/1 for a podium finish, 5/4 to breach the top six, and 4/11 to finish within the top 10. To quote a poker term, a small Spin & Go on any of them could provide great entertainment with the prospect of a healthy profit.
