Formula 1’s New Official Betting Operator Is NYSE-listed Betway

by Roy Brindley, 16 March 2026

F1 betting is nothing new, but for the first time, Formula 1 has appointed an official betting operator. Betway is the sport’s new bedfellow.

From 2025, the Williams F1 team have had a partnership agreement with Williams F1. ©Getty

Key Facts:

• Betway becomes Formula 1’s first-ever official betting operator.
• F1 says Betway’s customers can engage with official, accurate, cutting-edge metrics.
• More fan engagement and excitement are promised.

Online sportsbook Betway and Formula 1 have jointly announced a “first of its kind” multi-year partnership that will see the betting brand become the sport’s first-ever official betting operator.

In a joint press release, the two entities stated that “the partnership will build on ALT Sports Data’s expertise as the Official Betting Data Supplier of the series, providing real-time predictive analytics from Formula 1’s huge data banks, in addition to creating proprietary data and priced odds solutions.”

“As a sport that is built on strategy and millions of data points, this new partnership unlocks a modern and innovative way for Betway customers to engage with cutting-edge metrics that are accurate, consistent and official”, the statement continued.

“It will also enable F1 fans to place in-play bets on driver and team strategy – from safety car occurrences, pit windows, on-track battles and more – taking them ever-closer to the action.”

A First for F1 but Predictability Is Back

When it comes to F1 races, Online betting companies have been offering pre-event and in-play betting opportunities since the turn of the century. Nevertheless, trackside betting site logos have only occasionally appeared on TV screens, and this is the first time F1 has entered into a betting partnership.

Ahead of the current season, Formula 1 said: “2026 marks one of the most anticipated and unpredictable starts to a F1 campaign in its 76-year history, with new regulations that promise to reset the established order and deliver amazing on-track action for fans.”

Following a clean sweep in 2026’s first two races, the UK’s best online betting sites are quoting Mercedes as 1/4 favourites to win Formula 1’s 2026 Constructors’ Championship. The team’s drivers, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, take 82% of the book in the Drivers’ Championship market.

F1: A Big Branding Exercise

From a betting perspective, the 2026 Formula 1 season may be over before it has truly begun. Still, massive audiences mean the sport is valuable from a branding perspective, and Betway put its toe in F1’s water at the start of 2025 with a sponsorship deal with the Atlassian Williams F1 Team.

Owned by Super Group, the holding company of some of the world’s most popular global iGaming brands, including Amazon Slots and Hippodrome Casino, Betway is a New York Stock Exchange company.

Betway Promises Innovative Markets

On the latest agreement, Neal Menashe, CEO of Super Group, commented: “We are thrilled to sign our Betway sportsbook brand to the first deal of its kind in Formula 1. This partnership reinforces our commitment to sport at the highest level and will ensure our customers have access to some of the most innovative markets during race weekends.”

Jonny Haworth, Director of Commercial Partnerships, Formula 1, added: “Sports betting is now a natural extension of how many modern fans engage with live events. As a series with vast and complex data sets, our innovative partnership with Betway allows our adult fans to take a step closer to the strategy and action that makes it so thrilling.”

“While betting and sport have long gone hand in hand, this new product offering based on real-time and regulated data takes Formula 1 into a new cutting-edge dimension that offers even more engagement and excitement for fans.”

In-Play Betting Could Be Subject to Delays

Hawort’s comments suggest that his vision for F1 betting is more aligned with in-play betting – something that has not traditionally been Betway’s strong point. A broadcast delay between live happenings at circuits and what appears on TV screens – believed to be up to 30 seconds in some territories – is also a stumbling block for punters.

The first betting firm to form an association with Formula 1 was Eurobet, which put its livery on the TWR Arrows car during the 2000 F1 season. BetClic’s logo was sighted around the fabled Monte Carlo street circuit a few times in the late 2010’s.

More recently, the Malta-based betting firm, Interwetten, whose customer base is primarily German, sponsored the Lotus team in 2012. Entain, the global sports betting and gaming entertainment group behind PartyCasino and PartyPoker, entered a partnership agreement with McLaren Racing in May 2021.