Category: F1 Grand Prix

Mercedes Hamilton on Pole but Ferrari Star Vettel the Danger

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Lewis Hamilton will start favourite to win the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after posting yet another pole position around the Melbourne street circuit at Albert Park – his fourth in four years.

But he might not have everything his own way after Ferrari’s former world champion Sebastian Vettel pulled out a blistering lap of his own in the final seconds of the qualifying to snare second spot on the 20 car grid.

The Ferraris had shown themselves to be more competitive in winter testing than they had been in 2016, and both Vettel and his team mate Kimi Raikkonen (another former world champion) are well placed to take the challenge up to Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate Bottas, who was third fastest.

At $4.60 on Betfair fixed odds, Vettel might be the value investment, while those looking for a more enticing wager could be tempted by the $11 available with both Sportsbet and Bet 365 on Bottas should anything happen to Hamilton’s car.

Bottas in for the Fight

Certainly, the Finn is up for the challenge.

”Third is not ideal – I think in general I’m not happy for the result,” said Bottas, whose previous best qualifying in Australia was sixth.

” I didn’t quite get any perfect laps in, so I’m not that satisfied. But tomorrow is the day that matters – it seems that we have been quite strong on the practice starts, so hopefully we can keep that going tomorrow.”

Hamilton is Expecting a Fierce Contest

” As you can see it’s going to be a close race between us (Mercedes and Ferrari) this year I think.”

Vettel too sounded in confident enough mood. The German is a four-time world title winner and has won in Melbourne before, so he too took plenty of confidence from his strong qualifying run.

”We are working well as a team. I wasn’t entirely happy with my final lap, and tomorrow I hope we can do something.

“We are fired up about tomorrow’s race. The confidence was there from testing and it has been a big winter for us.”

Ricciardo’s Nightmare

Any patriotic punters who splurged on Daniel Ricciardo to fly the flag for Australia will need an enormous amount of luck to pick up any returns after the West Australian skidded off at high speed and crashed into the wall in the final qualifying session.

Ricciardo and his team-mate Max Verstappen had not enjoyed the easiest of weekends, but this was a body blow to the ever smiling Ricciardo’s hopes of winning his first ever home Grand Prix. He can now be backed at odds of $151 with Sportsbet.

Former world champion Fernando Alonso has not got warm in the past few seasons since his move to McLaren and the formerly great team continues to struggle.

But at least the Spaniard could smile a little after the first qualifying session of the season when he qualified in 13th position. He will be desperate to at least finish this time, and if his car can hold together, he certainly knows how to reach the chequered flag so his price of $2.20 with Bet 365 to complete the race might be worth a look.

Hotshot Hamilton Sets Pace in the Park

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According to the shrewdies, there are two certainties about this season’s Formula One world title – Lewis Hamilton is nailed on to win the drivers’ championship, and his team, Mercedes, are even bigger certainties to win the constructors title.

While it’s hard to bet against Hamilton, who was quickest in both practice sessions at Albert Park on Friday, the skinny odds about Mercedes taking the constructors championship might not look that attractive if Ferrari can get off to a flying start in Melbourne, and then again in the ”flyaway” races which dominate the early part of the season.

The Silver Arrows are a best priced $1.47 with Betfair to win the championship again this season, with Ferrari at $4.40 with the same company.

Should Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen confirm that the offseason testing was a good guide to the season – the Scuderia was quicker than Mercedes in the last tests in Spain – and both snatch podiums at Albert Park, interest in Ferrari will surely intensify.

A New Season So it’s All Up for Grabs

It might be wishful thinking, and it’s certainly a big if, but in Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton has a new team-mate not yet steeped in the ways Mercedes works.

The Finn is quick and talented, as he proved with strong performances in Friday’s 90-minute practice runs. That might help push Hamilton to the limit and only make the German team even harder to beat.

But Bottas is not yet bedded into the Mercedes system, and if for some reason he gets off to an uncertain start in the opening couple of races, confidence might ebb a little, giving Ferrari, with its settled driver line-up, an opening.

It may be pie in the sky, but that’s what’s so interesting at this point of a new season: everything is possible, and nobody is yet shown to be driving a dud or to have lost their form.

Red Bull is priced up at around $7.60 with Betfair’s fixed odds market, and while it is an interesting price, it is hard to see Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen actually winning enough races to give them a real shot in the constructors battle.

Hamilton tried to talk up Ferrari’s chances at the pre-race press conference on day one of the Grand Prix festival, suggesting that the Italian squad should be favourites. Vettel was doing the opposite, suggesting that testing was merely a guide that could perhaps mislead, and the real laboratory was out on the track from the first practise session onwards.

”So far we don’t know anything. We will get the first impression on Sunday. There are a lot of new things (this season),” the four-time champion Vettel told journalists.

Hamilton Sets the Friday Benchmark

Certainly, Hamilton was able to show he was in the groove right from the off on Friday, in the first 90-minute practice session posting a time of 1.24.220, more than half a second quicker than Bottas. Daniel Ricciardo was fractionally behind the Finn and just ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Verstappen.

Raikkonen was quickest of the Ferraris with Vettel just a smidgen slower.

In the second session, Vettel was second best, but he was half a second down on Hamilton. All look to have their work cut out to match the Brit on Sunday, but qualifying on Saturday will provide more clues.

The Fastest F1 Cars Ever Break Cover

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With Lewis Hamilton a short priced favourite to begin his assault on a fourth world title in Melbourne, punters looking to bet around the outright market are spoilt for choice if they are looking to find value investments.

The opening race of the season is always fascinating, and not just because it satiates the appetites of F1 fans left hungry for the four months of the off season.

Part of the intrigue is because there are invariably new rules and regulations, either to the way races are run or the technological changes which have been made to the cars to bring them into line with the new rules.

This year, for example, there will be a standing start if the heavens open at 4 pm on Sunday afternoon, rather than the traditional rolling start behind the safety car.

New Rules and Regulations Increase the Intrigue

The cars are wider and will have larger front wings and wider rear wings set at a lower level. The tyres will also be wider and ”fatter”, the end result that they will have much more aerodynamic downforce – a critical factor in allowing them to approach corners much quicker and make turns much faster as their grip will be even better.

Restrictions on teams developing their engines during the season have been removed, which in theory should assist Ferrari and Red Bull improve their cars to challenge Mercedes.

Many experts are touting them as potentially the fastest breed of F1 cars the sport will have ever seen. The increased speeds and faster cornering will, of course, make it far more physically demanding for drivers and ensure their concentration levels have to be greater than ever.

Those factors mean that there will be plenty of uncertainty about the opening couple of races, even though pre-season testing has delivered some clues, and that is where investors looking for some value might find something to interest them.

To Finish First, You Have to Finish

Inevitably there are retirements and breakdowns with some teams, including the best, suffering unexpected problems.

In those circumstances, it might be worth taking a punt on an experienced driver for an unfancied team to perhaps navigate his way into a top-six finish.

There are few more experienced in this field than Felipe Massa, who was going to retire but answered an SOS from his former team, Williams, to stay on for another year to replace Valtteri Bottas, who has gone to Mercedes.

Massa finished all but four races last season and was in the top six in three of the first four, including Australia. His odds of $1.83 with Sportsbet and Bet 365 to do so again could prove rewarding.

McLaren once used to be the dominant team in this sport, but they have fallen well behind now and anyone expecting them to have another poor weekend can take the odds of $1.14 (Bet 365) for one of their cars not to finish the race.

If you fancy Hamilton to get off to a horror start, he can be backed at $7 not to finish in Melbourne, something he failed to do twice last season.

Hamilton Set to Hit Heights as F1 Roars Into Life

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A new season. New technical regulations, new look cars – but with one glaring exception – the same superstars.

The 2017 Formula One campaign roars into life in Melbourne this weekend, the first race of a marathon campaign.

Plenty will be different but it would be a brave punter who bet against the established names dominating again.

Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull will be the dominant teams, with Lewis Hamilton ($2 with Sportsbet to win the title), Sebastian Vettel ($4.50) Valteri Bottas ($6) Daniel Ricciardo ($10) and Max Verstappen($9) likely to be the men to follow.

Last year’s world champion Nico Rosberg sensationally quit shortly after securing the title.

The man in pole position to secure his fourth world title is his team-mate Hamilton, a three-time world champion already.

The mercurial Brit, with his flashy diamond studs and penchant for controversial statements, is not everyone’s cup of tea, but there is no doubt that behind the wheel of a Formula One car he is a class act and the man to beat this time round – as his odds of $2.25 to win on Sunday reflected.

He will not have things his own way, though, with his new team-mate, the Finn Valteri Bottas, determined to make an immediate impact having stepped up to the champion team after impressing for several years at Williams.

Filling a world champion’s shoes (he takes Rosberg’s seat with the Silver Arrows) is never easy, but Bottas has the talent and the application to take the fight to his illustrious team-mate.

Germany’s former World Champion Sebastian Vettel (a four-time title winner between 2010 and 2013 inclusive) and his maverick team-mate Kimi Raikkonen (another former world champion and, like Bottas, a Finn) will be desperate to atone for a frustrating 2016 season when neither man won a race.

Vettel managed three second places and three thirds, suggesting that if the Ferrari has found some pace in the offseason then he could give the dominant Mercedes something to think about. He is a $4.33 chance with Sportsbet for Sunday’s race.

On the only two occasions, neither Hamilton nor Rosberg won the race, it was the Red Bull Racers of Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo and Belgian/Dutchman Max Verstappen, who stood on the top step of the podium.

Ricciardo won in Malaysia late in the season when Hamilton retired and Rosberg ran third.

Verstappen, who holds a swathe of records for being the youngest man in history to achieve several F1 milestones, made his mark early in the campaign when he won in Spain.

There is no doubt that the youngster – he is still only 19 – will be a world champion one day, and that is likely to be sooner rather than later, but it would be a surprise if he could find the consistency to go with his pace to trouble the Mercedes team leader at this point of his career.

Ricciardo, a $12 shot on Sunday, might make it appealing for those barracking for a hometown hero to make the top step of the podium.

F1 Brazilian Grand Prix – Last Chance for Hamilton

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The Brazilian GP begins on Sunday, and this race will be poignant simply because Ayrton Senna is buried not too far away from the famous Sao Paolo circuit. Senna was perhaps the last true Formula 1 genius to ever sit behind the wheel of a racing car. Surely Michael Schumacher would never have reached his record tally of world drivers’ championships were it not for the untimely death of Senna.

This Sunday is all about the battle between current championship leader Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes have been dominant this season. There has been little to choose between the two Mercedes drivers, who are first and second in the drivers’ championship. Rosberg has a 19pt lead with two races to go and many people feel that Hamilton really needs to win on Sunday. The question is will this give him a competitive edge over Rosberg?

Hamilton Off To a Flyer

The early practice sessions have Hamilton a full quarter of a second faster than Rosberg. SkyBet currently go 8/11 for Hamilton to win on Sunday. With 25pts for first place and 18pts for second, it is clear that Lewis Hamilton simply has no margin for error. Rosberg has never been world champion. Surely he will never get a better chance than this. Hamilton has won back to back titles and is the defending champion.

His aggressive style means that he will surely fight hard for the title. The 19pt lead for Rosberg highlights that if he drives defensively during the seasons’ final two races, the title will surely be his. Pit strategies will play a big part. Hamilton has the experience of being in this situation before, but a 19pt gap is surely too big even for a three-time world champion to overcome.

Back Rosberg to Take the Title

Many people believe that taking odds of 2/7 isn’t a good bet. Those are the odds quoted by SkyBet for Rosberg to take the title. The problem for Hamilton is that Mercedes have been so dominant this season. Rosberg can drive within himself and preserve the car, and that will surely impact on team strategy on Sunday.

There will be far greater demands on Hamilton’s car seeing how he must effectively win the race. Despite the short odds, the value bet must be in backing Rosberg to win the drivers’ championship either on Sunday or after the final race. Hamilton requires some sort of miracle when all the facts have been taken into account.

However, that doesn’t mean that he can’t prolong the fight by winning on Sunday. Because of the fact that Hamilton will be aggressive and Rosberg defensive, Hamilton looks favourite to win the Brazilian Grand Prix if his car doesn’t break down.