BRITISH GRAND PRIX: The Formula One spotlight switches to Silverstone on Sunday with Lewis Hamilton attempting to close the 20 point gap between himself and leader Sebastian Vettel.
Once again, events conspired against Lewis Hamilton to leave him trailing Sebastian Vettel by 20 points in the drivers’ championship after the Austrian Grand Prix. His teammate Valtteri Bottas proved Mercedes had the pace, taking his second career win. Bottas now becomes a factor in the Championship, he sits just 15 points behind Hamilton.
Hamilton’s weekend was compromised badly when he had to change his gearbox. This resulted in a five grid penalty that was compounded by an uncharacteristically scrappy qualifying performance. Starting from eighth on the grid ruled him out for the win no doubt. That being said, Hamilton registered the fastest lap of the race, underlining Mercedes’ current pace advantage.
Moving on to Silverstone and we can expect more of the same. Ferrari were turgid at this track last year. Out paced by both Mercedes and Red Bull in qualifying, a messy race saw them finish fifth and ninth. They’ll do better this year but this track really lends itself to the Mercs and Red Bull.
Hamilton (1.97) is a four time winner at his home grand prix, he’ll be fairly motivated considering the ever extending Championship gap between him and Vettel (3.5), and even more beneficially, he may be able to count on another team getting in Ferrari’s way.
Red Bull were nowhere by their lofty standards at the start of the season. They are however, bringing performance to their car every weekend. Expect them to fly on Saturday and Sunday, in normal circumstances the race win should be out of reach, but Danial Ricciardo (17 for the win) Max Verstappen (15) are likely to at least feature on the podium.
The ever-changing midfield battle is very hard to call. Force India once again will hope and expect to be the strongest outfit, but Toro Rosso have shown well in England before and their aero-focused car will like the fast sweeping corners of the former air-field at Silverstone. Williams have shown too much inconsistency, Renault lack pace and reliability (not a great combo), and Haas have a chassis that strongly mirrors Ferrari who may be facing their most difficult weekend.
Outright
A strong start and a bit of luck makes the unbelievably unlucky Max Verstappen a solid outside bet at (15). After an underwhelming performance in Austria, Lewis Hamilton will want to correct things this weekend. He has the car, it’s a track he’s dominated before, and his closest challengers heretofore tend not to run well at Silverstone, at 1.95 on our exchange, nearly evens is a strong price.
Specials
Since we’re going to the home of racing, we’ve a brand new set of specials. First up, ‘Best of the Brits’ offers you a chance to back those teams with that Great British heritage. Hamilton to reach the podium, both Williams cars to score points and both McLaren’s to finish, all individual parts of this special are on the cards, combine them to get a healthy return at 10.0.
Elsewhere, you can back the only two Brits on the grid. Jolyon Palmer, a mid-field drifter trying to find his way, and Lewis Hamilton, certainly not a midfield drifter, Palmer to get his first points of the season, Hamilton to take the win, we’re offering 11.0 for ‘The British Double’.
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