Hamilton targets two-in-a-row
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Brit looking to make up for last year’s collision
The Bahrain Grand Prix goes ahead on Sunday and British speedster Lewis Hamilton will be targeting two wins in-a-row from three starts. You can bet on a number of markets right here at Coral, including race winner, fastest lap and podium finish. Add further excitement to what promises to be a thrilling race.
Hamilton, favourite to win the world title before the flag went down this season, had to settle for second in the first Grand Prix of the year, with Sebastien Vettel guiding the red of Ferrari to the top-step in Australia. That threw the gauntlet down, and 32-year-old Englishman Hamilton responded, battling to the champagne in Shanghai last weekend, reversing the places with Seb.
The season is still in its infancy, and we are yet to see the full effect of the car and rule changes introduced over the close-season, but the organisers promised they would bring the excitement back to the sport, and they certainly appear to be on-course to achieve that. China was an intriguing race from start to finish, with the wet weather making for some eye-catching battles early in the race, and behind Hamilton we saw war being raged, but the race winner was dominant from start to finish, making up for last year’s frustration at the same track.
Hamilton the traders pick
Going to Bahrain and we have Hamilton and Vettel locked on 43 points at the top of the leaderboard, with Max Verstappen back in third on 25 for Red Bull. It may be too early to say, but what we have witnessed so far would suggest this is quickly becoming a two-man shoot-out for the title. Coral traders have already made up their minds on how it will sort itself out, with Hamilton chalked up as 8/13 odds-on favourite, while backers looking to take a chance on a better price will get 7/4 Vettel. A win on Sunday would see a chunk taken out of Verstappen’s 33/1.
There’s a similar feeling in the betting to win the third Grand Prix of the season. Hamilton goes into the weekend as an 11/10 jolly with us to remain top of the tree, while Vettel, rather predictably, heads the chasing pack at 11/8. Lewis could do no better than third last year, but there’s not an awful lot to get excited about in his price to finish on the podium again, 1/6 the call.
The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg got home ahead of Kimi Raikkonen 12 months ago, and punters may remember it was a fairly comfortable one-two. Excuses can be made for the bare stats however, as Hamilton showed a round of great driving to get himself onto the podium following a clash at the first corner. We’ll never know what he would’ve done had that not happened, but we’ll certainly find out if he can put it right. Raikkonen is one at a value pick, 15/2 to improve a place.
