After their wake-up call in Singapore, morale in Ferrari’s camp is most likely at a bit of a low point currently. Strategy throughout the season has been poor to say the least, and a slew of mistakes from Vettel has not helped his nor Ferrari’s championship prospects… to say the least.
…Which is why we should have an eye on them for the Russian Grand Prix, where they qualified on pole last year. In theory, Ferrari still has the stronger (and more reliable) engine than the title leaders Mercedes, and the Sochi circuit boasts plenty of long straights punctuated by slow corners, which have suited the Ferrari throughout the season.
Ferrari will be aware that Mercedes stole their thunder in Singapore, however, though their poor pace in qualifying was traced back to tyre warm-up issues and poor strategy. One would expect Ferrari to have rectified the problem for Russia, so we suspect it’ll be business as usual at the front of the pack – with Ferrari edging out Mercedes in qualifying.
Here are the odds on each of the top 6 to win at Betway:
Hamilton 2.10
Bottas 8.60
Vettel 2.30
Raikkonen 9.90
Ricciardo 47.50
Verstappen 33.00
Our pick:
We’re going with a dark horse for this weekend with Valtteri Bottas… The Finn always goes well in Russia, and those odds are looking pretty lucrative! Also, with such a comfortable lead in the championship, Hamilton should be able to maintain his lead without the help of his “wingman”. Remember who won in Russia last year, too!
