So… we were right about Mercedes dominating in France! That’s one solid correct pick at least…
This weekend we’re in Austria, for the second leg of the triple F1 header, and things look closer than ever between the top teams. Ferrari and Mercedes are constantly trading pole positions at each venue, and Red Bull are a genuine force to be reckoned with in the races. Hamilton now leads Vettel by 14 points, so the championship is still WIDE open.
Looking at the stats from last year, where Vettel hounded Bottas throughout the race for the win, it looks like the Red Bull Ring may favour Ferrari. Medium-speed corners make up almost every corner at the picturesque circuit, which the Ferrari seems to enjoy the most. Vettel lost out on pole position last year due to a tiny mistake he made coming out of the final corner – for the majority of the lap, he was well ahead of Bottas’ eventual pole-winning Mercedes. After Bottas’ super quick getaway at the start of the race, Vettel managed to hound the Finn all the way to the checkered flag, suggesting that the Ferrari was actually the fastest car that weekend. See the video of their qualifying laps below!
This suggests that Ferrari will be the team to beat this weekend, as the 2018 Ferrari is an evolution of their 2017 car, which outperformed the Mercedes at circuits which tended to have slower corners rather than fast corners (for example, Ferrari’s pace at tracks like Monaco, Singapore and Hungary was miles ahead of Mercedes’).
The addition of a third DRS zone will help the Ferrari keep up with the superior straight line speed of the Mercedes too, so it definitely looks like the ball is in Ferrari’s court.
How are the odds looking, you ask?
For Vettel to win, odds are 3.25 to 1… which means you’d get 3.25 times your bet should he win. Hamilton’s odds are just 2.1, which means we know something that Betway doesn’t… shhh!
Odds may fluctuate as we get closer to the race (as it’ll become clearer to the betting exchange as to who is looking strong), so make sure you take advantage early!
Click here for more info! Enjoy the race – hopefully there will be more than just one winner this weekend! 😉