F1 Championship leader Lewis Hamilton will be looking to extend his advantage at the top of the championship with another big points haul this week. The season moves on to Austria with Hamilton on a hot streak of four straight race wins for the season. Will, there be any change of order at the top or will it be business as usual for the Mercedes driver?
Austrian Grand Prix Winner Odds*
Lewis Hamilton 4/6
Valtteri Bottas 3/1
Charles Leclerc 5/1
Sebastian Vettel 11/2
Max Verstappen 33/1
500/1 bar
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 28th, 2019 at 4:33 pm)
Will Hamilton win in Austria?
The big upswing in form for the season from Lewis Hamilton started with his win at the Spanish Grand Prix. He has not looked back since then, winning in Monaco, Canada and then last time out in France. The victory in France was a straightforward wire to wire success for him. His teammate Valtteri Bottas followed him home making it a Mercedes 1-2 finish in six of the eight races this season.
This is also the big period of the season where Hamilton generally gets stronger and stronger as well. Hamilton will be out on Sunday looking to improve on his failure to finish in last year’s edition. He had retired in the 62nd lap because of a fuel pressure problem. That was after having gone from second on the grid behind Bottas. Hamilton is the 4/6 odds on favourite to lift the Austrian title this year* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 28th, 2019 at 4:33 pm).
Can Max Verstappen defend his title?
The last time that we saw Max Verstappen up on the podium was at the Spanish Grand Prix, taking a third-place finish behind the two Mercedes drivers. In last year’s race, Verstappen had started from fifth on the grid and he was the one to take advantage of both Mercedes driving failing to finish the race. Verstappen had gotten past Bottas off the grid, with the Finish driver having blown his advantage of qualifying first. That Red Bull’s first win at the Red Bull Ring, so it was a huge moment for the team.
Vettel with Austrian troubles
Last year in Austria,Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel had started with a three-place grid penalty for having impeded Carlos Sainz Jr during the second qualification session. With the troubles that he had with his 5-second penalty in Canada, stripping away a win, it will be interesting to see how he goes. Last time out in France he did put up the fastest lap but could ultimately do nothing more than a fifth-place finish in his Ferrari, well back of teammate Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc has been consistently stronger than Vettel this season and is at 4/6 odds on to get himself on to the podium in Austria* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 28th, 2019 at 4:33 pm). The Frenchman was certainly strong on Friday practice and looks the one most likely to disrupt a potential 1-2 once again for Mercedes. The problem for Ferrari so that this is not a track which is generally suited to them. In the last five editions of the Austrian Grand Prix, Ferreri have failed to win.
Predictions
Despite it being a bad day at the office at the Austrian Grand Prix last season for Mercedes, the Silver Arrows had been strong. It has been a strong track for the Mercedes team who had won four on the bounce there before their blow out twelve months ago. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them get back in the picture and a win for Hamilton looks the most plausible because Bottas is struggling a bit.
Because of the latter, then it may be worth having a look at Leclerc getting in the picture for second place. Still, a Mercedes Double Podium finish looks rock solid at 8/15 even if it isn’t a 1-2* (betting odds taken from bet365 on June 28th, 2019 at 4:33 pm).
