Russia Grand Prix – Sunday, September 29th
Ferrari kept up their dominance of the second half of the F1 season last weekend. It was a 1-2 finish that they took in the street race of Singapore. Sebastian Vettel was the one who got the win at a track at which he has enjoyed success before. His teammate Charles Leclerc wasn’t a happy bunny with the team’s tactics favouring Vettel over him.
Russia F1 Grand Prix Winner Odds*
| Player |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 7/4 | 15/8 | 9/5 |
| Charles Leclerc | 7/4 | 2/1 | 17/10 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 13/4 | 3/1 | 3/1 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 5/1 | 9/2 | 17/4 |
| Max Verstappen | 16/1 | 20/1 | 16/1 |
| Alex Albon | 100/1 | 125/1 | 100/1 |
(Betting Odds were taken from Betfair, Betfred and Unibet on September 26, 2019 at 15:54)
A shift back to Hamilton?
Even though he is now without a win in three races, Lewis Hamilton is still in a fabulously commanding position to win the driver’s championship this season. The Mercedes driver himself said this week that he would not be a favourite for any of the six remaining races of the season. The primary reason for that bold statement is that Ferrari’s straight-line speed is dominating what Mercedes can bring to the table.
But Hamilton has proven time and time again that he doesn’t necessarily need the best car. Strong grid positions and tactics can still get him to the top of the podium. Last weekend, Ferrari had the surprise jump on Mercedes with their tactics, leaving Hamilton in a bit of no-man’s land in the race. Hamilton has won three times at the Russian Grand Prix and will return as the reigning champion there.
Duelling Ferraris
No question that the Ferrari’s are quicker than Mercedes at the moment. Over the last five races of the season, no driver has picked up more Championship points that Charles Leclerc has done. He felt hard done by in Singapore with the team helping Vettel undercut him on pit stop strategy. It was a little strange but he’s probably over it by now. There is a massive straight at the Sochi Autodrom and that will help Ferrari a lot.
In fact, even if Hamilton was to get to the front of the grid, the Ferrari’s would have to be favoured somewhat. That is because there is a very long straight to get to the first corner so Hamilton would have a massive amount of defending to do to hold off the Ferrari’s in that situation. So this could well be another good strong weekend for the Italian team and it will be interesting to see what happens between Leclerc and Vettel if they go head to head.
Valtteri Bottas
Bottas was second in his Mercedes last season, about two and a half-seconds behind Hamilton. He did stick up the fastest lap in the race. The Russian Grand Prix (five editions) has only ever been won by a Mercedes. So could Bottas get in the picture? He is trailing championship leader and teammate Hamilton back in Russia? Bottas did take second place at the Italian Grand Prix recently behind Leclerc and was less than a second back from the Monegasque. So he may be a decent option for a podium place.
Predictions
We would have to stick with the Ferrari’s here. The start of the race is where they should be able to get a jump on the Mercedes team, just because of the long straight to that first corner. It would be a drive of epic proportion if either of the Mercedes got to the front and defended their way to victory from start to finish. Leclerc to win as he has outperformed Vettel, although the German’s confidence will have been filled up last week after ending a year-long race win drought.
