This Sunday morning sees the third race of the 2015 F1 World Championship as the teams and drivers once again do battle around the Shanghai International Circuit. Coming into the weekend all the talk was of the race two weeks ago in Malaysia as Sebastian Vettel upset the odds, as predicted here at EveryEdge, to win just his second race in the red of Ferrari.
While a man running across the track during an active session was one of the big talking points the main question on everybody’s lips is can the four time world champion, or his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen who lifted the 2007 world title, prove that the Ferrari is an actual challenger to the works Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg by winning in China.
Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix says that the Silver Arrows have stepped up their game over the last fortnight as Lewis Hamilton joined the legends of the sport in Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio by becoming the just the fourth driver to take five or more poles on one track.
The Briton was not as far ahead of his team-mate as he had been all weekend as he took first place on the grid by half a tenth of a second and he was a full nine tenths of a second ahead of Vettel in the Ferrari while the two Williams and the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen completed the top six of the grid. He has been the fastest man by some distance for much of the weekend and this is why he is the massive favourite to win the Chinese Grand Prix 2015 in the Betfair Sportsbook.
Hamilton has already taken three victories around this track from the previous four pole positions and despite his lack of value our F1 expert is struggling to anyone else taking the chequered flag around a circuit the two-time World Champion does so well at. Back Lewis Hamilton to win the Chinese GP @ 1.33 with Betfair.com.
Although Hamilton is the big favourite to win this Sunday at the Shanghai International Circuit there is still plenty of value to be had, with Betfair offering markets on top three, top six and top ten finishes.
Top Three:
It is expected that we’ll have a podium of Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel as they’re available at such short prices in the top three market and they’re the class of the field right now. However, you can be sure that Williams will feel the benefit of any Mercedes engine boosts too while Kimi Raikkonen has been horribly unlucky this season so far with wheels falling off and punctures affecting the first two races. Massa in the Williams has looked strong this weekend so far and at less than three tenths behind Vettel he, especially as he is looking motivated after getting muscled out by Valtteri Bottas at the end of the race in Malaysia, offers great value at odds of 5.0 to stand on the podium.
Top Six:
The top six market suggests that we’ll see the two Mercs, two Ferraris and two Williams’ cars occupy these places, but with Lotus driver Romain Grosjean having had an awful start to the year despite having a fine car underneath the Frenchman could challenge the top six. He can be backed at 4.00 to finish with a handful of points this weekend. The two Saubers of Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson line up ninth and tenth as they look impressive this season. Nasr could progress into the top six after an assured and racy showing in Melbourne to finish fifth. He is available at odds of 4.33 to do so, but Grosjean’s luck has to change at sometime, right? If he avoids an early clash, back the Frenchman to edge into the top six this weekend.
Top Ten:
Points are scored down to tenth place and with Force India, McLaren and Carlin looking like getting nowhere near points at this stage of the season this leaves just 14 cars realistically challenging for points. This means that there is plenty of value in the race. We have a Lotus, a Red Bull and two Toro Rosso cars lining up 11th – 14th and while Daniil Kvyat is expected to move into the points easily at 1.66 Pastor Maldonado can be backed at 2.25 to pick up at least one point and rookies Max Verstappen and Carlos Saniz Jr are both available at 1.90.
Maldonado had finished outside the points three times in four races in China, yet both Verstappen and Sainz look good to challenge the top ten as they look to build on points finishes at both races so far. Sainz is two from two, but Verstappen looks the racier this season and we fancy the 17 year old to shake up the old boys club once again this weekend.
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