Bahrain Grand Prix

[BillyHills]

Bahrain GP (4pm UK Time, Sunday)

• No rest for the wicked and straight on to Sakhir for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The track was built for the 2004 GP and is the first race of the season that will be run under the floodlights. The race starts in daylight, 57 laps later its dark.
• 8 out of the last 10 races have been won from the front row and if Hamilton and Vettel keep up their personal duel then that stat will continue without much trouble. You would have to fancy those two will be sitting on the front row by 4pm Uk Time on Sunday.
• Plenty of overtaking spot on this circuit so we should get a decent race and we have only had one Safety Car since 2008 which bodes well for a lot of finishers.
• Last season technically we had 5 retirements but two drivers (including Vettel) didn't even start the race. The average over the last 10 races is 3 DNF's so we should be looking for over 15.5 finishers in my humble.......
• Latest news suggests Pascal Wehrlein will return this weekend for Sauber in place of Antonio Giovinattzi. He has been out injured and missed both Australia and China and that's a timely boost for Sauber who's best finish so far is a 12th place at Albert Park.

 

Bahrain GP Stats

@LePapo @NoFear @StevieDay1983 @Sir Puntalot

[BillyHills]

Latest from Bet365

Bahrain GP

 

Pole Position

 

Number of Finishers

 

[StevieDay1983]

I'm going to be honest, I didn't think Vettel had it in him to challenge Hamilton. He's proven me wrong over the first two races. I think Hamilton is obviously favourite here but I'll wait to see how first round of qualifying goes before looking at it deeper. Once again, being on that front row is key in this race with the last five winners starting the race on the first two positions. A lot of pressure on qualifying.

[LePapo]

i'll back again grosjean to finish top 10. same reasons as last week. good car, he's done well here in the past years including 2 third places. last week it was a bit of disappointment as he couldn't get to Q2 due to a crash from giovinatzi and he ended up in the 17th place then in the race he finished 11th. i believe there are 3 places to be fought between 5 drivers (kyvat hulkember perez sainz and grosjean) and renault car doesn't seem to be ready yet so hulkember might be taken away from that list.  to conclude even odds on grosjean to finish top 10 seems good value to me.

forecast says rain won't even come to say hello this weekend so normally we should  have a nice race on sunday. 

then i like verstappen to finish higher than raikonen. i'm not entirely convinced yet but at odds against, backing him doesn't seem to be the worst idea .. some thoughts on that?

grosjean to finish top 10 at 2.00

[BillyHills]

Well, well, well, finally Bottas as come good but a bit late for me who has backed him at big odds the last two races. Anyway its good for the sport that we have someone who can mix it with Vettel and Hamilton.

Red Bull still seem a bit off the pace so not really challenging for the podium unless something goes wrong ahead and Riakkonen is clearly driving a different car to Vettel. It appears the top 3 spots are pretty much sorted. Its just a question of what order.

I fancy Lewis will get past Bottas on this track, i just think Bottas is not as ruthless as Rosberg was and would be satisfied with second place. Thats a dangerous mindset in F1 and Hamilton will take advantage without question or hesitation. He won from second on the grid a couple of years ago and I reckon he's fair value at 6/5 (Paddy Power).

Not much value around in the other markets but if pushed I would have a little bet on Massa to break into the top 6. The Williams car has gone well here and he starst 8th on the grid. I expect him to beat the Renault who is just in front of him and then its a question of one of the big three teams to under perform. It's quite possible and that would let in someone and Massa is probably going to be loitering in 7th/8th and be able to pick up the pieces. I don't fancy anyone from behind although Estaban Ocon is worth keeping an eye on from 14th on the grid.

Selections:

L.Hamilton 6/5 Paddy Power
Over 15.5 Finishers 5/6 Bet365
F.Massa Top 6 Finish Evens W.Hill