Austrian Grand Prix

[BillyHills]

Austrian GP - Red Bull Ring

Another week with little stats to go on, since the redevelopment of the A1 Ring in Austria we have only had three races, now called the home of the Red Bull how would they like to win this race. Well thats highly unlikely at the moment but you only have to look to the last race to see how crazy this sport can be. The victory of Daniel Ricciardo last time out was obviously a bit fortuitous to say the least but he will need a lot more luck to pull off the double.

In the three races to date Mercedes have dominated, as they have done in many places over the last three years. Last time out here we had the infamous coming together of Hamilton and Rosberg. Hamilton went on to win and Rosberg was penalised 10 seconds and ended up fourth.

It will be interesting to see how Hamilton and Vettel react back on the track after their spat a couple of weeks ago. Vettel is very lucky not to be serving a ban in my opinion but it will make things even more interesting for the championship battle in weeks to come.

Hamilton is 8/11 to win the title with Vettel at 11/8 (skybet) I reckon thats just about right and odds for Sunday are pretty much the same.

The Safety Car is 2/5 to make an appearance this week and that looks pretty safe again. Over and Unders are interesting as the bookies are split about the spread this week.

Not sure why but bet365 are going with 16.5 as their marker while the others are staying with the usual 15.5.

Last year the stats will say only 2 drivers failed to complete but actually a few more retired near the end and only 16 drivers crossed the line. The late retirees were still classified as they completed 80% of race distance.

Bet365 (16.5) odds are 2/7 Under, 5/2 Over
BetVic (15.5) odds are 4/6 Under, 11/10 Over 

You could argue that if you fancy the 2/7 for under 16.5 you may as well back the Safety Car at 2/5? 
Personally i'm going with the Overs this week, I don't think its a punishing track and unless we are really unlucky at the start I think reliability should be good around here. Fingers crossed.

Early bet:
Over 15.5 Finishers 11/10 BetVictor

[BillyHills]

Austrian GP

Well thanks to Lewis Hamilton's gearbox we have an exciting race in store this afternoon at Spielberg for the Austrian GP. The once favourite for the race now starts 8th on the grid and is a 9/2 shot to do something he has never done before and that is win a race from further back than the third row.

Its bad value but you get used to that in this sport, at the top of the market we have joint favourites at 15/8. Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel are on the front row and the race could be decided at the turn one. One thing we have seen this season is that the bookies have continually underrated Bottas, anyone else on pole would be odds on here so the value lies with him for sure.

Elsewhere i have to say Kimi Raikkonen is tempting at a big 5/2 to bag a podium spot. He starts 3rd and thats  a decent price for him to defend. Red Bull will want to do well here at their home track but usually need a bit of luck to get into the frame so I wouldn't be rushing to back either of them further down the grid at shorter odds.

McLaren have improved since Azerbaijan and Fernando Alonso could get into the points this week if that improvement continues at race pace. He starts 12th and has a Renault, Toro Rosso and a Haas in front of him so has the potential to reach a top ten spot.

Selections

V.Bottas Outright 15/8 William Hill
K.Raikkonen Podium 5/2 Betfred
F.Alonso Points 11/10 Betfair