Written by @OMGitsTarrynLee for @Hollywoodbets. Follow them both on Twitter and Facebook now!
British Grand Prix | Sunday 06 July | Silverstone Circuit | 14:00
The teams find themselves battling over the coveted checkered flag in one of the most historic and well-loved races of the season. Famed for its oddly named corners, Silverstone is one of the oldest races on the calendar. It also happens to be a fan favourite, especially among the die-hard British racing supporters, who flock in their droves to cheer for their home drivers. The race is also considered a home race for many of the teams, with more than half of the field having some kind of tie to England. Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams and McLaren are some of the big names that call the British countryside home, so a win at Silverstone is fiercely competitive and the iconic track usually provides a spectacular race. Adding to the excitement of the weekend, Susie Wolff will be driving during practice on Friday. The boy’s club of F1 is beginning to see a lot of women holding their own in the world of racing and it will be interesting to see what times Wolff manages to set in the Williams.
Previous Race
Formula One is a fickle sport. Just as Hamilton appeared to be on path to his second World Championship, the British driver has been dealt a rather unfortunate spate of bad luck. The main beneficiary of Hamilton’s misfortune? His Mercedes teammate, current Championship leader and winner of the Austrian Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg. Hamilton performed poorly on the Saturday and despite his stellar start on the Sunday, he didn’t have it in him to challenge his teammate and finished second. The real stars of the weekend were the Williams drivers, with Massa claiming his first Pole of the season and Bottas slotting into second for a Williams front row lockout. Sadly, they battled to compete against the raw speed of the Mercedes during the race but Bottas nabbed his first podium for the swiftly improving team. Massa finished behind his current teammate and in front of his old Ferrari companion, Fernando Alonso, who finished fifth. Raikkonen’s tenth place point continued Ferrari’s string of disappointing results. Force India is another unlikely team that is holding its own among the big boys. Both drivers finished inside the top ten, scoring a decent haul of points to find themselves fourth in the Constructors standings. Vettel’s fairly horrific season continued as an engine fault sent him out of the race early and although Ricciardo fared slightly better, his poor start and mediocre drive left him in eighth place, behind impressive rookie McLaren driver, Kevin Magnussen.
The Track
Silverstone is a tricky, fast circuit. It has arguably one of the toughest corner combinations in F1, with Maggots, Becketts and Chapel being a consecutive bunch of challenging kinks which lead on to the blindingly fast Hangar Straight. One of the two DRS zones is located here, for obvious reasons. Silverstone is full of quick corners, however speeds have slowed this year and the track has also been slightly edited from its former set-up. Before F1 became so safety conscious, a few drivers died trying to throw their cars around the corners at such dangerously high-speeds. Turn 9 (or Copse as it’s officially called) is the most notorious of the lot – drivers will take this corner while reaching speeds of 300km/h. The track is testing on the tyres so Pirelli will provide their two toughest compounds, the hard and the medium. Last year’s race was peppered with incidents involving the tyres, with no less than six punctures during the 306km race. Weather is always a factor because it’s England and the forecast lives up to its usual gloomy reputation, with rain predicted the whole weekend.
To Win Outright
Lewis Hamilton 13/20
Nico Rosberg 16/10
Valterri Bottas 20/1
Felipe Massa 20/1
Daniel Ricciardo 28/1
Sebastian Vettel 33/1
Fernando Alonso 40/1
Kimi Raikkonen 100/1
VALUE BETS
Felipe Massa (20/1 a win, 2/1 a podium)
Massa stunned spectators when he put his Williams on Pole in Austria. Probably because the Brazilian hasn’t made much of an impact since his accident back in ’09. The car that Williams have produced this season is impressive and has managed to rattle both Mercedes and Red Bull, the two teams that will realistically challenge for the Championship. A Massa on form paired with a competitive car makes for a dangerous combination. Although the Drivers Championship is out of his grasp, he could definitely upset the Mercedes this week. A podium is a safer option though; the Williams does battle to keep up with the Mercedes’ race pace. Put some money on his teammate while you’re at it, they’ve both been performing superbly.
Daniel Ricciardo (28/1 a win, 18/10 a podium)
Red Bull seems to favour tall, tanned Aussies as companions to Sebastian Vettel. The current World Champion has been suffering their irksome attempts to beat him to the title since his partnering with Webber. Ricciardo appears to be doing what Webber failed, in his first season racing for the F1 giants no less. He’s 23 points ahead of his German counterpart in the Championship race at the moment and for once it’s seeming unlikely that Vettel will lock down the title. 23 points is no large margin, a race win and a DNF would close that gap swiftly, however with Vettel’s current reliability problems, Ricciardo has a better chance of pulling out a great performance. He’s also managed to accomplish something this season his teammate has not – winning a race. The money’s good if he pulls off a podium, but a small punt on a 28/1 win makes a very sweet, risky bet. Each way is the way to go here.
Fernando Alonso (40/1 a win, 9/4 a podium)
Alonso is trailing rather far behind the two Mercedes drivers, so if he has any hope of winning the Championship this year, immediate change is needed from the team. The car is quick, but not nearly quick enough. The speed of the Mercedes seems to elude the rest of the field, with only a small few coming close to challenging them. Alonso is a great driver, he’s a double World Champion and he has the potential to add a third win to his collection. Unfortunately the car has let him down this season, but the Championship is not yet won. He should finish in the Top 6 at 2/7 but that’s too short for me. Some money on a podium at 9/4 could yield a decent return.
POLE POSITION/WIN: Lewis Hamilton (5/10 a Pole, 13/20 a win)
Hamilton has the lion’s share of home support at Silverstone, with Button’s performance this season indicating unfavourable results on Sunday for the McLaren driver. The other Brit in the field, Chilton driving a Marussia, finds himself in a car aiming to claw its way into the top ten rather than on to the podium. Hamilton has a lot to accomplish this weekend, not only is the home win important (disappointing the British public in the Queen’s backyard probably isn’t high on his to-do-list) but if he doesn’t act quickly and produce some meaningful results, he can wave goodbye to the Championship and watch his teammate lift the trophy at the end of the season. He’s won here before in 2008 and he was on his way to winning last year until he suffered one of the many punctures of the race. The only thing preventing Hamilton from cleaning up this weekend is his terrible luck. If his car decides to work, I’d put my money on Hamilton to take Pole and a win this weekend.
Think we’ve got it wrong? Well leave your comments below and tell us how you think this one is going to play out.
