Australian GP

Ok then, let’s cut straight to it. Mercedes are way out in front again, we’re in for a really close fight between Red Bull and Ferrari for the scraps at the top table, while Haas have confirmed suspicions they have some serious pace. It’s going to be a good season for Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean.

Behind them, Renault will certainly be hoping and expecting to mix it with the Haas cars, while McLaren could have been in the hunt for those 6th-10th grid slots on another day and will definitely be competing.

In the 3rd division we have Force India (somewhere between the 2nd division and the 3rd if truth be told) and then Williams, Sauber and Toro Rosso. Any great surprises? No, thought not.

Right, so onto this weekend, and perhaps the most important fact to note was that Red Bull opted to qualify both cars on the slightly more robust Soft compound tyre in Q2. This season’s rules have changed – it’s no longer the fastest time you set which dictates your starting tyre, but that which you start Q2. Red Bull risked the harder compound Super Soft, while both Ferrari and Mercedes put both on the Ultra Soft.

Christian Horner was honest about the situation – expecting their two opponents to pull out extra engine power in qualifying, and their way to attack that was to put on the slightly slower tyre for their first race stint, and hope to reverse track positions with the benefit of some clear air come Sunday.

With Bottas facing a tough afternoon after his crash in Q3, and Ricciardo sent back three places on the grid, this could be a great chance for Max Verstappen to improve his 4th place in qualifying. Any issues for those in front of him would see him pick up a podium finish at even money, while he could also do so on genuine pace.

It’s worth backing the e/w bet as well – on a different strategy you just never know, and that gives him as much chance as Vettel or Raikkonen, and it also means with three places on offer at 1/5 odds, you’re getting tremendous bad-ew value (the podium finish pays 9/5!)

Other than that, we’ll simply sit back and enjoy this one, and look ahead to next week.

2pts Verstappen to finish on the Podium

1pt e/w Verstappen to win at 9/1 (William Hill, 3 places, 1/5 odds)

#F1