German Grand Prix 2018
The Formula 1 took a bit of a break from three consecutive weekends of pure racing fun to let teams catch their breath and allow the fans to catch the exciting World Cup. Meanwhile, the teams took the opportunity to make key additions and adjustments to their cars and make them more effective for the second half of the season.
The break has seemingly done wonders for the ten teams competing in the season, as their practices in preparation for the weekend race in Hockenheim have brought in some interesting results!
Ferrari and Mercedes are still the leading teams among Formula 1 live betting circles as they have the most powerful engines and the most talented drivers in their payroll. However, Red Bull and the rest of the chasing pack are slowly catching up to the leaders in an attempt to even the playing field.
However, will they be able to even the tide in this race? Or will the Formula 1 season continue to be a two-way battle between Ferrari and Mercedes?
Talking Points
It’s obvious that Ferrari and Mercedes will be coming into the starting grid full of confidence. However, Red Bull are slowly strutting their stuff ahead of the weekend.
Daniel Ricciardo and the team have taken a step up their game and installed new components of the MGU-K, allowing the Australian to be more competitive in the coming races in Germany and Hungary.
There is no question that Red Bull broke the rules about installing new parts and were slapped with a last-place starting position for Ricciardo. However, they were willing to take the hit during this weekend compared to the upcoming event in the Hungaroring.
The move could be considered a worthwhile risk for Red Bull. After all, the two tracks couldn’t be any more different from each other. The Hockenheimring has plenty of DRS zones, and these zones will give the advantage to mechanically superior machines. Meanwhile, Hungary is a very brake-heavy course once you get out of the starting grid.
Moreover, Max Verstappen posting the fastest lap time in second practice gives the team a huge morale boost to continue with pushing for Ricciardo’s engine upgrades and still stay somewhat competitive in the Constructors Championship.
In other news, Sebastian Vettel is concerned for the future of the German Grand Prix on the F1 calendar. The track’s agreement with the organization runs its course after this race, and no fresh deal has been penned between the two sides as of yet.
“It would be a shame to lose one of the classic races,” the leading Driver’s Championship driver said of his home grand prix. However, given the expenses of hosting a race and the financial belt getting tighter in Germany being the face of the European Union, it would be understandable not to see the track in future F1 races for some time.
Regardless of that, we can expect a classic battle between Hamilton and Vettel. The two will continue to race for their current teams for the next two years, ending many Lewis Hamilton news and rumours that he will be making the jump to the Italian powerhouse.
Now that their futures have been set in stone, it will be interesting to see how this power-intensive race will go. Fans saw a very interesting race in Silverstone, and Hamilton voiced out on Kimi Raikkonen’s clip on his rear, sending him to the tail-end of the race and forcing him to battle his way back to the podium.
He called the bump as “interesting tactics” by Ferrari, but he has since retracted his statements and will be focusing on the race. That is definitely something that he and the rest of the drivers should do, considering the amount of DRS-related problems they encountered at Silverstone.
History
The German Grand Prix is one of the oldest racing events in the Formula 1 calendar and saw many of the best drivers grace the track since the race was introduced in 1951.
Ferrari have ironically dominated the competition, winning the competition a record 22 times. Mercedes, the second-most team to have won the race, are trailing the Scuderia by 12 chips.
The winningest driver out of all the active competitors is Hamilton, who has won the title thrice since 2008. Vettel won in Nurburgring but is still to win an F1 race in Hockenheim. The other past winner of the race who will be present at the starting grid is McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.
What are the odds?
If this will be the Formula 1 race we will see on German soil for quite some time, you can expect SBOBET odds to provide us with superb betting opportunities.
Lewis Hamilton is still the top dog despite being behind Sebastian Vettel by eight points on the leaderboard. Given his winning tendency in Hockenheim, bookies gave the British ace 2.00 outright odds. Vettel is not that far behind with his 2.20.
I’m pretty sure that Daniel Ricciardo can somehow make things work with his start at last place and dash to the podium. Like the previous Grands Prix, I expect another crash to happen. His 21.00 outright odds really look attractive. His team-mate Max Verstappen gets an equally salivating bet at 10.00.
Of course, Kimi Raikkonen (15.00) and Valtteri Bottas (10.00) are still expected to compete and make the race interesting. But to be honest, it’ll be hard to see anything but Hamilton and Vettel crossing the finish line first.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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