F1 – Australian GP Preview

By Team BlueSq.com on 25 March 2010 at 08:06

The F1 circus heads Down Under this weekend and we should be in for a more exciting race in Melbourne, where the street circuit has been home to race incidents on many occasions due to its narrow corners and difficult braking zones – last year only 12 of the 20 starters managed to cross the finishing line. The 8/11 available on at least 1 car not to finish the first lap therefore seems like a great bet if we consider the fact that turn 1 is one of the trickiest corners on the circuit, plus there will be 4 more cars on the grid this time.

The weekend kicks off on Friday with Practice 1, and if you are looking for a bit of value, then Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg could be the man to back at a very tempting 8/1. The talented German set the fastest time in Practice 2 and was second to Alonso in Practice 3 of the Bahrain GP. Last year Rosberg clocked the fastest time in all 3 free practices in Melbourne with his Williams FW31, and he went on to top the practice timesheets 9 more times during the season with his distinctive last-minute laps with very little fuel on board.

The new aerodynamic rules for the 2010 season make it very difficult for the drivers to overtake other cars as we saw in Bahrain, and it will be even tougher to get past someone in the streets of Melbourne. For this reason Saturday’s qualifying is likely to be a close battle between the top drivers as they all aim to start Sunday’s race in the front row. Bahrain’s pole-sitter Vettel is slight favorite at 15/8 to make it 2 poles in a row ahead of Alonso who can be backed at a tidy 5/2. Felipe Massa, who is back at his best after recovering from the life-threatening injury he suffered in last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, will be looking to prove to his teammate that he is no way to be considered Ferrari’s second driver. As the Brazilian out-qualified the Spaniard by nearly 0.4 seconds in Bahrain, he could be a good bet at a decent 5/1 to win the pole in Australia.

Fernando Alonso’s fastest lap in Bahrain was an astonishing 1.1 seconds quicker than the Force India of Adrian Sutil in second place, which makes me wonder whether the tempting 5/2 on him to set the fastest lap again in this race will be worth a few quid. The prospect of the safety car coming out at some point during the race could make outsiders like Renault’s Kubica – or even Sutil himself – a good choice for a top six finish at 7/4 and 9/4 respectively. The Pole showed good pace in Bahrain despite being involved in a first-lap incident that saw him dropping back to the end of the pack and he seems confident the low-grip nature of the track will suit his Renault.

Elsewhere, Michael Schumacher’s second race after his comeback from retirement will see him trying to improve upon his 6th place finish in Bahrain where he was outraced by teammate Rosberg, and I’d expect him to put in a strong performance. Both McLarens lacked downforce in Bahrain, though they did show a very respectable pace in the second half of the race. Both Hamilton and reigning Champion Button are looking strong for a podium finish, and 2008 Champion Hamilton looks like a good choice at a decent 7/1 to win the race.


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Author: Felipe del Pino

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