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Spanish Grand Prix preview
Last time out in Montreal, we saw Max Verstappen return to the top of the podium. It was a chaotic race with ever-changing weather conditions, but it was the Dutchman who kept his nerve to earn his 60th Grand Prix victory.
Bet on the Spanish Grand Prix with William Hill
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya overview
It’s the fifth race week of the season and we head to Barcelona at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. First hosting a Grand Prix in 1991, the drivers will endure 66 laps of a track that many of them will be used to, due to it being used often by teams for winter testing. A mix of high-speed and low-speed corners, the focus will be on Turn 3, a tough right-hander, which will really test each driver and the balance of the car.
The circuit isn’t renowned for its overtaking opportunities, placing importance of placing high in qualifying and being capable of maintaining your position whilst taking advantage of any opportunities that this tricky circuit may give you.
It was the scene of Max Verstappen’s first Grand Prix win in 2016, and he is the 1/2 market leader to win again this time around.
Drivers and teams to look out for
We must start with reigning World Champion Max Verstappen, a current 1/16 favourite for this year’s championship. He currently sits 56 points clear in the race for the championship, helped by his victory in the Canadian Grand Prix, and there seems no reason to assume he won’t kick on now. The anatomy of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya suits the Red Bull down to the ground due to the high-speed nature of the circuit, and if he qualifies first as he’s expected to do, providing there’s no accidents, it’ll be hard to see him beaten here. The double of him to qualify first and win the race can be backed at 5/6.
His teammate Sergio Perez, however, has been struggling so far. A DNF in Monaco followed by a 16th place finish in Montreal is not how the Mexican wanted to start off after signing an extension to his Red Bull deal. He also has a three place grid penalty to contend with here, so it seems like a tough weekend for Perez once again.
McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been very consistent this season. Norris deservedly notched up his first win in F1 at Miami, with the pair both finishing in the top five at Emilia-Romagna, Monaco and Montreal. There’s no reason to doubt that they can’t back up that form here and 5/1 for them to both finish on the podium when there’s questions about many of the top drivers looks a bit of value.
It’s the home race of Carlos Sainz of Ferrari this weekend. A winner in Melbourne this season, his form has slightly tailed off afterwards, culminating in a DNF in Canada. A race on home soil may however, spark a run of good form for Sainz, and you can pair up him and Fernando Alonso to both finish in the top six at their home race at 3/1.
Finally, we have the Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Montreal completely bucked the form that they found themselves in, with Russell qualifying in first, eventually finishing third with Hamilton behind in fourth. The car was upgraded ahead of Montreal, so it’ll be interesting to see how the British pair can get on here and this spell of races in Europe. Both drivers can be backed at 3/1 to finish on the podium.
