The 2018 Austrian Grand Prix is an F1 race that is set to take place on July 1, 2018, at the Red Bull ring in Spielberg, Austria.
The track was formerly known as the A-1 Ring, but after a rebuilding failure, it was renamed as the Red Bull Ring after it was bought by Austrian energy drink company Red Bull via its founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
The Austrian Grand Prix covers a distance of 306.452km and is raced in 71 laps, with each lap being 4.318km. It is the 9th race of the 2018 Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Formula One World Championship. The race was first held in 1964 and went on from 1970-1987 and from 1997-2003. It returned to the racing calendar in 2014. This year’s race is the 32nd time that the Austrian Grand Prix has been part of the Formula One Championships since its inception in 1950.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton enters the race with a 14-point lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the Driver’s Championship, while Mercedes is 20 points ahead of Team Ferrari, and Red Bull is in third place.
Let’s take a closer look at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix.
Points leader Lewis Hamilton is the favorite at +110, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel coming in second at +200. Hamilton is fresh off a comfortable win last week in France, where Vettel ran into Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas at the first corner, sending the two of them off the field. Although Vettel recovered to finish fifth in the race, he yielded the driver’s championship lead to Hamilton.
Hamilton currently leads Vettel by nine points in the battle for the driver’s championship, with eight of the 21 races already completed. Vettel has led twice as many laps as Hamilton in those eight races, although they have three wins apiece. Vettel has failed to make the podium four times, while Hamilton missed it just thrice.
Mercedes has dominated the Red Bull Ring since its return in 2014, winning all four races. With Hamilton’s consistency enabling him to take the lead in the driver’s championship, Mercedes is confident of winning the race yet again. Hamilton has won once in Austria in 2016, but it was his teammate Bottas who emerged victorious last year from pole position.
It’s surprising to see Valtteri Bottas at +900 in the latest oddsboard, not only because he is the defending champion, but also because he has led more laps (72) at the Red Bull Ring than any other driver in the race. Bottas had front-row starts in his last two races in France and Canada, and drivers are expected to use the same tires as the previous week.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo are third and fourth at Bovada’s oddsboard at +750 and +800, respectively. Verstappen came in second to Hamilton last week in France, his third podium finish in his last three races. Meanwhile, Ricciardo bucked a front wing damage to finish fourth in the same race.
The pair is looking to break Red Bull’s struggles on their home soil. Red Bull has had no wins and just two podium finishes in Austria in four years. Verstappen’s season started in chaos, but he’s recovered with very solid finishes in the most recent races. Ricciardo will turn 29 years old on Sunday, and he hopes that it won’t be just his birthday that he will be celebrating on July 1st.
Here are the complete odds at Bovada as of June 27, 2018:
The rest of the field is currently a -150 to beat Lewis Hamilton. Sure, Hamilton has won here before in 2016, and he finished runner-up in 2014 and 2015. He is also arguably the best F1 driver in the world today. But he’s only led a total of 25 laps at the Red Bull Ring during his career. It’s always hard to stay on top. I believe the field will beat Hamilton on Sunday.
These odds are interesting given Bottas’ track record at this race and the backing he has from his Mercedes team. He earned his first podium in 2014 while racing for Williams. He is the defending champion and has started in the front row in two consecutive weeks.
This bet is risky, but given the precedent, it’s definitely worth looking at. Alonso has DNFs in three consecutive events. Once heralded as the best in the world, Alonso earned zero points in France, Canada, and Monaco. Moreover, the Spaniard has failed to finish four of his last six starts at the Red Bull Ring and finished in the points only once in Spielberg.
With two podium finishes in the last two editions of the race, Red Bull has looked solid in their home circuit. The track demands a high downforce setup which favors the Red Bull cars. Verstappen has never taken a pole position in his F1 career, but if he does on Saturday, it could become a very interesting race.
Hamilton and Vettel are the favorites in this race, but given that Red Bull’s cars are best suited for the track, then don’t count Daniel Ricciardo out. The Aussie has two wins this season, in China and Monaco, and considering he is racing on home turf, he might just win again in Austria.
Verstappen will have a fighting chance, but between him and Ricciardo, the latter is our pick. Give Verstappen a podium finish; that is very possible. But give the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix win to Daniel Ricciardo.
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