Austrian Grand Prix Betting Preview: F1 is Back in July

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As most F1 fans are well aware, the 2020 season will finally get underway with the Austrian Grand Prix taking place from July 3 to 5. The action will take place at the Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, and both fans and teams will be raring to get started after months of waiting around.

There will, of course, be two grand prix races at Spielberg this season, with another race – the Styrian Grand Prix – scheduled to take place a week later. You can get more details on the plans for the new F1 season, but, for this betting preview, we are going to concentrate on the first race of the season. Let’s dive in:

Race Winner
It won’t surprise you to learn that Lewis Hamilton is the race favourite, with a price of 9/5 (all odds here sourced from MansionBet UK) to get off to a winning start in Spielberg. That’s quite a big price when you consider Hamilton is odds-on to win the drivers’ championship. However, it’s probably reflective of the fact that Hamilton tends to start the season slowly by his standards. In fact, you will have to go back to 2015 to find a time when Hamilton won a season opener. Will that apply in Spielberg?

Bookmakers really believe that Max Verstappen can get close to Hamilton this season, and at 2/1 he is almost neck and neck with the Brit in this race. The Red Bull Ring is seen as home turf for Verstappen and his Red Bull team, and he did win the race back in 2018 and 2019. Elsewhere, Charles Leclerc is priced at 4/1, Sebastian Vettel at 11/2 and Valtteri Bottas at 6/1.

Podium Position 
You can get the likes of Hamilton and Verstappen at short prices to finish in the podium positions in this race, but an interesting candidate for punters is Red Bull’s Alexander Albon. Verstappen’s team-mate has never finished in the top three before during his short career, but he has the goods to start delivering on his promise. He is cited at 3/1 for a podium finish, and it looks like an interesting bet to make, especially if you consider Red Bull’s insider knowledge of the circuit. He is a much larger 28/1 if you fancy the upset of an outright win.

Fastest Qualifier 
Similar to the race winner odds, the markets for pole position have Hamilton at 7/4 and Verstappen at 9/5. Intriguingly, Bottas is the next in line at 7/2. That tells you that bookmakers have faith in the Mercedes car to deliver fast laps, but that they still believe the jury is out on the Finn having the nous to consistently deliver race wins like his team-mate.

Winning Team 
Mercedes is the firm favourite for delivering a win on the day, with bookies factoring in the chances of either Hamilton or Bottas taking the chequered flag at the end of the race. It’s hard to look beyond the price offered of 11/10 for Mercedes. However, if you do believe Albon has a chance this season, then the 9/5 offered for Red Bull is only marginally smaller than the price for a Verstappen win. That might be the value bet.

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Overall Thoughts 
Whether we like it or not, this is not going to business as usual for F1. Starting the season in the middle of summer is not ideal for any team so you can expect some surprises. As such, it might be the opportune moment to take a risk on your betting strategy, perhaps by overlooking the usual candidates. Whatever happens, it will be fantastic to see those cars line up on the grid once more.

All odds were correct at the time of writing.

Ayrton Senna's Lotus years, by Ibrar Malik

As we mark the upcoming 26th anniversary of Ayrton Senna's passing, most will undoubtedly dwell upon the more celebrated cornerstones of his extraordinary career. His obliteration of the opposition during qualifying at Monaco '88, or the race at Donington Park '93. His compelling personality which shone through during interviews. Or what might have been with Williams had he not tragically met his untimely death at the '94 San Marino Grand Prix. This blog aims to be slightly different, by briefly looking at Senna's formative years at Lotus.

Coming into 1985, the Norfolk-based team had not won a race since the sudden death of its charismatic founder, Colin Chapman, in December 1982. Lotus had endured a turbulent '83 season. But it bounced back superbly to become a regular frontrunner again during '84, enjoying its most successful season since 1978. The newly-released book, Team Lotus: Beyond the Colin Chapman Era, details precisely how the team achieved this. But by the end of '84, it seemed a key ingredient to elevate Lotus back to the winner's circle was missing. Enter, Ayrton Senna – Lotus's new signing for 1985. 

Senna was widely touted as a future world champion following his stellar performances within the unfancied Toleman during 1984

The Top 5 Favorites To Win The 2020 F1 World Championship

The 2020 F1 World Championship season is just around the corner. With the world’s top sports leagues slowly returning to action, Formula 1 recently confirmed that they will be opening their 2020 season next month, beginning with a double-header in Austria’s Red Bull Ring on July 5th.

Oddsmakers have put defending and six-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton as the odds on favorite to win the 2020 F1 World Championships. Aside from Hamilton, 19 other drivers are eyeing to become the next Formula One world champion.

According to this list of highly-rated F1 betting sites, the following five drivers are the favorites to win the 2020 Formula 1 Drivers Championship.

Lewis Hamilton

Leading the list of the top five favorites is Briton Hamilton. The 35-year-old has dominated the F1 scene during the current decade, winning five out of the last six F1 World Championships, including the last three. Hamilton has won 22 out of the last 40 Grand Prix races over the last two years and showed no signs of slowing down last season.

Hamilton set the record for most points earned in a season with 413 last year. He is just seven wins behind the legendary Schumacher's record of 91 career wins and one shy of the German's record seven F1 World Championships. With 11 race wins each in 2018 and 2019 plus world title in both seasons, Hamilton has both Schumacher records in sight in 2020.

During the preseason testing last February, Mercedes looked good as ever and ran many laps without major issues. With an innovative steering system, Mercedes’ cars are primed for success in 2020. With one of the greatest (if not the greatest ever) on the steering wheel, there is no question why Hamilton is the betting favorite to win a fourth consecutive F1 World Championship.

Max Verstappen

In 2015, Max Verstappen was the youngest driver to ever compete in an F1 race. Five years later, the now-22-year-old son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen continues to improve and is coming off a 2019 season where he won a career-high three races.

The Belgian Red Bull driver finished third in the 2020 F1 World Championship, his best finish ever. Aside from three Grand Prix wins, Verstappen also had two poles, three fastest laps, and nine podium finishes in 2019. Except for two races that he didn’t finish, Verstappen placed in the Top 10 in all other races last season.

Red Bull also looked good during preseason training and they trailed only Mercedes in lap runs during the first practice session. If Red Bull’s cars can be reliable and fast, Verstappen might be able to pick up more wins in 2020 and challenge Hamilton for the F1 World Championship.

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari’s highly touted rookie had an impressive debut season in 2019 where he became the youngest driver to win the Pole Trophy (with seven poles in 2019) and the first non-Mercedes driver to do so since 2014. The 22-year-old Monegasque also finished fourth in the 2019 F1 World Championship while winning two Grand Prix races last year.

Leclerc's win at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix was the first time in a decade that Ferrari won its home turf race and Leclerc's victory came one week after his first-ever F1 race win in Belgium. Although he only had three podium finishes in the six races after his win in Italy, Leclerc is seen as the future of Ferrari and F1 racing.

With Ferrari ace Sebastian Vettel set to leave the team at the end of the year, Leclerc should be the lead driver for Ferrari in 2020. And he will need to take charge from the front despite the presence of his more bemedaled teammate. Ferrari has not won since Kimi Raikkonen triumphed in 2007, and the pressure is on Leclerc to deliver what his predecessors could not.

Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas is Lewis Hamilton’s running mate at Mercedes. The 30-year-old Finnish driver is coming off his best season ever in Formula 1 after finishing second behind Hamilton in the 2019 F1 World Championship.

Bottas had a career-high four wins last season and he also had five poles, three fastest laps, and 15 podium finishes in 2019. He finished with a personal-best 326 points and was the only driver within striking distance of Hamilton throughout the year.

Bottas and Hamilton were a dominant pair last season as Mercedes won the first eight races of the 2019 F1 World Championship and 10 out of the first 12. The duo finished 1-2 in the first five races of the season and six out of the first eight overall as Mercedes ran away with the 2019 Constructors title. With Mercedes assuring the Finn that they aren’t going after Vettel at the end of the season, Bottas should be primed for a big year in 2020.

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel was supposed to be Lewis Hamilton’s chief rival last year, but the German driver faltered and had his worst full season ever. Vettel only won a single race in 2019, which is his lowest output since going winless in 2014. With Charles Leclerc emerging for Scuderia, Vettel is at a crossroads after announcing that he will leave the team at the end of the year.

The 32-year-old is a four-time world champion, having won the F1 World Championship in three consecutive seasons from 2010-2013 while driving for Red Bull. He had been Ferrari’s ace since coming over in 2015 but has not delivered the title that Ferrari has been longing for.

Vettel was outperformed by Leclerc last season, and his status as the team’s ace has been put in doubt. The German was in talks for a contract extension earlier this year, but the negotiations broke down and Vettel will be leaving Scuderia after the 2020 F1 World Championship season.

Monza 1994 - Team Lotus's Last Hurrah, by Ibrar Malik

One of the victims from a turbulent 1994 F1 season was Team Lotus, which finally succumbed to its financial struggles during the year. Like Brabham two years earlier, a once-great name would vanish from F1. Lotus was Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi as well as Ayrton Senna's first top team in F1. The upcoming 1983-'89 Lotus book (http://www.1994f1.com/lotusprintbook/) charts how Team Lotus went from being regular a frontrunner during the mid-1980s to a midfielder only a few years later.

After its release on May 1 2020, we then intend to write a follow-up print book covering the team's final years of 1990-'95. This follow-up book explains how Lotus then changed ownership at the end of '90 and went from merely surviving that winter to finishing an incredible fifth in the '92 constructors' championship. It seemed the former seven-time world champion team was on a clear upward trajectory having re-establishing itself as a regular point scorer. More good news came in the form of its leading driver, Johnny Herbert, re-signing within the team for another five years by the end of 1992. Unfortunately this revival under Peter Collins proved short lived because behind the scenes debts were still piling up. The team only survived two more seasons in F1 after '92.

New Motor Sport Magazine article: Nelson Piquet - the underrated three-time F1 champion

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Nelson Piquet is a three-time Formula 1 world champion. Yet you would hardly know it. Or you wouldn't if you use as your sole guide the usual debates about F1 greats, at any stretch.

So why is this? The expressed consensus view is that Piquet impressed and won his first two titles at Brabham where all was laid out for him. Then he moved to Williams alongside Nigel Mansell and was 'found out'. But, as is often the case, the consensus view doesn't tell the whole story.

In my latest for Motor Sport Magazine, and with the help of Piquet's long-time Brabham team manager Herbie Blash, I seek to unravel the mystery.

You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/nelson-piquet-the-underrated-three-time-f1-champion

New Motor Sport Magazine article: Ayrton Senna - the forgotten great drives

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Monaco 1984. Estoril '85. Donington '93. Some of the great drives by the revered Ayrton Senna fall from the tongue, and are harked back to regularly.

But even so there are some Senna Formula 1 performances that are about as magnificent but perhaps crowded out from the retro features.

So, on what would have been the late great Brazilian's 60th birthday, for Motor Sport Magazine I have looked back at some of the somewhat more forgotten, but still sensational, Senna drives.

You can have a read about them here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/ayrton-senna-the-forgotten-great-drives

New Motor Sport Magazine article: Alesi vs Senna: the battle for victory in Phoenix

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 work: Materialscientist (talk)
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Thirty years ago today, Jean Alesi in a Tyrrell announced himself to Formula 1 with an incredible performance, including an incredible battle with Ayrton Senna's McLaren-Honda, in Phoenix for the United States Grand Prix of 1990.

In my latest for Motor Sport Magazine, I tell the tale.

You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/alesi-vs-senna-the-battle-for-victory-in-phoenix

Win a copy of Formula One: The Champions, Maurice Hamilton's new book

The latest book by the noted Formula 1 writer Maurice Hamilton, Formula One: The Champions, is released today, published by White Lion.

The book is made up of individual portraits in pictures and words of every one of F1's 33 world champions going back to the championship's inception in 1950. So it's from Giuseppe Farina through to Nico Rosberg, stopping off along the way at Jim Clark, Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton among many other legendary figures.

For this weighty 240-page book, just as in his 2016 title The Pursuit of Speed, Hamilton has teamed up with father-and-son Bernard and Paul-Henri Cahier of The Cahier Archive photographic collection. And it contains some never-seen-before photographs. There is a foreword by Bernie Ecclestone.

And we have a copy of this fine book to give away to Talking about F1 readers.

All you have to do is answer the very simple question below. We will pick one winner at random from the correct answers and will be in touch if you're the lucky recipient. Good luck!

THE COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

You can also buy the book, as well as find out more detail on it, via this link.

You also can read my thoughts on the book here.

Review of Maurice Hamilton's new book 'Formula One: The Champions'

Formula 1 world champions are indeed an exclusive bunch. Only 33 have reached the status from over 600 to compete in F1 across 70 years, not to mention the innumerable additional group who have not even made it that far. Few therefore would dispute long-serving F1 correspondent Maurice Hamilton describing F1's title as "the ultimate accolade in motorsport".

And Hamilton's latest book, Formula One: The Champions, is a fitting tribute to them. Released tomorrow on March 3 and published by White Lion, it is a stylishly-presented and sizeable 240-page hardback made up of written and photographic portrayals of every one of those 33, from Giuseppe Farina through to Nico Rosberg, stopping off at legends such as Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher, among several others, along the way.

Hamilton for this has allied his words with the photography of Bernard Cahier and his son Paul-Henri of The Cahier Archive photographic collection, reuniting the same trio that brought us 2016's The Pursuit of Speed title.

The task of portraying all the title winners going back to 1950, who as Hamilton notes at the outset are a diverse band in an ever-changing category, is a sizeable one. Yet these authors are well-placed to take it on, with Hamilton offering 40 years on the F1 front line as well as a keen eye for its history, and The Cahier Archive stretching back to the F1's beginnings and, uniquely, remaining throughout that time in its original hands.

New Motor Sport Magazine article: Prost's greatest drives in Formula 1

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Today Formula 1 legend and four-time drivers' champion Alain Prost reaches his 65th birthday.

His F1 career of course had no shortage of high points. And to celebrate Prost's personal  landmark today, I have for Motor Sport Magazine looked at five of what were even his finest races from his decade-plus time in F1.

You can have a read of it all here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/alain-prosts-greatest-drives-in-formula-1