Bahrain GP Betting Preview - Flutter on Ferrari

F1 in 2017 has been a lot about Ferrari. It's of course had a strong start to the campaign - surprisingly so - and in China demonstrated it is the real deal in a real championship fight, by at least matching Mercedes on race pace at a track that in theory suited the silver team.

There are reasons to think Ferrari will be leading
Mercedes again in Bahrain
Photo: Octane Photography

Yet for the bookies old habits die hard it seems. They still have Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes as favourites to win out this weekend in Bahrain. But even over and above Ferrari's general form, as outlined in my race preview plenty about this one in Sakhir - hot temperatures, a premium on rear grip among many other things - could well mean it's Ferrari country. And you can get Sebastian Vettel to triumph in the race at a full 19/10. Tempting.

Despite all of this Mercedes, and especially Lewis Hamilton, has still had a qualifying talisman this year. Lewis to get his third pole from three in 2017 this weekend can be backed at evens.

And if you want to really follow through on your Lewis to start on pole/Seb to win the race theory, you can also get 5/2 on the Bahrain race winner starting second, and (if you have faith in Valtteri Bottas) 9/2 on the winner starting third.

Elsewhere, Kimi Raikkonen to get onto the podium in Bahrain looks good value at 6/5. Partly as the above considerations about Ferrari apply to him too, but also that Kimi has a good record at this track, and indeed has finished second in four of the last five Bahrain Grands Prix.

In terms of longer shot stuff, Felipe Massa to finish the race in the top three can be got at a stonking 70/1. This coming in would likely require some attrition ahead, but the Williams has looked strong on raw pace at least in 2017 (perhaps in Red Bull territory), the Sakhir track should suit the car plus Felipe is another who tends to go well here. The odds, given these, look generous.

Romain Grosjean at 6/1 to finish in the top six in Bahrain also looks a reasonable punt. He finished fifth here least year and the Haas has looked decent this season. Esteban Ocon is to do the same at 16/1 looks even more reasonable. Force India has a good Bahrain record, such as Sergio Perez finishing third in 2014.

All odds quoted in this article were accurate on the Oddschecker website at 2100 GMT on Wednesday 12 April 2017.