[Optional]

Practice 1 Fri 7am ET
P2 Fri 11am
P3 Sat 8am
Quali Sat 11am
Race Sun 11am


Weekend gets underway in about 30 mins.

For the last 3 years Mercedes have qualified one/two and finished one/two by a large margin.

Last year over Verstappen (Red Bull), the year before over Ferrari and the year before that over Williams.

But Hamilton and Mercedes have already won the two titles, have announced the last two grands prix are testing for next year, and two years ago after Hamilton had won the title he simply switched off for the final races.

Also, two of the three Merc victories have been Rosberg and not Hamilton who has won it.

I do not think Hamilton or Mercedes is a smart bet this weekend. They could still do it and have the capacity to win here again but too many what-ifs exists around them to to take the usual short odds about Hamilton.


Verstappen showed he had the straightline pace with the latest version of the Renault engine in Mexico and this track should suit Red Bull more than Mexico so he has to be taken into strong consideration. His team mate Ricciardo looks like taking a grid penalty yet again after his new engine in Mexico expired early. So forget him.


Ferrari is very interesting. They will also be preparing for next year but political machinations in the sport this last 2 weeks means their ego-maniac president could well be directing all team efforts into winning one of these last two races for pride/leverage reasons.

If it is a dry weekend I think Vettel in the Ferrari will be my bet for the win. That said Kimi has been faster than Vettel in a few session recently and had been relegated to a support role to help Vettle win the championship, but that will be off this weekend now it is decided. Kimi has won here and finished on the podium 5 times so the track suits him and the car. He could be a sweet longshot bet. Dont miss taking him for the fast lap if nothing else.


McLaren is another interesting one. Alonso is hugely upbeat about how they can perform on this track with the latest version of the Honda engine.


The shackles are off at Force India for Perez and Ocon to race and I suspect if Ocon looks better in these last two races the teams ongoing focis will shift to him, so Perez will be fired up to perform well at a track he has been kind of shitty at in the past.


Williams car is supposed to suit this track and it's Massa's last race at his home track. Expect a strong performance and also make sure you take him for fast lap as that could be something the team does for him in this position if points are not at stake.


Both Torro Rosso cars appear to be in a position they will have to take grid penalties.





Early bets

Vettel win +350

Verstappen fastest in P1 +400

Raikkonen Fastest Lap +1000
Ricciardo Fastest Lap +900
Massa Fastest Lap +5000

[5mike5]

Tried to lock in iceman FL but got locked out. Hoping it doesnt get much worse