So here it is, the race that shouldn't have been in Bernie's furtive financially focussed eyes! The British Grand Prix is at Silverstone; a new Silverstone, but Silverstone: the home of British motor sport.
Those who have read the press or these little previews will know that Mclaren have a major upgrade this week, which includes the Redbull blown-diffuser concept amongst a number of performance enhancing parts. The blown-diffuser is worth 0.5 seconds alone, so this week I'm anticipating a performance increase of about 0.6+ sec. Now add this time to the already superior Mclaren F-duct and we have only one winner in my view, barring retirements.
Hamilton seems to be stamping his authority over Button now, who whilst not exactly slow, is a massive improvement over Kovalainen, which should provide better cover for Lewis for the remainder of the season. So what I'm getting at is, Hamilton is the winner out of the two this week unless of course you foresee a retirement.
Hamilton win - 4.3 @ Boyles Sport
Button win - 9.0 @ Bwin
Mclaren to win - 2.9 @
Bwin ****Decent Value****
Hamilton Pole & Win - 4.8 @
Betfair
Pole position to follow, but I see it going to Mclaren.
British Specials @ Coral
Both British drivers to finish in the points 1.33
A British Driver to win qualifying 3.25
Both British Drivers to finish on the podium 3.50
Hamilton King of the Road (Fastest Lap,Win Qualifying,Win Race) 10.00
As for the other teams, I see Redbull performing strongly along with Ferrari. Other than that, I see no surprises. Mercedes had their upgrade last week and arsed everything up. Williams had a strong showing, and it maybe worth placing some bets on a points finish or qualifying 3 showing once the markets open.
Other winners:
Vettel - 4.3 @ Boyles Sport
Webber - 5.9 @
Betfair
Alonso - 7.0 @
Bet365
Massa - 17.0 @ Coral e/w 1-3 1/4 (4.25 podium finish) ****nice value****
That's it for now. Thought I'd get in while the odds were still fairly competitive. Will post more as and when they become available. Must just mention my surprise that Mclaren are not favourites for this race considering the major upgrade!