The 2018 Formula 1 racing season has been unpredictable so far this year. Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari each have a pair of wins. If we look at recent history, Mercedes could be seen as the favorite. Lewis Hamilton would tie the all-time record if he can get a seventh win at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, the site of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. That would draw him level with Michael Schumacher in points on the season. Hamilton has won three straight races here and looks to make it four in a row. Check out our F1 betting preview for the seventh Grand Prix of the Formula 1 racing season, the Canadian Grand Prix.
2018 Canadian Grand Prix Betting Preview
Hamilton has an additional reason to push for a win this season, given his third-place result a week ago. Valtteri Bottas came in fifth in Monaco, leaving Mercedes out of the top position. This motivation worked well for Mercedes a year ago — at Monaco, Hamilton finished fourth, and Bottas finished seventh, and then the pair finished 1-2 at Montreal in the next race. Bottas also has three podium finishes in his career, the most podiums he has at any Grand Prix course. However, Ferrari and Red Bull have made some strides in comparison to this point last year. Pirelli has developed a supersoft set of tires, and those debuted in Monaco with some success. The tires are particularly good on courses that allow for drivers to overtake those in front of them, and Montreal’s course provides those openings. Ferrari got off to a terrific start to the year, winning behind Sebastian Vettel in Australia and in Bahrain, but they are now winless in four straight. They will have the motivation to deliver a win in Canada to get them back on track toward a season championship. They’ll have some challenges coming from Red Bull, after Daniel Ricciardo pulled off a thrilling win in Monaco, they are right in the thick of things heading into the seventh race. If we look at the form book on this track, we see that Mercedes hadn’t won here at all until 2015, but since then they’ve won all of them. Ferrari leads the all-time totals here with 10 wins, but they have not had a driver win the race since 2004, when Schumacher won the whole season title for the last time. Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen have also never won on this course for Ferrari, but they have won (when Vettel was with Red Bull and when Raikkonen was with McLaren). If Vettel can win, it would be his 50th Grand Prix victory. Ricciardo has won here, taking his first victory even back in 2014, and he should come in with plenty of confidence after his work in Monaco. Teammate Max Verstappen missed the last session of qualifying in Monaco, thanks to a crash in practice, and he will not want to see the same thing happen this time. The all-time leaders for wins in Canada (not just on this course) is McLaren, who have 13 victories. So they could reach up for a surprise. Force India looked terrific in Monaco, and Toro Rosso and Haas raised some eyebrows as well. Charles Leclerc is having a terrific debut season with Sauber, although he had brake failure in Monaco and ended up crashing. On the course, there is plenty of opportunity to pass rivals. The best come at Turn 10, at the L’Epingle hairpin, and Turns 13 and 14, at the end of the back straight. There is a third DRS zone between Turns 7 and 8 that could increase the overtakes even more. However, the exit of Turn 14 features what is called the “Wall of Champions,” a corner that has lured Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill (all world champions in the past) into race-ending crashes.SESSION TIMES ⏰ Weekend plans? Don’t need ’em 😉 Here’s when you can catch all the #CanadianGP action this weekend ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/2CbpXOEcsM
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 6, 2018
