Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019
After three races, the Formula One season has followed a familiar finish with Mercedes drivers occupying the top two steps on the podium. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton will head to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the strength of back-to-back wins at Bahrain and China, with teammate Valtteri Bottas right behind him.
Meanwhile, Ferrari have been unable to get going this season. And when they have performed well — like in Bahrain — bad luck cost them a higher place on the podium.
The Prancing Horse and the rest of the field will have another chance to put an end to Mercedes’ run of dominance in Baku, which has produced its fair share of fireworks in its first three years on the F1 calendar.
Talking Points
Will Mercedes’ perfect run continue?
Mercedes couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. The defending constructor’s champions have come out of the gate in impressive form as they’ve picked up three one-two finishes in the first three races of the year.
Everyone knew that Lewis Hamilton would once again be right there in the hunt for the world championship, but few anticipated the leap that Valtteri Bottas would make. The Finn has been absolutely fabulous as he’s given his team-mate a run for his money early in the campaign.
Aside from winning the opening race of the season in Australia, Bottas also claimed pole in China over his team-mate. However, Hamilton put Bottas back in his place as he quickly overtook his team-mate and eventually strolled to another victory in Shanghai.
Despite the current Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019 odds, Mercedes’ run of dominance must surely come to an end at some point, though. And based on recent history, Baku might be the best place for another team to finally snap Mercedes’ winning streak.
Ferrari team orders
Ferrari have a lot of work to do in order to match the brilliant start Mercedes have had to the season. They’ve picked up just two podium finishes — both third place — in three races, with Charles Leclerc in Bahrain and Sebastian Vettel in China.
However, a big factor in Vettel achieving that finish was due to team orders for Leclerc to allow the German to overtake him in Shanghai. The tactic backfired on Ferrari, though, as Vettel was unable to catch up with the two Mercedes and Leclerc fell to fifth.
It’s looking clear through the first few races that Ferrari are giving priority to Vettel over Leclerc. This despite the young Monegasque’s outstanding drive in Bahrain, which was marred by an engine problem that likely cost him his first-ever grand prix win.
If Ferrari continue to give Leclerc orders to step aside for his team-mate in Baku, it will only intensify the unrest within the Scuderia camp.
History
This will be the fourth time that Azerbaijan will host a Formula One race. The first race was held in 2016 when the Baku City Circuit hosted the European Grand Prix. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix only became official in 2017.
Mercedes has won two of the three races in Baku. Nico Rosberg was victorious in 2016, while Lewis Hamilton will enter this race as the defending champion after winning in 2018. In between, Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull pulled off a big surprise to win the 2017 edition.
Despite only being on the F1 calendar for a couple of years, Azerbaijan has quickly established itself as a race where wild things can happen.
In 2017, the race saw several crashes, three safety cars, and the infamous “road rage” controversy when Vettel was penalised for deliberately driving into Hamilton.
The following year was also filled with incident as Bottas was denied a win with three laps to go due to a punctured tyre, while pole-sitter Vettel was caught out by a late safety car. It also saw Red Bull team-mates Max Verstappen and Ricciardo collide with each other after going close for much of the race.
If the Azerbaijan 2019 Grand Prix highlights could somehow top even those crazy events, it would be quite something.
What are the odds?
To the surprise of no one, Hamilton is once again favoured to win in Azerbaijan, which would be his third consecutive win this season. The Brit is priced at 2.70 to claim the checkered flag, while Vettel has the next best SBOBET odds at 3.00. That’s somewhat surprising given the German’s lack of form on his SF90 this season.
Bottas and Leclerc are right behind their world champion team-mates with both priced at 4.00. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen at 14.00 is the only other driver with odds to win below 100. Even Ricciardo, who is one of three drivers to be victorious on this track, is priced at an astronomical 501.00.
And if there’s a race to bet on a long shot to finish in the top 3, it’s this one. The last two races have seen Lance Stroll of Williams and Sergio Perez of Force India claim third.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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