US Grand Prix 2018
There are only four races left in the Formula 1 season. All of the remaining tracks in the season are challenging courses that will test the cars not only in their horsepower but as well as in their overall tuning. Tyre strategies and race-day set-ups can mean milliseconds lost or gained, and every bit of improvement counts at the business end of the season.
This is especially true if we consider the fact that fifty points separate the top two drivers ahead of the US Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton is slated to win it all again in the United States if everything goes well, and that bit of US Grand Prix 2018 news probably does not sit well with Sebastian Vettel.
Everyone in Scuderia Ferrari knows that finishing with anything but first officially ends their German ace’s championship hopes. They have to make sure Vettel gets the pole, get every pit stop right and employ a superb tactic to beat Hamilton to first place if they want to stop the Briton’s coronation in Texas.
However, they also know that achieving all of those is easier said than done. As much as Formula 1 is a highly competitive tournament wherein even the most minute detail is accounted for, a bit of chaos and bad luck could see the two-horse race being all the more competitive.
Talking Points
There is much hype surrounding Hamilton after winning at Suzuka. The Briton is now 67 points ahead of his German rival and now only needs nine more points to mathematically secure the 2018 Drivers’ Championship. Given the form that Hamilton is in and the state of the rest of the chasing pack, those points seem more of a formality than a challenge.
It has been a wonderful year for Hamilton, and it seems like the worries he had when it came to competing early the in the year is a distant memory. Every challenge thrown his way was met with a hard-nosed Hamilton just keeping his head down and driving through it. Given the way that he cruised through Suzuka, there’s no doubt that he will be leading the pack once more at the Circuit of the Americas.
While Hamilton’s driving is the main reason for his success, the team has also been more than supportive to the driver. Valtteri Bottas is a very accommodating team-mate and is doing his job extremely well as a No2 driver. The additional downforce and improvements the Mercedes engineers introduced to their cars can also be credited for his success.
On the red end of the pit lane, Vettel is wallowing in regret. His form crashed alongside his car at the German Grand Prix, and he spent the rest of the season trying to recapture the early-season form that saw him rise to the top during the early stages of the season.
He himself admitted that he and the team should have done better to mount a fierce battle with Hamilton and Mercedes. He ceded ahead of the Austin race that his team’s rivals are doing a better job of not bottling the lead.
The most notable of the moments he will mull about this year is his rough collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. While he wasn’t put out of commission, he ended up in 19th and had to claw his way back to a sixth-place finish, one point behind his starting grid position.
Ferrari fans will be hopeful that Vettel doesn’t come to this race with low motivation. There are multiple overtaking points in this race, and he can use his superb driving skills to have a better crack at the first place. Vettel needs to step up his race if he wants to set up a dramatic finish in Abu Dhabi.
If he performs poorly, however, we can treat the remaining races of the season as a long victory lap for his British rival.
History
Lewis Hamilton has fond memories of the United States Grand Prix. He has won the last race at Indianapolis in 2007 after starting the race at pole position. He then won six of the seven races when the Circuit of the Americas was added to the Formula 1 schedule in 2012. Vettel was the only one who broke the monotony of Hamilton’s dominance in the US when he won with Red Bull in 2013.
However, the Briton is not only after a fifth straight US Grand Prix victory. As mentioned earlier, he is only nine points away from winning the F1 Drivers title. That means that he is only one race away from his fifth World Championship, matching Juan Manuel Fangio’s record.
Hamilton has nothing but love for the Argentine speedster and is obviously stoked to be given the opportunity to match the Formula 1’s “godfather”. Should he win in the United States, he would be only two titles away from Michael Schumacher’s seven.
SBOBET motor sport fans know this tidbit of history and will be interested to see how this race goes.
What are the odds?
The US Grand Prix 2018 betting odds surely favour the Mercedes man to take the first place and win it all at 1.40 outright, but that doesn’t really make for compelling betting.
If you believe that Vettel will be able to prolong Hamilton’s victory, you will get good winnings at SBOBET with the 6.00 outright odds on offer. Bottas also got six, while Max Verstappen is at 11.00 and Kimi Raikkonen is at 16.00.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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