The Spanish Grand Prix is the central sports event this Saturday. The race at the famous Catalunya circuit draws enormous attention, and after today’s qualifications, the spectacle is guaranteed. Lewis Hamilton took the pole position, but his teammate Valtteri Bottas was pretty close behind the reigning champion. Hamilton has a big lead in the current standings, and the Fin wants to cut that to a decent measure. Yet, that won’t be easy at all.
Preview
Hamilton finished just 0.059 ahead of Bottas, who almost beat his time in the final attempt, but one error the Fin made allowed Lewis to take the 92nd pole in his career, fourth this year.
However, this situation shows us that we might expect a fierce battle between two Silver Arrows, because Bottas simply has to finish ahead of his teammate. There are two reasons for that, the first considers the points and the difference in the standings, and the second is from a psychological point of view. With a win here, the Fin would regain the confidence, stop Hamilton’s surge and set up a position in which he might create a swing for future challenges.
Max Verstappen was third with 0.7 seconds behind Hamilton and far ahead the rest of the competition. Red Bull’s driver had a solid pace, and we are certain that his team prepares some special tactics for tomorrow’s race. We don’t know what would that be, but what is sure is that Max has enough power and knowledge to disrupt Mercedes’s plans once again.
We saw him doing that last week at Silverstone, and be sure that the youngster has enough motive to prove that the win at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix wasn’t just a lucky turn of events.
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll are fourth and fifth, but we can’t expect them to do anything sensational. This team is still gaining experience, and although they had pretty solid results, it is still early to see one of its drivers at the winners’ place at the podium.
Meanwhile, Ferrari is in a hole, and they aren’t going to get out of anytime soon. The Prancing Horse is losing its grip not only on the track but also in the garage, as the quiet dispute between Sebastian Vettel on one, and Charles Leclerc and the team on the other side threatens to explode.
Vettel’s results are catastrophic, and the whole team is favoring Leclerc, who, on the other side, isn’t justifying that.
Previous Races
Michael Schumacher has 6 wins in Spain, which is the most at this point. Hamilton comes behind him with four, with the note that he won in the previous three years. From other active drivers, Kimi Raikkonen is the only one with multiple victories in 2005 and 2008.
Ferrari has 12 triumphs the most of any manufacturer, but the last one was in 2013. On the other side, Mercedes didn’t win just once in the past six years.
Prediction
We now that it might be risky, and that even some of you would think that our suggestion sounds crazy, but we will suggest betting on Bottas to win this one. He had an excellent tempo during the qualifiers, and after a few troublesome races in which he experienced massive setbacks, the time has come for him to cash in his solid form.
Overall, he’s been driving good, but small details and issues were always against him. If you find this too risky, go with Bottas to finish on the podium, as BetXChange offers solid odds for both outcomes.
