Lewis Hamilton can be backed at even money to win the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend and that looks a fantastic price. The Brit opened up a 28-point lead over rival Sebastian Vettel by winning the Singapore Grand Prix last time out and is in excellent form. The track at Malaysia is more suited to the Mercedes and Hamilton is expected to dominate the race. He has won four of his last five races to take a commanding lead in the Drivers’ Standings and has a great chance of winning in Malaysia.
Some bookmakers have him as low as 4/6 to win it, but Bet Victor and Stan James are both offering evens and that is a brilliant opportunity to double your money. William Hill and Sky Bet are also offering an attractive 10/11 on Hamilton. More than half the action is going on him and it is easy to see why as his form has been superb.
The Ferrari driven by his rival, Vettel, excels on tight, twisty, slow tracks like Monaco, Hungary, and Singapore. Vettel won the first two but crashed out early on in Singapore, so he missed a chance to leapfrog Hamilton in the race to be crowned F1 champion. After a strong start to the season, the German’s chances of winning it are looking bleak, with most bookmakers offering just 1/7 on Hamilton and 4/1 on Vettel, whose odds have drifted sharply in recent weeks.
That is because most of the tracks left this season and the type that the Mercedes excels on due to its superior power. Malaysia is certainly one of those tracks. Yet the German team’s record here has been poor. Hamilton won it for them in 2014, but Vettel claimed the chequered flag the following year and Daniel Ricciardo won it for Red Bull in 2016. That might explain the attractive odds being offered on Hamilton, who has only won this race once. However, it is worth noting that in the last three years he has dominated the practice sessions and taken pole position each time. Last season he would have won it comfortably, but an engine failure forced him to retire and let in Ricciardo for the win. Meanwhile, in 2015, a three-stop strategy scuppered his chances as he finished second to Vettel, who only stopped twice.
This season Hamilton’s prospects are far better. Firstly, engine failures have become a thing of the past as he has been regularly completing races. Never say never, but it has not been an issue for a while. Secondly, Mercedes will have learned from previous tactical errors and again, this has not been an issue for a long time. The German team has been given its toughest battle in years by Ferrari this time around, but it has been asserting its dominance in the past couple of months and now leads the Constructors’ Championship by 102 points. The team is currently firing on all cylinders and Hamilton can only benefit from that.
In previous years Hamilton had Nico Rosberg battling him every inch of the way, but this season his new teammate Valtteri Bottas has proved less of a nuisance. Instead, the Finn has quietly gone about his business, racking up enough points to secure his team the Constructors’ Championship without ever truly challenging Hamilton’s status as the big dog in the yard. That may change next season, but for now, Hamilton is getting a clear run at the Drivers’ Championship and he can take another big step towards it in Malaysia on Sunday. At odds of evens, it is hard to ignore him.
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