Our F1 Insider expects Lewis Hamilton to confirm his one-lap superiority in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, while he also provides a wager for the top-six market.
The Mercedes has been untouchable in qualifying for four solid years now, taking 72 pole positions from an available 80 since the start of the hybrid era. Hamilton himself has been responsible for 42 of these, despite being up against Nico Rosberg for the majority of his time in the team. The world champion has enjoyed a slightly greater edge over Valtteri Bottas than Rosberg, with the pole score standing at 12-4 in his favour since the start of last season. Hamilton's pole lap in Melbourne was two-thirds of a second quicker than his nearest challenger and he looks a solid bet to extend his all-time pole record in Bahrain on Saturday.
Few drivers boast a better record than Grosjean at this track when taking into account the mediocre machinery at his disposal. The Frenchman took consecutive podium finishes for Lotus in 2012-13 and scored the Haas team's best-ever finish here in just their second race in 2016. Grosjean and team-mate Kevin Magnussen looked set for best-of-the-rest honours in last month's season-opener Down Under but botched pitstops within two laps of each other saw both agonisingly forced out of the race. They can make amends here, with Grosjean the best pick at 5/4 for a top-six finish given his circuit form.
Posted at 1100 GMT on 05/04/18; selections at best available price via oddschecker.com
Bahrain Grand Prix: Weekend Schedule & TV Guide
All times BST
Friday April 6
- Practice 1: 1200
- Practice 2: 1600
Saturday April 7
- Practice 3: 1300
- Qualifying: 1600
Sunday April 8
TV Coverage
You can watch all the sessions of the Australian GP weekend live on Sky Sports F1 and Channel 4.
Bahrain Grand Prix: Sky Bet odds
Race winner, pre-weekend:
- Lewis Hamilton: 4/5
- Sebastian Vettel: 3/1
- Valtteri Bottas: 11/2
- Max Verstappen: 10/1
- Daniel Ricciardo: 12/1
- Kimi Raikkonen: 14/1
Pole position, pre-weekend:
- Lewis Hamilton: 4/7
- Sebastian Vettel: 4/1
- Valtteri Bottas: 4/1
- Max Verstappen: 16/1
- Daniel Ricciardo: 20/1
- Kimi Raikkonen: 25/1
Click here for all of Sky Bet's Bahrain Grand Prix odds
Bahrain Grand Prix: Track guide
- Venue: Bahrain International Circuit
- Circuit length: 5.412km
- Laps: 57
- Race distance: 308.405km
- Number of corners: 15
- Lap record: 1:30.447 (Pedro de la Rosa)
- 2017 pole position: Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1:28.769
- 2017 winner: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:33:53.374
- 2017 fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:32.798
Related F1 links
