Vettel Can Continue To Blaze A Trail In European Grand Prix

Despite having won six of the eight races and been second in the other two, there are many predicting that this week’s European F1 Grand Prix in Valencia will see the beginning of the end of Sebastian Vettel’s and Red Bull’s reign as the kingpins of the 2011 F1 season. This is surely nonsense!

The reason why that prediction is nonsense is simple; Vettel has a 60 point lead in the Drivers Championship while his Red Bull team are 69 points clear in the Constructors. The German world champion has qualified in pole position in every race bar one and even then he was on the front row in second place. Admittedly there are 12 more races still to go and it is possible that Jenson Button, who is nearest to Vettel in the F1 Leaderboard, and co, can win further races. Additionally there is proof to suggest that McLaren and Ferrari are getting quicker as the season unfolds, but to bridge such a gap is surely beyond them.

Even if Red Bull lose some of their early season dominance it is almost impossible to see Vettel and his team mate, Mark Webber not achieving regular podium finishes. This, at least in Vettel’s case will be more than ample to secure him and the team top spot by the season’s end.

It is agreed that the European Grand Prix could play a significant role in the long term, but it should not be forgotten that Vettel won here last year after claiming ‘pole’ and Webber started on the grid in second. It is also agreed that the Red Bull team will feel more pressure after the last three races which has seen their chief rivals take closer order. That pressure possibly led to the mistake made by Vettel two weeks ago in Montreal when he lost the race on the last lap to Jenson Button.

Qualifying will be more important than usual in this race as Valencia, traditionally, has been a very difficult track for overtaking. That said the double DRS (Drag Reduction System) which will be in use in Valencia will allow for easier overtaking, as it did in Montreal, but it will not necessarily make up for a decent position on the grid. Both McLaren and Ferrari will be happier than Red Bull with the double DRS but they will be even happier if any of their drivers can start from ‘pole’ for which the betting market makes Vettel a long odds on favourite to achieve.

If Vettel makes ‘Pole’ then Vettel takes the chequered flag on Sunday, it is as simple as that and he is favourite to do so in the latest F1 odds for this race! Besides, even f he doesn’t he will almost certainly claim a top three finish, giving him sufficient points to take a further significant step to the Championship.

Ferrari can get off to winning start to 2011 F1 Season

The 2011 Forumla 1 season finally gets under way this weekend following the cancellation of Bahrain Grand Prix a couple of weeks back. The Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne takes centre stage for the start of the new season and with both the Drivers Championship and Constructors Championship up for grabs, everyone starts with a clean slate and optimism will be high across all teams and drivers but which combination will get off to the best possible start and emerge victorious Down Under?

The obvious candidate of course is the reigning F1 World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, now officially the number one driver for Red Bull, whose cars it would appear are as good as ever, certainly looking the best of all teams in pre-season practices.

Vettel is without doubt full of confidence but Melbourne has not been one of his better circuits having failed to finish in his two races there so far for Red Bull. He qualified in pole position last year, but his race ended on the 25^th lap with brakes problems. In 2009 he qualified in third place but had to retire following a collision when in third place on the 56^th lap.

Vettel’s team mate at Red Bull Mark Webber will no doubt have the crowd on his side, but whether that will be enough for him to win the race is open doubt as like Vettel, the Melbourne circuit has not been the kindest to him. He was ninth last year after qualifying second and in 2009 he finished twelfth after qualifying in tenth place. In fact Webber’s best finish on home soil was his fifth places he achieved in 2002, when driving for Minardi and in 2005 when he was with Williams.

Of the current crop of drivers, Jenson Button has the best record winning the race for the last two years. Firstly in 2009 when driving for Brawn and then 12 months ago when driving a superb race for his new team of McLaren. It is anticipated that this year that tyres will be a key area and it is well known on the circuit that Button is probably just about the best driver when it comes to opting for tyre changes. Add that to his great ability to preserve tread, he would seem to be in with a big shout to win for a third consecutive time, provided that the McLaren car is up to it.

McLaren in fact have been behind the rest of the leading lights in pre-season and are still tinkering with their exhaust system amongst other things. Lewis Hamilton, team mate of Button and winner of this race in 2009 is however quite bullish about his team’s chances but realises that to win they have it all to do against the Red Bull’s and Ferrari’s. As it stands currently Hamilton can be backed in the Drivers Championship odds at around 10/1 with Button much better value at 16/1, however punters would probably be best advised to leave the McLaren team alone for this opening Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso whose only win in Australia came in 2006 when he drove for Renault is in the antepost market as the 11/4 second favourite. However, now in his second season with Ferrari, the Spaniard and the team can be expected to make significant moves this year in their bid to wrest the title off Red Bull. It is why Alonso would be a good bet to win in Australia this year. He too has had plenty of good pre-season practice sessions and confidence is very high in the team.

The Mercedes team can also be expected to improve on last year and it would surprise no-one to see their two drivers, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg to be in amongst the leaders both in qualifying and the race itself. They are both around the same 12/1 price and represent good value to at least make the podium at the end of the race.

Next on the schedule is the Malaysian Grand Prix on April 10th, before the tour heads to China, Turkey and Spain and by the time the Monaco Grand Prix betting comes around on the 29th May, one of the feature races of the season I clearer picture will known of who the best teams are likely to be for the remainder of the campaign.

Melbourne Grand Prix Prediction:

1^st F Alonso – Ferrari

2^nd S Vettel – Red Bull

3^rd N Rosberg - Mercedes