Russia: pre-qualifying – 2016
Ah, Russia. Where it’s
easy to crash and hard to pass. Not a stellar circuit, and, unlike
Singapore, doesn’t have a pretty backdrop either. Still, a race is
on this weekend.
The circuit seems
somewhat similar to Australia (not really high speed, bit stop-start,
but with less of a natural flow, and rubbish right angle corners). I
expect the final result to closely resemble the starting grid.
In P1 Rosberg was
seven-tenths ahead of Hamilton, with Vettel and Raikkonen a few
tenths back. Massa, Ricciardo and Bottas were next, with Kvyat, Perez
and Sainz finishing off the top 10.
The second practice
session had Hamilton seven-tenths up on Vettel, with Rosberg a little
further back, followed by Raikkonen. Ricciardo, Bottas, Kvyat,
Button, Massa and Alonso were next.
Bad news for Ferrari in
second practice when Vettel’s car ran out of electricity. Given an
early engine upgrade was brought for the Prancing Horse following poor
reliability, this is deeply unwelcome for the team.
In more bad news for
Vettel, he has a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change.
The final practice
session had Hamilton less than a tenth ahead of Rosberg, Vettel half
a second down the road and followed by his team mate. Massa and
Bottas were next, with Verstappen, Button, Sainz and Perez rounding
out the top 10.
Very hard to call pole
between the two Mercedes. Which just leaves the gap and Q3 markets.
Without perusing them,
the only potential bet that I’m thinking of is Button for Q3. But
I’d want nice odds.
Unfortunately, the
market didn’t go up in time on Ladbrokes, and on Betfair the odds
are an unappealing 1.5.
So, no tip.
It’ll be interesting
to see whether the Williams or Red Bull qualifies better, as well as
how McLaren and Haas do. Sauber were slowest in third practice, and a
repeat on the grid would be awful for them (but nice for Manor).
Morris Dancer
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