UK: pre-qualifying 2022

 

Kudos to anyone who had money on Bottas to top FP1. The session was wet, which always opens up some good potential. Hamilton, who was second, was backable each way at 17.

The Finn was half a second ahead of ex-team mate Hamilton, with Sainz and Leclerc following but separated by a big gap. Schumacher and Zhou came next, then Magnussen, Stroll, Tsunoda, and Vettel, but the conditions mean this isn’t terribly useful as a guide to pace (and whether or not Mercedes upgrades will work or even eliminate the gap to the leaders, though I’d be surprised if that’s the case given the general pace difference this season).

The second session was more standard but still had a weird top three. Sainz fastest isn’t too odd but that was ahead of Hamilton and Norris, both a tenth and a half off the Spaniard. Verstappen followed closely, then came Leclerc (who never managed to quite string together a proper lap). Three-tenths further back was Alonso, Perez and Russell (six and seven-tenths off their respective team mates), Ricciardo, and Stroll.

Ferrari could be the team to beat in qualifying, but we’ve seen how well that’s worked for them during races recently. I’d utterly forgotten, but did have a free bet on Hamilton at 17 each way to lead FP1, so that came off in a minor way.

Perez can be backed for the win, each way, at 19 on Ladbrokes and I think that’s way too long (unless she has a penalty I missed). He’s been first or second at about five races this year. The car’s also looking good for the race, if behind Ferrari for qualifying.

Slightly frustratingly, (final practice is on as I speak), time constraints mean I can’t wait to see the results ahead of qualifying.

So, no qualifying tip, alas. Be interesting to see how well Mercedes’ updates work.

 

Qualifying is at 3pm. 

Morris Dancer

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