Webber poles apart at Silverstone

Mark Webber is something of a Silverstone specialist and, seated in what increasingly looks like the fastest car on the Formula One grid, the Australian represents a value bet to start the British Grand Prix from pole position.

Webber is not the most reliable of Formula One drivers - he has earned the nickname of DNF (did not finish) with some of his fiercest critics, many of whom are Australian - and the weather forecast for the English midlands is for rain.

With that in mind and the difference between Webber`s odds to qualify fastest and win the race being negligible - the Australian is around 10-1 to be on pole position and 12-1 to take the chequered flag first - take the double-figure odds that he does exactly what he did at Silverstone last year.

Webber started the 2011 British Grand Prix from the front of the grid, qualifying 32 thousandths of a second faster than his teammate, Sebastien Vettel. It was the Australian`s first Silverstone pole but it had been coming for a while.

The Red Bull driver had won the 2010 British Grand Prix from second place on the grid and, in the 2009 edition of the Silverstone, he finished runner-up to Vettel after the lights went green with him in third spot on the grid.

Even before Red Bull was a Formula One heavyweight - before 2009 - Webber was a driver to watch in the British Grand Prix. The Australian qualified second for the 2008 race, nine positions ahead of his then colleague, Britain`s David Coulthard, before spinning off during the first lap of the race and being relegated to last place. He finished 10th.

Silverstone suits Webber`s driving style. One of the fastest circuits on the Formula One calendar despite undergoing many changes over the past 20 years, the Northamptonshire track has numerous high-speed corners. And cars operate at about full throttle for approximately 60 per cent of each lap.

Combine Webber`s skill at negotiating corners at high speed with the superiority of his mode of transport - even Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali said, after watching one of his men, Fernando Alonso, win last month`s European Grand Prix that Red Bull had the quickest car - and you have a good wager.

If you cannot bring yourself to back Webber - maybe you have been burnt by the Australian in the past - then Vettel is the next-best option, albeit at much shorter odds.

A Red Bull machine has occupied pole position for each of the last three grands prix - Webber in Monte Carlo; Vettel in Montreal and Valencia - although the Australian only started the most glamourous Formula One race of all from pole position because of Michael Schumacher`s penalty.

Betting on the actual race is fraught with danger because of the medium-range weather forecast. If you are going to have a pre-qualifying wager on the race then it makes sense to take a punt on a driver at a working man`s price.

Sergio Perez catches the eye at around the 50-1 mark. The way in which teams will have to set up their cars if the weather forecast is accurate will suit the Sauber man.

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05/07/2012     © Frixo 2024