Abu Dhabi GP Preview

Despite battling to a damage-limiting second place in the Indian GP Fernando Alonso looked a frustrated figure as Sebastian Vettel made it four wins from his last four races. Short of some Wacky Races style antics the Spaniard is probably wondering what he can do to stop Vettel. Maybe he needs to slash the tyres of the German. Mind you those tactics did not do much for Dick Dastardly in the Wacky Races. Maybe Alonso will get lucky and Vettel will suffer something similar to the first lap puncture from last year. If not I’m not sure how the Spaniard will get near the Red Bull.

Bookmakers make Sebastian Vettel the 10/11 (Blue Sq/888 Sport) favourite for the race. The German won here in 2009 and 2010 before being undone by a first lap puncture in 2011. Vettel will certainly enter the race full of confidence after his recent run of form and his dominance of both the race and qualifying. The course seems made for the Red Bull with little room for passing and a benefit to cars with speed. The result last year showed the importance of qualifying as other than Vettel (who got a puncture) the top seven in qualifying all placed in the top seven in the race. Other drivers expected to go well are Fernando Alonso at 53/10 (pinnacle). The Spaniard produced a great drive to finish second in India and a driver of his talent can never be discounted, he though is working miracles on a car that is third best behind the Red Bull and the McLaren. Speaking of the McLaren, Lewis Hamilton is 89/10 (pinnacle-note pinnacle do not pay EW) and Jenson Button 63/5 (Pinnacle). Mark Webber meanwhile is a 10/1 (sportingbet) chance.

The battle for the podium looks like a four way battle between Hamilton, Alonso, Button and Webber for two slots (assuming Vettel is a lock for a podium finish). Fernando Alonso is 4/6 (william hill) to finish on the podium while Mark Webber is 4/5 (Coral) and Jenson Button is 9/4 (sportingbet). I like the look of Lewis Hamilton to finish on the podium at 6/5 (BetVictor). The Englishman won here last year and finished second here in 2010. Hamilton can probably get more out of his car than Alonso in qualifying and as stated before this is not a track which is easy to pass on.

Outside of the big five the race is on for a top six finish and Kimi Raikkonen is the expected sixth placed finisher and is 4/7 (general) for a top six finish while Felippe Massa is 3/4(BWin). Romain Grosjean is 24/13 (BWin) while Sergio Perez is 4/1 (general). I think Perez at 4/1 (general) must be the value selection here. The Yas Marina track allows for teams to attempt a risk with a one stop strategy and no driver does this better than Perez. One driver I like the look of in the points market is Nico Rosberg at 5/4 (general) to finish in the top ten. Rosberg has finished top six here in the last two years and an 11th placed finish in India showed that the Mercedes could be back on track after a couple of recent retirements.

Qualifying begins on Saturday at 13:00 (GMT) and the race is Sunday at 13:00 (GMT) be sure to get your bets on in time.

BEST OF THE BEST

GOLD: Lewis Hamilton to finish on the podium, 6/5 (BetVictor)
SILVER: Nico Rosberg to finish among the points, 5/4 (general)
BRONZE: Sergio Perez to finish in the top six, 4/1 (general)

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04/11/2012     © Frixo 2024