Max Verstappen's dominance continued out in Monaco and the Dutch Ace now has a 39 point lead over teammate Sergio Perez on the Drivers' Championship standings.
Spanish Grand Prix
Sunday 4 June
Circuit de Barcelona
To Win Race Outright
Max Verstappen 1/5
Carlos Sainz 8/1
Lewis Hamilton 12/1
Fernando Alonso 16/1
Sergio Perez 22/1
Previous Race
The tips for Monaco looked really good at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix with Max Verstappen on Pole and Fernando Alonso second. I had gone with the two men for race wins with Verstappen my safety bet while Fernando Alonso would bring the value.
Both men managed to hold their positions off the line with big change ups to the starting positions coming further down the field.
Apart from a few small incidents, the race was pretty tame until the rain came down on lap 48 which gave us a prelude to the chaos that would descend shortly after with racing incidents becoming more frequent.
Lap 55 is when the chaos would well and truly begin as the rain began to poor down. Most teams had pitted at this point and were running intermediate or medium tyres but a few drivers were still out there on slicks.
Max Verstappen would be forced to pit again as his medium coupunds could not keep enough grip. It wouldn’t matter however, as he would go on to claim his fourth win of the season.
Fernado Alonso would also keep his place off the grid with the veteran producing his best result of the campaign as he finished second. The podium was rounded out by Alpine’s Esetaban Ocon.
Mercedes managed a decent points haul with Lewis Hamilton claiming fourth and George Russel claiming fifth, with the latter overcoming a five second time penalty due to a dangerous reentry to the track. The ‘Top 6’ was rounded out by the Ferrari of Charles LeClerc, who will have not been happy with his team’s tyre strategy.
Pierre Gasly ensured Alpine were well in the points in the French principality as he brought his car home in seventh, while Carlos Sainz claimed eighth, The final two points scoring positions went to the McLaren of Lando Norris while rookie Australian driver Oscar Piastri claimed his first points scoring finish as he took tenth spot.
Track
The Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona offers the F1 field a great blend of high and low-speed corners which really tests the reliability of the faster cars on track.
While these corners require dexterous braking, they don’t provide much room for overtaking as they are some of the narrowest on the calendar. As such, pole position will be a key factor here.
Last year’s Grand Prix was one by – no prizes for guessing here – Max Verstappen with Sergio Perez ensuring a one-two Red Bull finish by claiming second. Mercedes’ George Russel completed the podium.
It seems the rain is following the F1 field at the minute with substantial rain forecast for Saturday’s qualifying sessions and for race day.
Value Bet
Fernando Alonso – Podium Finish – Yes (6/4)
I know the value has drastically dropped on this bet in recent weeks but I still like it. Alonso took second last weekend and that car of his looks brilliantly tuned. He has a handy enough record in Spain winning the 2013 and 2006 editions of the race
To Win Race Outright
Max Verstappen (1/5)
The man is by far and away the dominant force on track at the minute claiming his fourth race win of the season out in Monaco. He has a solid record out in Spain winning the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016 and last season.
