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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