3 Silverstone sideshows to look out for away from Mercedes battle
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Ahead of the 2015 British Grand Prix it’s only natural the spotlight will shine on home favourite Lewis Hamilton and his familiar tussle for supremacy with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.
There’s no denying it’s a fascinating duel at the front of the grid and heading to Silverstone’s iconic circuit the battle has reached its most intense heights yet, thanks to consecutive race wins for Rosberg, taking the German within just 10 points of Hamilton.
However, in a week where the results of a far-reaching survey say that 90 per cent of F1 fans wish the sport to be more competitive, it’s perhaps appropriate to focus on some less vogue teams ahead of the British stop in the calendar.
Look out for a Lotus in Q3….
Lotus are one of the teams who are improving nicely as 2015 goes on and they have two skilled drivers benefiting from the experience of being paired together again.
Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado shared the third row of the grid in Canada, before Grosjean made Q3 again in Austria.
The Frenchman has achieved the feat at three of the last four British Grand Prixs also and looks a solid 4/9 bet to reach Q3 at Silverstone.
….at least one of the Force India collecting points and…
Like Lotus, Force India are stalwarts of the midfield battle and have an excellent record of getting at least one driver into the points at Silverstone in recent years – managing a double in 2013, with Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta seventh and ninth.
Of the present partnership, Nico Hulkenberg looks the pick at 4/6 having strung together successive top 10s in Austria and Canada, as well as consecutive scoring runs at Silverstone.
F1’s whippersnapper making an impression
Max Verstappen is just 17 but his performances belie his years at the wheel of his Toro Rosso.
The boy wonder has endured some bad luck along the way – retiring three times in his debut season already – though he’s attained two points finishes as well.
His Austrian Grand Prix display last time, qualifying seventh and converting that into an eighth-place finish showed he’s really getting to grips with his car.
Verstappen is 6/5 both to reach Q3 or secure a top-10 spot in Sunday’s race.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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