Vettel’s Singapore clanger launches Hamilton into 1/7 title favourite
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Lewis Hamilton is now 1/7 to win this year’s Formula One World Championship, after a catastrophic error from Sebastian Vettel in Singapore.
His move off the line pitched Max Verstappen into Kimi Raikkonen, and forced all three out of the race in the opening moments.
That alone was a huge blow to Vettel’s chances of a first world championship since 2013.
But the 30-year-old Ferrari ace then had to sit and watch Hamilton claim his third victory in succession, and open up a 28-point advantage.
Hamilton’s price is now the shortest he’s been all season.
Conversely Vettel is now 4/1, his longest odds of the campaign.
The Singapore Grand Prix promised to be Vettel’s chance to bounce back, after Hamilton had stolen the momentum with successive wins in Spa and Monza.
The Brit arrived in Asia with a slender three-point lead, and many were expecting Vettel to reclaim the top spot in the championship.
And the German’s euphoric reaction to claiming pole position at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Saturday showed the world how important the race was to him.
With Hamilton’s Mercedes left in fifth place, and no match for either Ferrari or Red Bull, Vettel was poised to land a sizeable blow to Hamilton’s hopes.
But the four-time champion’s aggressive move off the start turned the event on its head and gifted Hamilton victory (despite the Brit being a 12/1 shot).
With six races to go, the title now looks to be heading Hamilton’s way.
Recent history suggests Vettel must not be discounted – he won titles in 2010 and 2012 by overcoming substantial deficits in the latter stages.
But the fast, flowing circuits that remain on the calendar this season will favour the Mercedes, and Vettel really needed to be ahead in the points by this stage.
That fact may well have played its part in why Vettel moved so aggressively as the lights went out on Sunday.
But instead of enhancing his title hopes, it may well have ended them.
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