Formula One: Hamilton running out of time to get his act together
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The 2016 Formula One World Championship has just six races remaining, and for Lewis Hamilton, that means only six chances left to overhaul Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the title battle, starting with this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
Rosberg holds an eight-point lead, after victory in Singapore took his winning streak to three on the spin.
Hamilton meanwhile endured a scrappy weekend at the famous night race, and hasn’t tasted victory since the German Grand Prix in July.
The last trio of races, in which Rosberg has eradicated Lewis’ title lead and then created his own points gap, have been symbolic of Hamilton’s season as a whole.
A grid penalty in Belgium, due to numerous technical troubles earlier in the season ruined Hamilton’s hopes, before a terrible start in Italy wasted a stunning qualifying performance and gifted Rosberg victory.
And Singapore was a little bit of all-sorts, with Hamilton never at ease with his W07 Hybrid at the Marina Bay venue.
Now the Brit must reset if he is to claim a fourth world title. In doing so he would join an elite list alongside Sebastian Vettel, Alain Prost, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher as the only men on Earth to have claimed a quartet of F1 crowns.
Could better value lie elsewhere?
Oddly enough however, neither Hamilton nor Rosberg have ever really shone around the Sepang circuit, with Lewis’ sole success in 2014 the only victory between the pair in Malaysia.
There isn’t much to split them in the betting either, with the bookies making Hamilton the slight favourite at 6/5, and Rosberg 6/4.
But with a new track surface and new elevation changes aimed at reshaping the circuit altogether, plus the annual threat of a Malaysian thunderstorm, will Hamilton be allowed the clean weekend he craves in order to return to winning ways?
Mercedes are on course for their most dominant season ever, having won 14 of the 15 races this season, and as has been the recent trend, Red Bull are their most likely conquerors.
Daniel Ricciardo has managed to finish ahead of one of the Silver Arrows in three of the last four races, and the Australian is next up in the betting at 8/1.
Team-mate and teenager wonderkid Max Verstappen is 12/1, the same price as last season’s winner Sebastian Vettel.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
