Lewis Hamilton put in a commanding performance to seize the chequered flag in the Belgian Grand Prix and cut Sebastian Vettel’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship to just seven points on Sunday. Next up is the Italian Grand Prix and Hamilton will fancy his chances of seizing the lead as he has enjoyed great success at Monza over the years. But then again so has Vettel and it should prove to be another close fought encounter between two superb drivers.
That win made Hamilton the 1/2 favourite in the outright betting to win the Drivers’ Championship this season. If he pulls it off it will be his third in four years and cement his status as one of the greatest drivers of all time. But this season he has a colossal fight on his hands in the form of Vettel and Ferrari.
It has developed into an enthralling battle between two cars that are pretty evenly matched yet have different characteristics. As a result we have started to hear talk of Mercedes tracks and Ferrari tracks. Fortunately for Mercedes, far more of the tracks on the F1 circuit fall into the former category than the latter. Ferrari has excelled on slow, twisty tracks with plenty of downforce, like Monaco and Hungary, while the consensus is that the Mercedes is stronger on quicker tracks where its powerful engine comes to the fore. The German team is therefore pulling away in the Constructors’ Championship, with a 44-point lead, and is just 1/20 now to win a fourth consecutive title. But the Drivers’ Championship looks like being a far tighter affair thanks to the strong form of Vettel.
Ferrari went into the Belgian Grand Prix buoyed by a comfortable one-two at Hungaroring, but Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff did not seem too concerned. Spa was a Mercedes track and Hamilton duly won to strike back in the championship race, but he did not have it all his own way. Vettel was on his tail for the entire race and his pace was worrying Mercedes throughout. He remained a couple of seconds behind throughout and Hamilton’s victory was full of tension. It appears that the Ferrari can compete on any track, even if it excels on the slower ones. Hamilton will be pleased with the win, but knows that this battle will go right down to the wire.
Monza is very much a Mercedes track and a win for Hamilton here will be crucial. Next up after Italy is the Singapore Grand Prix, a slow and twisty street race that Ferrari is expected to dominate. But Hamilton is full of concern and gave a downbeat post-race interview in Belgium. “I think Ferrari were ultimately quicker. I was just able to keep them at bay,” he said. “If the cars were reversed I don’t think I would have been able to hold as close as Vettel did. If anyone is out there thinking we have the best car this year then they need to think again, because it’s not the case.”
The bookmakers are backing him to get the job done at Monza, a track he has secured three victories on, in 2012, 2014 and 2015. Vettel has also won three times here, the most recent being in 2013 when he was at Red Bull, so he knows how to take the chequered flag here. But Mercedes has the upper hand in terms of power and that has seen Hamilton made odds-on favourite to win it. Betonline will have odds and for players all around, so review them first and find a good price and it will still be worth backing Hamilton. Both he and Vettel know that this race is his to lose, while the opposite will be true in Singapore. “I hope we have more to come and we need more to come in order to win this thing,” said Hamilton. “It’s going to take everything from every single one of us to finish these next eight races and come out on top. That’s how a championship should be so I’m really looking forward to that challenge.” That is fighting talk and you can expect Hamilton to land a key victory in Italy to get him on the way.