2018 French Grand Prix Preview

Sebastian Vettel picked up the first win for Ferrari in Canada in 14 years, giving him the drivers’ world cup championship lead by a single point over Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) as we approach the French Grand Prix. Paul Ricard will be hosting a race for the first time in 28 years, as the French Grand Prix moved to Magny-Cours in 1991 and remained there until 2008, when France lost their race slot. There are three French drivers in the field, and a French manufacturer (Renault) sitting in fourth place in the team standings. Hamilton, Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen are the only drivers who have ever raced Formula 1 on French soil, so the tradition is returning. Let’s take a look at what you should consider as you plan your Formula 1 betting for this weekend’s race.

2018 French Grand Prix Preview

The course at Paul Ricard allows drivers to push the speed, much like the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada. At that race, Ferrari roared to take the pole position and then saw Vettel get the big win. Mercedes had been seen as the favorite because of their traditional dominance in recent races within the V6 turbo era on circuits that permit high speed, but Ferrari held a high pace all the way and then put the hammer down in the last section, which meant Mercedes had to work hard just to come in second. The course has received a new tarmac surface that is both smooth and grippy, so it should provide a similar performance to Barcelona’s asphalt course. There are several fast corners with long radii, but the one that gets the most attention so far is Signes, Turn 10, which goes to the right. Drivers should hit it around 290 kilometers per hour, which means the tension of that turn will wear on the drivers as they go through the course 53 times. The designers of the track have added a chicane to the former “Mistral Straight,” which had stretched 1.7 kilometers, to reduce the drivers’ overall speed. However, Mercedes plans to bring an upgraded power unit to France that they were not able to roll out in time for Montreal, so they should be able to regain the upper hand. If they struggle to do so, though, this could signal a shift toward Ferrari in momentum within Formula 1.

What about Lewis Hamilton?

He won in Azerbaijan and then again in Spain, but all of a sudden he seems like someone in a real drought. His last two races have seen a slippage in performance, and if Valtteri Bottas had not gotten a puncture in the next-to-last lap back in Baku, Bottas would be pushing Hamilton and getting close to second place himself. Hamilton did not look particularly confident in Monaco or Canada as Mercedes seemed to lack the power that Ferrari and Red Bull had. However, bringing in the new power unit should give him what he needs to tie Vettel with three wins each in the season.

What has happened to Haas?

They have no points at all since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, when Kevin Magnussen roared to a sixth place finish, behind Mercedes’ duo, Red Bull’s duo, and Vettel from Ferrari. At Monte Carlo, their VF-18 looked almost lumbering in the twists and turns. They did have some impressive speed in the practice runs at Montreal but did not do well on race day. They did bring an upgrade to their aerodynamics to Canada, and team manager Guenther Steiner believes that this will bring improvements as the weeks go forward, but other than Magnussen (19), Haas hasn’t gotten any points. The oddsmakers have both Vettel and Hamilton sitting at 6/4 to win, and Bottas is behind them at 7/1, representing some additional value. He has not won this season, but he has four runner-up finishes, so he’s due to break through at some point.