Sports Blog 11/11/2015: Formula 1 Preview – Brazilian Grand Prix, Friday 13th to Sunday 15th November 2015

The championship may already won but there are still few i’s to dot and t’s to cross before the 2015 Formula 1 season comes to an end, including this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

A reportedly feverish Lewis Hamilton will still take part in Sao Paulo, 3 weeks after winning his 3rd Formula 1 championship in Texas (something that also saw him leap-frog Sebastian Vettel to become the 3rd all-time race winner behind Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost). With the title in the bag Hamilton went to Mexico still on the hunt for a record-matching 13 wins in one season, a feat currently only achieved by Schumacher and Vettel, before a 2nd place finish at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez put an end to the Brit’s hopes. There is still another record Hamilton has his sights on, however; his own personal best wins record of 11 in a season, something he will surpass with back-to-back victories in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.



Understandably Hamilton is the odds on favourite ahead of the racing weekend at 8/13. He also sits atop the Race Index at spread of 59-63 (where the winner gets 80 points, the runner up 60, 3rd place 50, 4th place 40, 5th place 30, 6th place 25, 7th place 20, 8th place 15, 9th place 10 and 10th place a measly 5). Interestingly, however, the British champion has never managed to finish 1st at the Interlagos track; in fact, he has never had much luck there at all, his 2nd and 3rd places finishes in 2014 and 2009 respectively joined by 4th, 5th, 7th and 9th place finishes and 2 retirements.

So, with Hamilton already the champion what else is there left to play for this season? Well, despite a strong record Nico Rosberg’s hasn’t quite secured the runner’s up medal just yet. Disgruntled after Hamilton’s forced him into making an error during the US Grand Prix, the German responded the best way he could at the first Mexican Grand Prix for 23 years, taking the top spot and ending his teammate’s record-tying hopes in the process. Yet he is only 21 points ahead of the 3rd place Vettel, meaning Rosberg can’t afford to take his foot off the gas in these final 2 races. Luckily for Rosberg he has experience in Sao Paulo, winning the race last season, leaving him at 2/1 fixed odds alongside a Race Index spread of 53-57.

Lurking at the peripheries of the dominant Mercedes duo, and looking to spoil the constructor champion’s party, is Sebastian Vettel. Retirement in Mexico damaged Vettel’s hopes of finishing in 2nd, but with so little in it any slip up from Rosberg may allow the 4-time champion to push past his German countryman in the final 2 races of the season. He goes to Sao Paulo at 9/1, with a Race Index spread of 41-45.

Check our Spreadex for the latest Formula 1 fixed odds and spread-betting opportunities!