Sports Blog 24/03/2015: Race Preview – Malaysian Grand Prix, Sunday 29th March 2015

Hot on the heels of the news that there won’t be a German Grand Prix this season following a change in ownership at the Nurburgring, F1 fans turn their eyes to Asia for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The opening race of the season was a scrappy affair lower down the rankings, with only 11 cars crossing the finishing line. However, the main story, and aftermath, was all about Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg took the top two spots with little issue, causing some rather unhappy faces elsewhere. Red Bull, whose Daniel Ricciardo came 6th in front of his home crowd whilst Daniil Kvyat failed to start, complained about Mercedes’ dominance, something that had very little bearing on Red Bull’s dismal finishes. These cries were echoed by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who said the FIA should have moved to rein in Mercedes’ engine advantage.

Mercedes, for their part, will likely not be too bothered about this toys-out-of-pram situation, and sit at a Constructors’ Season Points spread of 663-683, far above Ferrari on 368-378, Williams on 285-295 and the grumpy Red Bull on 242-252.



Looking ahead to the weekend’s trip to Malaysia, and it is hard to see beyond another Lewis Hamilton victory. Hamilton is oozing with a champion’s swagger, helped by the more-than-competent gloves of Nico Rosberg just behind him. Unsurprisingly Hamilton is favourite at a Race Index spread of 62-66, where a driver is awarded 80-60-50-40-30-25-20-15-10-5 depending on their finishing position, and 1/2 fixed odds to win the race. His Mercedes teammate Rosberg falls just behind him at a Race Index spread of 54-58 and 2/1 fixed odds.

Beyond Mercedes’s magnificent duo, Sebastian Vettel, showing sparks of life following a disappointing 2014 title defence, is at a Race Index of 32-35 and 16/1 fixed odds after he came third in Australia and looks like a genuine contender for the lowest podium. Valtteri Bottas, absent from the first race of the season due to a back injury, is expected to return and is at a Race Index of 30-33 and 25/1 to win. Kimi Raikkonen, who retired in the 40th lap in Oz, is at 27-30; Felipe Massa, 4th in Australia, is at 24-27.

One of the big surprises of the first race was Felipe Nasr, whose 5th place finish was the best ever result for a debuting Brazilian racer, but our traders feel it is unlikely for him to immediately repeat this success at a Race Index spread of only at 7-9. And the 17 year old Max Verstappen showed promise in Oz despite retiring, and is ahead of his fellow debutante at a Race Index spread of 8-11.



Looking beyond just Sunday’s race, Hamilton is unsurprisingly atop the Outright Drivers’ Season Points Index, with a spread of 352-362, whilst Nico Rosberg is at 310-320. Former champion Vettel is then a fair drop below the Mercedes double act at 214-222, followed by Raikkonen on 151-157, Ricciardo on 139-145 and Massa on 132-138. The top ten is rounded out by a set of pointless drivers: Kvyat is on 102-108, Romain Grosjean is on 55-59, Jenson Button on 50-55 and Pastor Maldoando on 46-50.

Make sure to check back on Sunday for Spreadex’s Live Index, as well as all of our other Formula 1 spread betting and fixed odds opportunities: https://sports.spreadex.com/en-GB/spread-betting/Motor-Racing/m129