Formula One: Back Lewis Hamilton to win in China from pole position

"It is clearly a track which suits both Hamilton and Mercedes – Lewis has won here twice and finished on the podium in each of the past three seasons, whilst Nico Rosberg won his and the team’s first race here last year from pole position."

Lewis Hamilton has secured his first pole position in a Mercedes and looks to have a great chance in Shanghai, says James Frankland... 

His motivation and reasons for moving from McLaren to Mercedes have been debated at length since Lewis Hamilton announced he was to join the Silver Arrows this season, but in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix Hamilton secured pole position to underline the improvement Mercedes has made this year.

It is clearly a track which suits both Hamilton and Mercedes - Lewis has won here twice and finished on the podium in each of the past three seasons, whilst Nico Rosberg won his and the team's first race here last year from pole position. Hamilton is therefore well-placed to repeat the trick and his odds of victory at 3.259/4 offer better value than they might if Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso were occupying pole position. If you're predicting a weekend of Hamilton domination, back him at 5.59/2 to take the win from pole position and set fastest lap on the way.

Alongside Lewis is Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, who didn't look especially fast throughout qualifying but banged in a time when it mattered most, just over a quarter of a second behind the Mercedes and marginally ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, with Rosberg fourth in the other Mercedes. Raikkonen 4.57/2 will be hoping to repeat his Melbourne trick of stopping one less time than his rivals and if he can achieve it, ought to be a strong contender for victory. You can also never discount Alonso - his Ferrari has looked quick all weekend, evidenced by Felipe Massa being right up there in the standings also - and offers a chance of a good return at 4.77/2 for victory in Shanghai on Sunday.

Red Bull opted for a contrary strategy with Sebastian Vettel, qualifying ninth on the medium tyres. They will hope this will pay off later in the race, by running longer than their soft tyre-shod rivals and switching onto the faster rubber late in the race, hoping to pick off any places in the process. It's risky, but ought to give Vettel a decent chance of a podium finish and he's worth backing at 1.9110/11. If you're feeling really brave then he's available at 6.86/1 for the win.

Check back later before deciding where to put your money in relation to Mark Webber, for the Aussie has yet to hear if he will start from the back of the grid after running out of fuel in second qualifying. In 2011 Mark went from 18th to third so if he ends up last, it's not beyond the realms of possibility he could snare a top six finish. At the moment his odds of 1.51/2 are based on his starting position of 14th, but will improve if, as seems likely, he'll be demoted for his fuel irregularity.

Paul di Resta should also be considered for a points finish at 1.738/11 - the Scotsman starts 11th with a free choice of tyres and, whichever strategy he chooses, needs to only make up one place in order to secure a point come the end of the race. He will probably be eyeing the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo, which qualified seventh but could fall backwards on race day.

Recommended Bets

Lewis Hamilton to win 3.259/4
Sebastian Vettel to finish on the podium 1.9110/11
Paul di Resta to finish in the points 1.738/11

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Darts World Matchplay 2011 Tips: Lewis and Wade to go the distance

Darts / Alex Lee / 23 July 2011 / Leave a Comment

James Wade is set for a long night ahead of him against Adrian Lewis

"The only sure-fire bet in this fixture is a back of ‘overs’ in the total legs market. Wait until there’s sufficient liquidity and bet with confidence. This one will go the distance, mark my words."

Alex Lee looks back at last night's action and ahead to tonight's two semi-finals, where the very evenly matched pair of James Wade and Adrian Lewis resume hostilities in their ongoing rivalry.

Too much sports journalism is ruined by hyperbole these days, with writers getting all hot under the collar to misguidedly celebrate minor achievements. Two of last night's quarter-finals, however, were worthy of every superlative going. Andy Hamilton's turnaround against Simon Whitlock from 8-15 down to 17-15 was, in the words of Sid Waddell, the biggest comeback since Lazarus, while Phil Taylor's unbelievable dismantling of Newton from 1-4 down to 16-5, was borderline miraculous.

Tonight's semis see Taylor take on Hamilton and Adrian Lewis face James Wade in gruelling best-of-33 legs matches. While Hamilton has played the board like a Stradivarius in his relentless crushing of non-English opposition, he'll meet his match in fellow 'Stokie' The Power.

The romantics willing to part with their cash to back The Hammer are doing so because of the attractive odds and his last three enthralling performances, rather than seeing the big picture - which comes in the shape of a billboard-sized animated 3D movie poster of Phil Taylor. By all means stick a few notes on The Hammer to outscore Taylor on the 180s or to get the highest checkout for decent odds-against punts. But a big back of The Power has to be in order here as last night saw him roar back to the peak of his game.

The second semi, between Lewis and Wade, will be an altogether tighter affair. Neither fellow likes to hang around at the oche, so the speed freaks will be more than satisfied. Similarly, the maximums will be flying in like wasps around jam, so take a close look at the total 180s market here and pile in. As for the winner of this match, simply lay the favourite and trade out in-running as there'll be more twists and turns than my old Scalextric.

The only sure-fire bet in this fixture is a back of 'overs' in the total legs market. Wait until there's sufficient liquidity and bet with confidence. This one will go the distance, mark my words.

Recommendations:

Back Taylor to beat Hamilton @ [1.05]
Back +25.5 legs in the Lewis v Wade match @ [2.1]

We've seen some sensational darts since Saturday, but expect the real top class stuff to start this afternoon in the quarter finals. The best of 31 legs format will test the players' stamina and concentration levels as much as their...

Alex Lee selects his best Wednesday night bets as the second round gets underway at the World Matchplay Darts......

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Lewis Hamilton wins thrilling Chinese Grand Prix

Formula One / Maxliu / 17 April 2011 / Leave a Comment

Lewis is 3.9 to win the Drivers' Championship

"Hamilton drew on every ounce of his ability and intelligence to secure a dramatic victory which leaves him trading at [3.9] to win a second Championship of his career."

World Champion is denied hat-trick of wins by stunning late effort from British driver. Meanwhile, Webber overtakes Button to land unlikely podium...

Lewis Hamilton is only 18 points behind Sebastien Vettel in the Drivers' Championship after he overcame the German to win the Chinese Grand Prix with a late charge.

Hamilton drew on every ounce of his ability and intelligence to secure a dramatic victory which leaves him trading at [3.9] to win a second Championship of his career. He described the win as, "one of the best races I've experienced," and spoke of how he had tried to pick up pace while nursing his tires.

Indeed, the British driver who made three stops, one more than Vettel, used his fresh tyres to work his way up the field and over take the leader with four laps remaining.

Behind Vettel, Jenson Button was denied a podium place by Mark Webber who put in an astonishing drive to finish in third, having start the race in 18th.

Vettel, who has started the 2011 season with two victories and a second place finish, remains Championship favourite at [1.83] but Hamlton's victory certainly shakes things up at the top of the table. Punters will eagerly await the next Grand Prix, which takes place in Turkey on May 8.

The World Champion starts at the front of the grid but could a late charge from a British driver set up a surprise victory? James Frankland selects the bets ahead of Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix....

He may have won the first two races of the season, but Sebastien Vettel knows that if his team don't iron out their manufacturing issues, there could be trouble ahead. Ralph Ellis reports....

Sebastian Vetterl is once again in pole position but he will have Lewis Hamilton breathing down his neck ina race that will most likely be run in tough and wet conditions. Let's hear what James Frankland makes of it all....

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Formula One: Ecclestone wants rain but Lewis faces pain

Formula One / Ralph Ellis / 02 March 2011 / Leave a Comment

Is Hamilton being overly optimistic?

"Hamilton talked of McLaren closing the gap, there's a real danger that Red Bull will start the season with a run of victories which will make them too hard to catch... "

Bernie Ecclestone's latest idea may be a short-lived gimmick but Ralph Ellis fears that Lewis Hamilton could face more enduring problems with his new car...

Clearly Bernie Ecclestone has got his months muddled up. Yesterday was March 1 and he obviously felt it was April. I can't see any other reason behind his latest idea for trying to make Formula One more interesting.

Bernie was perhaps thinking out loud while he was watching Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton show off McLaren's new road car on a sleety track in Surrey. But the man with the marketing brains behind modern Grand Prix racing is suggesting having sprinklers to produce artificial rain in the middle of races.

"We always have exciting races in the rain, so let's think of making it rain," he suggested. "You could have a 20 minute spell in the middle of the race, or near the end with 10 laps to go. It would guarantee suspense."

Yes, Bernie, but so would putting Ashley Cole on one of the bends with his air rifle to see how many of the cars he could hit - or having a Ford Sierra towing a caravan round the track at the same time as everybody else was racing.

Arguably the only people who would welcome Bernie's hair-brained scheme would be the McLaren team because Hamilton is almost always the best bet when real rain affects a race. It seems to bring out his natural flair for driving - last year's triumph at the Belgian Grand Prix was an absolute master class in dealing with difficult conditions.

Hamilton certainly needs something. He's [6.6] third favourite for this year's drivers' championship, but the signs are that's far too short and a good opportunity to lay. While his McLaren masters were very proudly showing off their new road toy, the latest model for the track appears to be way off the pace. Meanwhile, the new Red Bull to be driven by reigning champion Sebastian Vettel has performed superbly in testing to make the German the [3.8] favourite to retain his title.

More worrying for Hamilton is that on the tests so far, it is not only Red Bull who are quicker, and not even just the traditional powerhouse of Ferrari either (Fernando Alonso is [3.85] second favourite). The early reports suggest that if a race were held tomorrow then Toro Rosso, Williams, Renault and even the new boys of Force India would be in front of him, with Mercedes probably neck and neck.

Hamilton was driving reporters around and admitted himself that mechanical issues on the F1 car had limited them to only 38 laps on one of their testing days. And while he optimistically talked of them being able to close the gap, there's a real danger that Red Bull will start the season with a run of victories which will make them too hard to catch - even if they did put the sprinklers on.

Five things you might not know about McLaren's new super car the MP4-12C

1. The core structure is built from magnesium, which is 50% lighter than steel
2. It has a 3.8 litre twin turbocharged engine, producing a top speed of 205mph and accelerating from 0-62 in 3.1 seconds
3. Despite all that power it's comparatively economical. If you can afford to buy it in the first place you might not be bothered, but it delivers 24.2mpg
4. The radiator for cooling the engine is set at the rear of the car
5. McLaren aim to manufacture 1,500 of them annually by 2012. To raise the £168,500 on the road price you could always try staking £12,000 on Jenson Button for the drivers' championship at his current price of [15.0]!

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