United States Grand Prix Betting Tips & Preview – Sunday 22nd October 2017

Lewis Hamilton heads to the United States Grand Prix this weekend knowing that he’s in line to wrap up the title. The problems at Ferrari have basically ended Sebastian Vettel’s hopes of toppling Hamilton and they’ve struggled so much that the British driver could take the Drivers’ Championship this weekend if the final result goes in his favour.

Hamilton needs a 16 point advantage over Vettel this week in order to wrap up the title well ahead of schedule. Given how Vettel has been performing, there’s a real chance that will happen. Will we see Ferrari stage a late attempt to delay Hamilton’s return to the top, or will Mercedes wrap things up and potentially set the stage for another 1-2 finish in a season which at one stage had threatened to end their dominance?

Tips and Predictions

Obviously Lewis Hamilton heads in to this race as the favourite. Given what is on the line for the Championship leader, it’s hard to see anyone else being favoured over him. The biggest challenger for Hamilton in recent weeks has been his fellow Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas. It would be quite a shock if he was the one to take maximum points at this race, as that could prevent Hamilton from winning the title. His team aren’t likely to stand for that, they’d much prefer a 1-2 finish, with the Brit taking top spot on the podium, and possibly another world title.

The conclusion of the title race really comes down to Vettel at this point. If his struggles continue, then the title will be handed over this weekend. He needs to finish sixth or lower if Hamilton wins, which guarantees a fourth crown for the Mercedes driver. There’s little that we can see going wrong for Hamilton in this race, he has no real competition in F1 right now. Having been in excellent form since the end of the summer break, the rest of the field just can’t seem to keep up. After all, Hamilton has 118 points from a possible 125 across his last five races. We expect him to take maximum points yet again, so we’re backing him to win on Sunday at 17/20 with Coral.

Past Winners

• 2016 - Lewis Hamilton won, with Nico Rosberg second
• 2015 - Lewis Hamilton won, with Nico Rosberg second
• 2014 - Lewis Hamilton won, with Nico Rosberg second
• 2013 - Sebastian Vettel won, with Romain Grosjean second
• 2012 - Lewis Hamilton won, with Sebastian Vettel second

Other Bets and Odds

While we don’t see Bottas being the one to ruin Hamilton’s big day, expect Mercedes to be pushing the Finn from this weekend onwards. He could have a major role to play in the final three races, just as Nico Rosberg did in 2015. Mercedes have the chance to pip Ferrari and Vettel to second if Bottas does well, so we’re backing him to secure a top three finish this weekend at 5/6 with Bet365.