Will the Spanish Grand Prix blow our minds?

The most exciting Formula One season in recent memory resumes with the Spanish Grand Prix at the weekend, and fans are looking forward to another thrilling race. Valterri Bottas won a maiden victory last time out and has now muscled his way into the Drivers’ Championship battle. It looked like a two-horsed race between teammate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel, but a composed display from the Finn showed he will be a threat.

Vettel leads the way on 86 points, with two wins and two second placed finishes, followed by Hamilton, who has won one Grand Prix and finished second twice. He could only finish fourth in the Russian Grand Prix and had issues with his car, leaving him baffled by its lack of pace.

“Lewis had a difficult weekend in both qualifying and the race,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. “We’ve since been unpickingwhat happened to understand why we couldn't get the car in the right window so he could feel comfortable with it. We must give him the tools he needs to do the job in the next races and that will be a big focus for us. Barcelona will be interesting as our pre-season was not spectacular in Spain. It's a very different track to Sochi and we'll be running with harder tyres. We are taking this season one race at a time. If we deliver the best possible work from Friday onwards, then we’ll be ready to win and fight with Ferrari.”

This lack of pace left Hamilton well off the pace, but Bottas took the fight to Ferrari in his stead and won. 5dimes sports offers odds for constructors and drivers championships, review them here and you will see that there is little to choose between favourites Hamilton and Vettel, and Bottas is back at the +500 mark. Bottas is expected to play second fiddle to Hamilton this season as the Brit is Mercedes’ main man, having twice won the Drivers’ Championship for them and finishing narrowly second to now retired teammate Nico Rosberg last season. Those odds of +500 on Bottas look really attractive given his cool performance in Russia, and he will be quietly confidence going into Barcelona. At those odds you can go each-way and get a third of the odds if he finishes in the top two, which looks a really interesting bet.

It was technical issues with the car rather than driving ability that cost Hamilton the chance of making it three championships in a row last season, when engine failures opened the door for Rosberg.

Ferrari is really competitive this season, and Vettel will be in with a great chance in Spain, but Mercedes have shown theycan beat the Italian team, and now they will have to channel all their focus into ensuring Hamilton is kept happy. The +150 most sportsbooks are offering on him winning the race looks good.

When it comes to futures betting, you can get -110 on Mercedes to win a fourth consecutive Constructors’ Championship.

They are a solitary point ahead of Ferrari in the standings, but that looks a great bet. Ferrari shocked everyone with their early season pace, but Mercedes has been top dog for a while and has now had time to regroup and ensure it stays ahead. Over the course of a season, you would still fancy Mercedes to have the upper hand. Bottas looks like he will secure more points than Kimi Raikonnen, and Hamilton and Vettel are on for an almighty tussle. Vettel has been very consistent and knows how to win Drivers’ Championships, having been dominant for Red Bull a few years ago, so he has been made +130 favourite to win it this season. But Hamilton, the +163 second favourite, has been the dominant force in F1 for the last few years and looks a great bet to win it at those odds.

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