Australian GP: Who Is The Favourite?

Indications towards who is the favourite to win the opening race of the season are always unsurprisingly difficult to determine considering an unrealistic two weeks of testing is the only barometer.

The bookies place World Champion as the favourite to win the race, followed by Vettel, Verstappen and Bottas.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo has been placed the fourth favourite by the bookies.

This is in complete contrast to what Hamilton said in the press conference this morning who predicts Ricciardo will please home fans.

Lewis said: “Daniel has been smiling quite a lot today so I think you are going to be surprised this weekend with just how competitive Red Bull are.

“There is a lot of hype around our team, which I think is very difficult to take much notice of as the last test was a little distorted with the track the way it was and people on different fuel loads.

“I am excited to see how we all fare up when we get to practice.”

Mercedes have been questioned on hiding some speed during pre-season testing but claim they themselves don’t know how good their car is.

Bottas said: “In Barcelona, it felt better, but I hear everyone had a positive feeling about their new cars also because of the new (asphalt) that gave more grip than before so that made all cars feel nicer and may have hidden some issues.

“So we’re going into this weekend very open-minded in terms of what set-up directions we need to go and that we might face issues with the car that we didn’t face in Barcelona.

“It’s too early to say if it’s a winner or not.”

Ferrari will also be pushing to claim number one spot whilst Vettel will be hoping he can follow up his race win in Melbourne last year with another.