It’s been a stellar Formula 1 season to date and the action continues this weekend as the tour heads to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City for the annual Mexican Grand Prix!
As usual, we have a full preview for the race and give our betting tips below.
2019 Mexico Grand Prix Betting Tips
Form
While Lewis Hamilton has had an absolute stranglehold on the F1 season to date, it was his Mercedes teammate who was victorious in Japan a few weeks ago. Valtteri Bottas claimed his third win of the season and climbed onto the podium for the 13th time from 17 races as he edged out Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton for the win.
With the win, Bottas narrowed the gap to his teammate atop the 2019 drivers’ standings; however, with just four races to go in the season, the 64 points lead is all but unassailable for the English star.
Ferrari youngster Charles Leclerc found his way back to earth in Japan after a dominant stretch that saw him finish on the podium in four straight races following the mid-season break. Leclerc finished seventh in Japan, but still holes onto a narrow nine point lead over both Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel, who are currently tied in fourth place with 212 points.
It’s been an extremely trying year for Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who has failed to claim a single podium finish this season and has been forced to retire four times in his first year racing for Team Renault.
The Track
The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City has been the host of every edition of the Mexico Grand Prix since it took over from the Magdalena Mixhuca in 1986. The race itself went through a 11 year hiatus from 1993-2014 in which no race was held, so under the modern generation of Formula 1 drivers, the track is still a fairly new one.
The track sits at just over 4.3km in length and has been described by drivers as a unique race track that provides many overtaking opportunities, which makes a boring race in Mexico a very rare occurrence. The high altitude of the track also increases the difficulty as the thin air makes for less downforce and in turn, less traction.
"The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is another challenge for both teams and drivers given the high altitude of Mexico City. This predominantly tests the power unit, but also affects the cooling systems, as well as the drivers and pit crew. The thin air means less oxygen so it’s physically more challenging for everyone on the ground.
"The layout also has some unique features with the spectacular stadium at turns 13 and 14 which comes alive when full of fans on race day.” – Paddy Lowe (Williams CTO)
Prediction
It’s been an extremely up and down season for Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel so far this year, and easily the worst of his career since joining Red Bull racing back in 2009. He finished 2nd in Japan a few weeks ago, securing just his seventh podium finish of the season.
It’s safe to say that the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez isnt a favourite of the German star. He has raced there in all four of the events since the Mexico GP returned to the F1 circuit in 2015. In those four races, Vettel has finished on the podium just once, while his other three finishes read RET, 5th and 4th.
We think there is great value about the German to miss the podium this weekend.
Vettel Podium Finish - No
$3.25
