Features

Valencia gears up for classic race

Author: Sir David Smith
Date: 26/06/2010
Formula One betting

British pair Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will be looking for a third-straight McLaren-Mercedes one-two in Valencia after two consecutive, superb performances in Montreal and Istanbul.

Should Button finish second behind Hamilton again they would go one better than Button and Rubens Barrichello last year, when the then Brawn-Mercedes pair came first and second in consecutive races in Barcelona and Monaco, and would go some way to proving that they are creating the kind of dynasty last seen in the early 2000s at Ferrari with Barrichello and Michael Schumacher.

Not that Button will be letting his compatriot finish above him without a fight, after seeing the 2008 champion overtake him in the drivers' championship, where Hamilton now leads Button by three points.

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Lurking six points behind Hamilton is Mark Webber, who finished fifth in the Canadian Grand Prix, his lowest placing for almost two months, since coming eighth in China.

His Red Bull team will also be closely watching the gap in the standings as they have fallen 22 points behind McLaren in the constructors' championship.

Felipe Massa will be hoping to come back into contention for the drivers' championship as he returns to one of his favourite venues for the European Grand Prix.

The Brazilian hasn't spent time on the podium since a third place finish in Australia, which followed second place in the opening race in Bahrain, and was way out of the points in 15th place in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Despite that poor recent record Massa will be given a boost by the continued staging of the European Grand Prix in Valencia, where he won in 2008, and where he and Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso - who was an encouraging third in Canada - will get bumper support from the Spanish crowd.

Also pleased with the venue, a street circuit, will be Red Bull and their drivers, Webber and sportsbook favourite Sebastian Vettel, who achieved their second one-two of the season in Monaco, the only street race so far this season.

After two average races there in the past two seasons, including last year when Barrichello's ultimately successful battle with Hamilton for first place was the only real drama outside of the pit lane, the organisers will be hoping for some excitement on a track which doesn't offer many overtaking opportunities but which has been given a lucrative, seven-year contract with Formula One.

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