F1 Tips: Canadian Grand Prix best bets including a Hamilton pick

Canadian Grand Prix Tips:

Outright Betting – Lewis Hamilton (E/W)
Points Finish – Zhou Guanyu

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change

It looks nailed on that Max Verstapen is going to win his third world drivers’ championship. I might as well get the congratulations out the way now. Well done, Max.

A simply dominant performance from the Dutchman in the Spanish Grand Prix – following up his simple Monaco victory – extended his lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to 53 points and any notion of a title battle between the pair has been put to bed.

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To make matters worse for Perez, he might have to start looking in his rear-view mirrors as Mercedes look like they are back in the game after Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished on the podium in Spain to lift the Silver Arrows above Aston Martin into second in the constructors’ championship.

The Formula 1 circus makes its way to North America for the second time this season for the Canadian Grand Prix before heading back to Europe for the final stretch ahead of the summer break. I’ve taken a look at Paddy Power’s odds and picked out a couple of bets for the weekend.

Canadian Grand Prix
Qualifying: Saturday 9pm
Race: Sunday 7pm
TV: Sky Sports Main Event/Sky Sports F1

Outright Betting – Lewis Hamilton (E/W)

Sure, Lewis Hamilton finished 24 seconds behind Max Verstappen in Spain but it was a superb drive from the seven-time world champion and a double podium for Mercedes indicates that their new concept is bang on the money.

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has traditionally been a strong track for the Brit as he is the joint-most successful driver in Canadian Grand Prix history with an incredible seven victories as well as two more podium finishes including third place last year.

Qualifying has not been a strong point for Hamilton – or team-mate George Russell – this term as his average grid position has been seventh, but the lack of one-lap speed should be less of an issue in Canada because of the overtaking opportunities and Mercedes’ stronger pace on a Sunday.

I’m not expecting Hamilton to beat Red Bull rival Verstappen, but you can never rule out a mechanical issue and he looks a cracking price to finish second and return a profit on an each-way punt.

Points Finish – Zhou Guanyu

Zhou Guanyu is an eye-catching price to drive into the points for the second race in a row.

The Alfa Romeo driver was superb at the Spanish Grand Prix a fortnight ago to take ninth place – his second top-10 finish of the season – and he is already two-thirds of the way to matching last year’s points total.

An eighth-place finish at the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix represents Zhou’s best-ever result in Formula 1 and – if luck is on his side – then he should be in contention to score points at this track once again.