Formula One / David Croft / 18 July 2008 /

Rain or shine, David Croft believes Lewis Hamilton has the car and the talent to take this weekend's race by storm.

With the momentum that win at Silverstone gave him and following the impressive performance of his Mclaren car here in testing last week, this weekend's German Grand Prix shows all the signs of being another Super Sunday for Lewis Hamilton.

Friday practice after a spin in the wet conditions first thing saw the British driver set the fastest times in both sessions with Felipe Massa trailing him by a massive seven tenths of a second in the afternoon. So with Lewis available at [2.86] for the win, Betfair backers might want to get on their man now. Rain or shine Lewis has the car and the talent to take the race by storm and I can't see that price lengthening.

The forecast for Sunday's race says that showers are likely. To be honest I hope not. Yes we've had some cracking racing in the wet of late, but I want to see how the Mclaren shapes up against Ferrari in dry conditions. The team themselves have been quite bullish about their recent upgrades so for once it will be interesting to see what difference they've made in a normal racing environment.

With the battle for the drivers title so impossibly tight at the half way stage those backing Lewis for the championship will also want to see signs that the [2.72] on offer is a short price worth having. I just have a slight feeling that at present Mclaren do have the edge and that the hard work back at Woking is starting to pay dividends on the track. It's only a hunch and the definitive proof will come in qualifying and then Sunday's race.

Lewis Hamilton is [2.96] to take pole, another short price but the way he destroyed the field in practice today makes that price look attractive. If Mclaren have that edge then looking at the podium market, the [3.15] on offer for Heikki Kovalainen to take a top three finish has a fair amount of value for backers as well.

Meanwhile the race for the points will be equally as tight this weekend. Mark Webber's 10th place finish at Silverstone was the first time in seven races he'd finished out of the points, [1.81] says he'll be back amongst them this weekend. Jenson Button needs a break and if it rains, and that's a big if, he might be worth taking on at [4.2] to finish in the top 8. According to his Honda team when he slid off at Silverstone he was two seconds a lap quicker than team mate Rubens Barichello. The fact that Rubens was ten seconds faster than the rest of the field at the time shows how hard Jenson was pushing, maybe too hard as it turned out, but it still underlines how well he performs when it rains so watch the weather on this one and if it does start to fall [4.2] is a big price.

Finally Kimi Raikkonen has the made the Fastest Lap market his own personal territory so far this season, setting the quickest time in the last six Grand Prix. Should he make it a magnificent seven races in a row on Sunday he'll equal Alberto Ascari's record set back in the 1950's. Incredibly, the Flying Finn is still odds against at [2.28] to set the fastest lap on Sunday and to me the stand out bet for Betfair backers. You don't get points for a fastest lap but Kimi doesn't seem to notice, give him a clear track and watch him fly into the record books.

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