Raikkonen the each-way value for improving Lotus

Hungary was a happy hunting ground for Lotus last year and they look to be in good nick coming into this year’s visit to the land of the Magyars, making Kimi Raikkonen the value pick against the peerless Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel.

Lotus arrive in Hungary on the back of a strong performance in Germany, with Raikkonen and teammate Romain Grosjean filling the minor podium places behind Vettel as he won his home race for the first time.

This could be portentous for the manufacturer as their drivers filled the same positions behind Lewis Hamilton at the Hungaroring in 2012.

The Lotus pair are 6/1 and 20/1 to win in Hungary respectively.

Amongst those wheel-warriors still driving Hamilton has the best record at the track with his three wins only surpassed by retired maestro Michael Schumacher.

However, the Englishman’s chances of adding to that tally this year look to be drastically undermined by his Mercedes’ inability to convert fast single lap times in qualifying into consistent race-long pace.

More’s the pity for the Englishman, with the Hungarian circuit somewhat famed for being a track where overtaking opportunities are rarer than positive soundbites about Pirelli tyres.

The Finn posted the best qualifying performance by a Lotus since the Spanish GP at the Nurburgring last time and Grosjean was just one place behind in fifth.

Grosjean actually looked to have a good chance of placing higher than his colleague in Germany, before being order to cede position to Raikkonen for championship points purposes.

However, Grosjean’s F1 career has been plagued by inconsistency and his Nurburgring bronze medal came on the back of 13th and 19th-placed finishes in his previous two races.

As a result Raikkonnen – who has finished on the podium in five of his nine races this season – looks a far more reliable option, both due to his consistency and his elevated position in the Lotus hierarchy.

With each-way terms of 1/5 of the odds for the first three, 6/1 represents a nifty safety net bet for the each-way thieves.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.