Formula One: Will Hamilton get back on track to reign in Spain?

Nobody saw it coming, but Lewis Hamilton heads into the fifth round of the season without claiming a single victory so far. What’s worse is that team-mate and title-rival Nico Rosberg has won all four races.

Unsurprisingly we didn’t have any punters fancying Lewis to go winless in the opening four rounds, it was simply so unthinkable given his dominance over the past two seasons with Mercedes, but he heads to Spain floundering 43 points behind Rosberg.

Hamilton is now the outsider for this year’s championship at 6/4, with Rosberg 8/11 favourite, but the reigning champion’s odds will tumble rapidly if he takes the chequered flag in Spain.

The Mercedes boys have dominated the Barcelona event over the last two years, with their drivers taking one pole position and one victory apiece.

As such, there’s little surprise to see Rosberg at 11/10 for the win, with Hamilton right there at 6/5.

We’re still yet to see a clear picture of how Ferrari fare over a clean race weekend, but the Italian squad are expected to bring another batch of revisions and improvements.

First-lap collisions and reliability woes have hampered Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, but there’s little doubt they’re pushing Mercedes hard when running cleanly.

Vettel is 7/1 for a first non-Mercedes win since September last year, while Raikkonen is 20/1 for a third success at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Red Bull have been making headlines this week, dropping Daniil Kvyat into the Torro Rosso squad and bringing Max Verstappen into the senior team, following the Russian’s error-strewn race in his home event last time out.

Verstappen will be under major scrutiny this weekend, but it’s team-leader and three-time race winner Daniel Ricciardo who could be a thorn in the side for the leaders.

Widely regarded as one of the best cars on the grid, this year’s Red Bull RB12 could suit the aerodynamically-friendly Barcelona marvellously.

Australian Ricciardo is well-worth backing E/W for the fastest qualifying time at 50/1, while race winner odds of 33/1 and a podium at 7/2 can’t be ignored.

And as for the men from McLaren, they too are bringing a raft of updates to Spain, and following a solid result in Russia – double points finish – backing Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso again to be in the top 10 come Sunday afternoon at around evens is worth consideration.

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