Azerbaijan GP tips: Will Hamilton secure his first win of the year?

Azerbaijan hosts round four of the 2018 Formula One season, with reigning champion Lewis Hamilton still seeking his first win of the campaign.

The Mercedes star should have won the opening round in Australia, but has been somewhat off the pace since then.

However, his German team have been massively quick on F1’s previous two visits to the Baku street track, and Hamilton is 5/4 favourite to grab victory.

Sebastian Vettel currently leads the driver’s standings, and the German is 13/8 for the race win after a difficult race last time out in China.

Next up is Shanghai winner Daniel Ricciardo, but the Aussie could struggle this weekend. Baku’s long straights are likely to punish Red Bull’s efforts this weekend.

There’s 15/2 about Ricciardo to win in Azerbaijan for the second year in succession, with his team-mate Max Verstappen out at 9/1.

The Dutchman is feeling the heat after tipping Vettel into a spin in China, plus he made contact with Hamilton in Bahrain.

Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas has narrowly missed out on the win in the last two races. The Finnish driver is 8/1 to come home first on Sunday, with compatriot Kimi Raikkonen 16/1.

Further back, the Williams team will be hoping to claim their first points of the season, at the venue of their only podium finish in 2017.

The Grove-based squad have struggled so far, but their Mercedes power plant could push them further up this weekend along Baku’s lengthy straights.

There’s 8/1 apiece for Lance Stroll or Sergey Sirotkin to finish in the top 10.

Conversely, this could be a long weekend for Fernando Alonso and McLaren.

Though the Woking-based outfit have racked up solid points this season, but they’ve frequently been the slowest cars in a straight line.

There’s 7/4 about Stoffel Vandoorne not be classified on Sunday, with 5/2 saying Alonso fails to record a finish for the first time this season.

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