MorrisF1

  Just as well I didn’t back Perez or Sainz given how things played out. An entertaining qualifying leads to a mixed up grid, but I will have a book on hand for the race itself. Q1 was notable for Perez crashing and bringing out a red flag. Rather odd, as he was simply attempting a corner with a superabundance of speed, and clobbered it. So he shall start last, as track revolution reduced his pretty good time (when set) to slowest of all. Rather less surprising were the departures of the Haas chaps, Logan Sargeant, and Zhou Guanyu. And so to Q2 with Verstappen looking strong but the Ferraris and perhaps Alonso also in contention. Interestingly every eliminated car in this session was from a different team, with Piastri just losing out, ahead of De Vries, Albon, Stroll, and Bottas. Verstappen’s first run in Q3 was surprisingly lacklustre and enabled Alonso to be on course for his first pole since the Cretaceous. He even improved on his second run, but Verstappen found a huge lump of...

  Ah, Monaco. My least favourite circuit on the calendar, when commentators gush about heritage on a circuit that’s slow and almost impossible to overtake on. Qualifying, however, can be quite entertaining, and if there’s rain (not checked the forecast just yet) that can help. In first practice a surprise trio of Sainz, Alonso, and Hamilton led the way, with Perez, Leclerc, and Verstappen in positions 4-6 (suspect those chaps might be top 3 come showtime). Norris, Ocon, Stroll, and Albon rounded out the top 10. Second practice had Verstappen leading both Ferraris narrowly (Lecerc ahead of Sainz) with Alonso, Norris, Hamilton and then Perez following. The Mexican will need to up his game for qualifying, although street circuits are his bag so one might expect that. Bottas, Gasly and Ocon completed the upper half of the time sheet. For reasons of time I’m posting this ahead of third practice, which runs from half 11 (qualifying itself is at 3pm). The weather is expected to be dry. Pe...

  Ligue 1 Nothing caught my eye this time around. Serie A I’ve backed Empoli to win away at Verona at 5.4 . The away side has had some decent results of late including a 4-1 win over Juventus and have a significantly better recent form than Verona, who are 12 points beneath them in the table. The counter argument is that Empoli are good at ties but not wins away so you may prefer the option of laying Verona, but I’ve gone for the away win. Morris Dancer

  EPL I’ve backed Bournemouth to win away at Everton at 7.5 . (NB this is boosted at Ladbrokes). At the time of writing, Bournemouth are six points higher in the table, and while their recent results have been poor these included matches against Manchester United and Chelsea. Looking over the last five matches, they’ve scored six points to Everton’s five. In addition, Everton have a weak home record and Bournemouth are reasonable away from home. Put it all together and while Everton should be favourites, the odds feel too long to me. Morris Dancer

For anyone wondering, I did check the markets this time last week but nothing at all caught my eye, hence no bets. EPL I’ve backed Wolves to win at home versus Everton at 2.82 . Wolves have had some good home performances lately, including wins over Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Brentford, and Aston Villa (home games April-May to date). Everton, to be fair, have had some good away matches of late but I think home advantage makes the odds worth backing. Ligue 1 and Serie A Nothing caught my eye this time around. (Was tempted by Napoli around 3 at home versus Inter Milan so consider that if you have a free bet, but Inter have had some strong results recently while Napoli have gone a bit wobbly). Morris Dancer

Not for the first time this season, I got a splendid slice of luck that meant the 9.5 on Perez (each way) to top qualifying came off. I’m sure things will balance out later on, but so far this year’s been rather fortunate. The track has been tricky due to lack of grip and qualifying was made worse with gusty winds. That said, there was no surprise to see local lad Sargeant propping up the time sheet. Sadly, not a real shock to see Norris and Piastri exit in Q1, nor Tsunoda. However, it was surprising that Aston Martin’s Stroll failed to progress. They tried to make it through without using more tyres and paid the price. Q2 also had a shock departure in the form of Hamilton, who qualified a measly 13 th . Not great but the poor form had been present in Q1. Albon was the fastest eliminated chap, followed by Hulkenberg, with Zhou Guanyu and De Vries completing the set. And so to Q3 which looked to me like a Verstappen pole with a close Perez-Ferrari fight behind him. The gusty wi...

Well, it wasn’t mentioned here previously and I don’t know if I’d back it now but I did put a little on Perez for ‘winning’ qualifying at 6.5 each way (Ladbrokes, boosted). First practice had a surprise with the Mercedes topping the table, Russell two-tenths ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc was a further tenth back, a similar gap to Verstappen and then Sainz. Gasly was next but nearly a second off the ultimate pace. Alonso, Stroll, Hulkenberg, and Ocon rounded out the top 10, with Perez in 11 th . Come second practice, Verstappen was ahead by some way, over a third of a second ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, and Perez. There was a bit of a gap from the Mexican to Alonso, who was followed by Norris, Hamilton and Stroll, with Albon and Gasly completing the upper half of the time sheet. If you’re inclined to believe Perez is in with a shot he’s out to 9 on Ladbrokes, without boost. At the moment, that may be value. It seems from FP2 that perhaps we’re looking at Red Bull versus Ferrari. If...

  EPL Backed Bournemouth to win at home versus Chelsea at 4.5 . In the table, they’re on identical points, but worth noting Chelsea are two games behind. Bournemouth has much better recent form with one loss and four wins in the last five, while Chelsea have four losses and one draw. Bournemouth also benefit from home advantage. Both have pretty standard home/away form respectively. Ligue1 and Serie A Nothing tickled my fancy in the French and Italian top flights this time round. Morris Dancer