(ANSA) - ROME, 02 DEC - A new, unprecedented, very long and fast track where Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will play a huge slice of the title. Formula 1 arrives in Jeddah for the first edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the season, and does so with the two contenders for the World Championship divided by only 8 points. The world champion in charge, after two consecutive successes, is the great favorite also on the Middle Eastern track so much so that the SisalMatchpoint experts see Lewis Hamilton first under the ascacchi flag at 1.50. The Mercedes phenomenon is hunting for duerecord, both Michael Schumacher: the first is to win the eighth world title, detaching the German, and then triumph for the fifth time in a row, a feat which has so far only been achieved at the Kaiser.
Obviously Max Verstappen, leader of the world classification, has very different ideas, who wants to give the first world crown. The Dutchman of Red Bull has, in Saudi Arabia, the first matchball of the season: if in fact the orange arrow were to win 18 points more than Hamilton he could celebrate with a grand prize in advance. Not an easy feat given the form of the British but SuperMax goes straight on his way so much so that his success, on the very fast Arab track, is given at 3.00. The rest of the group, as happened throughout the season, will appear hoping that one of the two will make a mistake to try to fit in. The Ferraris, which have shown good reliability in recent races but are always very far from the positions capable of competing for the win,they will look for a miracle on the Jeddah track. Charles Leclerc reaches fifth place in the standings currently occupied by Lando Norris but desperately wants his third career win: a dream that would pay 66 times the stakes. The other driver in Red, Carlos Sainz, is credited at the same rate, but has yet to get on the podium for the first time. (HANDLE).