Odds: Bookies back Lewis Hamilton again for European Grand Prix win

It is the third race in a row the McLaren star has been the favourite for the win, with Paddy Power rating his chances of claiming his first victory around the streets of Valencia at 5/2.

A Vettel hat-trick

The form man in Valencia is Sebastian Vettel. The Red Bull ace has won the past two European Grands Prix on his way to the world title. He is available at 7/2 to continue his Valencia streak, while team-mate Mark Webber, who created one of the race's few memorable moments when he flew over the rear of Heikki Kovalainen in 2010, is 12/1.

The eighth man

Aside from Vettel, the only driver in the race with experience of winning the GP in Valencia is Ferrari's Felipe Massa. The Brazilian's form has improved of late and the car has come on too and at 40/1 he's very attractively priced.

The weather forecast is warm, which is great news for the Lotus boys and both Romain Grosjean 12/1 and Kimi Raikkonen, also at 12s, will fancy their chances of finally turning the car's pace into a winning result. But the driver who will really be fancying his chances is Michael Schumacher. Mercedes expects to go well this weekend and at 14/1 he is a very tempting punt.

Home-town hero

Fernando Alonso has arguably been the driver of the season so far, and with the Ferrari now much closer to the pace, he will be going all-out to put on a show in front of his adoring crowd. He is third favourite at 7/1, but if he can qualify strongly, they are good odds.

The rest

Such has been Jenson Button's poor recent form the McLaren man is now a 14/1 shot for victory. Williams's Pastor Maldonado won the last race in Spain and is 50/1 to repeat that, which is a decent each-way tip.