By Kyle Cumbers

Well it hasn’t been the best start for my betting tips in 2017 and together with Jolyon Palmer, I will be looking to bounce back this weekend in Barcelona.

So the European season begins in Spain and that means every team will be excited to get their upgrades on the car – well, apart from Sauber.

Red Bull are probably the team everybody is looking forward to seeing as they’ve had a poor start to the season and will be desperate to close the gap to Ferrari and Mercedes. Hopefully Adrian Newey will have worked his magic and we will have a six-car battle at the front.

Here are my bets for this weekend…

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1: The Russian Grand Prix was a very strange weekend for Lewis Hamilton with how far he was off the pace. It seemed he couldn’t get the last sector right and hopefully for him, it was just a setup issue that won’t reappear any time soon. Hamilton has been very good throughout his career at bouncing back from a bad weekend, and I’m backing him to do that this time around and win his second Spanish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton to win the race: 13/8 (Ladbrokes)

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2: When looking at the odds for a podium finish, I was surprised to see how short they were for the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers. The plus side is that every other drivers’ odds are quite high, including Daniel Ricciardo. It is a bit of a risk, but I’m hoping the Red Bull upgrade will get them closer to the front and with a bit of the luck that Daniel has not had so far this year, he could achieve a podium.

Daniel Ricciardo to finish on the podium: 4/1 (SkyBet)

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MORE: Get involved in The NR F1 Podcast Prediction League 

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3: Nico Hulkenberg hasn’t been getting too many headlines this season, but his performances have been pretty strong in a Renault car that seems to have one-lap pace but struggles to reproduce that over a race. His average finishing position so far this year is 10th and therefore, I am going to predict the German will finish in the points.

Nico Hulkenberg to finish in the points: Evens (SkyBet)

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As always, good luck to us all and please remember to bet responsibly.

♦ Kyle Cumbers is a member of the NRF1 Podcast crew. Follow Kyle on Twitter @kcumbers