Hamilton clear favourite after Canada win

LEWIS HAMILTON'S victory in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix created history as he became the seventh different winner of the season's seven races and it's 9-2 that the sequence continues at Valencia on Sunday week.

The McLaren ace, who went off at 4-1, returned to the top of the standings as his team for once got their strategy right while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso couldn't make a one-stop plan work and dropped down the field to fifth in the final few laps.

Hamilton is clear 13-8 title favourite now with Alonso, just two points behind, 3-1 alongside champion Sebastian Vettel.

There is still scope for an eighth new winner in the European Grand Prix with Kimi Raikkonen, fourth favourite for the title and sixth in the table, still to get off the mark, while Sunday's podium finishers Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez are also yet to win and Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher are driving for teams that have won already.

The first four in the betting for Valencia are all looking to become the season's first multiple winner, though, with Hamilton 3-1 and Alonso and Vettel 9-2 shots.

It wasn't all smiles in the McLaren camp after their Montreal victory, however, as Jenson Button, quoted as short as 7-4 for the title after winning the opener, finished out of the points again and is out to 25-1.