After dominating the 2022 season, Max Verstappen will be looking to get his pursuit of a third straight F1 championship off to a winning start in this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Can he do what he failed last year and win at the Sakhir Circuit, or will Ferrari throw an early spanner in the world champion’s works? Let’s take a look at our Formula 1 betting picks.
In 2022 Charles Leclerc was the winner and also claimed the pole position. Leclerc led a Ferrari 1-2 on the day, with Carlos Sainz finishing second, and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton was third. It was a bad day for Red Bull, as their drivers retired late in the race. But any title aspirations the opening-day win gave to Leclerc were soon dashed as Verstappen won the next race in Saudi Arabia.
So what will happen this year? Will Max Verstappen get his season off to a flying start? Well, the best Formula 1 betting sites seem to think he will, as the double world champion leads the betting to win the first race of the new season.
With just three days of testing to judge the drivers, Max Verstappen is odds on to win the Bahrain Grand Prix. The two times champion is just -120 to win the opening race of the season.
In what looks like a repeat of last season’s race betting markets, Verstappen is followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at +350. Behind the two leading contenders is Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz (+800), Lewis Hamilton (+850), and Sergio Perez (+850).
Making up the remainder of the leading contenders is George Russell at +1600, and he is followed by resurgent Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso at +2000 and Lance Stroll at +25000. Our odds table below contains information from the best F1 Las Vegas betting sites.
| Formula 1; 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix Betting |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Verstappen | -120 | -125 | -120 |
| Charles Leclerc | +400 | +350 | +350 |
| Carlos Sainz | +800 | +800 | +800 |
| Lewis Hamilton | +850 | +850 | +850 |
| Sergio Perez | +850 | +850 | +800 |
| George Russell | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
| Fernando Alonso | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Lance Stroll | +10000 | +15000 | +15000 |
| Lando Norris | +25000 | +20000 | +20000 |
| Valtteri Bottas | +25000 | +25000 | +25000 |
The latest betting odds suggest that the best-rated sportsbooks believe the early season will be a two-way fight between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Pre-season testing didn’t suggest that the status quo will change much, and although it isn’t much to go on, it’s all we have at the moment.
The big question is, can Ferrari up their game in 2023? Fred Vasseur has been brought in as the new team principal. The former Alfa Romeo boss replaces the outgoing Mattia Binotto and will be charged with improving the team’s performance in 2023.
And in fairness to the new team boss, he has plenty to work with. It’s widely regarded that the legendary Italian giants underperformed last year, so if Vasseur can get the team firing, we could be in for an entertaining battle this season.
Elsewhere and the big surprise in last week’s testing was the performance of Aston Martin. With new addition Fernando Alonso now driving alongside Lance Stroll, the Silverstone-based team performed better than Mercedes. But keeping up that level of performance across a whole season could prove difficult.
The Aston Martin team could give Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team a few headaches early in the season. Hamilton hoped to have a car competing with Red Bull and Ferrari this year. But the early indications are that the seven-times world champion and his teammate George Russell are more likely to be trying to see off the challenge from Aston Martin.
With just pre-season testing to go by, the race winner betting is dominated by Red Bull and Ferrari. The Vegas betting sites expect one of Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc to win, and it’s easy to see why. But Max Verstappen has never won here, and the last time his Red Bull team did was back in 2013.
But the facts are that the two Red Bulls were the fastest cars on this circuit last week. Verstappen was quickest on Day 1 and second fastest on Day 2. At the same time, Perez led the way with the fastest time on the third and final day.
This means it’s all a bit route one and obvious. But as things stand, we can only go with another win for Max Verstappen.
But if you want to look elsewhere for better Las Vegas odds and better value F1 picks, we’ve found a couple more. As we’ve already mentioned, Aston Martin looked good in pre-season testing. So we think that Fernando Alonso finishing on the podium at +250 with Bovada is worth a go. Please check out our Bovada sportsbook review for more details on this top Vegas betting site.
And finally, Sergio Perez is +700 to have the fastest lap of the day. If Red Bull does dominate as we believe they will, that could be a great pick in what could end up being a two-way battle.
