Formula 1 betting: Max Verstappen goes for win No. 13 of 2022 at the U.S. Grand Prix
Oddsmakers do not expect Max Verstappen to have much competition in the United States Grand Prix.
The already-coronated 2022 Formula 1 world champion is at -200 to win Sunday’s race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin (3 p.m. ET, ABC). Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is the No. 2 favorite to win and he’s all the way back at +500. Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton at +800 are the only other drivers with odds better than +1400 to win.
It’s obvious why Verstappen is such a huge favorite ahead of the second race of the season in the United States. Red Bull’s car has been dominant on tracks with long straightaways like COTA. Verstappen blitzed his way through the field at Spa after starting 14th and easily won at Monza after he started seventh.
There’s no reason to think COTA will be any different even though Verstappen already has the title to his name. He clinched the championship in bizarre rain-soaked circumstances at Suzuka on Oct. 9. Verstappen easily won the rain-delayed race from the pole but had to wait to figure out if he was the champion because the race was rain-shortened and Leclerc went off track in the final two corners while defending a move from Perez.
After the FIA made it official that the race was for full points and that Leclerc was penalized for his off-track excursion, Verstappen was the champion.
A win for Verstappen would be his 13th of the season and put him 10 ahead of Perez and Leclerc. Carlos Sainz is the only other driver to win a race so far this season as Mercedes’ Hamilton and George Russell are poised to go winless.
Here are some of our favorite bets ahead of Sunday’s race via BetMGM.
Max Verstappen to win the pole (-120)
The long back straightaway at COTA makes us wary of Ferrari’s chances of winning the pole. Might as well take these odds instead of the lower odds for Verstappen winning the race.
Sergio Perez to finish in the top three (+100)
Perez hasn’t had the same mastery of the Red Bull car that Verstappen has shown but should have a significant advantage over the Mercedes cars. That means he may only really have to beat one of the Ferraris to finish in the top three.
Verstappen to post the race’s fastest lap (+125)
The only real risk here is if he’s too far ahead of the rest of the field to give someone a free late pit stop to chase after the bonus point.
Valtteri Bottas to finish in the top 10 (+160)
This is a bit of a risk, but the combination of odds and Alfa Romeo’s COTA upgrades make us willing to take it. The team is introducing new parts on the car including a redesigned front wing.
Verstappen to win by 10 seconds and have the fastest lap and Red Bull to have the fastest pit stop (+600)
Why not? Let’s get wild. Maybe Ferrari and Leclerc can keep up with Verstappen but we’re not confident about that.
