We’ve made it to the end of an historic 22-race Formula 1 season, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claiming his third successive F1 Driver’s Championship, and Red Bull winning their sixth Constructor’s title. Verstappen will aim to extend his own record of most wins in a single season, with the Dutchman currently sitting at 18 victories on the year.
We had a nice little result last week, with Charles Leclerc taking Pole Position (5.80), and our best bet of both Red Bulls making the podium getting up, for a tidy profit of 6.4u. One last chance to make some money on the F1 season at Abu Dhabi!
Las Vegas Grand Prix Review
It was a bit of a horror start for the organisers of the first Las Vegas Grand Prix, and even more so for Carlos Sainz, as the Ferrari driver brought FP1 to an early halt after clipping a man cover and damaging his Ferrari as the drivers tried to acclimate to the new circuit. Sainz was handed a 10-place grid penalty, and the organisers were left red-faced after the crowd were sent packing.
The Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Sainz showed the speed of the Ferrari, going 1-2 in FP2, before George Russell led home an odd top 3 in FP3, with Piastri in 2nd and Logan Sargeant 3rd. Qualifying was dominated by Ferrari, as they led every session on the way to 1st (Leclerc) and 2nd (Sainz) fastest, with Verstappen in 3rd.
The start saw Verstappen take the lead into turn 1, however having ran wide and taken Leclerc off the track, the Dutchman was handed a 5-second penalty, which he ended up taking at his first pitstop. There was a collision once again at turn 1, with several cars involved, which caused a virtual safety car. Then, on lap 4, Lando Norris had a big crash which brought out a full safety car. This helped Perez and Alonso, who stopped after the collision on lap 1.
Leclerc took the lead back on lap 16, with Verstappen pitting straight after being overtaken. Leclerc had the effective race lead after the first stops, with both Perez and Stroll ahead, however both needed a pit stop. Verstappen had another incident on lap 25, this time colliding with George Russell, causing damage to both vehicles. This brought out the safety car once again, helping Sergio Perez one more time! Our 24/1 bet had a chance!
Perez took the lead on lap 32 and looked a great chance at the win. Then, from nowhere, his pace evaporated, and Leclerc took the lead back on lap 35. Then, almost inevitably, Max Verstappen swept by both Perez and Leclerc on lap 37, and it was all over. Verstappen, from Leclerc and Perez.
Grand Prix Preview
Verstappen has dominated at this circuit for the past 3 seasons, so I don’t think there will be any fading Verstappen in the race this weekend. However, I’m going to have another dabble on Leclerc to have another good qualifying session, despite his price continuing to shorten. Leclerc and the Ferrari appear to have terrific speed in qualifying, particularly in these night sessions.
Unfortunately, the teams further down the field that I’d like to be to do well in qualifying (Bottas, Magnussen, Hulkenberg), the bets aren’t available anywhere yet, so I cannot make them an official bet. But as we get closer to qualifying, take a look at these three guys to potentially make it to Q3.
With not a lot else on offer, we will look for Leclerc to have a solid race once again, obviously hoping for him to take Pole Position, a podium should be well on the cards for the Monegasque.
Finally, I’ll take a dip at the two Alpha Tauri drivers to get into the points. Both drivers have shown pace recently, with the track in Las Vegas not really suiting their car. They should be more competitive this weekend, and their prices have bottomed out after the poor race last weekend.
Charles Leclerc (Top 3 finish)
$2.80
Other Bets
Charles Leclerc (Pole Position) - $4.75 at Unibet (1u)
Red Bull (Double Podium) - $2.15 at NEDS (1u)
Daniel Ricciardo (Top 10 finish) – $3.25 at Bet365 (0.5u)
Yuki Tsunoda (Top 10 finish) - $3.50 at Dabble (0.5u)
