F1 2023 tips: Outright best bets and predictions for Formula 1 season
F1 betting tips: 2023 season
4pts 1+ driver not to be classified in each race at 6/4 (Sky Bet)
1pt George Russell to win the Drivers' Championship (without Max Verstappen) at 10/1 (William Hill)
It's no surprise that Red Bull come into the 2023 season as clear favourites to secure the two titles on offer. Max Verstappen is odds-on to make it three championships in a row while his team also clear the rest of the field in the Constructors' betting.
They were the dominate team last season and looked top of the pile again throughout testing. Verstappen is confident. The team are confident. They have every reason to be confident.
The problem is, with odds of 8/13 available with multiple bookmakers, it's just not interesting enough to back a Verstappen championship over a 23-race season.
Just how capable Ferrari and Mercedes are to competing with the dominant Red Bull remains to be seen, but the latter will take the positives from their testing coming out much better than it did this time last year.
There's still a way to go in catching up to last season's champions, particularly in the early stages of the season, but GEORGE RUSSELL TO WIN THE DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP (WITHOUT MAX VERSTAPPEN) provides appeal with a drift in the odds following last weekend in Bahrain.
He's a best price of 16s to win the title outright, but with Verstappen likely taking top spot again, you're getting much better prices backing him in this market rather than taking each-way odds on second place.
The showings in a poor car last season give us huge confidence that this could be a great season for Russell.
Mercedes' porpoising issues have been solved at least, with Lewis Hamilton revealing "the bouncing that we had has pretty much gone" following their testing sessions.
That's not to say that fixing that one problem, albeit a big one, will suddenly make them a serious contender again, but we can't confidently claim that Ferrari will be ahead of them at this point, particularly with reliability issues and strategic decisions ever present in 2022.
Hamilton should enjoy a bounce back season (without the bouncing), but Russell outperformed his team mate during that turbulent campaign. He was the source of consistency throughout.
Russell returned top-five finishes in the first nine races of 2022, with his season highlight coming with victory in Brazil. That was also his eighth podium, hardly something to dance about given Mercedes' history but we have to remember their issues.
It seems clear that Verstappen will finish top once again, but the prices available on RUSSELL to be his closest challenger look a bit too big.
One other bet for the season caught my eye when browsing Sky Bet's RequestABet section, and they're offering 6/4 on 1+ DRIVER NOT TO BE CLASSIFIED IN EACH RACE.
Of course, as with any outright bet there are a number of factors that go into it, but this looks a good price when we consider how competitive these cars are now.
Only one race in 2022 had all 20 drivers classified, that being Hungary, where Valtteri Bottas was classified in 20th having stopped with a power unit issue late on (lap 66).
Even with the addition of Vegas on the calendar, you're looking at all 20 drivers finishing at least 90% of every race this season for this bet not to come in.
The mix of reliability, weather, track layout and much more plays nicely into this one, alongside the sheer competitive nature of the sport.
When are the 2023 Formula 1 races?
There are a total of 23 races in the 2023 season, up one from 22 in 2022.
The season begins in Bahrain on the first weekend of March, concluding in Abu Dhabi on the final weekend of November.
Here is the full Formula 1 2023 schedule:
- Bahrain - 03/03/23
- Saudi Arabia - 19/03/23
- Australia - 02/04/23
- Azerbaijan - 30/04/23
- Miami - 07/05/23
- Emilia Romagna - 21/05/23
- Monaco - 28/05/23
- Spain - 04/06/23
- Canada - 18/06/23
- Austria - 02/07/23
- Great Britain - 09/07/23
- Hungary - 23/07/23
- Belgium - 30/07/23
- Netherlands - 27/08/23
- Italy - 03/09/23
- Singapore - 17/09/23
- Japan - 24/09/23
- Qatar - 08/10/23
- United States - 22/10/23
- Mexico City - 29/10/23
- Sao Paulo - 05/11/23
- Las Vegas - 18/11/23
- Abu Dhabi - 26/11/23
Odds correct at 1800 GMT (28/02/23)
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