F1 Australian Grand Prix picks and odds: Bet on Charles Leclerc to land on podium
Formula 1 heads Down Under for one of the most anticipated races of the season, the Australian Grand Prix.
The pre-race narrative: Charles Leclerc won this event last year and though he’s struggled to start the campaign, we’re expecting a podium finish on Sunday. We’re also expecting George Russell to beat out his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
F1 odds as of 1:06 p.m. on 03/29/2023.
F1 Australian Grand Prix picks
Best Bet: Leclerc to finish on the podium (+175)
There was hope that Leclerc could contend for the World Drivers’ Championship when Frederic Vasseur replaced Mattia Binotto as Ferrari’s team principal. Though doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, podium finishes are not out of the question for Ferrari’s young driver.
Leclerc won this race last year — albeit Max Verstappen was forced to retire — and he has good value to finish inside the top three again.
Leclerc qualified as P3 in the season’s opening race in Bahrain before suffering an engine failure. He followed that up by netting a P2 during qualifying in Saudi Arabia but then had to suffer a 10-place grid penalty and ended up finishing seventh.
Australian GP Formula 1 odds as of 1:06 p.m. on 03/29/2023.
At some point, you have to point the blame toward Ferrari, because Leclerc hasn’t really been at fault for either of these issues.
His teammate — Carlos Sainz Jr. — finished fourth and sixth through two races. Leclerc is the better driver, has won here before, and he can certainly regain a podium spot as long as more bad luck doesn’t break his way.
Key stat: Leclerc had 11 podium finishes last season.
Quick pick
Russell to finish ahead of Hamilton (-106): Russell is a rising star and it looks like Hamilton’s tank is starting to empty.
The up-and-comer finished one spot ahead of Hamilton in Saudi Arabia, outpacing the seven-time WDC winner by over five seconds.
Hamilton has taken the pole position at this race six different times from 2014-2019, but that only translated to one win (2015).
He has struggled to close on this track and was beaten by Russell last season by almost three seconds. Expect something similar to unfold this time around.
