F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix preview, odds: Can Baku deliver another chaotic race?

After an off week, Formula One goes to Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Red Bull has won four races in a row, while Ferrari has only won two races this season. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has five pole positions in seven races, but he has converted just two of those into wins.

Baku City Circuit has produced some of the best races in F1 in its five grands prix. There have been five different winners in five races at Baku. The street circuit has both long straights and sharp 90-degree turns. Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly finished on the podium last year. The surface gets regular resurfacing work, but it's still a street track with imperfect pavement. It's a fast, technical and difficult circuit. it has long. straight, making passes with DRS possible, as well as sharp. 90 degree turns and a castle involved.

Verstappen added three points to his lead over Leclerc and Perez is now just 15 points off the championship lead. VerstAPPEN is -135 to win the title on BetMGM while LeClerc is +150. Perez's 25-to-1 chance of winning is behind Russell's 16- to-one.

There were no changes in the constructor standings after Monaco. Red Bull is -135 and Ferrari +130 to make up a 36-point deficit.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix is on Sunday. Verstappen is favored, but his plus odds show a bit of uncertainty around this race. Leclerc is even money to take pole position.

Baku street circuit has delivered some crazy races in recent years. The championship battle between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc has so far been relatively subdued. Bianchi and Gluck expect chaos on Sunday. They expect it to be entertaining. It will give us plenty of fodder for the next week.   The course designers found a good combination of the long straightaway and low-speed, technical corners.

Ferrari lost points in Monaco and Imola. They are going to try to get a 1-2 finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Red Bull has won four straight races and five of the last six. Ferrari's only wins came in races where Verstappen did not finish.  

The season is one third of the way through. Sergio Perez won Monaco and is third in the championship standings. Sebastian Vettel is second in championship, 15 points behind Perez. Ferrari's recent performance has been disappointing. Bianchi is interested in Ferrari finding their mojo. Gluck is looking forward to the inter-team fight at Red Bull.

Gluck predicts Ferrari will rally back this week and win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Bianchi reckons Verstappen will win for the fifth time in eight races this season.   The championship is Ver stappens' to lose.