Formula 1 outright predictions: Red Bull to stay on Max attack

- Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won 15 of 22 races last season 
- Mercedes may challenge to regain Constructors’ prize 
- Recommended bet: Verstappen to win the Drivers Championship

The longest season in Formula 1 history gets underway on Sunday in Bahrain with everyone trying to close the gap to Red Bull and Max Verstappen after a one-car race of a world championship battle in 2022.

Verstappen collected the most points and race wins in F1 history as he clinched his second Drivers’ title in style last year, while Red Bull strolled off with the Constructors’ crown too after winning 17 of the 22 Grands Prix.

For the majority of last season, the gap between Red Bull and the rest of the grid was sizeable, leaving the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes with a lot of catching up to do over the winter.

Pre-season testing would suggest the Scuderia and Silver Arrows are still off the pace, making Red Bull and Verstappen the duo to beat once more.

Hat-trick on for Verstappen

After a stuttering start to 2022, Verstappen slipped into top gear at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and never looked back, powering to victory in 14 of the last 19 races. 

His dominant championship triumph was a far cry from his last-gasp title victory in 2021 and, sadly from an entertainment standpoint, it looks likely that the only driver the Dutchman will be competing against once more this year is himself. 

Red Bull’s car for 2023, the RB19, looked poised and extremely quick at pre-season testing last week in Bahrain with Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Perez setting the fastest time of the three-day stint.

The Milton Keynes-based outfit has not rested on its laurels this winter and looks to have provided Verstappen, the most consistent driver in Formula 1 over the last two years, with the tools he needs to justify his odds-on favouristim for the Drivers’ title. 

Silver Arrows may find their mark

Red Bull are also expected to retain the Constructors’ crown having won last year’s team prize by a whopping 205 points from Ferrari. 

However, if they follow last year’s strategy of catering their car to Verstappen at the expense of Perez, there could be opportunities for their rivals. 

Ferrari hope they have solved the tactical and reliability issues that curtailed their title challenge last year, while Mercedes appear to have cracked the porpoising that plagued them following the massive overhaul of technical regulations in 2022.

Ferrari and Mercedes both boast strong driver line-ups, arguably better than the combination of Verstappen and Perez, and should consistently score podiums and points across the campaign. 

Of the two, preference goes to the Silver Arrows’ pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to potentially deny Red Bull the Constructors’ crown. 

Mercedes had good race pace in pre-season testing and have shown an ability to significantly improve their car over the course of the year, as they did when going from over a second off the pace at the start of 2022 to a one-two finish in Brazil. 

Hamilton may have failed to win a race last season but still drove well, while Russell looks a future world champion in the making and Mercedes are 5/2 with LiveScore Bet to win a ninth Constructors’ title in the last 10 years. 

De Vries could be new team’s Alpha driver

Below the top three, Aston Martin and Alpine looked to have made significant improvements and could be in the mix for podiums on the right race weekend. 

The rest of the midfield is tough to figure out at this stage with AlphaTauri amongst those likely to be towards the back of the grid, despite the addition of Nyck de Vries.

The Dutchman has enjoyed success in other classes of motorsport, winning the Formula E title in 2021, and could outperform his under-pressure team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. 

The Japanese racer scored only 12 points last year as he finished 17th in the individual standings and De Vries may well outscore him over the campaign. 

Back De Vries at 3/5 with LiveScore Bet to earn more points than team-mate Tsunoda over the course of the season.