Max Verstappen Podium Specials 2023

Every season in any given sport, sports fans have the potential to witness the peak of performance and history-making efforts. Checking the Verstappen podium specials here.

Max Verstappen had one of the most dominant seasons in Formula 1 history, placing his 15-win 2022 World Championship season alongside legendary names like Schumacher, Senna, Hamilton, and Vettel. 

In honor of Verstappen’s record-breaking season of dominance, our friends at BetUS have a special Max Verstappen-only futures betting line. As such, we will explore the critical stats and recent performances and find our best bet for the Verstappen podiums special betting line.

Verstappen 2023 Podiums Odds

Before we review Verstappen’s excellence and make our F1 picks, we need to know what odds BetUS has set for the Verstappen podiums special betting line. 

As of publication, the 2023 Formula 1 Season is scheduled for 23 races after the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix. Formula 1 was exploring options to replace the Chinese Grand Prix as the 24th Grand Prix on the Formula 1 calendar. 

Verstappen Special: Career Stats and Comparing Championship Seasons

To predict the future and make a pick from the Verstappen podiums special F1 odds, let’s review Verstappen’s career stats and look at the recent history and his performances across two Drivers’ World Championships. 

Verstappen Career Stats

Since making his debut at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix as a seventeen-year-old, Verstappen has started 163 Grand Prix, won 35 Grand Prix – winning 15 from pole position, and nine with the fastest lap, 20 pole positions, and 77 podiums (46.6% podium scoring rate). 

Verstappen has also been successful in F1 Sprint Races since the Sprint format introduction in 2021. However, while these results score constructors’ championship points, they do not factor into the Verstappen podium’s special betting line.

Verstappen in 2021

The highly contentious 2021 Drivers’ World Championship should be remembered for Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton going head-to-head and pushing each other’s performance levels to previously untapped heights.

Red Bull and Verstappen built upon the last-2020 improvements to the RB-16 and pushed Mercedes dominance of the V6-Turbo Hybrid Era, falling just short of winning the constructors championship with the RB-16B.

In 2021, Verstappen won his first Drivers’ Championship winning ten races and claiming ten pole positions and 14 front-row starts. Verstappen claimed 18 podiums in 2021 (81.8% podium scoring rate).

He had three high-profile DNFs (13.6% DNF rate) in 2021, including infamous clashes with Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone (British Grand Prix) and Monza (Italian Grand Prix). 

Verstappen was the victim of a late-race tire puncture during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a race he was winning handily before the puncture sent Verstappen and the RB-16B to the right and directly into a barricade and his third DNF in 2021.

The lasting image of Verstappen’s 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was Max standing beside his car and kicking the Pirelli tires out of frustration. 

Verstappen in 2022

If Verstappen wasn’t among your motorsports picks in 2022, you left a lot of easy betting wins on the table. Yes, Verstappen was the overwhelming favorite on F1 odds from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix onward. But his record-breaking season is more impressive beneath his 15 Grand Prix wins and seven pole positions. 

Under the new rules, Verstappen’s driving ascended to a new level in the RB-18. Moreover, with one exception at the São Paulo Grand Prix, Verstappen avoided any major collisions and DNFs from wheel-to-wheel racing.

When Verstappen’s number 1 car left the pitlane for its first flying lap in any session, Max was consistently straight to the top of the timing sheets and on the pace.

Unlike in previous seasons, Verstappen showed improved patience and maturity in his racecraft. He became one of the best drivers on the grid at managing the new low-profile 18″ Pirelli tires and, paired with his ruthless pursuit of perfection, helped him cruise to a dominant season and second consecutive Drivers’ Championship. 

Singapore Grand Prix Incident

Verstappen’s only critical mistake in 2022 was during the Singapore Grand Prix, where Max was overly-aggressive on a wetter patch of track and had a massive lock-up into turn 7 when trying to pass Lando Norris.

Besides that mistake, when Verstappen stepped a foot wrong, we often saw his brilliant car control come into play, with Verstappen pulling a quick 360-degree pirouette and being back in the race with minimal issue and time loss.

Belgian Grand Prix Domination

The Belgian Grand Prix encapsulates Verstappen’s brilliance and domination in 2022. Verstappen had a six-tenths of a second gap to EVERYONE at Spa-Francorchamps throughout the weekend. 

After taking numerous power-unit penalties and out-qualifying everyone, Verstappen started 14th on the grid. After turn 1 of lap 1, Max was in 10th. By lap 10, Verstappen was third and closing in on Serio Pérez and Carlos Sainz. Verstappen took P1 form Pérez on lap 12 and Sainz on lap 18 after a pitstop. 

Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix from 14th on the grid, finishing the race with a 17.841 second gap to teammate Pérez and a 26.886 second gap to Sainz, who started P1.

However, when Max Verstappen wasn’t winning races in 2022, he rarely landed on the podium. Verstappen scored a new Formula 1 record of 15 Grand Prix wins in a season but only landed on the podium 17 total times (77.3% podium scoring rate).

We also need to factor in that Verstappen was on pace for an additional two podium positions: Red Bull’s early 2022 reliability concerns took Max out of podium contention during the Bahrain and Australian Grand Prix. 

Two reasons that Verstappen might not reach 20 or more podiums are potential reliability issues or in-race contact. However, Verstappen only had two DNFs in 2022 (9.1% DNF rate), neitherbeing his fault.

Verstappen Special: The Return of the King?

Part of Verstappen’s dominant 2022 Formula 1 season was Adrian Newey’s masterfully designed RB-18, which became the fastest and best Formula 1 car on the grid throughout the season. Another factor was the terminally-flawed Mercedes W-13 of 2022 that left the eight-time reigning Constructors’ Champions off the pace. The flaws in the W-13 also kept the King from trying to reclaim his controversially lost crown. 

Lewis Hamilton is the most successful and one of the greatest and most important racers ever. We’ve seen the seven-time World Champion go head-to-head with Verstappen and beat him on track. 

We also know that Hamilton and Verstappen race against each other differently. Verstappen and Hamilton will not back down from each other when fighting wheel-to-wheel.

We only need to go back to 2021, Silverstone and Copse Corner (Turn 9), and a 51G impact that left Verstappen in hospital, while Hamilton eventually overtook Charles Leclerc for the win.

Even in 2022, when Red Bull got their setups wrong in São Paulo, and Mercedes had improved their pace to be competitive with Red Bull that weekend.

Contenders History

Verstappen and Hamilton found a way to meet and collide. Although Verstappen didn’t try to drive Hamilton off the track and into the neighborhood like the 2021 edition of the Grand Prix, these two still collided in a racing incident (ruled a Verstappen penalty) and reminded us that they race differently against each other.

Red Bull and Verstappen will enter the 2023 Formula 1 season with the best starting base race car. Mercedes will be coming to 2023 with the solutions to the flawed W-13, and the King will be coming to take back his crown. 

We expect Max Verstappen to have one or two self-inflicted DNFs in 2023 if the King has returned. And you know, the reigning, defending, two-time World Drivers’ Champion won’t give u up the number 1 without a fight.

Verstappen Podiums Specials Betting Prediction

Before we make our Verstappen podiums special prediction, there is one more thing to note before placing a bet on motorsports and the special Verstappen betting line: Red Bull’s Sprint race record.

While Verstappen has been quite successful in F1 Sprint races, the shortened weekend has hurt Red Bull dialing in their setups.

With the cars going into Parc Fermé earlier in the weekend, we’ve seen Red Bull struggle to get the setup right leading to struggles in the Grand Prix. This was especially evident during the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix weekend. 

There are six scheduled F1 Sprint weekends in 2023, and you need to consider that before making your Verstappen podiums special betting pick.

Verstappen podiums special prediction?

First, we’re operating under the assumption that the King is back and will have a three-team battle at the front of the grid.

With Hamilton and Mercedes back, we can’t help but think Verstappen has one or two self-inflicted DNFs from clashes with Hamilton in 2023. 

Second, we’re not sure we will see the same mechanical DNFs that plagued Verstappen early in 2022. Red Bull’s reliability was solid and consistent last season after early struggles. Over the past four Formula 1 seasons, Verstappen has averaged 3.0 DNFs per season.

Third, Verstappen won’t win 15 races in 2023 if Ferrari and Mercedes take the expected steps to close the gap to Red Bull.

However, that means more potential battles for second or third. Over his past four seasons, Verstappen has averaged 13.75 podiums per season. However, over his two Drivers’ Championship seasons, Verstappen is averaging 17.5 podiums.

So what is our Verstappen podiums special prediction? We’ll take Verstappen to score the most podiums in a season in his career. We’re taking Verstappen at 19+ Podiums (+115): an 82.6% podium scoring rate in a 23-race season.

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