Welcome to the Land Down Under as we approach the 3rd race of the 2023 Formula 1 season! Thus far, the Constructors Championship has been relatively one-sided with Red Bull proving their dominance in the new era of F1.
Fortunately, the same cannot be said about the Drivers Championship with Sergio Perez actively challenging Max Verstappen for the title. Will Red Bull allow their drivers to fight for the championship? Or will team orders prevail and give Max his 3rd world championship title? UK bookmaker William Hill has the latest odds!
※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 29th, 5:00 A.M. (EST)
This week’s odds on the Australian GP winner are rather expected and unsurprising given how dominant Red Bull has been throughout the 2023 campaign. Max Verstappen’s storming through the field to take P2 from P15 in the last race means that the bookmakers have now priced him at only 1.33 to win the Australian GP. That is, if Red Bull doesn’t suffer any reliability issues.
His teammate, Sergio Perez is following close behind with a price at 5.50. Last but not least, Fernando Alonso, after dealing with penalty controversies and claiming a P3 finish at the Saudi Arabian GP is now priced at only 9.00.
The Circuit
The circuit for the Australian GP is the Albert Park Circuit, a 5.278 km long track featuring 58 laps and covering a distance of approximately 306.124 km during the race. With its first ever GP held all the way back in 1996, Albert Park Circuit remains one of the most iconic Formula 1 venues on the F1 calendar to date. An experience unlike any other.
The track itself has 2 DRS zones and boasts high speed corners averaging speeds of up to 235 km/h. The current lap record is held by Charles Leclerc from 2022 setting the time of 1:20.260.
What to Expect?
With Red Bull absolutely dominating the 2023 season of F1, little is left for other teams to salvage what they can and haul some points for themselves. Ferrari announced they will be bringing aero upgrades to the Australian GP, hoping to bring them closer to Red Bull and maybe finally fight for a podium finish.
Toto Wolff of the Mercedes AMG F1 team also announced that their 2023 challenger will undergo radical changes in the races to come. He stated: “I think that the car is going to look very different in five, six or seven races based on the decisions that we have taken and the development direction that we have embarked on.”. Can we perhaps see Mercedes join the fight for a P2 position in the Constructors Championship? Remains to be seen.
Last but not least, we take a short look at the midfield battles with Alpine looking particularly strong on the hard tire whereas everybody else seems to struggle on that very component. The pairing of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, although deemed “problematic”, is functioning well so far and not causing any major issues for themselves, nor the team. Although the Albert Park Circuit may not suit them, it goes without saying that Ocon and Gasly will fight to the very end to secure more points.
