With a spectacular weekend behind us, Hungary sure enough delivered upon its expectations. We now head over to Belgium for round 13 of the 2023 F1 championship with some interesting odds this time round.
After dominating yet another race, Max Verstappen sits comfortably (as always) in the No. 1 spot in the Drivers championship followed by his teammate, Sergio Perez, who, despite poor qualifying performances, made his way to the top securing a decent points haul for the Red Bull team.
However, a new challenger seems to be pushing for those podium steps. McLaren, a team that has risen from the ruins, is now a serious contender for 2nd place in the Constructors championship. Will upcoming upgrades push them further on up? Or will their success grind to a halt at high-speed circuits like Spa? UK bookmaker William Hill has the latest odds!
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 27th, 3:00 A.M. (EST)
As a testament to their success in recent races, the odds on McLaren for this weekend’s race have improved considerably. For example, Lando Norris, who is priced at only 9.00, sits even in front of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who is priced at an astonishing 13.00. The reason for this, aside from the obvious improvements to McLaren’s pace and speed, is Checo himself. It has now become customary for Checo to deliver poor performances during qualifying and this in turn means Checo starts lower down the grid, forced to make his way up in the race. A costly trade-off that sees Perez finish lower than what is expected from a Red Bull driver.
Speaking of Red Bull, Max Verstappen has managed to lower the price on himself by dominating yet another race weekend. He has now reached an all-time low, being priced at only 1.28. Truthfully, this is expected as Max’s consistency, pace, technique and feel for the car are currently unmatched. As Mercedes’ Toto Wolff admitted, “He [Max Verstappen] makes the rest of the grid look like F2 drivers.” High praise coming from the Mercedes principal himself.
The Circuit
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, or more commonly referred to as just “Spa”, is one of the more iconic tracks of Formula 1. Boasting a rich history, Spa is the embodiment of Formula 1. Danger, speed, adrenaline and risk can all be used to describe this legendary circuit.
The track itself was built in the 1950’s and is one of the longer tracks on the F1 calendar. 7.004 km long, it features 44 laps, 2 DRS zones and 18 corners, covering a distance of approx. 308 km during the race. The current lap record is held by Valtteri Bottas with a time of 1:46:286 set in 2018.
What to Expect?
Going into the race weekend, expectations are high for teams that benefit in high-speed circuits like HAAS and Williams. Even though the aforementioned teams are currently one of the slower ones on the grid, Spa is a unique opportunity for these teams to score valuable points and prove that they belong in Formula 1. Williams’ Alexander Albon will surely be aiming for a top 10 finish as he is known for his love of high-speed circuits and careful tyre management. Purely looking at straight line speed, Williams is one of the faster cars on the grid, often reaching speeds that exceed 330 km/h. Could Spa help them utilize their potential? We will have to wait and see.
Another team to watch out for is Aston Martin. Having dropped in the rankings in the last 2-3 races, the team is set to bring a “huge” upgrade package to Spa that should propel them back to the front, that is, if their engineers did a good job. Fernando Alonso didn’t hold back in an interview for Sky Sports saying their [Aston Martin’s] potential is 10th place at best.
Lastly, we would like to highlight the troubles of Ferrari as the team failed to make significant gains in yet another race weekend. Even when strategy is done correctly and the drivers perform flawlessly, something must always happen to ruin Ferrari’s race weekend and see them drop down the grid. Last week in Hungary, Charles Leclerc was left without water early on and immediately after suffered a catastrophic pit stop that saw him lose approximately 27 seconds in the race. Can Ferrari have some good luck for a change? Here’s hoping Spa suits them and they finally score some more points.
