As we head over to Hungary for round 12 of the 2023 Formula 1 Championship, some new names made their way into the F1 paddock. The star of the show being the one and only “Honey Badger” also known as Daniel Ricciardo is making a spectacular comeback with AlphaTauri.
Following a poor race weekend at Silverstone, Red Bull’s senior advisor, Dr. Helmut Marko made a swift decision to sack Nyck de Vries and give his seat to Red Bull’s reserve driver, Daniel Ricciardo. A move many found controversial, unfair and rushed all things considered. Will this move pay off for Red Bull’s sister team, AlphaTauri? And will Daniel Ricciardo make his F1 return special? UK bookmaker William Hill has the latest odds!
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 18th, 7:00 A.M. (EST)
Considering the results from Silverstone two weeks ago, this weekend’s odds are somewhat unexpected when it comes to certain drivers. As always, the favourite to take the win at Hungaroring is none other than Max Verstappen who is priced at only 1.33. Following not-so-close behind is his teammate, Sergio Perez, priced at 12.00. At this point it is fair to say that Red Bull expected more from Sergio. Even though the Red Bull driver is 2nd in the Drivers Championship, the Red Bull team would very much like to have a more reliable and consistent driver than what Sergio is able to pull off at the moment.
The most interesting odds however are those on Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri, priced at 13.00 and 81.00 respectively. The odds on Fernando are surprising due to the fact that Aston Martin is lagging behind when it comes to upgrades making their car seem sluggish and overall slower than that of the competition. Coming to Oscar Piastri now, we must point out that comparing him to Lando Norris’ price of 19.00, Oscar is so far behind his teammate despite showing the same pace and pulling off a masterful drive in tricky conditions.
The Circuit
Often compared to a karting circuit due to its lack of straights, the Hungaroring is a challenge few other tracks can match. The circuit is a 4.381 km long track with only 14 corners, numbering 70 laps and only 1 DRS zone. This makes overtaking much more difficult and the race much more exciting to watch for us fans.
Built in 1985 specifically for Formula 1, the Hungaroring is one of F1’s most iconic tracks. Some of the previous winners at this track include Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher among others. The current lap record is held by Lewis Hamilton, set in 2020 with a time of 1:16:627 and has been unmatched to this day.
What to Expect?
With Silverstone behind us, what can we expect going into Hungary for Round 12 of the 2023 F1 Championship? For starters, McLaren has once again shown great prowess and speed making it to the podium with Lando Norris claiming P2 at the British GP. They demonstrated that they can be fast on a number of different track layouts and that they haven’t lost any momentum since introducing the newest upgrade package a few weekends back. What’s more, there are even more upgrades to come for the Hungarian GP. Both McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, are set to have equal machinery and equal upgrades at this race, perhaps propelling McLaren to a double podium finish.
The star of the show however and the newest addition to the F1 grid is Daniel Ricciardo. Being given Nyck de Vries’ seat for the remainder of the season, Ricciardo was given an amazing chance to prove once again why he is one of the world’s best drivers. He has a chance to prove why he belongs on the F1 grid.
That said, we need to be realistic. AlphaTauri is not having the best season thus far, seriously lagging behind the competition and rarely fighting for points. The Honey Badger certainly has his work cut out for him. Even though fighting for race wins is very unlikely, for now at least, he has been given a unique chance to bring Alpha Tauri into the points once again and having better odds than his teammate Yuki Tsunoda says a lot about Daniel’s reputation. Let’s hope he can match the expectations!
