With the weekend at Suzuka, Japan behind us, we look ahead to Qatar as round 18 unfolds. The stakes have never been higher for Max Verstappen as he looks to seal his 3rd Drivers Championship title this weekend.
While the odds may be in his favour, Max Verstappen certainly has his work cut out for him as both McLaren and Ferrari look to spoil the fun and claim victory in Qatar. In order to win the championship, Max only needs to score 3 points in the upcoming Sprint Race this weekend. Will this weekend see Max crowned as the 3-time World Champion? Or will McLaren and Ferrari postpone his coronation? UK bookmaker William Hill has the latest odds!
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 3rd, 4:00 A.M. (EST)
This week’s odds provided by William Hill are mostly expected if we take into account the latest results and individual driver’s form displayed at Suzuka. That said, Max Verstappen remains the ultimate favourite to take victory in both the Sprint Race and Sunday’s Race with the odds on him ranging from 1.20 for Sunday’s Race to 1.22 for the Sprint Race. Realistically speaking, Max’s dominance, form and raw pace are currently unmatched and few drivers can even dream of competing with him.
In 2nd place sits Lando Norris with the odds on him priced at only 11.00, ahead of Red Bull’s 2nd driver, Sergio Perez who is priced at a staggering 15.00. For a Red Bull driver, these odds are way too high and indicate Sergio’s poor form and lack of pace in both the qualification round and the race itself.
The Circuit
The Lusail International Circuit was originally built with motorcycle racing in mind, hosting the 2004 MotoGP event 19 years ago. Introduced to the F1 calendar in 2021, the Qatar GP soon signed a 10-year deal to host F1 races for the next 10 years thus etching its name into the F1 calendars and fighting its way to become one of the iconic tracks in F1.
The track itself is a 5.419 km long circuit, numbering 57 laps, 16 corners, 1 huge DRS zone and covering a distance of 308.611 km during the race. The circuit is characterised by medium to high-speed corners before a 1 km long straight into turn 1 providing plenty of overtaking opportunities.
What to Expect?
Going into the race weekend in Qatar, fans are dying to know whether Max will claim his 3rd title at the Lusail Int. Circuit. Taking into account both his and Red Bull’s form, precise and error-less pit stops, flawless tactics and raw pace, the safest bet would be to say yes. However, this is Formula 1 and anything can happen. One faulty piece of equipment is all it takes to take a driver out of the race. For now we will just have to wait and see how the action unfolds and how Max and Red Bull cope with the pressure.
Teams looking to profit on possible Red Bull errors are certainly McLaren and Ferrari. With both teams on par regarding raw pace, qualification will be vital if they are to make any significant gains during the race on Sunday. Both teams will need their tactics planned out and hope they don’t make any errors both during the race and in the pits. One thing’s for certain though, it will be a battle worth watching!
