After seven of 21 races have been completed on the Formula 1 schedule, it’s deja vu all over again with the early 2019 season looking like a repeat of 2018’s end. Just like last year, it’s domination for Mercedes while Ferrari is a good distance behind them.
The current leader of the F1 points standings is Lewis Hamilton, and not only is he the leader, but it’s by a huge margin placing 29 points over second-place Valtteri Bottas, and then a whopping 62 points over Sebastian Vettel who places third in the standings. As a result, Hamilton is a heavyweight -450 odds favorite in the F1 betting sites, by tallying 775 points over Bottas. If you were one of the lucky bettors who took Hamilton at plus money at the beginning of the season, you’re sitting pretty with a profitable pick right now.
The problem with waging on long shot picks in the 2019 installment of Formula 1 racing is that Lewis Hamilton is winning by such a huge margin, that the only long shot that you could consider is Valtteri Bottas at +425 odds (and you could consider Sebastian Vettel as well).
Even then, it’s a bit of a long stretch to think they’ll overtake Hamilton in the standings — it’s pretty much Hamilton’s to lose at this point.
Overall, Mercedes has gotten off to either average or horrendous starts when the green flag is waved, but they always manage to end up doing better than Ferrari when the checkered flag is pulled out. Ferrari may have some good starts on their resume, but they just can’t get it right when it’s time for the race — hence why they’re behind in both points and the odds.
Up next on the Formula 1 schedule comes the French Grand Prix, taking place on Sunday, June 23 at 9:10 AM at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France. The race will be nationally televised on ESPN.
Lewis Hamilton has nothing but elite finishes on his 2019 resume, and that’s an understatement. Out of seven races this season, Hamilton has nothing but top two finishes to show for it, and five wins out of those seven — just an incredible season, and that’s why he’s such a heavy favorite in the odds to win the 2019 Formula 1 Drivers Championship.
Hamilton would begin things in the Australian Grand Prix, getting the season started on the right track with a second place tally. Up next in the Bahrain Grand Prix, that’s where he would grab his first victory of the season. He would follow that up with a back-to-back win, this time in the Chinese Grand Prix.
Heading to Azerbaijan for their Grand Prix, Hamilton would fail to get the win there, but he still finishes top-notch placing himself in the No. 2 position. After that, Hamilton would roll. In his most recent three races of the Spanish Grand Prix, Monaco Grand Prix, and Canadian Grand Prix, Hamilton would pull off three straight wins — a wave of momentum that he will now take into the French Grand Prix.
Seriously, how could you not bet on Lewis Hamilton to win the championship?
This just shows you how great Lewis Hamilton’s 2019 campaign has been: For Valtteri Bottas, he’s tallied nothing but top-five finishes on the season, and is still a good distance behind Hamilton in the points standings. That’s nothing to take away from Bottas though, the Finnish 29-year-old has been absolutely elite this year.
Bottas would get things started off on a hot note as well, taking the victory at the Australian Grand Prix, the first race on the F1 schedule. Up next in the Bahrain Grand Prix, Hamilton’s elite ability would force Bottas to take the second position, and the same would happen in the Chinese Grand Prix as well.
He would then get back to his winning ways in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, taking the victory for his second one of the season. Since then, there have been no wins for Bottas, but his performance has still been top notch. He would take a second place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix, a third-place tally in the Monaco Grand Prix, and then he would finish in fourth in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Needless to say, if it wasn’t for Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas would be the top favorite with the odds-makers and the heavy leader in the points standings. Unfortunately for Bottas, however, that’s not how reality works.
Sebastian Vettel might be a heavy distance behind both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in the points and odds, but that’s not to take anything away from his season. Vettel has been nothing but incredible with only top-five performances in his seven races in the 2019 campaign. His only flaw of the season: No wins.
In the Australian Grand Prix, Vettel would start out with a boom landing himself in the fourth position, and he would follow that up with another top-five placement in the Bahrain Grand Prix — he’d finish in 5th. In the Chinese Grand Prix, Vettel would then land himself in the top three with a third-place tally, and he would repeat that feat finishing third in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Coming up next would be the Spanish Grand Prix, putting another top-five mark beside his name landing in fourth place. In his most recent two races, that’s where he would land his most elite finishes, landing in second in both the Monaco Grand Prix and Canadian Grand Prix.
With that momentum and being overdue, don’t be surprised to see him on top in the next race in the French Grand Prix. However, don’t expect him to bounce over either Hamilton and Bottas in the points nor standings. That’s definitely not happening.
Other than an utter disaster in the Monaco Grand Prix, Charles LeClerc has been on point in the 2019 campaign with nothing but top-five finishes on his resume. He would land two top-three finishes, but his failure to crack the top two is why you have to make him such an extraordinary favorite right now — still a great year though for LeClerc.
Things would get started for LeClerc in the Australian Grand Prix, and there he would take a top-five placement after finishing in fifth. In the Bahrain Grand Prix, that’s when he would accomplish one of his top three tallies with a third-place finish. After that, he would pull another top five (fifth) mark, this time in the Chinese Grand Prix.
In the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he would take a ninth-place start and turn that into a top-five finish as well, placing himself in fifth. Up next in the Spanish Grand Prix, he would repeat that feat with another No. 5 finish — elite season up until this point. However, things would go bad in the Monaco Grand Prix, both in his start and finish. After qualifying an average 15th place to begin things, he would eventually put up a dismal performance and be forced to put up a RET mark. He’d get things rolling again, however, in the Canadian Grand Prix — he’d take a third-place finish.
If it weren’t for that RET mark in the Monaco Grand Prix, Charles LeClerc would probably be closer to the favorites in the odds, and the points as well — it’s been a great season for him. With that being said, however, he wouldn’t be that much closer. LeClerc is exactly where he deserves to be at.
Max Verstappen is another one who has put up nothing but elite top-five finishes throughout the 2019 season, and for that reason, he deserves that respect. Unfortunately for Verstappen, however, he’s not getting his due in either the points standings or the odds. Still, a respectable season for the Dutch driver.
Kicking off his season in the Australian Grand Prix, he would begin things on the right note with a top three finish after finishing in third. Up next in the Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen would pull another top-five placement with a No. 4 tally, and he would repeat that same feat with the same finish in the Chinese Grand Prix. He would grab a third straight fourth-place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
In the Spanish Grand Prix, it would still be business as usual for Verstappen, grabbing himself a third-place finish. After that, it would be another top-five tally with him finishing in the No. 4 position in the Monaco Grand Prix. Afterwards, he would still keep his momentum wave strong with a fifth-place finish in the Canadian Grand Prix.
With nothing but top-five finishes on his 2019 resume, Max Verstappen deserves his kudos for posting an incredible season up until this point. Despite what the points and the odds say, give the man a little respect.
Now we start to really drop in tiers when it comes to the quality of drivers, and that’s why we just shot down to Pierre Gasly and his “ghastly” +50000 odds. As you’ll notice, you’ll see a bundle of top-five finishes from the previously named drivers, but from Gasly? Not so much. Though he has been consistent with the top 10 finishes, and he does have one placement in the top five.
Things would get off to an average start in the 2019 season for Pierre Gasly, posting an 11th place finish in the Australian Grand Prix. After that, that’s when Gasly would begin his top 10 stretch. Starting in the Bahrain Grand Prix, Gasly would grab an eighth-place finish, and then afterward it would be a No. 6 placement in the China Grand Prix.
At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Gasly would have a dismal day, starting out in the 20th position and being forced out of the race with a RET mark. He would get back on track in the Spanish Grand Prix with a sixth-place finish, and then would secure another top-five finish (fifth) in the Monaco Grand Prix. In his most recent performance, he would secure a top ten performance finishing eighth in the Canadian Grand Prix.
As you can see, it’s been a pretty solid season so far for Pierre Gasly, and I think he’s getting treated a bit unfairly by the odds-makers. On the other hand, however, it just shows you how dominant Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have been this season.
And just like that, we go from +50000 odds to Nico Hulkenberg and his massively large +200000 figure, and there’s a reason for this. Out of seven races, he only has two placements in the top 10. The rest have been average, with two results being RET’s. In other words, Hulkenberg deserves +200000 based on the success of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas this season.
The 2019 campaign would start out on a solid note for Hulkenberg, tallying a top 10 placement in 7th at the Australian Grand Prix. After that, however, he would have two dismal races at each the Bahrain Grand Prix and Chinese Grand Prix, putting up RET marks beside his name in both races.
After that, it would be three straight races of nothing but average results: He’d come in 14th in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, 13th in the Spanish Grand Prix, and 13th in the Monaco Grand Prix. He recovers a bit with a good performance in his most recent race though — he’d finish 7th in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Now don’t you see the reason for the +200000 odds? I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to stay away from Nico Hulkenberg.
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