Which Drivers And Teams Are The Early Favourites For The F1 2023 Title?

The countdown is on to the start of the 2023 Formula 1 season. The record 23 race schedule will kick off on March 5th with the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix and then wind its way around Europe and the world, finishing up right back in the Middle East at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 26th.

This season marks the 74th Formula One championship, the circuit universally considered the premiere open-wheel racing league in the world. Ten teams will compete in Formula 1 this season, fielding two drivers each. The lineup is as follows

• Alfa Romeo-Ferrari: Zhou Guanyu and  Valtteri Bottas
• AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT:  Nyck de Vries and Yuki Tsunoda
• Alpine-Renault: Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon
• Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll
• Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr.
• Haas-Ferrari: Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg
• McLaren-Mercedes: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
• Mercedes:  Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
• Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT: Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez
• Williams-Mercedes: Logan Sargeant and Alexander Albon

The overall individual and team titles get awarded via a points system, with the winner of each race getting 25 points, followed by 18 for second, 15 for third, 12 for fourth then down in increments of two points for each spot. The tenth place gets one point and the driver who turns in the fastest lap gets a bonus point. In the event of a shortened race, fewer points are awarded for each spot.

Verstappen and Red Bull Racing dominated the 2022 season as he won the Drivers Championship for the second year in a row, and Red Bull took the Constructor Championship given to the top-scoring team. Verstappen won 15 of the 22 races in 2022 and made the podium (top 3 finishers) two other times, with teammate Sergio Perez taking two additional titles and eleven total podiums. Their dominance only picked up as the season wore on as they combined to win ten of the last eleven races, nine by Verstappen

They are both back in 2023 and needless to say, Verstappen starts the season as the prohibitive favorite to three-peat over at BetMGM Sportsbook

• Verstappen -140
• Hamilton +333
• LeClerc +500
• Russell +800
• Sainz Jr +2500
• Perez +2500

Every other driver is priced as an extreme longshot at +10000 or higher.

The Constructor Championship odds board at BetMGM has Red Bull at +100, Mercedes at +140, Ferrari at +400, and everyone else at +12500 or higher. For those interested in placing a wager either for the Constructor or Driver Championship there is a new welcome bonus code for BetMGM which means you could get up to $1,000 paid back in bonus bets if your first bet does not hit.

The top few teams do figure to dominate as always as before Verstappen’s two-year run, Mercedes took seven straight titles, six by Hamilton Prior to that, Red Bull and the recently retired Sebastian Vettel took the prior four. 

The Challengers

LeClerc had an excellent season in 2022, winning three races, taking 11 podiums, eight pole positions, and turning in the fastest lap four times. That all added up to second place in the Drivers Championship with 308 points, well back of the 454 Verstappen turned in. In 2019 at the age of 21, he became the youngest Formula 1 driver to ever win a pole position. He has five career titles and 18 poles. He looks every bit the future champions

Hamilton, now 38,  has the pedigree with his seven total Drivers championships, tied with Michael Schumacher for the most ever, in addition to holding the records for most total wins with 103, pole positions with 103, and podiums with 191. He had an off year by his standards in 2022 with nine podiums but no wins or poles. 

Russell won one race, eight podiums, and a pole while turning in the fastest lap four times, all late in the season. He won the Formula 2 title in 2018, then bumped up to Formula 1 in 2019, and joined Mercedes in 2021 before bursting up the leaderboards in 2022.

The Season Opener

Formula 1 kicks off in just a few weeks, and odds are up at BetMGM for the Bahrain Grand Prix for the race winner

• Verstappen +125
• Hamilton +300
• LeClerc +400
• Russell +700
• Perez +1000
• Sainz Jr +1000

There are also podium odds

• Verstappen -300
• Hamilton -175
• LeClerc -135
• Russell +125
• Perez +150
• Sainz Jr +150

Red Bull is -110 to win the race, with Mercedes at +190 and Ferrari at +300

LeClerc and Ferrari got the pole position and won in Bahrain in 2022, with Sainz second and Hamilton third. Verstappen was running second late but stopped three laps short of the finish with a power unit issue. LeClerc also turned in the fastest lap.

More Betting Markets

As the race gets closer, BetMGM and others will post odds on pole position and head-to-head driver matchups. For now, there are some driver total wins props (F1 Sprint races do not count).

• Verstappen 8.5 Wins, Over -135, Under -105
• Hamilton 5.5 Wins, Over +125, Under -175
• LeClerc 4.5 Wins Over +125, Under -175
• Russell 3.5 Wins Over +100, Under -140
• Sainz Jr 1.5 Wins Over +110, Under -155
• Perez 1.5 Wins Over +110, Under -155

They also price Russell at -1400 to win at least one race, with Perez and Sainz Jr at -650.

It all sets up as another fun and super competitive season at the top of the circuit. Formula One will hit the US for the Miami Grand Prix on May 7th, the United States Grand Prix in Austin on October 22nd and the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 18th so stateside fans can see the action live.