Gavin Puszczalowskyi looks at the runner and racers for this weekends Grand Prix in Vegas and picks his best bets.
The F1 season makes it 3rd trip to the States this season, after visiting Miami and Texas, it now touches down for the 2nd ever Las Vegas Grand Prix, in its current guise, which includes parts of the Las Vegas Strip as the track.
Verstappen
Last time out in Brazil, Verstappen landed a hefty psychological blow to the papaya coloured nose of Lando Norris after winning the main race from 17th on the grid. It was an amazing turnaround for Max who went into the race with damage limitation in mind to stop Norris closing the gap at the top of the Drivers Championship. As it happened, Max extended the lead to 62 points. If Lando fails to outscore Verstappen by 3 points or more in this race, then Max will win the Drivers Championship.
Max won the race last season, but he won most races last season, but interesting he did so only 2 seconds ahead of Leclerc. Even more interesting, Ocon finished 4th last season on Las Vegas, he finished 2nd last time in Brazil, more about Ocon later.
Max is 10/3 to win and given the huge lift he received after winning 2 weekends ago, that is a play but the truth is this. This preview is recorded before any practice sessions and any of the Red Bulls, not Perez, obviously, McLarens or Ferraris can win it.
Podium Finish
One market that jumped out at me is Verstappen to finish on the podium. Not a market I have ever played before, and I am not a fan of odds on betting in F1, but Max is 8/11 at Ladbrokes to finish in the top 3 and that is tempting.
Leclerc
I expect the Ferraris to be strong in Las Vegas. The qualified 1st and 2nd last season, albeit Sainz suffered a 10 place grid penalty for an engine change, and the Ferraris have been strong at the high-speed circuits this season, Baku and Monza. I fancy Leclerc to win, he's been in great form, he's priced 11/4 at Bet365.
Ocon and Lawson
And my favourite market. To finish in the points. We have had some great success with this market. I mentioned Ocon earlier in the Alpine. He finished 2nd in Brazil 2 weeks ago and finished 4th in Las Vegas last season. He is 9/4 at SkyBet to finish in the points and I'm having a play on that.
The other 9/4 at SkyBet to finish in the points that I am tipped in Liam Lawson. He is in the RB, the younger-sister-team of Red Bull and Liam is not only fighting for a seat in Formula 1 next season, but potentially for a seat at Red Bull, and he is a terrier of a racer. He is a fighter and a fast fighter at that. He has raced in the last 3 Grand Prix's and has finished in the points in 2 of them.
Good luck with your bets, enjoy the racing, and always gamble responsibly.