The F1 season is well underway now and after the opening three races it’s time to take a look at the favorites to win the Drivers’ Championship for 2023.
Rather expectedly it’s Red Bull who lead the way with their performances meaning they have won all three races so far, but they’ve shared the glory thus far and there are several teams vying to be contenders alongside them.
We’ll take a look at the current standings and the favorites to come out on top after 23 races with our best free F1 betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash over the course of the season.
| F1 2023 Drivers' Championship |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Verstappen | -800 | -800 | -847 |
| Sergio Perez | +1600 | +1400 | +1250 |
| Fernando Alonso | +2000 | +2000 | +1550 |
| Lewis Hamilton | +2500 | +2500 | +1900 |
| Charles Leclerc | +5000 | +5000 | +4300 |
Learn more about how to bet on Formula 1 here.
Below you’ll find a list of the drivers favored to the 2023 F1 Drivers’ Championship.
If anyone has doubted the Verstappen is the best in the world right now, they haven’t been watching him for the last two years. The Red Bull star claimed 19 podium finishes in the last 22 races, showing his true dominance on the track as the two-time world champion.
Verstappen came into this season with a big target on his back after such a dominant 2022 season, but he’s dominated on the track so far.
He won the opening race in Bahrain at a canter, before pushing up from 15th to finish as runner-up in Saudi Arabia and then winning in Australia for the first time in his career behind the safety car after leading from the start.
Last year he broke the record for the most races won in a season, and he has every chance of breaking that again with how he is performing and the fact there are more races in the calendar this year.
He’s got the best car, is the best driver, and has shown countless times that he can overcome adversity. The value isn’t there at all with the odds at -800, but he is our F1 pick to lift the crown once again at the end of the season.
Check out our review for BetUS sports betting here.
Sergio Perez was the teammate of the world champion last year, and that’s about as far as his contribution went across the campaign.
He claimed two race wins over the season and finished third in the Drivers’ Championship, but showed his quality and talent whenever Verstappen and Red Bull needed him to step up.
This season he started well, claiming a runners-up place behind Verstappen in the opening race in Bahrain to secure a Red Bull 1-2 before swapping with his teammate to win in Saudi Arabia after leading the whole way. Australia didn’t quite go to plan for him as he finished 5th but overall he’s been the second-best driver on the track in most races.
The car is most certainly a huge help to him and if Verstappen somehow doesn’t win it then you’d expect the other Red Bull to come out on top.
At -250 in the market without Verstappen, there’s plenty of value in Perez to come out on top.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
The former two-time world champion’s move to Aston Martin was seen as a way to make him competitive again in the title race, and he has had a solid start to this season.
Alonso has finished on the podium in all three races so far this year, finishing third in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia – albeit the latter came with some help from the stewards after some bizarre decision-making on the final few laps.
This is a man with all the experience in the world, and despite the car not being the best on the track his fantastic driving has made it so that he has a chance in each race.
The reason he can rack up third positions is that he’s not as fast as the Red Bull but has the quality to beat everyone else on the track. If he continues to rack up points over the course of the season, don’t rule out that he could topple Perez and claim the winning ticket in the market without Verstappen involved.
Arguably the greatest driver in the history of F1, the seven-time world champion is still one of the very best on the track despite the struggles of Mercedes in recent times.
Hamilton opened the season with a fifth-placed finish in Bahrain after struggling during qualifying, before another fifth-placed finish in Saudi Arabia behind the Red Bull’s, Fernando Alonso and his teammate George Russell. But in Australia he was competitive and performed extremely well to claim the runners-up spot and his first podium of the season.
Crazily he is yet to win a race since he last won the title, with last season being the first of his entire career in which he failed to finish first in any race, but the Mercedes car certainly seems faster this year, albeit with more competition.
If anyone knows how to rack up points in the title race it’s Hamilton, and in the market excluding Verstappen you’d be crazy to rule him out of the running.
About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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