Despite some real questions coming out of testing in Bahrain, Mercedes once again asserted itself as the alpha team in Formula 1, with Lewis Hamilton edging Max Verstappen to win the Bahrain Grand Prix, and with Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas coming in third. Hamilton beat Verstappen by less than a second in a thrilling race that saw Verstappen give back the lead after realizing that he had passed illegally (coming off the course with all four wheels to do so). The next Formula 1 event comes April 18 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Let’s take a look at the early Formula 1 betting odds and discuss the contenders.
Formula 1 News: Early Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Odds
| Driver | Odds |
| Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen | +130 |
| Valtteri Bottas | +650 |
| Sergio Perez | +1000 |
| Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo | +4000 |
| Pierre Gasly | +6000 |
| Carlos Sainz Jr | +8000 |
| Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell | +10000 |
| Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Sebastian Vettel | +20000 |
| Esteban Ocon | +25000 |
| Kimi Raikkonen, Antonio Giovinazzi | +100000 |
| Nicholas Latifi | +200000 |
| Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazepin | +300000 |
In Bahrain, the season opener looked for certain like it would go to Red Bull. Mercedes’ cars had not fared well at all in testing, showing issues in the gearbox and giving such instability in the rear that Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas had a difficult time completing runs. The Mercedes engineers, though, were apparently able to fix a number of the problems as Hamilton beat Max Verstappen by 0.7 seconds.
The two drivers battled all day long, with Verstappen going around Hamilton in Lap 53. However, in doing so, he went wide and left the track at the exit of Turn 4, and so he had to let Hamilton go back in front later on. Verstappen never stopped, almost taking the lead again, but Hamilton was able to hold on.
After the race, Verstappen questioned his decision; the alternative would have been to take the five-second time penalty and then try to grow his gap over Hamilton in the last two laps to end up winning by enough time to take the penalty but still hold onto first place on the day.
Despite his succession of Formula 1 Drivers’ Championships, Hamilton had not won the season’s opening race since 2015. These points could be crucial ones, as this looks to be the tightest season in the turbo-hybrid era, which dates back to 2014, when Mercedes moved into a dominant position in the sport.
Verstappen had the pole at the start, but he lost the lead at first, when Mercedes brought in Hamilton for new tires. This led to a chess match down the stretch, leaving Verstappen in a place where he would have to make some sort of move on the track near the conclusion if he wanted to win. He came out of his last pit stop 8.8 seconds back of Hamilton but had tires that were 11 laps fresher.
Despite Verstappen’s furious finish, Hamilton had the experience to hold the lead. Valtteri Bottas took third after taking a slow pit stop at Lap 30 that ended his chances at victory. He had been right with the top two earlier, but the team’s strategy appeared to have him working as a buffer against Verstappen instead of a contender in his own right.
Lando Norris won the midfield, coming in fourth after a battle with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, who was three places ahead of Norris in the starting grid but finished two places behind him. Sergio Perez, the other Red Bull driver, came in fifth, with Leclerc coming in sixth. Perez had an electrical issue during the formation lap that made him start out of the pit lane. Behind Leclerc came Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll, to round out the points.
Formula 1 Betting Odds
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