Don’t look now, but Formula 1 will race at Austria’s Red Bull Ring once again this weekend, as the first-ever Styrian Grand Prix is set for Sunday. Having doubleheaders in several of the stops on the tour is one way for the sport to get in as many races as possible after the lengthy shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the fact that many countries in the world that normally host a Grand Prix each year do not have the pandemic under sufficient control to make travel safe. Last week, Valtteri Bottas won the Austrian Grand Prix, and his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton, finished second, although Hamilton was knocked down to fourth place after receiving a time penalty for his role in the crash of Alexander Albon. What sort of drama will ensue this week? Don’t miss the sports betting odds and our thoughts on the race. Let’s see how the Formula 1 Odds will be for the first ever Styrian Grand Prix.
Formula 1: Styrian Grand Prix Preview (July 12)
Driver Odds
- Lewis Hamilton 5/6
- Valtteri Bottas 5/2
- Max Verstappen 10/3
- Alexander Albon 25/1
- Charles Leclerc 40/1
- Sebastian Vettel 50/1
- Lando Norris, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz 66/1
- Lance Stroll 80/1
- Daniel Ricciardo 500/1
- Esteban Ocon 750/1
- Pierre Gasly, Daniil Kvyat 1000/1
- Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Raikkonen 1500/1
- George Russell, Kevin Magnussen, Romain Grosjean 2000/1
- Nicholas Latifi 2500/1
Lewis Hamilton is still the decided favorite here, due to his dominance in the sport. He is a six-time world champion and won Formula 1 last year. With 10 laps to go in the race, he doinked Alexander Albon’s car, and the time penalty he received slid him down from second to fourth. At the Red Bull Ring, Hamilton has a win in 2016 and six top-five finishes in his last seven races. With that said, Hamilton has failed to make the podium in each race since he win at Red Bull Ring four years ago.
Valtteri Bottas made a huge statement, leading wire to wire and winning the opening race of the season for the second year in a row. In 2019, he won the Australian Grand Prix and made the podium in eight of the first nine Grands Prix of the season. At Red Bull Ring in 2019, he came in third behind Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, but he dominated last week. In seven starts at Red Bull Ring, he has five top-ten finishes and two wins. It helps that he has earned three pole position starts in his last four races here.
Max Verstappen won at Red Bull Ring in 2018 and 2019, but a mechanical failure dropped him out last weekend. He came in third in qualifying, but Lewis Hamilton took a penalty for blowing through yellow flags during qualifying, and Verstappen passed him in the positioning. However, Red Bull’s top driver still looks to blow by Ferrari and contend for the win.
Alexander Albon definitely looks like the real deal at Red Bull after replacing Pierre Gasly midseason last year. He was behind Hamilton and Bottas when Hamilton ran into him, ending his day. Albon had a shot to compete for the victory, but qualifying in fourth place shows that he will not be just a support driver for Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc put up a furious finish to zip into third place and get the runner-up slot after Hamilton’s penalty. He was 2.7 seconds behind Bottas at the finish after starting the race in seventh. In 2019, he won the pole position but finished behind Max Verstappen. Ferrari’s poor qualification performance hurt him last week — can he get a better start this week?
Lando Norris doesn’t normally appear in our in-depth discussion, but he gave McLaren a podium finish last week, something that had not happened since 2014. He zipped by Sergio Perez late in the race and finished fourth, moving up to third after the penalty to Hamilton. He has two career races at Red Bull Ring, starting fifth in 2019 and third last week. His average finish is 4.5. He offers a ton of value — can he swipe the win?
