F1 2019 Monaco Grand Prix Betting Preview

Mercedes has a hammerlock on the 2019 Driver’s Championship and Constructor’s Championship in Formula 1 this year, and the results from practice on Thursday show that Mercedes could easily win again, but this week features a unique course. Monaco’s course is the first one that requires drivers to limit their speed significantly. The technical demands are rigorous, and one mistake can land the favorite at the back of the group. We have your F1 betting odds on the drivers as well as our thoughts about each team’s chances for the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix.

F1 2019 Monaco Grand Prix Betting Preview

• When: Sunday, May 26, 8:10 AM
• Where: Circuit de Monaco
• TV: ESPN
• Live Stream: WatchESPN

Formula 1 legend Nelson Piquet described driving around the Monaco circuit as “riding a bicycle around your living room.” It is a narrow course with tight streets, which can make passing literally impossible, as it turned out in 2003 when there were no passing moves at all in the race. There are 19 turns on the 3.337-kilometer course.

Driver Odds to Win the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix

• Lewis Hamilton                                                                                                          1/1
• Valtteri Bottas                                                                                                15/8
• Max Verstappen                                                                                                          10/3
• Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel                                                                              20/1
• Pierre Gasly                                                                                                                25/1
• Kevin Magnussen                                                                                                       500/1
• Romain Grosjean, Kimi Raikkonen, Antonio Giovinazzi                                          1000/1
• Lando Norris, Daniil Kvyat, Carlos Sainz                                                                  1500/1
• Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll                               2000/1
• George Russell, Robert Kubica                                                                                  4000/1

Mercedes has not had a win here since Lewis Hamilton found his way to a fortuante victory three years ago. Since then, Sebastian Vettel has won it for Ferrari and Daniel Ricciardo has won it for Red Bull. Monaco and Mexico are the only courses where Mercedes has not had w in in the last two years. One reason for the Silver Arrows’ struggles here has to do with the fact that Monaco has the lowest speed of any track — and it also lacks a need for high cornering, so tires don’t wear as fast. The hypersoft tires will be out this week, and Mercedes has struggled with those. So while Hamilton and Bottas have traded wins so far this season, it could easily be a different constructor winning in 2019. Red Bull has the third-place slot in the current Formula 1 Driver’s Championship with Max Verstappen. The synergy between Red Bull and Honda has worked well so far, and the vehicles’ elevated levels of downforce work well with a need for grip and agility as opposed to pure speed in Monaco. That combination could pull Verstappen past Hamilton and Bottas this week. One potential problem for Verstappen is that he can get distracted and lose his cool, as we found last year when he crashed in practice while in second place. So while Ricciardo won in 2018, Ricciardo is now driving for Renault. Verstappen has looked solid at multiple points this year, which is why Red Bull has the third slot, but Monaco will test him in new ways. Then there’s Ferrari. They have engines that might be better than those Mercedes is using, particularly in terms of power and straight-line speed. However, aerodynamics have proven a challenge, and so front-end grip and understeer are problems for the team. Charles Leclerc gets to come home and drive in his home town. Vettel has won this race twice and needs to start stacking his points if he wants to be part of the conversation at the end of the year. Another team that does well at Monaco is Racing Point. Their drivers seem to have cars that bring precision and stability on tight street courses such as this one. Sergio Parez is one example. Lance Stroll had a difficult time in qualifying and could also have a hard time getting any points out of the race. So for me, it’s interesting to put some money down on Verstappen to get some value, but I also like Hamilton to come through again as the favorite.