It's Round 11 of the 2024 Formula 1 season, and the hills of Austria are alive to the sound of V6 turbocharged hybrid engines.
Gavin Puszczalowskyi looks at the best bets for a very busy weekend at the Red Bull Ring. With Sprint Race Qualifying, then the Sprint Race on Saturday, then the Grand Prix Qualifying, and then the Grand Prix itself, all taking place the aforementioned Red Bull Ring, you would expect Verstappen, and Red Bull, to be as strong as ever this weekend.
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Qualifying for the Sprint Race has just ended where once again Verstappen qualified pole just ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris. And I am expecting the same for qualifying for the Grand Prix itself.
Landon Norris, who took pole last weekend in Barcelona, are worth a shot around 5/2 in places. Many people are talking up Mercedes who seem to finally be getting back in the mix, certainly with qualifying, the issue for me is they never seem to take their good practice times into qualifying, but at 16/1 in places for either Hamilton or Russell to stick their Silver machine on pole might be worth a small stake.
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As for the race itself on Sunday, I still struggle to look beyond Verstappen. He is still the best and most consistent driver right now, and he is still in the best car, just. So while the McLarens, Mercedes and Ferrari’s are all dog-fighting for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, Verstappen gets in the lead and pulls clear. The gap is closing, no doubt about it, but there is still a gap. The issue is Verstappen is odds on to win but I cannot look beyond the Dutchman.
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One extra bet to look at is first manufacture retirement. I’m looking at Williams, at 8/1, for this. Alex Albon has retired in two of the last 4 races while his team mate, Logan Sargeant, has retired twice in the last five races. It is only recently in Spain last weekend that both Williams finished. That is the first time in 4 races that has happened.
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Whatever your bets are. Please do gamble responsibly
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