Steve Starr
- Charles Leclerc (+140) is the slight favorite over Max Verstappen (+150) at the 3.84-mile Jeddah Corniche circuit
- Ferrari finished 1-2 at Bahrain last weekend in the opening race of the Formula 1 season
- The second running of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will take place on Sunday, March 27 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Ferrari crossed the finish line 1-2 in the season-opening race of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship in Bahrain.
With Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes still struggling with their new W13 challenger and Red Bull suffering mechanical issues of their own last weekend, Charles Leclerc opened as the favorite in Jeddah. Before we check the odds on the second race of the F1 season, here’s where you can find the top betting sites for Formula 1 in 2022.
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
 |
|
| Charles Leclerc | +140 |
| Max Verstappen | +150 |
| Carlos Sainz | +650 |
| Lewis Hamilton | +1000 |
| Sergio Perez | +1600 |
| George Russell | +2800 |
| Kevin Magnussen | +6600 |
| Fernando Alonso | +8000 |
| Pierre Gasly | +10000 |
| Valtteri Bottas | +10000 |
| Esteban Ocon | +12500 |
| Lando Norris | +15000 |
| Guanyu Zhou | +20000 |
| Mick Schumacher | +20000 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | +20000 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | +25000 |
| Alex Albon | +50000 |
| Lance Stroll | +50000 |
| Nicholas Latifi | +50000 |
| Sebastian Vettel | +50000 |
Ferrari favored
Maybe pre-season testing does matter. Charles Leclerc (+140) and teammate Carlos Sainz (+650) were running fast in early testing, but many expected Mercedes to pull it together at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Silver Arrows have won a record nine F1 Constructors’ Championships in a row, after all.
However, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (+1000) was only able to get on the podium after both Max Verstappen (+150) and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez (+1600) were forced to retire with similar mechanical issues. The question now becomes if the Scuderia are en route to winning their first season title since way back in 2008 or if the results in Bahrain were nothing but a desert mirage.
Not a bad weekend if your surname was Leclerc 😏#essereFerrari 🔴 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/lZw7769hG2
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 22, 2022
Jeddah Corniche circuit
This is only the second-ever race at the 3.84-mile Jeddah Corniche circuit, and interestingly enough, the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was the penultimate race of the 2021 season. Lewis Hamilton took the checkered flag in December 2021, but a lot has changed for Mercedes in a few months.
As for the track, sightlines have apparently been improved and there was a slight modification to the final corner, but the actual layout is the same. Last year, Jeddah was the second-fastest circuit (250km/hr average speeds) behind only the Temple of Speed in Monza. The 50-lap, 191.644-mile race also holds 27 corners – the most corners on the F1 calendar.
Can Red Bull rebound?
Given the tight turnaround between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, will Red Bull be able to correct their reliability issues in less than a week after starting the season with a double-DNF? At +150, oddsmakers don’t seem to be punishing Verstappen.
That’s likely because of the team’s 2021 track record – where there were only six occasions when Red Bull didn’t see the chequered flag. All but one were due to crashes and incidents, and no mechanical issues.
Max Verstappen labelled ‘not smart enough’ with Bahrain Grand Prix tactichttps://t.co/t65VLCgA3R
— Indy Sport (@IndySport) March 22, 2022
Best Bet
There’s no value in betting Charles Leclerc (+150), so we’ll instead take his teammate Carlos Sainz (+650), who raced fast and recovered from an early Q2 spin to place 8th last year.
The Spaniard was quoted last year as loving the “thrill and adrenaline” of Jeddah – which was a far cry from the opinion of Sergio Perez (+1600), who once called the track “pointlessly dangerous.”
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
