Formula 1 Spain betting preview: Is it Max Verstappen's turn to win again?
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Lewis Hamilton won the first race of the 2021 Formula 1 season. Max Verstappen won the second. Hamilton won the third. Will Verstappen win the fourth?
Sunday's race at Barcelona (9 a.m. ET, ESPN) is a prime opportunity for Verstappen to get his second win of the season. Verstappen won his first race at Barcelona in 2016 and has a car capable of challenging both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Oh, his odds are pretty good too.
After Hamilton got his second win of the season at Portugal, Verstappen is a relative bargain to win at +140 on Sunday. Hamilton is at +110 as he goes for his fifth win in a row at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Three of Hamilton's last four wins at the track have come from the pole. Both he and Verstappen have +120 odds to get the pole on Sunday.
If you want to look outside of both Hamilton and Verstappen you should put some money on Vatteri Bottas. He's at +700 to win the race. That's a steal ... if you think Bottas is going to win. We'd stick with either Hamilton or Verstappen though.
Here are some bets to make ahead of this weekend's race. If you would have wagered $10 on each of our five bets last week you would have walked away with $57 in profit. As always, the odds are provided by BetMGM.
Max Verstappen to win Free Practice 1 (+150)
We've got this as a suggested bet because the odds are better here for Verstappen than for both the win and the pole. You might as well maximize your value betting on Verstappen if you think he's a formidable threat to Hamilton this weekend.
Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to finish top 3 in any order (+130)
Bottas struggled at Imola before he was crashed out of the race by George Russell. But the three drivers have finished in the top three in two of the first three races of the season. That will be a regular occurrence until Sergio Perez's Red Bull can keep pace with Verstappen's.
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Mick Schumacher to beat Nikita Mazepin (-400)
This is going to be one of the easiest bets of the season. That's why the odds are what they are. Schumacher is an accomplished driver who should soon be in better equipment. Mazepin is in a car commensurate with his ability at this point. Take the better driver. Always.
Both McLaren drivers to record points (-275)
Daniel Ricciardo finishing in the top six was our only failed bet at Portugal. And that was because he qualified outside the top 15. But Ricciardo worked his way up to ninth and into the points as teammate Lando Norris finished fifth. The McLaren cars are the third-fastest on the grid. It'll take a surprise for them both to not score points again.
Qualifying margin under 0.25 seconds (-600)
With Hamilton and Verstappen being so close so far this season and Bottas keeping pace — at least in practice and qualifying — this should be another close qualifying session. You won't make too much money on this bet, but things will have to seriously go haywire in Q3 for this bet not to hit.
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