Phil Agius
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The F1 action resumes this week with the start of the longest season in the history of the world championship. A huge slate of 23 races will start with Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix and run right through to the season finale in Abu Dhabi on November 26. Along the way the teams will race in the United States 3 times, including a night race at a new street circuit in Las Vegas in November.
Max Verstappen won his second world title in a cruise last season and in much less controversial circumstances than his first win in 2021, and the Dutch Red Bull driver is the clear favorite to retain his crown. Ferrari and Mercedes are expected to provide the strongest challenge, but competition in the midfield looks set to be much closer this time around.
Let’s take a look at the latest F1 odds and the other key information bettors need to know for the 2023 season.
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F1 2023 season preview and predictions
The stage is set for a great season of F1 action. Red Bull dominated in 2022 after getting its sums right in the first year after a major change to the design regulations, winning the constructors championship by a huge margin of 205 points as Verstappen won a record 15 of the 22 races to finish 146 points clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in 2nd place.
Ferrari’s car had the pace to have been much closer in both the individual and team standings, but failed to take advantage of its best opportunities especially early in the season. A baffling sequence of tactical mistakes, technical letdowns and driver errors allowed Verstappen to roar off into the distance in the championship. The famous Italian team has a new team principal this year after Fred Vasseur’s move from Alfa Romeo and if his influence makes the Scuderia a more professional outfit it can certainly throw down a challenge to Red Bull.
Mercedes could never contend seriously last season after its radical 2022 design failed to deliver and suffered worse than its rivals from the porpoising (bouncing) issue created by the new regulations. That problem should not be a factor this year, but the Silver Arrows now have to regain the ground they lost last season while devoting far too much time to solving that overriding issue.
Last week’s 3-day test in Bahrain suggested that Red Bull still has a clear edge on its rivals, with Ferrari expected to throw down the strongest challenge, while Aston Martin was the midfield team catching the eye and looking likely to move toward the front of the pack in 2023.
F1 2023 season drivers championship odds
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook
Max Verstappen (Red Bull): -165
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): +450
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): +500
George Russell (Mercedes): +1600
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): +1800
Sergio Perez (Red Bull): +2000
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): +2800
Lando Norris (McLaren): +15000
F1 2023 season constructors championship odds
Red Bull: -150
Mercedes: +250
Ferrari: +330
Aston Martin: +6500
McLaren: +15000
Alpine: +15000
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Which F1 drivers have changed teams for the 2023 season?
The driver lineups of the top 3 teams remain unchanged for 2023, but there has been a lot of movement among the chasing teams.
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel has retired after driving for Aston Martin last season, with another former champion, Fernando Alonso, moving from Alpine to replace him. His seat has been taken by Pierre Gasly, who moves from Alpha Tauri to create an all-French pairing alongside Esteban Ocon.
Gasly’s spot at Alpha Tauri was filled by former Formula E champion Nyck De Vries. Drive To Survive star Daniel Ricciardo struggled at McLaren and has been replaced by fellow Australian Oscar Piastri, while Canada’s Nicholas Latifi has lost his seat at Williams to another North American, U.S. rookie Logan Sargeant.
The American-owned Haas team also made a driver change, replacing Mick Schumacher with the more experienced Nico Hulkenberg.
How many F1 races are in America in the 2023 season?
As recently as 2021, the Circuit of the Americas in Austin hosted the only American round of the F1 championship. In 2022 the first Miami Grand Prix was run, and in a 2023 there will be a third race in Las Vegas. With Canada and Mexico also hosting races, there will be 5 events in North America this season.
The Miami round takes place earlier in the season on May 7, with the other 2 U.S. race near the end of the season. The United States Grand Prix in Austin is scheduled for October 22, with the Vegas race set to create a spectacle in the penultimate race of the season on November 18.
Who is American F1 driver Logan Sargeant?
Logan Sargeant, a 22-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, will become the first American F1 driver since Alexander Rossi in 2015. He has a solid pedigree as he bids to follow former American F1 world champions Phil Hill and Mario Andretti. Sargeant has raced in the feeder series Formula 3 and Formula 2 over the last 4 years, finishing 3rd in the Formula 3 championship in 2020 and 4th in Formula 2 last season.
While his Williams car is expected to be more competitive than it was last season, it is unlikely to be challenging for more than the minor points in any race this year, giving Sargeant a chance to gain experience at the top level with little pressure, as his odds of 1,000/1 for the championship suggest.
2023 F1 season drivers championship best bet: Max Verstappen (-160)
It would be great to think that the gains made by Ferrari and Mercedes this season would lead to their 6 cars battling it out at the front all year, with Aston Martin, Alpine and McLaren also close enough to score podium finishes if any of them slip up, but the reality is that Red Bull still seems to have a clear edge.
With Verstappen the undeniable #1 driver at the Anglo-Austrian team, that makes his -160 title odds perfectly fair. Even if Ferrari and Mercedes are able to catch up and challenge later in the year, they should be available at bigger odds before they begin to get Verstappen’s Red Bull in their sights.
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