Styrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring F1 - Predictions, Betting Odds & Picks

• Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen get another shot at Red Bull Ring after disastrous season opener last Sunday.
• Valtteri Bottas, on the other hand, can hope for nothing better than to equal his outstanding performance in the Austrian Grand Prix.
• Despite overachieving in the season’s first Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc is still a huge long shot at the same track.

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For the fifth time in Formula 1 history, the series will stage consecutive races in the same country. For the first time, the series will stage races in the same country at the same track. With the coronavirus pandemic forcing wholesale adjustments to the F1 schedule, drivers in the world’s most-watched form of auto racing are competing on consecutive weekends at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

During the week between the two Grand Prix, F1 added two events to the schedule, bringing the total to 10 this far. The Italian circuit of Mugello in Tuscany will makes its F1 debut on September 13, which also will mark Ferrari’s 1,000th race in the series. The Russian GP has been slated for September 27 at Sochi.

We had a great start to our season in Austria last weekend, and we are increasingly confident in our plans to race throughout the remainder of 2020

(F1 CEO Chase Carey)

By the time the schedule is complete, the F1 bosses expect to hold 15 to 18 events.

F1 at Red Bull Ring (Austria) Odds

The odds for the Styrian Grand Prix are provided by DraftKings Sportsbook.

Hamilton, Verstappen Look for Better Results after Comedy of Errors

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen had plenty of speed in last Sunday’s season-opening Austrian Grand Prix. In fact, early in the race, he appeared likely to challenge eventual race winner Valtteri Bottas for the top spot on the podium.

While running second on Lap 11, however, Verstappen lost power, drove his RB16 slowly to the garage and became the first retirement from the opening race—not the winner of three straight Austrian Grand Prix, as he had hoped.

Hamilton’s ills continued at the Red Bull Ring. After a protest from the Red Bull team, the reigning F1 champion drew a three-position grid penalty at the start for failing to observe a yellow flag during qualifying. During the race, he drew a five-second time penalty for contact with Alexander Albon’s Red Bull.

The latter infraction knocked Hamilton off the podium in favor of Lando Norris, who drove his McLaren to a third-place result. But Hamilton (-150) asserted his dominance on Saturday, setting a blistering pace in a rainy Q3 to win the pole for Sunday’s race by more than a second over Verstappen (+185).

Without any further twists of fate, those two drivers should battle for supremacy in the season’s second event.

Valtteri Bottas Would Be Elated with Duplicate Performance on Sunday

While Vertsappen, Hamilton and a host of other were struggling in a race that produced nine retirements, Valtteri Bottas nursed his Mercedes to victory in the season opener. The race wasn’t without issues for the Finn, who was told repeatedly to stay off the curbing to protect his gear box.

Bottas (+625) led wire-to-wire from the pole but had to endure two safety car periods that tightened the field and gave Mercedes teammate Hamilton a shot at the win—before his time penalty. At the finish, Bottas had a 2.700-second edge over runner-up Charles Leclerc, who, like Norris, benefited from the penalty Hamilton incurred for his dust-up with Albon.

Bottas, however, won’t have the luxury of a pole position start on Sunday. In a rainy qualifying session on Saturday morning, he was fourth fastest in Q3, lagging 1.428 seconds behind Hamilton, the pole winner. Accordingly, Bottas will have to work considerably harder to win two straight at Red Bull Ring and maintain his series lead.

Oddsmakers Don’t Like Charles Leclerc’s Chances to Overachieve

In last Sunday’s war of attrition at Red Bull Ring, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was the surprising runner-up after entering the event with low expectations. Taking advantage of Max Verstappen’s retirement and Lewis Hamilton’s time penalty, Leclerc drove from seventh on the grid to second place.

Don’t expect the same sort of result from Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix. The Ferraris of Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel struggled in the rain during qualifying, with Leclerc failing to make Q3. Vettel will start Sunday’s race from the 10th spot, with Leclerc rolling off 11th.

Vettel (+20000) has other things to think about, too. With Fernando Alonso announcing during the week he’ll return to F1 with Renault next year, the options have narrowed for Vettel, who will part ways with Ferrari at season’s end.

The Ferraris do have one ray of hope: on Sunday, the rain chance at Red Bull Ring is down to 10 percent, and both Leclerc (+20000) and Vettel will fare better on a dry course than they did in the wet.

Our Pick

Max Verstappen (+185)—For the third straight race at Red Bull Ring, Verstappen will start from the second spot. For the third time in four races at the 2.683-mile course, he’ll be first to the finish line.