Miami Grand Prix Betting Preview

Just when you thought the 2022 Formula 1 season couldn’t veer off track any more sharply, Northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix grabbed the wheel and threw it hard left.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc spun out of control while several other vehicles flew right past him, deflating Leclerc’s efforts to hunt down Sergio Perez. Max Verstappen steadied his championship campaign after a rough patch, and George Russell outmanoeuvred his far better-known teammate, Lewis Hamilton, by an eyebrow-raising margin.

With the brakes now on for Imola, the F1 circus has travelled to Miami, Florida ahead of the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, giving bettors at Bodog yet another opportunity to cash out with Miami Grand Prix betting.

The upcoming race is part of a concerted effort on behalf of Formula 1 to try and grow its audience in the United States with two Grands Prix in 2022 and a third added in Las Vegas in 2023.

With all eyes on The Sunshine State for this weekend, Formula 1’s 20 drivers and 10 teams will battle it out around a purpose-built “street circuit” that runs around the famous Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins.

In the drivers’ championship, Leclerc leads Verstappen with 86 points to 59, with Perez close behind with 54. While that 27-point gap might seem comfortable, we’ve already seen how one slipup could change the fortunes of either of the two lead drivers. And with 23 races on the calendar this year, there’s a long way to go.

So what can we expect from the Miami Grand Prix? It’s a circuit that’s never been raced on before, leaving plenty of unknowns. The track has two long straights which could favour the higher top speeds of the Red Bulls, but the chicanes would swing the balance towards the Ferraris which could lead to some spicy racing with several strong contenders.

It’s all rushing together to make Miami Grand Prix betting at Bodog an exciting prospect. Here at Bodog, we can’t wait for lights out, so we’ve been reviewing the odds for all the leading drivers to see who appears to have an edge.

Max Verstappen (EVEN)

At Imola, the Red Bull cars received a package of updates that seemed to improve performance and reliability. This helped Verstappen to take the hat trick over the weekend, with pole position, the win, and the fastest lap all in the bag.

While it may have just been a fluke, it seems that Verstappen has been able to put the reliability problems behind him, so he could very easily begin to claw back the point deficit to Leclerc.

In Miami, the long straights could be enough for the Red Bull to defend against any DRS overtakes, and careful positioning would help keep the Ferraris at bay in the chicanes.

Ferrari are believed to be bringing their first set of updates of the season to the Miami Grand Prix, so this might undo all of the gains found by Red Bull last time out in Italy. That’s not a guarantee, however, so Verstappen still looks like the favourite for the Floridian race with EVEN odds to win it.

Charles Leclerc (+125)

Charles Leclerc isn’t in quite as comfortable a position as he was after the Australian Grand Prix, but he still leads the drivers’ championship by more points than can be won in Miami. Therefore, no matter what happens, he’ll leave the US as the championship leader.

Of course, losing 25 or 26 points to Verstappen would require the Monegasque to fail to finish in the top 10 and the Dutchman to win. So far, Leclerc has managed to finish each race in the points and only missed out on a podium once.

Provided the Ferraris’ strong record of reliability can be maintained and the Italian team can make its upgrades work, then Leclerc could quite easily be back at the front. In which case, Leclerc’s current Miami Grand Prix betting odds of +125 could look like good value.

Sergio Perez (+1100)

There’s a big jump in odds between the two championship contenders and third-favourite Sergio Perez.

There are a few factors behind this, but perhaps most notably, Perez is in a support role at Red Bull. This means that if the two cars are running one-two, we can expect the Mexican to be asked to let his championship-contending teammate through.

However, Perez has proven that he is capable of winning races and we know he has the chassis around him to do it again. Twice this season, he’s finished in second place, so a win is bound to be on the cards at some point in the annual 23-race schedule. If Verstappen gets into trouble during the race and Perez is in the mix, then he could absolutely make it onto the top step.

Carlos Sainz (+1200)

Close behind Perez is Sainz. The Spaniard performs much the same role at Ferrari as Perez does at Red Bull, even if Sainz vehemently disagrees.

For that reason he, too, is only going to be in contention for a win if both Leclerc and Verstappen are unable to get the job done. This is certainly a possibility though; as we saw last year, the Dutchman is not afraid to push his rivals to the limit on (and off) track, so there’s always the chance that the two title contenders could be knocked out of the race in Miami.

However, Sainz has slightly longer odds than Perez because he’s had a less successful campaign so far. He retired in Italy early in the race after a spin, his second DNF in a row. He did, however, finish second in Bahrain and third in Saudi Arabia, beating Perez on both of those occasions.

Doubts have given rise to a quiet chatter that he may have fallen into a bit of a rut after two bad races – but of course he could just bounce right back.

 

Miami’s first Grand Prix hosting gig is all set to kick the next instalment of the 2022 campaign into gear. It could be the flashpoint that ignites the battle between Leclerc and Verstappen, something you won’t want to miss. So get your slips filled out for Miami Grand Prix betting, and strap in – lights out is just around the corner.