Until defeated in a straight fight, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will be the betting favorite and pick to win every weekend. Moreover, unless Verstappen is injured and unable to compete, he is a lock to win a third consecutive Drivers’ World Championship, as no driver has ever lost the World Championship with the 69-point lead Verstappen has over struggling teammate Sergio Pérez.
However, weather and the current Sprint Race format are among the factors in play that could jeopardize the seemingly inevitable Verstappen-Red Bull win. This combination could open the door for Fernando Alonso or Charles Leclerc to end Red Bulls’ eight-race winning streak and domination of Formula 1 in 2023 at their home Grand Prix. As always, Bangthebook is searching for winning wagers and has selected our favored lines for the Austrian Grand Prix and qualifying. However, as the available odds are somewhat limited for the F1 Sprint Saturday, we’re limiting our picks to Friday’s qualifying and Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Check out the Austrian Grand Prix odds on BetUS
Red Bull Versus the World – Chapter Nine
Think back to Sprint Race weekends like São Paulo 2022 or Azerbaijan 2023, and you’ll likely remember a Red Bull team that struggled to get their dominant machinery in the perfect set-up window, even in Verstappen’s hands. While Sergio Pérez won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, that might have been more Pérez being the King of the Streets on the circuit where he’s had his greatest success, with a side of Verstappen being thoroughly unhappy with his ride.
BetOnline has Max Verstappen (-300) favored to defeat the field (+240) in the Austrian Grand Prix, while Sergio Pérez’s recent struggles since his pole position in Miami and historic lack of success in Austria have him listed as the underdog (+1000) against the field (-2500) in the Grand Prix. This is despite Red Bull’s Honda-powered turbo charger being excellent at altitude and the Red Bull Ring’s long straights and fast corners, which should play to the RB-19’s strengths.
Chapter nine of Red Bull vs the World has the combination of weather and only one practice session before qualifying to add a little chaos into the equation. But until Verstappen is beaten in a Grand Prix via a straight fight, BangtheBook is taking Verstappen over the field to win his fourth Austrian Grand Prix and his fifth consecutive Grand Prix while taking Red Bull as the winning constructor if the betting lines are available.
Friday Qualifying
With F1 Sprint Saturday throwing away the normal F1 weekend schedule, Qualifying is moved from its traditional Saturday spot, taking place Friday, with the cars going into Parc Fermé after only one hour of running. With rain in the forecast, we could see another mixed-up grid and a potential shock pole position like Haas’ Kevin Magnussen’s pole position at the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix.
Verstappen has claimed three-straight pole positions and five of the eight pole positions this season. Despite being in the same RB-19, we don’t like Pérez’ss chances in qualifying on a circuit he’s never had success at and potentially in conditions not conducive to his peak pace. So, while we’re taking Verstappen to take pole position, those live odds are not available, and there are no Red Bull inclusive qualifying betting lines as of publication.
However, there are numerous head-to-head betting lines available for the Grand Prix and qualifying.
The Best Austrian Grand Prix Head-To-Head Betting Options
Here are Bangthebook’s favored head-to-head betting lines for the Austrian Grand Prix and Qualifying.
We’re looking for wins, and we start with lowly Williams, where Alex Albon (-800) has out-qualified rookie teammate Logan Sargeant (+500) in all eight qualifying sessions this season. We’re also taking Albon (-500) to defeat Sargeant (+350) in the Austrian Grand Prix, as Albon has out-finished Sargeant in five straight races and all six races that Albon has finished.
McLaren is bringing a mega update to Speilberg, and while they’ll be fighting with the Alpine drivers and Aston Martin and Ferriari’s second drivers for the final points positions. We’re favoring Lando Norris (-550) – who has an excellent one-lap pace even in poor conditions – to out-qualify Oscar Piastri (+375) for the eighth time this season.
We’re also taking Fernando Alonso (-500 GP, -700 Qualifying) to win both inner-Aston Martin battles with Lance Stroll (-700, +450 qualifying), as Alonso has out-qualified and finished higher than Stroll seven times.
Speaking of second drivers, our final featured head-to-head betting line is a Mercedes vs Ferrari Grand Prix shootout. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (+105) and Mercedes’ George Russell (-125) are tied 4-4 in head-to-head Grand Prix competition. However, Russell has two DNF/retirements on his record, including last weekend in Montréal. The Ferrari looked quick in Montreál, while Mercedes are still bringing upgrades and optimizing the package it introduced at Monaco.
However, Russell was on a three-race winning streak and on the way to a fourth consecutive win over Sainz in Montreal before kissing the wall and causing terminal damage to the W-14. We’ve liked what we’ve seen from Russell and Mercedes recently and think Ferrari’s fast weekend in Montréal may have been more track-specific than Ferrari turning a corner. That’s why we’re taking Russell to out-finish Sainz in the Austrian Grand Prix.
