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The 2019 Formula One season continues this weekend with the 88th edition of the French Grand Prix which will be held at the Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet, near Marseille.
We already talked about the French Grand Prix in detail in our previous article, so let’s get right down to business here with the betting odds already released. Before that, let’s take a look at the season in a nutshell:
The 2019 Formula One Championship is seven races down. So far, here’s how the Drivers standings look:
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 162 points |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | 133 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | 100 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | 88 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | 72 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | 36 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | 18 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | 16 |
| 9 | Kevin Magnussen | 14 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | 13 |
| 11 | Kimi Raikkonen | 13 |
Hamilton’s pulling away from the field and is more than ever the favorite to take home his 6th Formula One Drivers championship. The Briton has won the last three races of the season and is coming off a win at the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix. This year has been the year of the Silver Arrows with Mercedes winning all of the first seven races of the season and finishing 1-2 in the first five races of the year. But while Ferrari has failed us this year, Vettel has finished strong in the last two races. Those said, here are the odds to win the 2019 French Grand Prix. Odds were taken from Bet365 as of 6/17/19:
| Driver | Odds |
|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | -120 |
| Valtteri Bottas | +275 |
| Sebastian Vettel | +450 |
| Charles Leclerc | +550 |
| Max Verstappen | +2200 |
| Pierre Gasly | +25000 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | +100000 |
| Niko Hulkenberg | +100000 |
| Carlos Sainz | +150000 |
| Romain Grosjean | +150000 |
| Kevin Magnussen | +150000 |
Who Are The Favorites?
Lewis Hamilton is the F1 betting favorite to win the 2019 French Grand Prix. Hamilton has been the betting favorite in all of the seven races so far this year and he has won five of them while finishing second in the two races he didn’t win. He has won the last three races in Spain, Monaco, and Canada. And when you talk about the French Grand Prix, only Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen among the current roster of F1 drivers have won the French Grand Prix. And because Raikkonen’s 2007 win came at Magny-Cours, it’s only Hamilton who has claimed victory at Circuit Paul Ricard when he won this race last year.
Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton finished 1-2 in the first five races of the season, with Bottas winning in Australia and Azerbaijan. He is the only driver, other than Hamilton, to win a race so far this season. But he’s taken a fall of sorts in the last two races with Vettel edging him for second in Monaco and Leclerc pushing him further lower to 4th in Canada. Bottas is still 2nd to Hamilton in the Drivers Standings but with Ferrari starting to close the gap in the past two races, I’m not keen on putting my money on Hamilton’s teammate.
Sebastian Vettel is still ranked 3rd in the Drivers Standings and is a far 62 points behind Hamilton and still 33 points off Bottas for 2nd place. But the Ferrari ace has come alive in the last two races, finishing second to Hamilton in both. He’s had a podium finish in four out of the last five races and may be starting to find his old form. Vettel was third in qualifying here last year but finished the race at 5th place behind Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Kimi Raikkonen, and Daniel Ricciardo. I think Vettel continues to pick up his form and with Circuit Paul Ricard not much different from Circuit Gille Villeneuve, I think he has a good chance at finally ending the Mercedes dominance.
Charles Leclerc finished third in Canada the last time out and has finished 5th or better in all but one race of the season. He was the blue-chip rookie heading to the season but so far, he’s been okay with taking the backseat to Vettel in the races. He’s run two fastest laps and taken one pole position in his first seven career races in F1. You have to like his aggressiveness and skill but with Ferrari giving preference to Vettel in the early races, you have to think twice about going with him in this race.
Max Verstappen is the only driver, outside Mercedes and Ferrari to have a podium finish this season. He finished third in Australia and Spain and has not finished lower than 5th this season. The Red Bull ace finished second to Hamilton in this race last year. As always, he is the top non-Mercedes or Ferrari bet in the race.
Who Wins?
Lewis Hamilton has dominated the 2019 Formula One season. He’s pulling away in the Drivers Standings and he isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Sure, some would say he has been the beneficiary of bad breaks and costly mistakes made by Ferrari. But then again, that just shows how good he is and how great is he is taking advantage of his opponents’ shortcomings. You have to love his form heading to this weekend’s race.
Ferrari’s had a disappointing season so far. But you can’t imagine things going worse than they are right now. Vettel has done well in the last two Grand Prix races. He may be starting to get back his championship form. After finishing second in the last two races, there’s something at the back of my mind that’s telling me this is the race where Ferrari breaks Mercedes’ winning run this season. If you want to pick a sure winner, go with Lewis Hamilton. But if you want a bet with the best value, it’s got to be Sebastian Vettel at +450. Prediction: Lewis Hamilton but I won’t blame you for taking Sebastian Vettel instead.
