Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Sunday, 24.03.2024
After a two-week break, Formula 1 travels Down Under. The third race of the season is on the agenda at Albert Park in Melbourne. After two night races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, different conditions are now expected in Melbourne.
But the favorite remains the same. Max Verstappen has dominated the action in the first two races, with Sergio Perez securing second place in each.
I already pounced on the “Perez beats Charles Leclerc” odds at the last World Championship race, and these are also my odds from Bwin in my Australian GP betting tip.
Verstappen has snatched pole in Melbourne, starting ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris. Sergio Perez has to start the race from sixth position after a grid penalty. In the race, however, he should easily be able to catch the Monegasque in the Ferrari starting two places ahead of him
Red Bull is too superior at the start of 2024. The Austrian racing team has carried over the momentum from the previous year, in which 22 out of 23 races ended in victory, and even seems to have widened the gap with the revolutionary model.
This can also be seen from how easy it was for Perez to clinch the one-two victory recently. After qualifying, he was not behind the three-time world champion, but the RB20 is in a league of its own, especially when it comes to race trim
Red Bull is also known for tuning the setup very strongly towards the race. However, things are likely to be different in Australia. After all, overtaking is very difficult at Albert Park. That’s why I expect Verstappen to be on pole position again after qualifying.
He has already started the first two races from the top position. While his odds of 1.15 to win the race are de facto hardly worthwhile again, the 1.57 for the fastest time in qualifying at the best betting providers is impressive.
Starting grid for the Australian GP
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Although this can only be used for ice hockey, if you are successful, you will receive free credit for your betting account, which can then also be used in the premier class of motorsport.
While Red Bull are likely to control the action again, things could be tighter behind them. Purely in terms of pace, Ferrari has emerged as the second-best force in the first two races, but the gap to the competition is not as large as that between Red Bull and the Italians.
However, the 1.30 for both Ferraris in the top 6 is in any case great odds from Interwetten for a combined ticket. It doesn’t matter to me that Sainz is celebrating his comeback after his appendectomy and has not been able to prepare optimally for the race
In Saudi Arabia, the Spaniard underwent surgery on the race weekend and had to pull out at short notice. Deputy Bearman, who was thrown in at the deep end, did an outstanding job as a rookie. After taking the wheel in the third free practice session, the Brit finished seventh in the race.
Without wishing to diminish the performance, seventh place, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes among others, confirms the Scuderia’s strong performance. And the team was able to prove this on two completely different types of track and asphalt
That was Ferrari’s big problem in the previous season. The car had strong and weak tracks. This lack of consistency seems to have been rectified. The adaptation of the chassis to last year’s Red Bull seems to have paid off.
However, there can be no talk of satisfaction. The team with the prancing horse on its chest strives for a place in the sun every Formula 1 season.
As sure as I am that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will finish in the points, I am also sure that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will finish in the points. Here too, only a crash, an unfortunate safety car phase or a technical defect can prevent a race in the top 10.
The last 5 races at the Albert Park Circuit:
There are 1.53 odds for this at Interwetten before the race weekend. Why am I so sure? It was clear from the first races that there is quite a big gap between the top five teams. If no Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren or Aston Martin drop out, the top 10 are de facto already taken.
After the collision at the start in Bahrain, Stroll was able to move up to tenth place with a massive deficit. And after the Canadian’s retirement, only one driver from a team not listed above, Nico Hülkenberg, scored points at the last round of the World Championship
But for the life of me, I can’t imagine a second DNF crash for Stroll. However, as the son of the team owner, he doesn’t have the best reputation in the scene, also because he clearly falls behind the ageing Fernando Alonso.
One Formula 1 betting provider that sports enthusiasts should keep in mind is Bwin. Here, too, a free bet of 10 euros is currently available after successful verification. This can also be used for Formula 1.
In addition to the standard betting markets, Bwin also offers driver duels between two drivers from different teams. In particular, those who interpret the lap times well from the weekend can dust off lucrative odds here
Conclusion: And that’s exactly the market I’m going to take advantage of and tackle the “Perez beats Leclerc” variant. Red Bull is way out in front, experts suspect that the true potential hasn’t even been shown yet.
This is also clear from the final gap of the other drivers. While Verstappen is almost a second faster than his rivals at the start of the race, he only takes a few tenths of a second off his opponents after a certain cushion in order to conserve technology and tires and not take the highest risk.
And Perez had no difficulty overtaking Leclerc, who was in a better position before the start of the race. After all, this is the RB20’s next superpower after race speed: with the rear wing open, the top speed surplus is greater than that of any other car. That’s why I’m going for the same odds as in the last race.
That’s why my Formula 1 Australian GP tip is: Perez beats Leclerc
