Azerbaijan Grand Prix Best Bet: Sunday, June 12th

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix takes place at the picturesque Baku City Circuit this weekend. Max Verstappen leads the Drivers’ Championship and comes into the race as the betting favourite ahead of title rival Charles Leclerc.

In this article:

• Azerbaijan Grand Prix Best Bet: McLaren to Record Double Points Finish 

Azerbaijan Grand Prix Best Bet

This is generally a low-to-medium downforce track, a far cry from the high-downforce that teams were running in Monaco last time out. With three 90-degree corners in the first sector and a winding second sector, including the iconic castle section, before a high-speed final sector, the Baku City Circuit is a comprehensive test of the cars.

Last year’s race was won by Sergio Perez after a massive tyre blowout for Verstappen and an uncharacteristic error from Lewis Hamilton on the restart. The Mexican is out at 6/1 to win this Sunday despite winning in Monaco two weeks ago and finishing in the top two in four of the last five.

Red Bull see it as a big test for their DRS fixes with two sizeable DRS zones. Verstappen has won all but one of the races he’s finished in 2022. Leclerc seems to have the single-lap advantage, however, and the Monegasque driver is the betting favourite for pole at Evens. With five poles to his name already this season, there’s value backing the Scuderia star to come out on top in what is bound to be a tense Q3 on Saturday.  

The Sunday is set to be tight between the Red Bulls and Ferraris. For all the upgrades brought by the chasing pack, they are still a fair distance behind. It’s rare that Hamilton has been out at 4/1 to finish on the podium, but there’s still not much value there with George Russell finishing higher than the seven-time champion in six of seven races so far this season.

This has been a slightly frustrating season for McLaren to date, and particularly so for Daniel Ricciardo. He has just one points finish to his name this term. There has been speculation about the Australian’s future in Formula One, but he has overcome adversity before and has good memories of Baku. The retirements in 2018 and 2019 were low points. Ricciardo was a race winner in Azerbaijan in 2017 and notched a points finish in 2021.

Lando Norris has scored points in five of seven races in 2022. Only Perez, Leclerc, Russell and Valtteri Bottas have finished in the top 10 more frequently.

He’s also scored points in his two races at the Baku City Circuit. Norris is pretty much a lock for points if he finishes the race, and we are expecting an inspired drive from Ricciardo. With the potential for DNFs on this unforgiving track, there’s value in backing both McLarens to finish in the top 10 at 7/4.

Norris has demonstrated this car has the pace to be competitive. If you don’t trust Ricciardo to step up, Norris to finish in the top six is a good wager at Evens with Sky Bet.

•       Selection: McLaren to record double points finish
•       Best Odds: 3.75 (Coral)
•       Stakes: 7/10

Odds are available as of 10:00 11th June 2022. Odds may now differ.