Verstappen vs. Norris Prediction on October 8, 2023

Match info

Max Verstappen is currently favored in yet another Formula 1 race. He has been sailing through the 2023 season, barely encountering a few “roadblocks”. As F1 comes to Qatar with the event’s final race on Sunday, October 8, at 8 p.m. local time on the Lusail International Circuit, he’s once more the betting favorite on online bookies standing out with betting bonuses.

Meeting statistics

The 2023 Qatar Grand Prix will see the return of Formula 1 to the Losail International Circuit. The event didn’t take place last year because of the FIFA World Cup; it was first held in 2021. Although Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural race, it feels like a long time ago, and it’s not exactly assumed that he’ll win again. As the 2023 F1 World Drivers’ Champion is set to be crowned, let’s look at the early F1 betting favorites.

As he sailed to his maiden F1 title later that season, Max Verstappen finished second in Qatar in 2021. It makes sense that he’s the clear favorite when it returns to the calendar in 2023. With two second-place finishes this year, Hamilton and Mercedes as a whole haven’t competed at their usual level. In reality, after winning the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Hamilton has only won one more race, keeping him from being in first place for over two years. Verstappen finished sixth at Singapore two races ago, one of just three races he hasn’t won in 2023, and it was the first time since the São Paulo GP in November that he didn’t place on the podium. On September 24, he bounced back to win the Japanese Grand Prix.

Lando Norris has improved recently, placing second in four of the last seven races, including two straight in Singapore and Japan. He has recently improved, making him one of the most eagerly anticipated names on the betting board. Norris was eighth in Qatar in 2021, and despite his recent run of podium finishes, he’s still without an F1 championship.

The Red Bull teammate of Verstappen is now third in the odds. Sergio “Checo” Pérez had eight podium finishes in 2023, contributing to Red Bull’s overall supremacy. He had to withdraw from the Japan Grand Prix, though and came in seventh place in Singapore. He came in fourth place in 2021.

Match analytics

As has been the custom for the past two years, Verstappen is the betting favorite. Hamilton, who previously won the Qatar GP, isn’t exactly a long shot, as he hasn’t triumphed in a competition since shortly after the Qatar GP in 2021. He’s therefore unreliable as a dark horse. Following his first podium of the year when he finished third in Italy, Carlos Sainz pulled off a surprising victory in Singapore two races ago. He then went back to sixth in Japan. His chances of winning his second race in 2023 (which would be the third of his career) aren’t exactly promising.

We propose that you consider the following wager: Fastest Lap and Win the Race at odds of 1.80 on Ladbrokes.