Max Verstappen took full advantage of Charles Leclerc’s retirement to claim the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix and move ahead of Leclerc in the world championship standings.
As for our bets, they, like Leclerc, suffered a disappointing ending in Spain.
Only our parlay of Verstappen on the podium & Lewis Hamilton inside the top six came through with our Pierre Gasly points finish and matchup bet of Mick Schumacher over Sebastian Vettel losing.
Those three results move our record this season to 10-8 (+2.65 units).
Now we turn our attention to the marquee grand prix of 2022, Monaco, where we’ll be shifting our betting strategy a touch.
Rather than three pre-race bets, we’ll present one before the action, one after Friday’s practices and one after qualifying Saturday.
Formula 1 Pick for Monaco
*Odds as of Thursday afternoon
Esteban Ocon (-105 at BetMGM) over Kevin Magnussen
Regular readers of the Formula 1 columns will remember our love for Ocon, who I’m shocked is not a favorite in this matchup.
Even setting aside his record on street circuits, Ocon has proven to be a much more consistent driver this season as compared to Magnussen. The Alpine representative has finished inside the points in all but one race this season, including two straight races in Miami and Spain.
As for Magnussen of team Haas, he has steadily gone downhill after a strong opener in Bahrain.
His last five races have seen him finish 9-14-9-DNF-17.
Ocon, on the other hand, has produced finishes of 6-7-14-8-7 across his last five, meaning he has outpaced Magnussen in four of the last five Grand Prixs. Further, Ocon has posted a faster lap than Magnussen in two straight races on street circuits.
Plus, dating back to last season, Ocon has failed to finish in the points in only two of his last 11 races.
Magnussen also doesn’t possess the best historical record in Monaco. In his last four races at this circuit, he has finished 13-14-10-DNF.
Given Ocon’s brilliant historical record on street circuits — no finish worse than P8 in three races this season and an average finish of 6.66 in his last six races on street circuits — I have him rated as a favorite this week and would play him all the way up to -130.
