Formula 1 2023 season outright predictions with 18/1 acca!

The start of the 2023 Formula 1 season is almost upon us and ahead of the curtain-raiser in Bahrain this weekend I have rounded up some top season outright bets to sink your teeth into ahead of lights out.

Pre-season testing took place in Bahrain at the end of last week and shed some light on each teams’ capabilities ahead of the season opener, making this the perfect opportunity to look into the season overall.

All prices quoted below are from bet365, where new customers can get up to £50 in free bets to back some of our F1 season outright predictions!

2023 Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship betting odds

Max Verstappen is a huge favourite as he hunts for a third successive Drivers’ World Championship, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton a distant second and third respectively.

• Max Verstappen – 4/6
• Charles Leclerc – 4/1
• Lewis Hamilton – 5/1
• George Russell – 14/1
• Sergio Perez – 16/1
• Carlos Sainz – 18/1
• Fernando Alonso – 25/1

2023 Formula 1 season outright tips

F1 World Drivers’ Championship winner prediction – Charles Leclerc eachway at 4/1

While it is not advisable to read too much into pre-season testing, the three-day session last week did provide a bit of insight into car performance ahead of this weekend and the Ferrari once again looked very solid.

Red Bull probably have the slight edge and posted the fastest time of the sessions, but at odds of 4/6 Max Verstappen offers very little value. Charles Leclerc, however, looks a solid bet at 4/1 in the eachway market, which pays out on the top two.

The Monegasque driver finished a distant second last season but was denied a serious charge at the title by a host of strategy errors from the Ferrari pitwall. With Mattia Binotto replaced by Fred Vasseur in the Team Principal role, there are hopes they can get their act together this year.

Nevertheless, Leclerc has another season of experience under his belt and will considering taking a leaf out of Carlos Sainz’ book, with the Spaniard occasionally defying team orders and developing his own race strategy from the cockpit.

Admittedly Ferrari did end up a long way off Red Bull last season, but they had nine retirements to Red Bull’s three and suffered their fair share of misfortune in addition to being their own worst enemy.

If Vasseur can add a bit of competency to Ferrari’s strategy team and Leclerc can iron out the occasional moment of madness in his driving, there is no reason the 25-year-old can’t bring more of a fight to Verstappen.

Fernando Alonso to win 2+ races at 5/2

Two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso is considered by many to be one of the most talented drivers on the grid and the veteran Spaniard could have the equipment to match his ability this year.

Aston Martin seem to have taken a giant leap forward on the basis of pre-season testing, not only moving to the front of the midfield but perhaps surpassing Mercedes.

Mercedes, for the record, brought a host of unexplained balance issues to testing and Lewis Hamilton has already admitted the team “have a mountain to climb.”

While surprising on the face of it, this is not entirely unexpected. The Silverstone-based team have brought in a huge amount of top talent from the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes and it seems to have paid dividends.

The car looked excellent on the long runs and Alonso, who can be a monster on Grand Prix day, has arguable the best racecraft on the entire grid.

A couple of wins – which would be his first in Formula 1 since 2013 – is well within his extraordinary capabilities.

F1 2023 season match bet accumulator

Alex Albon to beat Logan Sargeant

Just a few years after being unable to race in Formula 2 due to financial reasons, Logan Sargeant has been given a big break as he joins Alex Albon at Williams but he’s unlikely to get the better of his experienced teammate. Sargeant finished fourth in last season’s Formula 2 championship and comes up against a driver who managed to drag a terrible Williams to three points finishes last season.

Charles Leclerc to beat Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz may have beaten Charles Leclerc in 2021 but that was largely based on the misfortune of Leclerc. Last year, the Monegasque driver showed the gulf in talent between the two as he beat his teammate by 62 points. Nothing has changed to suggest anything will be different this season.

Esteban Ocon to beat Pierre Gasly

A lot has been made of the all-French lineup at Alpine, especially because of the alleged long-running feud between Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. On track, the two drivers look remarkably evenly-matched, but Ocon has a lot more experience in the Alpine and even managed to beat Fernando Alonso last season, albeit thanks to a lot of reliability issues.

Fernando Alonso to beat Lance Stroll

It would be one of the shocks of the season if Fernando Alonso didn’t outperform Lance Stroll at Aston Martin. The Spaniard is one of the most experienced and talented drivers on the grid and many would claim that the only reason Stroll is still in Formula 1 is because of his father owning the team he drives for. Stroll is solid on his day, but that day is rare and Alonso is on a completely different level.

Kevin Magnussen to beat Nico Hulkenberg

In a throwback to 2019, Nico Hulkenberg is back in Formula 1 and joining Kevin Magnussen at Haas. The two are generally quite evenly matched and this one could come down to Hulkenberg taking a while to readjust back to life in Formula 1 after a few years largely out of the action. Magnussen impressed on his return as he finished 13th in the standings and we can expect more of the same from the Dane.

Lando Norris to beat Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri may be the new prodigal son of Formula 1 but it would be asking too much to expect him to waltz in and beat a driver as talented as Lando Norris. Norris has beaten Daniel Ricciardo by some margin over the last two seasons and the McLaren is a difficult car to adapt to.

Lewis Hamilton to beat George Russell

George Russell was excellent in his first season at Mercedes and more of the same is expected of him, but realistically the main reason he beat Lewis Hamilton was due to Hamilton’s experimental setups at the start of the season as Mercedes searched for an answer to their season-ruining problems. Hamilton finished ahead of his teammate in nine of the final 14 races and will be prioritised over Russell if there is any chance of a title fight.

Max Verstappen to beat Sergio Perez

The two-time defending champion is one of, if not the, best driver on the grid and it’s almost inconceivable to think Sergio Perez can beat him over the course of the season. Verstappen demands priority and generally gets it from the Red Bull team, as we saw towards the end of last season. He beat his teammate by 149 points last season and another walkover is expected.

Yuki Tsunoda to beat Nyck de Vries

Nyck de Vries has been waiting for his chance in Formula 1 for a very long time and and has the maturity and talent to push Yuki Tsunoda close, but he doesn’t deserve to be favourite ahead of somebody with two seasons of Formula 1 under his belt. Tsunoda has his moments of madness but generally speaking he is a solid, if unspectacular, driver and should have enough to outperform de Vries this year at least.

Valtteri Bottas to beat Guanyu Zhou

Guanyu Zhou showed some moments of quality in his debut season last year but Valtteri Bottas was far ahead of him through almost the entire season. He finished ahead of Zhou in 13 of the 22 Grand Prix and finished on 49 points to Zhou’s six.

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