Hungarian Grand Prix preview: Leclerc and Ferrari playing catchup

After a thrilling at the Circuit Paul Ricard the teams travel to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

As Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc battle it out at the top Mercedes are continuing to improve steadily and will hope to gain some more vital points in both the Drivers’ and Constructors Championship.

We preview this weekend’s action below.

The leaders

With his first win in the last four races Max Verstappen returned to his familiar position on the podium in France last weekend. The Dutchman is now 63 points clear at the top of the Drivers’ Championship and having dominated this season Verstappen is yet again the favourite at 11/8 to win Sunday’s race.

Charles Leclerc was clear ahead of the rest of the grid in the French Grand Prix before he inexplicably spun out and hit the tire wall, ending his race. The Monacan driver will hope for luck to be on his side this weekend and at 6/4 he has every chance of taking first place in Budapest and gaining some crucial points for him and the Ferrari team.

Ferarri’s number two Carlos Sainz won Driver of the Day in France with the highest proportion of the vote of anyone this season, receiving 40% of the vote after managing a fifth place finish despite starting 19th on the grid. Sainz has started to find some form recently after initially struggling to get to grips with the new car. The Spaniard is 11/2 to win on Sunday but a podium finish will be his first target and he will fancy his chances of doing so at 8/13 to make the top three.

Sergio Perez gave up his podium position to Mercedes’ George Russell in the later stages of the French Grand Prix and will be hoping to avenge that and get some podium points to boost Red Bulls’ Constructors Championship charge. At 2/1 he’s certainly in with a good chance of a podium but looks unlikely to finish out in front at 20/1 for the win.

Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has not had his greatest season but with four podium finishes in the last four races, including a second-place last weekend. He and Mercedes have been steadily improving and at Evens another podium place would do his confidence a world of good. He is yet to win a race this season but as the 9/1 fourth favourite this weekend it is still very possible that he could be standing on top of the podium on Sunday afternoon.

Hamilton’s fellow Brit and Mercedes teammate George Russell sits 16 points ahead of him in the drivers’ standings. The British driver is a longshot at 22/1 to win in Hungary but at 1/5 he looks nailed on to finish in the points this weekend and continue Mercedes’ pursuit of Ferrari and Red Bull.

Check out all the latest betting offers at William Hill 

The rest of the field

Alpine’s Fernando Alonso has picked up 19 points in the last three races and as one of the most experienced and talented drivers on the grid he is 4/11 to finish in the points and at 16/1 is not out of the running for a podium should things go his way on Sunday.

Esteban Ocon was a shock winner in Hungary in 2021 but having failed to finish on the podium in any of this season’s races it appears unlikely that he’ll be able to change that at 33/1 to finish in the top three. He has managed to score 56 points so far and at 4/7 he will certainly be aiming to finish in the top 10 once again.

Check out all the latest Formula 1 betting odds at William Hill