Hungarian Grand Prix preview: Value to be had if taking Verstappen out of the equation

After a thrilling British Grand Prix, which saw the pack close the gap slightly on Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, the F1 circus heads to the Hungaroring for the 39th Hungarian Grand Prix.

As the season approaches its halfway point, we look ahead to race 11 of 2023 and pick out a few value angles without Verstappen to get in the way!

Verstappen chasing more records

While Lando Norris got within four seconds of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull car at Silverstone – the closest margin of victory since Verstappen lost to teammate Sergio Perez in Azerbaijan back in April – it’s never been clearer that Verstappen holds all the aces this season.

The Dutch driver has won his last six races, a run beginning in Miami at the beginning of May, and a win this weekend in Hungary would mean he ties for second in the all-time list of drivers to have won the most consecutive races. If he wins in Hungary, which looks a virtual formality at 1/3, with the long straights of the Hungaroring set to suit ideally the speed of the Red Bulls, Verstappen will definitely have Sebastien Vettel’s record of nine consecutive wins in sight.

In four of his last six wins Verstappen has also set the fastest lap, so backing him to win and record the fastest lap offers slightly more value at 8/11.

Hamilton has strong podium chance

Lewis Hamilton has won this race a record eight times in the past, the most recent of those coming in 2020, but at 14/1 it would be a surprise if he was able to add a ninth here and record a first Grand Prix win since 2021.

Despite Mercedes’ well documented shortcomings, Hamilton does seem to be driving consistently well at the moment, with a top three finish at Silverstone making it three times he has reached the podium in his last four races. At 5/4 there’s every chance he can at least repeat the feat in Hungary.

Others to look at in the podium market are Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (6/5) who has made six of 10 possible podiums this year, Sergio Perez (4/5), the only driver to have beaten Verstappen this season, and Britian’s Lando Norris (11/4), who finished an excellent second at Silverstone two weeks ago.

Race on for second in Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships

Verstappen is nearly 100 points clear of nearest pursuer, teammate Sergio Perez, in the Drivers’ Championship so it already looks a foregone conclusion, and the place to look for value is the ‘Drivers’ Championship without Max Verstappen’ market.

Second-placed Perez is only 19 points clear of Fernando Alonso in third and a further 16 clear of fourth-placed Lewis Hamilton, so the race is definitely on for the Drivers’ Championship runner-up spot. Perez is 8/15 favourite, from Hamilton at 10/3, while Alonso can be supported at 9/2.

If the Drivers’ Championship is virtually sealed, then the Constructors’ already is. Red Bull have won all 10 Grand Prix so far and could well make it a record-breaking clean sweep this season.

They are over 200 points ahead of nearest challengers Mercedes, who are strong favourites at 4/6 in the ‘Constructors’ Championship without Red Bull’ market. However, they are only 22 points clear of third-placed Aston Martin and with veteran campaigner Fernando Alonso back driving at his best this season, they could represent the value at 10/3.

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