F1 odds: Max Verstappen sits as favorite to win Bahrain Grand Prix heading into weekend

The Bahrain Grand Prix is slated to take place this weekend, with the race getting underway on Sunday, March 20 at 11:00 a.m. ET. It marks the opening of the 2022 Formula One season, featuring 57 laps around a 3.3-mile circuit, for a total of 191.5 miles.

The Bahrain Grand Prix was the first Formula One Grand Prix event to be held in the Middle East, with the first iteration of the race taking place in April of 2004. Michael Schumacher out of Germany won that first race, never having repeated in years after that.

Lewis Hamilton from the United Kingdom is a five-time winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix, dating back to his first win in 2014, followed by a repeat in 2015. He’s the defending race winner, having won the last three years straight. He opened as the favorite to win in 2022 at DraftKings Sportsbook, but Belgian-Dutch driver Max Verstappen is the current favorite to take home the honors with odds at +175.

Verstappen finished second in last year’s Bahrain GP as Hamilton overtook him in the race’s final laps to take home the title. Max will look to start the season off with a win as he looks to defend his Drivers’ Champion title from last year.

Hamilton comes in just a hair behind Verstappen at +235 to win, with odds at -200 for a podium finish as he looks to secure his fourth-straight victory in Bahrain.

Charles LeClerc rounds out the top three favorites, showing on the board at +550. He made out with a strong Ferrari testing period, which is reflected in his odds coming in at third with his teammate Carlos Sainz coming in at fourth with +800.

The race weekend gets underway on Friday, March 18 with practice and qualifying sessions that will lead up to the race itself on Sunday morning.

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