Verstappen still the man to beat despite McLaren and Ferrari gains

Dean Etheridge
By , Updated on: Jun 12, 2024 12:00 AM
Verstappen still the man to beat despite McLaren and Ferrari gains F1 Futures 2024

After Round 9 of the 2024 F1 Drivers’ Championship, Max Verstappen leads the points table by 56 points from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. But make no mistake, this season isn’t like the previous two. Verstappen has a real fight to win a fourth-successive world championship. And as you’re about to find out in our F1 futures, the bookmakers still expect the Dutchman to do it.

  • Max Verstappen leads the 2024 F1 Drivers’ Championship with 194 points
  • The best F1 betting sites make Verstappen -2000 to win the 2024 championship
  • Verstappen faces real competition from Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris for the 2024 title

Formula 1 had become a procession in 2022 and 2023. Let’s cut to the chase. It was very boring. Max Verstappen, basically only had to complete the race to win it. He regularly clocked up wins of over 30 seconds and was winning races at a canter.

Ahead of 2024, there was some optimism that some teams had closed the gap on the dominant Red Bull team. The expectations were that even though the gap had closed, it was still too big to cross.

In other words, instead of Verstappen winning races by 30+ seconds, he would only be winning by 10 to 15 seconds. Some might say that this is what has happened. But in 2023, Red Bull had won the first nine races. In 2024, they have won six of the nine races held.

Furthermore, both Ferrari and McLaren have won races this season. And both teams have beaten Red Bull in fair fights. As things stand, Verstappen tops the points table with 194, Leclerc has 138, and Norris has 131.

The gap has most definitely closed. And we would have to say that it has closed further than many might have expected.

Who is the favorite to win the 2024 Drivers’ Championship?

So what does the betting say? Well, there is a familiar look about it with Max Verstappen sitting at the top as the favorite.

At this stage of the season in the past, the Dutchman has been unbackable. You may well say he is unbackable again at -2000. But the difference is, he is by no means certain to win the Championship this year.

A few weeks back, Verstappen was -10000 to win the Drivers’ Championship. He is now -2000. Furthermore, he was regularly -700 to win races. Now he is a more realistic -200 to win races.

Behind Verstappen in the betting to win the 2024 Drivers’ Championship is Charles Leclerc at +1400 and Lando Norris at +1600. It now looks like a three-horse race as Oscar Piastri is +10000, Sergio Perez is +20000, and Carlos Sainz is +25000.

Verstappen is still the man to beat. But for a better value bet, we’d have to be looking at backing Norris and Leclerc.

Charles Leclerc To win 2024 F1 Drivers’ Championship
Bovada
+1400

Lando Norris To win 2024 F1 Drivers’ Championship
Bovada
+1600

More Drivers’ Championship betting odds are available on our F1 odds table. For more information about the bookmakers we use, please check out our betting bonuses and promotions page.

DriverBetUSBetOnlineBovada
Max Verstappen-2000-2000-2000
Charles Leclerc+1400+1400+1400
Lando Norris+1600+1600+1600
Oscar Piastri+10000+10000+10000
Sergio Perez+20000+20000+20000
Carlos Sainz+25000+25000+25000
Lewis Hamilton+100000+100000+100000
George Russell+150000+150000+150000
Alexander Albon+450000+450000+450000
Daniel Ricciardo+450000+450000+450000
Esteban Ocon+450000+450000+450000
Fernando Alonso+450000+450000+450000
Guanyu Zhou+450000+450000+450000
Kevin Magnussen+450000+450000+450000
Lance Stroll+450000+450000+450000
Logan Sargeant+450000+450000+450000
Nico Hulkenberg+450000+450000+450000
Pierre Gasly+450000+450000+450000
Valtteri Bottas+450000+450000+450000
Yuki Tsunoda+450000+450000+450000

Betting to win the 2024 Drivers’ Championship without Verstappen

The race to win the Drivers’ Championship without Verstappen is a real live market. Both Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc have traded places as the favorite in recent weeks, with both now way clear of early season favorite, Sergio Perez, in the latest Formula 1 betting online odds.

DriverBetUSBetOnlineBovada
Charles Leclerc+110+110+110
Lando Norris+120+120+120
Sergio Perez+1000+1000+1000
Oscar Piastri+2500+2500+2500
Carlos Sainz+2500+2500+2500
Lewis Hamilton+25000+25000+25000
George Russell+50000+50000+50000

Unfortunately, both drivers are now only just odds against. There was a time when both could be backed for a nice profit if either won. Now Charles Leclerc is the favorite at +110, with Lando Norris just behind at +120.

It really could go either way. But if pushed for a choice, we would pick Lando Norris. The British driver and his McLaren team seem more consistent than Leclerc and Ferrari.

Lando Norris To win 2024 F1 Drivers’ Championship w/o Verstappen
Bovada
+120

2024 Constructors’ Championship betting picks

In the latest Constructors standings, Red Bull leads the way with 301 points. Ferrari sits second with 252 and McLaren has 212. If we want to clutch at straws, Mercedes is fourth in the points table with 124.

In the betting, Red Bull is -700 to win the Constructors Championship. Ferrari is second at +700, McLaren is at +900 and Mercedes is at +50000.

In the betting without Red Bull, Ferrari is -150, McLaren is +110, and Mercedes is +5000.

We believe there is some real value in the Constructors market. Despite receiving a new two-year deal from Red Bull, Sergio Perez has been underperforming this season.

Maybe the new contract will calm him down and there will be an improvement in his performance. But if not, we can see Ferrari and McLaren, both pushing Red Bull here.

Verstappen will win the bulk of Red Bull’s points. But Ferreri and McLaren both have good No.2 drivers who are consistently picking up points.

Take your pick, or back both. We’re backing both. But again if pushed, McLaren looks like the more consistent performer and is the better value betting pick.

Ferrari To win F1 Constructors’ Championship
BetUS
+700
McLaren To win F1 Constructors’ Championship
BetUS
+900

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Meet the author

Dean Etheridge

Dean is an experienced freelance content writer who honed his skills by writing for his own football betting website for over 15 years. In more recent times, Dean has extended his sports writing portfolio to cover a whole host of other sports including golf, tennis,...

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