Monaco is always a bit of an anomaly on the F1 calendar – the fastest car at the majority of circuits over the course of the year may not always suit the twisty, tight nature of the Monaco Grand Prix street circuit – as we’ve seen on multiple occasions in the past, with underdog drivers like Jarno Trulli, Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Olivier Panis all taking their sole victories there.
Pole position is almost essential to win at Monaco (under normal circumstances), so whomever manages to set up the fastest car over a single lap looks set for the win. Who will get it right this weekend? We thought we’d put together a quick summary to discuss each of the big 3 teams’ chances… If you’re thinking of placing a bet on the race, read this first (and then sign up at Betway)!
Mercedes
If last year is anything to go by, Mercedes look like they might be in for a tough weekend, with their relative engine advantage cancelled out by the nature of the circuit. Both Hamilton and Bottas will be highly motivated to impress, however, as both have not had the start to the season that they would’ve wanted.
Here’s how the odds look:
Hamilton to win: 2.95:1 (combine with Mercedes to win in a multi-bet for 7.67:1)
Bottas to win: 10.95:1 (combine with Mercedes to win in a multi-bet for 27.30:1)
Ferrari
Ferrari should be relatively confident coming into Monaco, especially following last year’s dominant 1-2 finish. They once again have performed admirably on softer tyre compounds this year so far, and thus will most likely be favourites for the win on race day. It’s no secret that street circuits have played to their strengths in that last couple of years.
Here’s how the odds look:
Vettel to win: 2.4:1 (combine with Ferrari to win in a multi-bet for 6.36:1)
Raikkonen to win: 10.50:1 (combine with Ferrari to win in a multi-bet for 25.20:1)
Red Bull
Red Bull yet again have a very strong chassis this year, though they have not set the world alight in qualifying – which will be the most important part of the Monaco race weekend. However, they were extremely strong in 2016’s qualifying session, where Ricciardo snatched pole position with an awesome lap – they only time in 2016 where the Mercedes was beaten in qualifying.
Here’s how the odds look:
Ricciardo to win: 5.4:1 (combine with Red Bull to win for 16.20:1)
Verstappen to win: the exact same odds as Ricciardo
Who’s your money on? It’s definitely a tough choice to make, but if things don’t go wrong for Ferrari this weekend (like they have for the last 3 weekends), they look set to walk to the flag with Vettel in first place. If you take our word for it, you could walk away with 6.36x your initial bet with Betway… In other words, R100 would become R636 – not the worst way to use your money!
I don’t believe you! Why Vettel?
First of all, he arguably has the edge on his ageing teammate in qualifying and over a race distance, second of all he’s hungry for his fifth title, and finally he’s in the Ferrari, which proved itself to be by some margin the fastest car in the slowest circuits last year… here are the stats:
Anything can happen though – it’s Monaco after all! 😉
*Odds may fluctuate from the date of publication*