Last year, Max Verstappen and Red Bull won the F1 2022 by an absolute landslide. Now, a new season is afoot, meaning that all those drivers and teams who were racing without hope of winning at the back end of 2022, now have fresh hope that they can be title contenders this year. We look at three of the drivers who are likely to be in the running in the 2023 F1 season.
Max Verstappen
It’s no surprise that Max Verstappen is again a favorite to win the F1 in 2023. Last year, the second-ranked driver in the F1, Charles Leclerc, won three races, while the third-ranked driver, Sergio Perez, won two.
Max Verstappen won a total of 15 races in 2022. That’s how dominant the Dutchman was—he won five times as many races as the next-best driver, and triple the amount that the rest of the podium won combined. Backing Verstappen to carry on this momentum and win his third F1 championship in a row in 2023 is the obvious decision, and the bookies’ odds represent this. It will take some convincing for many punters to put their money anywhere else.
Lewis Hamilton
Seven times over the past two decades Lewis Hamilton has been crowned champion of an F1 season.
Indeed, 2022 was not his year, with the Brit finishing sixth, having not won a race and only podiumed nine times. However, form is temporary, but class is permanent. Hamilton has every chance of rekindling his strong form from years gone by and putting in a big title run in 2023. After the way that Hamilton was harshly robbed of an eighth title in 2021, it’s not surprising that the 38-year-old had a dip in 2022.
However, this year is a new season and an excellent opportunity for Hamilton.
For those brave enough to place a bet on the seven-time champion winning his eighth title this season, head to these Formula 1 betting sites to back Hamilton. Chances are, Lewis Hamilton will be back better than ever, and as the second favorite at the bookies, will give Max Verstappen a run for his money.
Charles Leclerc
After the first three races last year, betting odds were blowing up with bets in favor of Charles Leclerc. The 25-year-old had won two of the first three races of the season and was sitting in the box seat to claim the title in 2022. This was before anyone knew that Max Verstappen would hit the kind of form that he did, meaning Leclerc would only win one more race in the entire season.
Despite this, Leclerc was still able to finish second overall in the F1 rankings last year. With a fresh start this year, there’s every chance that the Monacan will be able to take the lessons he learned last season and transform them into victory this year. With a new boss at Ferrari as well in the form of Frederic Vasseur, expect Leclerc to be a genuine title contender in 2023.
