Success! Thank you for signing up to Independent Betting
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix betting tips
- Charles Leclerc to finish on the podium – 15/8 with BoyleSports
- Race winning margin: Under six seconds – 6/4 with bet365
- Yuki Tsunoda to finish in the top-10 – 12/5 with BetVictor
The year of Max Verstappen finally concludes this weekend with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and anyone hoping for a surprise twist at the conclusion of a marathon Formula 1 season may be left disappointed.
Verstappen made it 16 wins from the last 17 races with victory at last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, extending his single-season win record to 18 races.
The three-time world champion now heads to the scene of his first Drivers’ Championship success, the Yas Marina Circuit, where he has stood atop the podium the last three years.
Online betting sites expect Verstappen to extend his winning run in Abu Dhabi with Betfred making him a best price of 3/10 for the win. Everyone else on the grid is double figures and up in the race-winner market.
To stop Verstappen from winning for the 19th time this season is going to take an extra special effort, especially after the draining events of Las Vegas last weekend.
While the race itself lived up to the hype, teams have complained about being pushed to breaking point by F1’s late-night Vegas antics and the short turnaround for the season finale.
The Yas Marina Circuit may not be able to offer as many thrills and spills as Las Vegas did, but organisers have worked hard to shed the track’s boring image and the race behind Verstappen shapes up as an intriguing one.
Here are our three Abu Dhabi Grand Prix predictions.
Leclerc looking for strong finish
Races involving a fight for first place have sadly been few and far between this year, but we got one in Las Vegas last weekend, where Charles Leclerc chased home Verstappen.
The Ferrari was well suited to the layout and conditions in Vegas, where Leclerc started on pole and was a constant thorn in the side of Verstappen, even after he’d taken a firm grip on the race.
Leclerc passed the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez on the final lap of the race to claim second, 2.07 seconds behind Verstappen – the third smallest winning margin of the season.
It was a fitting result for a driver who’s once again had his fair share of bad luck this season.
Leclerc’s luck deserted him in Brazil, where he didn’t start due to hydraulic failure, and the United States Grand Prix, where he was disqualified. But in between those setbacks, he’s been on the podium twice and pole position three times.
With Ferrari, it’s not always easy to say if they are heading in the right direction and any failures are tough to overlook. However, performances on the track been better overall recently and Leclerc had a strong start to the weekend when going fastest in practice 2.
Ferrari will need Leclerc to have another strong weekend if they are to overhaul Mercedes in the fight to finish second in the Constructors’ Championship.
Abu Dhabi is traditionally a strong race for the Silver Arrows, where they’ve won six times, while Lewis Hamilton has 10 podium finishes to his name.
Mercedes didn’t have much luck in Vegas, where they had the pace to challenge for the podium but couldn’t overcome a couple of race incidents.
That forms part of a disappointing end to the season for Merc, who are staring down the barrel of their first winless season since 2011.
Rather than Mercedes, new betting sites have priced up McLaren as Red Bull’s biggest challenger in Abu Dhabi with Lando Norris posting five podium finishes in six races before crashing out in Las Vegas.
But Ferrari have a strong record in Abu Dhabi with at least one car finishing on the podium in six of the last seven races and the changes to the track made a couple of years ago suit the strengths of the Scuderia.
With our first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix prediction, we’re backing Leclerc to back-up his second place finish at Yas Marina last year with another podium.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tip: Charles Leclerc to finish on the podium – 15/8 with BoyleSports
Rivals closing in on Red Bull
With the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles locked up long ago, we won’t be getting another drama-fuelled end to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix like the memorable finish to the 2021 race.
But the way recent races have gone, we may at least get a close finish to the 2023 edition of the Grand Prix with a winning margin of under six seconds 6/4 with bet365.
For a season when one man has been so far ahead of the field, Verstappen’s winning margins haven’t always been massive and six of the last 13 races have been decided by margins of 6.064 seconds or less.
Abu Dhabi has a history of close finishes too with four of the last seven races won by five seconds or less.
Ferrari and McLaren have been slowly chipping away at Red Bull’s sizeable advantage, and while they likely haven’t done enough to prevent another Verstappen win, they may not be far behind.
Verstappen’s teammate Perez could do with a strong end to the season too after a frustrating 2023, further raising hopes of a close finale.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tip 2: Winning margin under six seconds – 6/4 with bet365
Tsunoda storming into next season
One minor issue still to be resolved is the placing of the bottom four in the Constructors’ Championship, which may not seem important but is worth millions for the teams involved.
Williams are currently seventh, seven points ahead of AlphaTauri, who were eating into that lead before a disappointing showing in Las Vegas, where they left point-less.
A Red Bull-inspired upgrade introduced ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix has given AlphaTauri a significant boost and they will be pushing hard for points in Abu Dhabi.
Yuki Tsunoda looks the most likely out of himself and Daniel Ricciardo to deliver a top-10 finish for AlphaTauri, which would be a fitting way to end what’s been a decent season for the Japanese driver.
Tsunoda has five top-10 finishes to his name, including at two of the last three races and has a decent record in Abu Dhabi, finishing fourth at Yas Marina in 2021 while he was 11th last year.
With our final Abu Dhabi Grand Prix prediction, we’re backing Tsunoda to deliver another top-10 finish.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tip 3: Yuki Tsunoda to finish in the top-10 – 12/5 with BetVictor
Updated by
Last Updated: 14th March 2024, 07:22 AM
