The United States Grand Prix returns to the Formula One schedule after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The green flag is set to drop Sunday at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Tx, marking the 42nd iteration of the race.
The 2021 U.S. Grand Prix will be the 17th round of the season, meaning only five races will remain. However, for the current frontrunners in Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, five is quite a lot.
Separated by only six points in the 2021 F1 standings, the Hamilton vs Verstappen battle likely won’t come close to being decided after Sunday. Regardless, both drivers will want to show up and claim the coveted points to get themselves closer to the world champion title.
Hamilton Favored To Win
The Formula One odds for this weekend show Lewis Hamilton (-120) as the favorite to win in the United States. That makes perfect sense, considering he has already won six races here and seems to be in the prime form to add his seventh.
He finished second here in 2019 and third in 2018, but prior to that, Hamilton won four straight races and five of the previous six. There is no hiding the fact that Hamilton is by far the most successful F1 driver on Circuit of the Americas, having surpassed Michael Schumacher’s track record in 2017.
Unfortunately, Hamilton wasn’t able to build on his lead ahead of Verstappen in Turkey. There he finished in fifth, well behind his teammate Valtteri Bottas, who claimed his first checkered flag of the season.
Although a poor result on paper, it’s important to remember that Hamilton had to start the race from the back after changing his power unit. And despite this handicap, he still landed in fifth, which is a commendable achievement.
At the same time, there was also some drama at the race, after Mercedes asked Hamilton to pit stop in the 50th lap, which effectively lost him two spots. However, regardless of how the media perceived it, Hamilton has confirmed that he wasn’t furious over the decision.
“It would have been better than how it ended up at the end,” said Toto Wolff.
“But I think again it was measured and obviously in the car, [Lewis] didn’t see how much he was dropping off in lap time, and he didn’t see Leclerc dropping off, and it was clear that if he’d stayed out, he would have lost against Gasly in any case.”
Gasly is Consistent
If you’re looking to bet on a driver that is consistently in the contention to win a race, you can’t go wrong with Hamilton. However, when we talk consistency, another name comes to mind.
Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri is one of the most consistent, and while he has yet to win a race, the French driver has plenty of solid placements to show for. Over the 2021 Formula One World Championships season, Gasly has placed outside of the top-10 in only three races which he has finished.
What’s more, he has six top-6 finishes and four from his last six starts. The only exceptions were the Italian Grand Prix (retired) and Russian Grand Prix, where Gasly landed in 13th.
An impressive number; however, it’s also worth noting that Gasly has qualified in the top-6 in 12 races on the season. Not groundbreaking results, but still an awe-inspiring achievement for an Alpha Tauri driver.
Prediction
The scores and odds make it very clear that Hamilton is the favorite, and we can’t argue that. While the offered betting odds on Hamilton to win (-120) aren’t very high, they still provide an excellent sports betting option.
Gasly to finish inside the top-six is our second prediction, priced at +135. Even though he isn’t one of the top contenders to win the race, Gasly’s consistency alone is enough for us to believe he will secure a respectable finish.
